The next day came, the two humans got up to continue training, while Kaemon went out into the woods to gather wood, both for fire and building, the two humans meditating and gathering energy within themselves. Soon enough, both got up and stood at the center of the clearing.
"Are you ready, Anne?" Shadow asked.
"I was born ready." Anne nodded with a look of confidence.
"Alright, this time's gonna be a bit different." Shadow said. "Today, I'm gonna teach you how to build up the energy within you and turn it into strength."
Anne's eyes widened with excitement, her eyes sparkling, "I'm gonna go Super Saiyen?!"
A sweat dropped from Shadow's head before he said, "Well, if that's what you want to refer to Calamity Trigger, then yes, Super Saiyen."
"Ooh, this is exciting!" Anne said with barely contained excitement, grinning giddily.
"Alright, rein in the excitement a bit and focus." Shadow instructed. "Breath in and concentrate, build up the energy within and once you've built up enough, release it into power."
Nodding, Anne breathed in and let it out, closing her eyes and concentrating as best she could, trying to build up the energy as best she could, but she didn't seem to feel anything.
"Nothing's happening." She said, opening one eye in confusion. "But it worked when I was doing the tree climbing and water walking!"
"That's because the energy build up for those required channeling energy into the feet rather than the whole body." Shadow explained.
"Can you demonstrate for me please?" Anne requested. "Maybe it'd be easier if I watch you do it!"
"That's not how our powers work, but okay." Shadow shrugged.
Anne watched him as he breathed in, his eyes closed, and his body lit up with black, sparkling light, a blazing black aura surrounded his body and his black hair becoming wavy. He then opened his eyes, which were now black rather than green.
"Whoa." Anne said in awe.
Shadow then walked over to a tree and placed a hand on it, then in one motion, uprooted the whole tree out of the ground and holding it over his head with ease, much to Anne's shocked amazement.
"Hoopa de boopa!" She gasped.
Shadow then tossed the tree up a bit before kicking it, sending it skyward until it disappeared high above the clouds and beyond, Anne looking on with wide eyes and a hanging jaw, as the boy soon powered down, the aura fading away and his black eyes returning to green.
"That is just one of the perks of the Calamity Trigger." The boy explained. "With training, you can do so much more than that."
"Even more?!" Anne gasped, now more determined than ever. "Now I really need to get the concentration bit down!"
"Whoa, try to slow it down some." Shadow said. "Rushing into it can cause terrible results, from losing control to melting from the inside out."
Anne cringed at this, the images of her going mad or going up in flames appearing in her mind.
"In the meantime, let's take a break." Shadow said before pulling what looked like a list from his pocket. "Would you mind heading down to the farmer's market and grabbing some stuff for tonight's hot pot?"
"You got it!" Anne declared, taking the list before running towards town, while Shadow proceeded to clean up the clearing.
"Now, what's taking Kaemon so long? If he got lost again…"
Jogging into town, Anne made her way from one stand to another in the Wartwood Farmer's Market, getting each item on the list before stopping at Gentle Jon's Expensive Jellies stand.
"Two jars of your best jellies, please." She requested.
"You got it." Gentle Jon nodded before handing her two jars, the Thai girl paying in response.
"Hey, Anne!" Sprig called as he walked over.
"Hey, Sprig!" Anne greeted. "A nice day out, huh?"
"Yup, the Wartwood Farmer's Market." Sprig nodded. "Where salt of the earth frogs come to sell stuff and fill up on free samples."
He then picked up one of the jars before spilling the contents into his mouth, the frog boy receiving the stink eye from Gentle Jon.
"That wasn't a sample."
Nervous, Sprig sprits the jam back in the jar, "Now it's like nothing happened."
Clearly not happy still, Jon held up a mace, not intending to be gentle, the little frog quickly reaching into his pocket, "I-I can pay for that."
Chuckling a bit, Anne moved over to the Plantar's stand, Hop Pop behind the counter with Polly sat on the counter.
"Hey there, Anne!" Hop Pop greeted. "Here to do some shopping?"
"Yup! Shadow asked me to grab some stuff for him." Anne said, holding up the list. "Mind if I get one of those gourds?"
"Certainly." Hop Pop nodded before picking up a gourd, but he noticed how oddly light the fruit felt before knocking on it, sounding hollow on the inside. "One moment, if you please."
With a strong tug, he pulled the fruit apart, revealing a disgusting larva the size of a small cat inside.
"Just as I thought! A gourd maggot." Hop Pop declared. "These guys taste terrible."
The maggot soon jumped out and onto Anne's arm, making the girl scream as it crawled up her arm and into her hair, "It's in my hair! It's in my hair!"
There was a whistle in the wind, before steel pierced flesh, Anne and the Plantars freezing in place as Kaemon pulled his sword from Anne's hair, the maggot's carcass stuck on the end of the blade.
"Geez, these guys are annoying." The newt remarked as he shook the carcass loose.
"Whoa, that was fast." Anne complimented his speed with the blade. "Where'd you come from, anyways?"
"I got turned around at the lake." Kaemon shrugged as he tugged on a sleigh full of logs. "Managed to get quite the haul here."
Just then, Mrs. Croaker approached the stand, which the Plantar kids took notice of, "Good morning, Mrs. Croaker."
"Salutations." The old lady frog greeted before picking up a gourd from Hop Pop's stand. "I'll take this gangly gourd, Hopadiah."
"Oh, I sense a batch of Croaker stew coming on." Hop Pop commented before stepping out from behind his stand and checking the gourd. "This one looks clean and maggot free."
"Classic Plantar honesty." Mrs. Croaker said with a smile, looking up at the stand sign. "I've been buying from this stand since your father was running it. And ya'll never steered me wrong."
After Mrs. Croaker left, Anne leaned against the stand with an impressed look, "Very impressive, Hop Pop."
"That is the Plantar difference Anne." Hop Pop declared. "You can't taste honesty. But if you could-"
"...it'd taste like a Plantar stand vegetable." Sprig and Polly finished with a roll of their eyes.
"This stand is the heart and soul of our family." Hop Pop said, looking up at the stand sign. "I don't know what I'd do if we ever lost it."
"Bad new, everyone! Bad news!" Toadie declared as he ran threw the market before approaching Hop Pop and handing him a scroll. "Gonna run away before you read it!" He then backflipped away before Hop Pop could protest.
"That Toadie…" He grumbled before pulling out his glasses to read the scroll before gasping in shock. "Say what?! Mayor Toadstool is quadrupling the rent! And he wants it in three days?!"
Hop Pop wasn't the only one in dismay, as everyone else in the farmer's market were outraged from the news.
"At this rate, we'll lose the stand!" Hop Pop said as he paced in a panic. "What are we gonna do?!"
Anne gave it some thought, before she snapped her fingers at an idea, "Got it! Snugaroos, blankets you wear over your clothes."
"Sounds like a great idea!" Kaemon said in agreement.
Hop Pop pulls himself from a gourd basket he was just throwing up in and gasped, "What the- Anne, we're a vegetable stand!"
"No, I mean you need your own Snugaroo, a flashy new product." She explained. "Something like... like... A-ha!" She then picked up the half of the split gourd from the ground, and squashes the juice into a glass jar before shaking it up a bit. "A little bit of this, shake it up and... introducing Plantar's Potion!" She then held up the jar. "A hearty mix of vitamins and minerals that'll extend your life and keeps you regular."
"Wowza. All that in one jar?" Hop Pop said in amazement.
"Heck if I know, I just made all that up." Anne shrugged. "But health drinks are all the rage back home." She then gave the jar to Hop Pop. "The best part? We can charge through the nose for them."
"Heh. I don't know what a nose is, but it's worth a shot." Hop Pop said with a hopeful smile before walking over to the crowd of villagers and cleared his throat. "New product! New product, everyone. This here is a freshly made bottle of... What was it again? Plantar's Potion!"
Everyone gave the old frog their attention, before Wally raised his hand.
"Yes, you in the front, Wally." Hop Pop said.
"Does it taste good?" Wally asked.
"Wouldn't know. Haven't tried it yet." Hop Pop shrugged.
"Oh." Wally lowered his hand.
There was silence among the crowd, the only sound being an unseen frog coughing.
Seeing the old frog struggle, Anne called him, "Hey, Hop Pop! Can we chat for a second?" She then turned to Sprig. "Sprig, work the crowd."
"Yes, ma'am." Sprig declared with a salute before standing before the crowd and clearing his throat. "Sprig Plantar, ten years old."
He then did a rendition of 'Fur Elise' with his armpit, the crowd cheering when he finished, even throwing flowers at him.
"That boy is a genius." Kaemon commented as Hop Pop walked back over.
"Beautiful." Hop Pop nodded.
"Dude, if you wanna sell this stuff, you gotta sell this stuff!" Anne told him. "Make promises you can't keep and junk."
"Did you forget this stand was built on honesty?" Hop Pop said with a frown.
"Hop Pop, in three days, there won't be a stand." Kaemon reminded him.
Unsure, Hop Pop looked up at the stand sign, looking at the words 'Honesty First'. He valued honesty all his life, but now he felt like he could lose the stand forever.
Knowing the Thai girl was right, Hop Pop sighed, "I'll give it a try." He then walked back to the crowd. "Take five, boy. I'll take it from here."
"You got it, Hop Pop!" Sprig declared before hopping back to the stand, the old frog having the crowd's full attention.
"Folks, I'd really appreciate it if you bought this drink. Uh..." He turned to Anne, who facepalmed, while Kaemon gestured him to continue, before turning back to the crowd. "Because it'll make you, I don't know... stronger?"
The crowd then suddenly became interested, much to Hop Pop's confidence, "And uh... smarter, too!"
The crowd starting murmuring in interest, Hop Pop smiling before taking a hat with a blue ribbon and putting it on his head with newfound confidence.
"Folks, one sip of Plantar's Potion..." He declared before chugging the juice in one gulp, then threw the jar to the ground, shattering it. "And you may very well..." His face then turns into an unnerving expression. "LIVE FOREVER!"
Everyone started cheering before throwing copper coins, demanding a jar or more, Anne laughing at the success, before holding her arms up to shield her head from the thrown copper coins, which seemed to hurt more than they looked, while Sprig and Polly were rolling in coin, and Kaemon standing off to the side with a smile.
To say Hop Pop was stunned would be an understatement, as he held the hat filled with coin, "Suffering swamp gas! We gotta step up production on this stuff. Fast!" He exclaimed with a big smile on his face.
"Well, glad I could help." Anne said with a smile. "But I gotta head back. Shadow's probably wondering where me and Kaemon were."
The human and newt soon left town before arriving back at the hut, where Shadow was just finishing feeding Ironhide.
"Hey, Shadow!" Anne called with a wave. "We're back!"
"'We'?" Shadow repeated with confusion before noticing Kaemon. "Oh. Got lost again?"
"Hey, it's not my fault all these trees look the same!" Kaemon shot back.
The next day, Shadow and Anne continued their training. Deciding to switch things up, Shadow decided to have Anne spar with Kaemon, having the newt use only two swords for the starting difficulty, to see how far Anne had come. For starters, he wanted to focus on her speed and how fast she had gotten by how well she can defend against Kaemon's onslaught. She held her ground well enough, but Kaemon's speed proved too much and eventually sent her on her butt.
Next, was endurance, where Anne had to hold two boulders up over a running river, while keeping her aura barrier while Kaemon and Shadow fired arrows at her. She managed to hold out long enough for the hourglass to run out, before almost falling into the river out of exhaustion.
Finally, strength. Anne was tasked with holding up a stack of boulders for several hours while doing push ups. While it put a strain on her body, she pushed through it.
After the exercises, everyone decided to take a break, sitting of to the side, drinking water.
"How do you think Hop Pop is doing?" Kaemon asked.
"I'm sure he's doing fine." Anne said. "With my suggestion, he'll save the stand in no time!"
"By swindling everyone out of their coin?" Shadow said with a raised brow.
"Hey, it's not gonna hurt anybody." Anne insisted. "And once we save the stand, we can pretty much stop and things'll go back to normal."
"Or they'll spiral out of control and make Hop Pop too dependent on this method." Shadow countered.
"Don't worry so much, Teach." Anne waved it off. "I'm sure it'll be fine."
"Still, perhaps we should check on him." Kaemon suggested.
"A good idea." Shadow nodded.
Getting up, the three walked down the path and into town, and upon seeing the Plantar stand, they took notice of a giant barrel with a spigut on the side, Hop Pop filling another jar with juice.
"And there you go!" He declared as he handed the jar to a frog before receiving a bag of coin.
The trio looked at one another with concern, Anne seeming less worried, before the three approached.
"Hey, Hop Pop!" Anne greeted. "How's business?"
"It's going swimmingly!" Hop Pop declared with a laugh. "I know I doubted you, Anne, but this is really working."
"Well, I gotta say, you've gotten good at this, Hop Pop." Anne smiled. "Like, really good at this."
"Why thank you, young lady." Hop Pop said.
"Hop Pop, what happened to honesty?" Shadow asked with concern. "Don't you think it's wrong to swindle people like this?"
"It's the only way to save the stand, Shadow." Hop Pop waved it off. "With this, we'll have enough coin to-"
"Hop Pop! We've got a problem!" Sprig called as he slid down the ladder with Polly on his head, landing flat on his face.
"Big problem!" Polly added.
Walking over to the cart, almost everyone, with the exception of Shadow and Kaemon, gasped at the sight of it being empty.
"We've used up all our produce." Sprig said in a panic. "There's nothing left."
"No! We're so close! We can't fall short now!" Hop Pop cried, slamming his fists onto the cart.
"It's okay, I can just give you what remains." Shadow suggested. "That way, you'll have enough to save the stand."
"Are you insane?" Hop Pop yelled at the boy. "We've already come so far!" Looking around, he saw something that would be perfect. "A-ha! Jackpot!"
The jackpot, in reality, was in fact a pile of trash of rotten fruit and vegetables, much to the human's disgust.
"Uh…Yeah, uh…Yeah, that's literally garbage." Anne said, thinking the old frog was either kidding or going insane.
"Garbage? Or Plantar Potion's new secret ingredient?" Hop Pop said, shoving the trash into Anne's arms, who dropped it out of disgust. "Still need a bit more though…"
Shadow and Kaemon watched helplessly as Hop Pop snuck around and gathered trash from around the farmer's market and tossing them into the giant barrel, all from rotten eggs to vegetables, even a dirty old boot, all the while with a mad grin on his face.
"Are you sure about this, Hop pop?" Anne asked with great concern.
"There are so many levels of health code violations being committed here." Shadow tried to warn him.
"Oh, I'm sure." Hop Pop nodded. "Everyone's hooked. They'll buy anything I sell them! Now get in there, stompers."
Aye, aye!" Polly declared before jumping into the barrel.
"Right." Sprig nodded, nearly jumping when a large fly flew close before kicking it back before jumping into the barrel and closing the hatch.
Hop Pop laughed hysterically as he turned the faucet, black tar-like liquid drooping down from the faucet as he filled it into jars, "Yes! Yes! Let it flow! Come to Hop Poppa!"
"Oh, boy..." Anne said in concern.
"Good job, Anne, you've created a monster." Kaemon said.
"Hey, you went along with it!" Anne pointed out.
"I didn't think it'd turn him into a total hack!" Kaemon countered.
"This is gonna backfire so badly." Shadow said with a shake of his head.
The next day came around, and after some light training, the three arrived to check on the Plantar's, taking notice of more large flies sitting outside the barrel.
"Yeah, that's not concerning at all." Kaemon remarked with some level of sarcasm.
The hatch opened up, scaring away the flies, as Polly hopped out wearing a gas mask, followed by Sprig, who looked sick in the face, belching out a green cloud that formed a skull before dissipating. Sprig wasn't able to climb down the ladder properly before falling down, but Shadow was able to catch the young frog before gently setting him on a bale of hay.
"This is gonna end up with either Hop Pop confessing before or after someone gets seriously sick." Shadow commented.
"I know, I screwed up majorly here." Anne said, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Friends and frog folk, step right up." Hop Pop declared, holding up the sickening looking jar. "New limited edition Plantar's Potion. Only 20 coppers a bottle!"
"Twenty coppers? No one's gonna buy that—"
Before Anne could finish, Shadow had pulled her and Kaemon off to the side as to not be trampled by the roaring crowd that sped past them, each frog demanding a large amount of jars.
"Thank you for your patronage." Hop Pop handed another jar in exchange for coin.
"I'm gonna feed this to my baby." A frog declared before leaving.
"I wouldn't recommend that!" Shadow called after, hoping the frog wouldn't.
Anne groaned before approaching the old frog, "Well, did we make it? Did we save the stand?"
"Just about." Hop Pop declared. "We gotta sell to one more sucker and we'll be home free."
"At what cost, Hop Pop?" Shadow asked with a frown.
That one sucker came in the form of Sadie Croaker, taking one step and it was enough to get the old frog's attention. Everyone knew how much she respected the Plantar stand, hence why they stood off to the side. "I'll take a bottle, Hopadiah." She said, the sun hanging over her.
Hop Pop let out a gasp, "Sadie Croaker, the stand's oldest and most loyal customer."
Sadie started walking towards the stand, the other frogs making way for her, and thankfully haven't drunken the garbage potion yet, "Usually, I find potions and the like to be a bunch of malarkey, but if Hopadiah Plantar says it works, then it must."
Hop Pop could already feel his confidence shake upon her words, hiding the sales chart with a nervous sweat.
"Been saving this gold farthing for a while now." The old woman said, holding up a copper coin with a shaky hand. "Waiting for something special to spend it on. One bottle, please."
Suddenly, Hop Pop didn't seem so sure, and looking up to see Shadow give him a hard stare didn't help matters, "Uh... we're all sold out."
"No, we're not!" Polly declared, holding up a jar, making Shadow facepalm.
"Oh, thank you, deary." Mrs. Croaker said, taking the bottle and handing the coin to Hop Pop, the orange frog only stammering anxiously, that anxiety only growing as the old lady faced the crowd and raised the bottle. "To Hop Pop and the Plantars, the most honest folks in the business."
The two humans and the newt cringed at this, Anne holding her chest, "Oof, even I felt that one."
"How can you not?" Kaemon asked.
"To the Plantars!" The crowd declared, raising their bottles to drink.
This was the final straw for Hop Pop, his anxiety skyrocketing, the orange frog looking up at the sign, staring at the 'honesty first' words on it, realizing that he had gone too far.
"NO!" He finally yelled, slapping the bottle out of Mrs. Croakers hands, everyone staring at him in shock.
"What has gotten into you, Hopediah?" Mrs. Croaker asked.
"That was no health potion! It's garbage!" He finally confessed, falling to his knees and his voice echoing.
Everyone spat out the garbage potion, all disgusted at the revelation, all looking at Hop Pop, who took his hat off in shame, "Folks, I'm so sorry. I never meant any harm. All I was trying to do was save my stand."
Everyone gasped and pointed in terror. Confused, Hop Pop turned and gasped at the sight of several large flies flying over the stand, one of them having grabbed Polly and Sprig with their legs.
"Hop Pop!" Polly cried.
"They want the garbage potion!" Sprig yelled, pointing over at the barrel.
Two flies flew over and knocked the barrel over, the garbage liquid spilling out on the ground before drinking it. The frog crowd screamed and ran for their lives.
"Eaten by flies? Oh, the irony!" Wally cried as he was being dragged away by a fly, before Shadow rushed in and sliced it in two, saving him.
"Hey, let go of my bumpkin frog family!" Anne yelled, before throwing several jars at them.
"Time to fly, Anne." Shadow said, readying his sword. "Are you ready?"
"Born for it!" Anne shouted with confidence, Kaemon throwing the tennis racket to her.
The two humans took to the skies in flight, Shadow slicing one fly after another, Anne knocking them to the side, but more kept coming.
"There's too many of them!" Anne yelled, before smacking a fly away with her tennis racket.
"Hey!"
The two humans saw Hop Pop with several jars of what's left of the garbage potion near the lid of the barrel.
"Ain't this what you want?"
Throwing the bottles into the barrel, the old frog jumped on top and began rolling the barrel, the flies giving chase, Shadow, Anne and Kaemon in pursuit, before Hop Pop came to a stop at a cliff.
"You really want this so bad?" He asked with a scowl. "Then drop the kids and go get it!"
He then pushed the barrel over, the flies dropping Sprig and Polly and flying over Hop Pop after the falling barrel. The old frog looked over to see the flies flying away with the barrel into the sunset.
Sighing, Hop Pop faced the kids, "Everyone okay?"
"Not really." Sprig said.
"Kids, I messed up big." Hop Pop said with regret. "I was so desperate to save the stand, I forgot what the stand was even about."
"Desperation makes an honest man do dumb things." Shadow said. "But no matter what, you must never lose sight of things."
"So, what now?" Anne asked.
"We go make things right." Hop Pop declared. "That's the Plantar way."
Upon returning, they were met with an angry crowd of frogs waiting for them. After apologizing, Hop Pop offered a full refund for everyone that bought the phony potion. Needless to say, it didn't take long for a line to form.
"Apologies." Hop Pop said as he gave the money back to another frog, the frog only scoffing before leaving. He then gave another bag of coin back to another frog. "Here you go, sir. I hope you'll give Plantar's another chance, someday." Bu the patron was already out of earshot.
"I'm really sorry, Hop Pop." Anne said with guilt. "I never should have made my silly suggestion in the first place."
"I know things are bad, Hop Pop," Kaemon offered some comforting words. "But if it makes you feel any better, you were a crazy good salesman."
Hop Pop laughed at this, "I was good, wasn't I?"
The last in line was Sadie Croaker, Hop Pop giving the special coin back. "Well, Hopadiah, looks like you're going to have to earn our trust back." She told him harshly. "That being said, I think your father would be proud that you did the right thing today."
"Thanks, Sadie." Hop Pop smiled. "I'll work hard to earn your trust back."
But that's when Toadie showed up, "Not at this stand, you won't! No coin, no stand. Time to clear out!" He stated, practically throwing the eviction notice in the old frog's face.
And just like that, the generations of the Plantar stand had come to an end. The Plantar kids, the two humans and newt helped Hop Pop clear off the stand, before Shadow pulled down the sign and stuffing it in the wagon.
"I'm sorry you weren't able to save the stand, Hop Pop." Shadow said.
"Don't worry, Hop Pop. We'll help you get the stand back." Sprig tried to comfort his grandfather.
"You want me to...off Toadie?" Polly asked with a click of her tongue and swiped her flipper to the left. "I'll do it. You know I will."
"Thanks, kids. Let's just get home and relax a little." Hop Pop said before he and his grandkids got in the saddle and started the slow drive home, with Shadow, Anne and Kaemon walking beside the snail. "You know, maybe the end of one tradition means the start of another. Maybe I ought to start over the Hop Pop way, experiment with those new seed varieties I always wanted to try."
"That's the spirit, Hop Pop." Anne smiled.
"Yeah, we're gonna make it after all." Sprig said with joy.
"The future is ours." Polly declared.
There was silence before Shadow spoke up, "You sure are taking this well, Hop Pop."
"Yeah, all things considered." Kaemon nodded. "I mean, you have no job, no place of employment, no source of income, no-"
"Oh, frog! I'm unemployed!" Hop Pop yelled in a panic.
"And there it is."