Rescue Team Phoenix
Mission: Metamorphosis
By Althea Georges
"Sooo, when are you gonna evolve?" I rolled my eyes at Kit, but his expression didn't change. I guess so human a gesture still didn't quite register with him yet.
A fairly harmless question, I guess, but it still annoyed me to no extent. Why? Well, first off, I was eating. You know those big fat apples that you find all around here? They're my favorite treats of all time, and the one I got a hold of that morning was particularly wonderful. It was as red as the scales of a Magicarp and just as shiny. It didn't taste that bad either. Leaving it there in the dirt to rot merely to answer a question would have just been wasteful.
Secondly, in evolving, the decision I'd have to face was huge. Even huger than most Pokémon. Let's take Kit, for example. He wants to evolve? BOOM! Charmander, Charmeleon, Charizard. There you go. For me well… Seven. That's how many options I have if I want to change. There are the three stone based ones, Flareon, Vaporeon and Jolteon. Then there are the "happy's," as I like to call them. To evolve into an Umbreon or an Espeon I'd need to be super happy or super smart. Fortunately for me I'm both. The hard part about this, however, is that I'd have to time it just right to get the one I want. I heard of two other 'lutions somewhere else, though I don't know much about them.
The third reason I was reluctant to talk about evolving because I didn't like change. I'd just gone through a whole bunch of 'em and it had left me a bit out of it, if you know what I mean. You see, I wasn't always the incredibly adorable Pokémon you see before you. Once upon a time, I was a human. I don't know exactly how I ended up like this. Just woke up one day in this Eevee body. That was about…seven months ago. My life as a human is pretty much a blur. It kinda stinks not knowing my past or my family, but I guess my team is sort of my new family.
I took another bite before responding sarcastically.
"I don't know Kit. When are you gonna evolve? Oh wait, your level's not high enough?" The flaming blue eyes slanted into a slight frown.
"Sorree, Wings. No need to get all touchy." His voice got quiet. "I was just wondering." That made me feel a bit jerkish. I hadn't meant to hurt his feelings.
"I'm sorry. Just… Well, what would you do if you were me?" It hadn't quite come out the way I'd wanted it to, but the Kitster knew exactly what I meant. Usually Kit thinks long and hard before he says anything. This time he didn't even pause to blink.
"Flareon. You should pick Flareon." That made me laugh. Hah. Figures a Fire-type would pick a Fire-type. The next piece had a seed in it. I spat and it sailed through the air towards Kit until he incinerated it with his Ember attack. It's amazing how in tune we were with each other even though we'd only met a few months before. Kit found me when I first awoke, and we've been best friends ever since. Without him I'd be completely lost.
"So, what about you?"
"There's only one way for me to go."
"I know that, stupid. I meant when."
The salamander opened his mouth to answer but halted abruptly and began gazing off into space. It wasn't long before my sharp ears were picking up something too. (I gotta tell you, being a Pokémon does have its advantages. But what I can't figure out how Kit always hears things before me. Here I am with these massive ears. And what does he have? Nothing. Jack squat. His head sort of reminds you of a sideways egg. Anyway…) Far off, the sound greatly resembled a siren, but started making more sense as a baby blue dot appeared in the distance.
"Winkit! Winkitwinkitwinkitwinkitwinkitwinkitwinkitwinkitwinkit!"
"Oh, embers," swore the Charmander.
Squirts rushed towards us like a giant bullet. That's the way he does everything. Eating, talking, or battling, Squirts always is amovin' at top-speed. You'd think that he and Kit would be at odds more often because of this, plus his obvious Water-typeeness, but the two of them get along pretty well. I managed to dodge the Juggernaut just before he ran me over.
"Yeeeesh?"
"Ohmygoshguyscomeyougottacomerightnow! Help help help heeeeelp!"
I gave him The Look, Version #5.
"It's not that Shocker, is it? Did he beat you up again? Speedster, what have I told you about taunting Pokés who are bigger than you and have type advantage?"
The Squirtle crossed his forelegs and pouted.
"Hmpff. It's not my fault. Guy doesn't fight fair. Besides, that's not what I wanted help with."
"Well out with it, man. We were doing something important before you came along." (Actually, we hadn't been doing much of anything, but Squirts didn't need to know that.)
"It's the Joyniors."
"The what?"
"THE JOYNIORS!" Even with my advance ability to decipher Crazyturtlespeak, it still took me a while to understand exactly what he was saying. The Joyniors. Of course. The junior Pokémon we'd recruited from Joyous Tower. Most of them were babies with levels lower than five, too weak to rescue themselves let alone somebody else.
"Well? What about 'em?" Kit asked.
"A trainer! A Pokémon trainer!"
"AND YOU JUST LEFT THEM ALONE?" I screeched. As tempting as it would have been to further scold him about his appalling lack of common sense, we really didn't have the time.
It didn't take us long to reach the Friend Area since it's not that far from Pokémon Square. When we got there, the first thing we saw was the Pokémon trainer. She was around ten or elevenish, probably just starting out. As soon as I laid eyes on her, I knew I disliked her. It wasn't the fact that she was a Pokémon trainer. I respect trainers as long as they stay away from my team. No, it was her blatant girlyness that really bugged me. Don't know why. Probably had something to do with my life as a human. I mean, you should a' seen her. She wore this really frilly royal blue dress which matched her hair to a fault. On her head was this equally frilly white hat. With the goofy expression she had on her face, you'dve thought she died and gone to Heaven.
Standing directly in front of her was a large Mightyena, a black and gray Pokémon that resembled a wolf. A group of baby Pokémon huddled together beneath a low row of bushes, quivering. Jake, a Pichu, stood in front of them, attempting to glare at the trainer defiantly. (Though, he came off looking more cute than tough.) He released a tiny Thundershock towards his opponent. The Mightyena didn't even flinch.
"Mightyena, use Swagger!" Jake's teeny weeny legs were too short for him to run very fast, so of course the attack was dead on. The result of the Swagger soon became evident. Jake seemed as dizzy as if someone had spun him around twenty times. An irritating satisfied smirk crossed the face of trainer.
"Use Crunch!" The Mightyena rushed rapidly towards the helpless Pichu. That's when we made our move. Mightyena opened his great jaws wide, preparing to bite down, but Squirts was quicker. He jumped in between Jake and his adversary. The jagged teeth glanced harmlessly off the rock-hard turtle shell. The baby Pokémon all cheered loudly with glee.
The trainer wasn't even fazed. Instead she seemed excited. She jumped up and down clapping her hands ridiculously. It was the most disgusting thing I'd ever seen.
"Cool! More Pokémon! And really rare ones too!" She turned to her partner. "Mightyena, attack that Charmander with Crunch!"
Her Pokémon obeyed, but Kit was ready. Using Metal Claw, his glowing white forepaws scratched the side of the Mightyena's face. The wolf-like Pokémon howled in agony. I stole that opportunity to use Shadow Ball. The black sphere of dark energy flew from my mouth towards our opponent. He dodged it and countered with a Shadow Ball of his own. I tried to avoid it, but it still was able to bash me in the head. Though the blow left me feeling a pretty woozy, I refused to let myself faint. Instead I geared up for an Iron Tail. All my strength pulsed to my tail as I charged at our enemy.
"Shadow Ball, then Crunch, Mightyena!" I kept right on running towards the Mightyena, knowing instinctively that Kit would take care of the dark orb. I was not disappointed. At my side, there was a gush of heat as Kit's Flamethrower dissolved the Shadow Ball.
"Mightyena, watch out!" But it was too late. I spun around and struck the wolf hard with my tail. BAM! Mightyena fell, unconscious. But the trainer wasn't quite finished yet. Who knew what sort of Pokémon she had in her arsenal?
"Mightyena, return." The wolf turned into a red light and was absorbed back into its Pokéball. The trainer pulled out another Pokéball, and tossed it. "I choose you, Gardevoir!"
The next Pokémon the girl released was breathtaking. She resembled a small human woman in a pale green and white gown which flowed past her feet. As soon as I saw her I froze. She was so hauntingly familiar. It wasn't until later that I remembered that Gardevoir was the Pokémon from my dreams.
Something shocked me from behind, galvanizing me from my haze.
"Wake up, Big Sister!" cried Jake in his high voice. I sent him a grateful glance before nearly avoiding a Hypnosis attack. Squirts aimed his Water Gun, and Kit his Flamethrower at the Gardevoir, both of which she repelled them easily with Psychic.
"Hey, Dynamo, remember the lighthouse?" I asked.
"What? Oh yeah!" The Squirtle twisted into a Rapid Spin. As he spun faster, and faster, his turtle form melted into a blur of blue and brown.
"Kit, duck!" The Charmander seemed surprised, but crouched down. Still spinning, Squirts released a mighty Water Gun. The force of the combined assault lifted him up into the air. Water continually smacked the psychic Pokémon and her trainer. I thought surely such a setback would send the girly-girl running home by now, but whadya know? Wrong again. She merely gritted her teeth and stood her ground.
Squirts finished his attack and slowly descended. Somehow the Squirtle managed to get to his legs though he was clutched his head with his hand and wobbled a bit.
"That was so schveeeet!" he said half laughing.
I was gonna give Squirts another order when something smacked me from behind, knocking me down. I tried to stand back up, but couldn't. Future Sight. She must have initiated it back when I was zoning. The trainer flung a Pokéball at me. Preparing to feel the impact, I squeezed my eyes shut. What actually happened afterwards I never expected.
"Nooo!" My eyes opened at the cry. Kit jumped in front me and swatted the ball with a swift burst of Ember, causing it to spin off harmlessly into the bushes.
"It's evolving!" cried the trainer as her red eyes widened in amazement. Even in as much pain as I was then, I couldn't help but witness Kit's metamorphosis. It was an incredible sight. All of a sudden, Kit's skin began to glow. The radiance completely engulfed the small red orange Charmander. Eventually, the light vanished completely, revealing a small red orange…Charmander?
Heh?
"It…didn't evolve," stated the trainer blandly. Poor thing. She had seemed so excited. Probably was her first time seeing a Pokémon (almost) get an upgrade. Well, I'm not one to look a gift Rapidash in the mouth. The trainer and her glorious Pokémon were distracted. It was the perfect time for one final smackdown.
"Ice Beam."
"Huh?"
"Ice Beam," I repeated softly.
"Ice cream?" Okay. This was getting out of hand.
"ICE BEAM!" I bellowed as loud as I could.
Deeply, the turtle inhaled before unleashing his most potent move. An azure ray of frosty energy sprayed from his mouth. I gotta tell ya, Ice Beam is most definitely the coolest attack I have ever seen, pun not intended. Sometimes I wish I could use it. I guess I could if I became a Vaporeon or something, but then again, it's back to that whole evolution thing. This Ice Beam blasted Gardevoir beautifully. The trainer squealed like the girly girl she was as her own Pokémon was pushed backwards violently, making them both fall to the ground. Cold and filthy, the trainer ran away weeping, her Pokémon chasing after her.
The Joyniors applauded once again. Jake, who had finally recovered from his state of confusion, began chanting the name of our Rescue Team.
"Phoe-nix! Phoe-nix! Phoe-nix!" Squirts, of course, was eating all this attention up.
"Oh yeah! We're the heroes!" Neither me or the Kit got very riled up about this: Kit because he was watching the Squirtle with a slightly livid expression, and me because I was still sprawled in the dirt, completely immobile.
"Helloooo. Still hurting here." It took about seven minutes before someone took mercy on me and gave me an Oran Berry. In a moment or two, I was back on my own four paws. After sending Squirts The Look, Version #2, I proceeded with my violent tirade.
"Ice cream? ICE CREAM? What is WRONG with you?" Squirts shrunk back like he'd thought I was gonna Quick Attack him into next Tuesday. But I wasn't quite finished yet. "And that reminds me. What's the big idea with LEAVING THE LITTLE ONES ALONE? You so could have handled this by yourself!" The poor turtle retreated into his shell in fear. Maybe I was a bit harsh on him, but what choice did I have? If you're a part of a rescue team, you have to think.
"What am I gonna do with you?" (Yes, I sounded like somebody's mom.) Suddenly we were drowning in an ocean of squeaky infantile voices.
"Punish him, Wingsy!"
"Yeah! He lefted us alone!"
"Squirts is a bad rescuer!"
"SILENCE!" The squeaking stopped. I passed my eyes sternly over the Joyniors. (Ah, yes. It is so excellent to the boss.)
"We," I said emphasizing the word, "will not punish Squirts. And he is not a 'bad rescuer.' In fact, with the exception of his stupid actions today, I would say that he's one of the greatest rescuer's I've ever seen." I wasn't exaggerating. After Flamehead, Squirts is my favorite to go on super challenging missions. His speedy reflexes and super accurate moves make him an amazing teammate. Now if we can just get him to use his brain once in a while…
"Remember, if it wasn't for this brave turtle, you'd all be that little girl's pets right now." There was a gentle murmuring of scattered agreements. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied the tip of a head slowly sliding out of the brown turtle shell. Kit and I tried our best not to smile.
"However, in spite of this…" (In a flash, the head snapped back into the shell.) "We must make sure he remembers the events of the day. And that is why he must bring the snacks…" Seeing the confusion in their faces, I continued. "He must bring the snacks for the PARTYPALOOZA we're having in his honor!"
"Whooo hoooo!" Squirts jumped into the air and did a Rapid Spin-cartwheel.
"PARTYPALOOZA!" screamed Quinn, an excitable Cyndaquil.
"PARTYPALOOZA!" echoed the rest of the Joyniors. And they all paraded back to Phoenix Headquarters with a beaming Squirts marching at the head.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Kit and I exploded into fits of delicious laughter. It is so fun messing with Squirts's head. We cracked up so long and so hard that our tummies felt sore afterwards. Finally, we collapsed to the ground exhausted.
"You shouldn't have done that, you know," said Kit when we'd recovered. "Now we won't be able to talk to him without hearing about how awesome he is."
"Yeah, well. He seriously could have screwed things up worse than he did. Man, forget about him. What about you?" Kit stared at me like he didn't understand. He's quite good at pretending he's dumber than he is. Didn't fool me though. I knew he knew that I knew that he knew exactly what I was talking about.
"I know you know that I know that you know exactly what I'm talking about, Kit. You evolved! Well, you started to. But then you stopped." Kit sat up, sliding his flaming tail out from under him.
"No one can make us evolve if we don't want to." He paused before adding, "Except maybe for Pokémon trainers."
"Yeah. But why didn't you?" He shrugged.
"It would have been unfair. You and me are partners."
"Unfa-" My mind flashed back to the conversation we'd had earlier that morning. Then I got it. Kit was waiting for me to evolve! How sweet…And kind of creepy. Didn't I say he was a fabulous friend? My eyes welled up with tears. I cried for twice as long as I had laughed. I'm sure the Kitster would have cried too if it wasn't for the fact that doing so could kill him. When I had finished, I wiped my tears onto the back of my paw.
"Come on," I told him. "Let's go check out that party." I ran off giggling with Kit at my heels.
Rescue Team Phoenix Out.