Thrill:

–verb (used with object)
to utter or send forth tremulously, as a melody.

Chapter One- Flitt

The dawn's weak light washes over the undisturbed land. Not a single human is in sight, as the pidgey and other bird pokemon wake to thrill their songs. A small figure, silhouetted by the watery beams of light, stands on the crest of a hill. Around its neck is a band like collar, from which hangs a chunk of slate-like rock. Engraved in it are the words: SBJCT 0249 Section C- Stardom Underworks.

The silhouetted figure paws at the collar, in a vain attempt to pull it off over its head. After a moment, it stops, and sighs, and then looks past the hills towards the Viridian Forest, which lay ahead. After a moment's hesitation, it steps forward, and into better view.

The figure, an eevee, blinks, as hope drains from her eyes. "It's so far…" she whispers to herself. Had she known truly how far she'd have had to travel before she'd run off, it is possible she wouldn't have attempted the feat. "I've been walking for days now, and my feet feel just about ready to fall off my legs!" she cries before flopping onto the grass. "I've been walking for an eternity in the Diglett's Cave, and I've walked forever and a day everywhere else!" With a huff, she scratches at the collar with the curious inscribed stone again "And this damn collar has steel in it, so it won't rip, and I can't get it off, and it itches like Hell!" she snaps. Having lost control of her temper, and with no one to lash out at, she growls and lays her head down, wishing some pokemon or another would come by so she could rip it to shreds, or at least snap at it.

With lips drawn back in a half snarl, she stares melancholy at the forest. In the distance, the green trees wave at her, as though taunting her. "Come here," they seem to sing "we're not that far, come here. Just a few more days… but you probably won't last that long." Defeat makes her ears droop. To herself, she murmurs "It's true, it's so true. I can't make it. I'm going to die in the wild, without my 'trainer', alone, lonely, sad, and within only a few days walking distance from my dream."

A light, but definitely male voice scolds "Now don't be so forlorn and angsty, I'll help you if you want…"

With a growl, the eevee leaps up, turning to face the stranger. "Where did you come from you…" she trails off, not sure what to make of the strange pokemon before her. Tan, and cat like, with a purple collar of sorts around his neck, the pokemon is like nothing she's ever seen. "…What are you?" she says, before snapping her mouth shut. Inwardly, she scolds herself for asking such a rude question.

A light chuckle comes from his mouth "I'm a delcatty. I'm not native to this place. My trainer brought me over from a different land, and lives not far from here. She doesn't mind that I wander far, so long as I get back by nighttime."

Unsure what to make of the flood of information coming from the stranger's mouth, the eevee's ears twitch. "Okay… Well, one of my 'trainers' calls me Flitt. What is yours, delcatty?"

"Omaly is my name."

"Alright, well, I have to go Omaly. My dream is waiting for me…" Though a moment ago she had been moaning, the wish to get away from the fellow Pokemon makes her feet itch to get going. She doesn't truly trust the delcatty, but then again, she never had reason to trust other pokemon.

There it is again, that light chuckle, followed by his soft voice half way demanding "Come with me to a niche nearby. You probably want to rest, before continuing on your 'quest'. I insist, do come with me."

A slight shiver crawls down Flitt's spine when she finds herself unwillingly nodding "Alright… just for a moment or two." Despite her lack of trust, she hadn't talked to another living creature in several days, and she finds herself thirsting for company.

Without another word, the delcatty turns and leads the way through the dewy grass that is yet to be swept by the sun's rays. He skirts around tall grass, reluctant to have to battle and delay the excursion to a secluded area.

"Here we are, I know it's not really a cave, but it's better than nothing." He nods, indicating to an overhanging shelf that covers a good portion of a dried river bed. The dried river bed has grass growing, a good sign that it hasn't been a true river in quite a while. "It hasn't been flooded in years, so you can rest without worry."

After a moment's hesitation, she winds her way through the tree roots that have grown down, partially inclosing the area. "Thanks Omaly." Flitt sighs greatfully and flops onto the cool ground below the shelf.

"Would you like me to get you some berries to ease the swelling and pain of your feet?" He says, looking with concern at the eevee's tender pads.

"No, no, it's fine. I have to get them tough anyway. After all, I plan on becoming a wild eevee in the forest… it sounds much better of a life, if not a bit harder, than what I fled from."

His interest sparked, he says "Why don't you let me massage your feet while you tell me what you're running from."

Something about those deep, expressive chocolate eyes makes Flitt nod. She begins "Well, I don't know where to start. See, I was little… no, I guess I should start before that. When I was an egg… ugh… um… oh. Well, the place where I came from doesn't exist according to the government. It isn't very well known about, but chances are the government does know of its existence. It's called the Stardom Underworks, because it experiments on pokemon, who are considered to descend from alien ancestors. It's less known of than even Team Rocket, but chances are it is just a branch of it. Anyways, one of its favorite species types is the eevee species, obviously because of our DNA. They're learning a lot from us, like how they can cure human diseases, but at our cost. I'm one of the lucky ones who wasn't too badly used. They were studying how many different ways there are for eevees to evolve, and a theory is stress and human relationships. So, for me, they had me live with humans who mainly called me Subject Two Forty-nine. One of them called me Flitt. But anyways, I've been neutered, but then again, I was neutered longer than I can remember… however, eevees, after some time- years, can sort of regrow or get rid of scars and defects. Because of this, after four or five years, they have to have the procedure re-done to make sure they stay fixed. The researchers wanted the one who called me Flitt to give me surgery while I was still awake and able to feel the pain and stress, so they could see if I would evolve, or stay the same… Of course, I decided I'd rather not have to go through surgery fully concious, so I escaped before that could happen…"

Omaly looks at her for a while then says "Oh, alright… what was the operation supposed to accomplish exactly?"

"Um… I'm pretty sure the people wanted to see if my 'bond' with my 'trainer ' and the stress would make me evolve into a new eeveeloution… I know it sounds stupid, but that's not the only thing they do. But, I doubt whatever it is they were going to try to do with me would work. I didn't really like the one that called me Flitt. She thought I was stupid. I mean honestly! In eevee years, I'm as old as she is, about twenty or thirty. I'm no kit that won't hear something said directly in front of me!" A swish of her head illustrates her frustration.

Omaly's attention is drawn to the stone on her collar, which flashed light when Flitt swung her head. "Hey, what is that?"

"Oh, this?" Flitt replies, motioning to her collar, "This is an everstone that's hanging from the collar. The scientists didn't want me to evolve before they wanted me to… not that I would have anyways. I'm not happy with my trainers, they rarely let me level up- in fact, I'm four years old, and I'm only level twenty nine."

Omaly nods, not sure how to reply. Silence grows between them , becoming a wall. Omaly looks down, realizing he had stopped massaging Flitts paws somewhere during her monologue. With a blink, he starts to knead her paws with his, putting a bit more pressure on them then before. Watching him, Flitt finds herself wondering Why did decide to follow him again? And what the heck possessed me to spew out my life's story at his feet? Am I really growing that desperate for living company? I mean, this stranger is massaging my feet, and we're chatting like we've known each other for years… how odd is this.

Omaly, also seems lost in thought, but eventually he speaks "Hey," he says looking at her "I know my way around the Viridian forest. Why don't you follow me, I can help you get to a safe spot."

"Oh, um, sure… won't your trainer mind?" Meanwhile, in her mind, she is slightly taken aback. What to do, what to do… I can't say no without seeming stupid, but saying yes means more of this… whatever 'this' should be called.

Oblivious to Flitt's dubious thoughts, he replies "No, it'll only be a few days. I've gone weeks without showing up at my trainer's place, so this shouldn't be a problem."

"Oh… okay…"

Taking her reply as a yes, Omaly smiles "Alright, we can leave in a few minutes, or whenever you are ready."

Flitt attempts a grin. What have I just gotten myself into? I can't rely on him!