Everything
Trying to get inspiration back for The Selection Course with another Eevee story.
"No, no, no! Your stitching lines, they're uneven and too far spread from each other." The Glaceon fussed, taking the thread in between her teeth and pulling most of the sloppy stitching out.
"Sorry," a young Eevee muttered, rolling her eyes.
The ice type ignored her, continuing her rant. "Honestly, Nova, no one in their right mind, even the poorest of the poor, wouldn't put this monstrosity on their dinner table."
"Karen, it's just a table cloth that I'm doing for practice, calm down." Nova sighed.
"No, it's not a practice run! Were you listening to me at all? You're next in line to run this store and if you can't do something as simple as finish a table cloth with clean stitching, ugh, I don't know what I'm going to do with you."
"Alright, well I just don't like sewing. It's boring. I'd rather be outside playing with Farah and Stephanie and Hilary."
"Well you can go out and play if you can make your lines more prim and presentable. It's not that hard."
"Easy for you to say, you've had so much practice, I mean you've been running this store for hundreds of years now."
"Nova! I only evolved a few years ago!"
"Whatever."
"Please just finish the cloth." Karen pleaded, sounding exasperated.
"It was almost done until you undid everything!" She yelled, glaring accusingly at her.
"That cloth wasn't good enough to sell, that's why I undid it."
"Well I liked it! If someone was selling it I would buy it! Who cares about the stitching?"
"Everyone with eyes."
"Just leave me alone!"
The Glaceon rolled her eyes and went back to her frilly wedding ribbons. Nova growled under her breath, staring disdainfully at the blue and white checkered table cloth. She stared at the cloth for a moment before smirking. Picking the needle and thread into her jaws, Nova started to stitch as sloppily as possible, making sure the stitch lines were far spread and in ragged zigzags. She took her time though, knowing that her mentor would grow suspicious if she finished too quickly.
XXX
"Wow… see, Nova? I told you if you just took your time and concentrated that your stitching would drastically improve." Karen said, thoroughly impressed as she inspected the near-perfect stitch job.
"So… can I go play now?" Nova asked, praying that Karen wouldn't inspect the other side.
"Of course! Just be back by sun-down."
Nova beamed at her response, hurrying out of the store before Karen would see through her ploy. The Eevee knew that her trick would only work once, so she had to enjoy this while it lasted. Her paws thudded along the uneven cobblestone path, weaving between other townsfolk as she ran towards Farah's house.
The Fennekin had the same 'glamorous' career path that she did, only she actually liked it. In fact, it had been Farah who'd done most of the work on that table cloth…
The two were both taught at the same store. It was the only sewing store in town. Any fabricated items that did not come from that store came from the poor townsfolk who were desperate for poké. Farah was lucky, she was already good at sewing so she didn't have to come in for training everyday like Nova did.
Nova reached Farah's house rather quickly, pawing at her door immediately. Farah's father, an Arcanine, answered the door.
"Mr. Ernie, is Farah home?" Nova asked.
The powerful fire type shook his head. "No, you just missed her actually. She went back to the store to start her training early so she would have more free time tomorrow."
Nova sighed, "alright, thanks anyway."
Maybe Steph's home. She thought, heading over to the fields.
XXX
Nova's shoulders sagged when she saw the other Eevee still digging holes in the berry field.
"Hey, Stephanie! How's work going?" She hollered, happily stepping into the mud.
The squishy, wet, cold feeling of stepping in mud always brought a smile to her face. Nova almost forgot she had said something to Stephanie. The muddy Eevee looked in Nova's direction, her face brightening at the sight of her friend.
"Oh, hey, Nova! What brings you here?" She asked, hopping through the muddy fields to get to Nova.
"I was just wondering if you finished working the fields yet. I just finished my training for the day and I was hoping you were done too."
Stephanie gave her a goofy smile. "What'd you do this time? You never get out of that store before moon-rise."
Nova giggled, "I just showed Karen the side of the cloth that Farah did and hid the side that I sewed."
"That sounds 'bout right."
"Well you can't just expect me to actually try to sew something. Arceus your job is so much cooler than mine, Steph. I would kill to get to be outside and play in the dirt like this all day." Nova sighed, staring enviously at Stephanie's mud-caked fur.
"It ain't as great as you'd think," Stephanie smiled, kicking some mud off her back leg. "When it's real hot out, the mud gets real thick and has this gross feel to it while it dries up. Trust me, staying inside and working on something that will always make you money sounds way better than this."
"What do you mean? Everyone buys food." Nova scoffed.
"No, I mean if the berry trees don't grow or make good fruit, well I'm screwed."
"Yeah but-"
"Stephanie! What are you doin'? We got work to do! Stop talkn' with your friend and plant the rest of 'em!" Stephanie's mother, a Leafeon, yelled from the far side of Stephanie's family fields.
Stephanie sighed. "Gotta go, sorry."
"It's fine-"
Stephanie had already gone.
Hopefully Hilary's done baking.
XXX
A line of Pokémon stretched all the way out of the bakery's doors. Nova sighed in defeat. Seeing the Vulpix when the store was that busy would be near impossible.
"Only me…" She muttered, feeling stumped.
She started back down the street, out of friends to visit. Nova began wandering, staring at the uneven cobblestone path that lay underpaw so she wouldn't trip. The Eevee didn't know where exactly she was going anymore. She zoned out after walking down a few streets, her movements becoming almost robotic.
"Move out of the way!" A voice shouted, barreling into Nova.
Nova yelped in surprise as she was shoved a few paces in front of her. She looked up to see a Shinx and an Eevee. The Shinx got up first and glared at Nova.
"Stupid girl," he muttered, turning back to his companion, "come on, Eric, we're late for battle practice."
"Yeah, I know that." The Eevee sighed, shaking the dust from his pelt and taking a glance at Nova.
The Shinx started towards the direction of the castle.
The Eevee's blank look turned into a glare, "next time, watch it."
He then ran after the Shinx. Nova got to her paws, not bothering to shake the grit from her fur as she started running in the direction that the Eevee and Shinx had ran. She wanted to yell at them to wait up, but she knew they'd just yell at her more then try and lose her. Nova winced when she saw the two take a sharp turn, knowing that she'd skin her paw pads on the path when she followed.
This better be worth it. She thought, sucking in another breath and gaining a burst of speed.
Nova began to notice that the houses were gradually growing in size and quality. They were mostly made of brick and cobblestone just like the other houses, but the blocks seemed to be in perfect rows with fresh, new filler rather than the houses and buildings down where she lived. Each home also had a small yard with near-perfect plants flowering within them. She smiled at the thought of having her own house.
Well I did a few years ago. The girl reminded herself.
Suddenly, the Shinx and Eevee ran in between two houses, knocking over some clay flower pots in the process. Nova's eyes widened as she took the unexpected turn, yelping when some shards of the pots dug into her paws, but she kept going. There weren't any more houses after that one. Her heart sped up when she realized how close she was to the wall that circled the entire kingdom. How close she was to the danger that lurked outside of the Lumin Kingdom.
Her mind had often wandered and conjured up horrid, twisted dangers that could possibly lay in wait for her in the forest just on the other side of the wall. She started weaving in between tree stumps. They were enormous in width and overall thickness. Nova was tempted to slow down and examine them more closely, having never seen any in person. But the walls blocked out the forest for a reason, and technically the stumps still belonged to the forest, meaning to her that she was still at risk for an attack.
The Eevee and Shinx would surely stop to save me if anything were to happen, wouldn't they? She asked herself somewhat nervously.
Her lungs burned as she continued, but she knew those two were a part of something that she might want to be a part of too. Nova forced herself to keep going. The young Eevee looked ahead past the sea of stumps to see the shining jewel of the kingdom up ahead. It was glorious and perfect, free of any flaws. The castle stood proudly on the tallest hill within the walls, standing just a few feet higher than the walls themselves. That was the closest she'd ever been to the castle. She grinned and continued on, hoping the two would go all the way to the castle.
XXX
By the time the two had stopped, Nova's paws felt like they were going to drop off. She hung back from the two in the rose bushes, not caring about the thorns ripping at her fur.
"McKinley's going to be so mad at us." The Eevee muttered, panting rather loudly as he regained his breath.
"Naw, it's going to be me that dies," the Shinx retorted, "you're practically his boss."
"Well then I'll make sure you don't get in trouble." He grumbled, trotting along the castle's gates until he started declining down a trail.
"Eric, come on don't get in a bad mood." The Shinx pleaded, following his friend.
"Eric." Nova echoed, having heard the name twice now.
She proceeded down the trail where the two had gone down. Battle cries started to fill her ears as she got further down. Her chocolate-colored eyes brightened at the sounds, getting jittery at the thought of getting to participate in an actual battle.
"Eric! Brighton! Why are you thirty minutes late?" A voice demanded.
Nova froze up and started to walk more calmly and quietly.
"We lost track of time, I apologize." The Eevee said with an edge to his voice.
"Yes." The Shinx agreed.
"Just start training, I'm sure Ben or Jake will catch you slackers up on what I showed everyone." The voice responded.
Nova started running again when the speaker's voice calmed a little. She didn't realize the path was very short. Nova stumbled into the open. A Pyroar stood closest to where Nova had come in, glaring at her.
"What are you doing here?" He growled.
Nova looked behind him, ignoring the question. About a hundred pre-evolved male Pokémon were paired up, sparring roughly with each other on the hot sand that was underpaw. A Growlithe with blood dripping from its muzzle glared at her.
"What's that doing here?"
All eyes fell on Nova; the fighting ceased.
"You!" The Eevee who she had followed to the area growled from his place in the back.
"What's everyone doing?" Nova asked, looking straight up at the Pyroar.
He bared his yellowing fangs at the young Eevee. "Girls aren't welcome here." The fire type snarled.
Nova stared up at him skeptically. "Why not? I just want to see what's going on."
"Warrior training isn't for little girls like you-"
"What about when I'm older? Maybe when I evolve can I come back?" Nova interrupted.
"No!" The lion-like Pokémon hissed, turning to the bleeding Growlithe. "Goliath, teach her that this isn't for wee-little girls like her."
The Growlithe nodded, stepping away from his sparring partner until he was at the Pyroar's side. The Pyroar glared at Growlithe.
"What don't you get about teaching her a lesson? Fight her!" He roared, shoving him forward.
Nova's eyes widened in surprise, getting into a clumsy battle position. The Growlithe laughed at her and got into a much firmer, professional-looking stance.
"Ladies first." He growled mockingly.
Nova nodded, determined to prove them wrong. She ran at the fire type, who merely side-stepped her. Nova stumbled onto the ground, getting up as quickly as her tired body could and turning around. The Growlithe immediately spewed out hundreds of tiny embers, each of them landing on Nova. She didn't know what else to do other than take it, so she stood in front of the attack until the embers subsided, only to be tackled to the ground and have her leg bitten.
"Get up." The Pyroar muttered.
The Growlithe nodded and stepped off Nova, leaving her as nothing more than a disheveled, dust-covered lump of fur on the ground. Nova sat up a few moments after that, her ears ringing from the ferocity of the blows. She knew her forearm was bleeding. The girl stared up at Pyroar.
"Now you know why you aren't welcome here, get out." He said, plain and simple.
Nova wanted to stay, not to give them the satisfaction and smug feeling of driving her out; but she was tired, bleeding, and humiliated. She wanted to cry. She shook her head lightly to herself as she turned back towards the path that she came down. Nova didn't want them to see her cry or bleed or look the slightest bit defeated. She heard them mocking her, laughing at her as she began to leave.
Keeping her last shred of dignity, she held her head and tail up high and walked out.