Chapter 1: Undisturbed peace
Chapter 1: Undisturbed peace
I ran as fast as I could, dodging rocks and the occasional log. I had no particular reason to hurry, as my mother didn't expect me home for at least another hour, but I didn't mind. I like to run. That's why my mom named me Dash.
My mother says that young Eevee who like to run will often become Jolteons. I'm not really sure what evolution I'd like to be when I grow up (the only Eevee evolution I've seen is my mother, Bonnie, a Flareon), but if Jolteons run fast, then they're probably cool. My cousin, who lives downriver of us, recons that he wants to be an Espeon when he grows up. He's never seen one, but he's heard stories about 'em, and thinks it'd be cool to have psychic powers. He acts like he's some sort of expert on Eevee evolutions just 'cause he's seen more than me (He caught a glimpse of a Vaporeon once).
My family has lived in this wood for as long as I can remember. My mother told me that my Grandfather told her that we didn't always live here. Our family was driven out of our ancestral lands by an army of conquering Pokemon. When I asked her why those Pokemon wanted our home, she said that Grandfather never told her. It's hard to imagine that we ever lived anywhere but this quiet, peaceful, undisturbed wood.
Our family fled into this wood, where we were sympathized with and accepted by the local Pokemon. For a long time, out family was a very popular one, always being sought after for advice and helping out needy Pokemon. Almost everyone was acquainted with our family in one way or another.
Then, almost all my family, grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles alike, made various preparations, and marched to the coast. My mother says I'm not ready to know why yet, but that she'll tell me when I'm old enough. But the way she describes it, it sounds like they were preparing for war or something. Anyway, they left for the coast, leaving only my mom, me, her sister-in-law, and my cousin left. It's been a few years now, and they still haven't returned.
My mom tells me and my sister that dad will return eventually, but a few times I've caught her crying when she thought I was asleep, and I don't think she believes that. I wasn't old enough to really have any memories of my father, even though mom says I was technically "born" at that point. After my father (a Vaporeon) left with the others, my mom found out that she was pregnant with Abbey, my younger sister. Abbey isn't really old enough to understand the concept of death, but she still tries to cheer up mom when she gets in one of her depressive moods.
Anyway, today it had been my job to collect the berries for lunch, and like most things, I had finished it early. Now I was enjoying the excitement and exhilaration of running full out.
"Hi, Mr. Harry!" I yelled at Mr. Harry as I passed his tree. Mr. Harry is a wise old Noctowl who lives near our section of the river. When my family was here, it was one generalized living area, but since they left, it has become polarized into two separate areas. I live in one, whereas my cousin lives in the other.
Some of my friends think Mr. Harry is intimidating, but I think he's cool. You should have seen him the time he saved me from that Mightyena! My mom invited him to dinner and thanked him continually the whole time. Mr. Harry just kept smiling and saying it was no trouble at all.
We've been friends ever since. Whenever I pass by his tree, he always has something wise to say or an interesting piece of news. Sometimes he even shares a cup of tea with us. My friends all think I'm cool for being friends with him, but I just say they should be more relaxed around him. Especially Artimus, my Cyndaquil friend. He flinches every time he sees Mr. Harry at all. He's timid at best, outright cowardly at worst.
Mr. Harry hooted out his greetings, and I continued along my path. As I did, I ran across my best friend, Henry. Henry is a Dratini, and he's my best friend in whole world. My cousin and I are pretty close too, but he's family, so he doesn't count.
"Hiya, Henry!" I called out as I slowed my pace to talk to him (Dratini aren't very fast out of the water, and my Pokemon friends who walk on land can't keep up with me very well anyway).
Henry seemed startled by my sudden appearance, but glad to see me all the same. His face slowly unfurled into a grin as he greeted me in return. We talked for a bit, and I promised to play with him after lunch. We agreed to meet by the river near Mr. Harry's tree, and went our separate ways.
As I bounded along, I finally saw my destination: a small burrow, with chimney sticking out of the ground.
My home.