"Blake!?" where had that boy got to, "Blake, the game is over, we are leaving now"

Professor Willow was now in the realisation that a game of hide and seek probably was not the best idea to play with her son whilst they were waiting for the rest of the expedition team to finish packing up the equipment.

Professor Willow is one of the leading professors in Pokémon behaviour and communication and is known throughout hoenn, johto and kanto. Because she travels so much there is no dedicated pokemon lab. But when her family weren't exploring the wilderness there was the quiet town of _ to retreat to where the Willow family had their home.

Prof Willow was in her late twenties, she had long blonde hair that was often tied in a single ponytail slightly off centred on the back of her head, her blue eyes were often mistaken to reflect a calm personality when in fact she was a hot tempered fighter. Standing in heels at 5"10 (175cm for you metric lovers) with her lab coat and thick lensed glasses people would question what her real personality was. It was questionable why she wore heels in her profession which involved all kinds of physical activity, but the poor individual who thought it might be wise to make a comment of it is still too traumatised to be able to talk of the event.

Few who had seen her in a different light included her adopted son Blake. This young rascal was an orphan who had tried to stow away on one of their expeditions when he was still 7, or somewhere close to that age. His mottled brown hair was full of dirt and his clothes were full of holes. His shoes were nearly non-existent with his toes sticking out of the ends showing that they were a few sizes too small.

Now 12, Blake had his life turned around. He was still adventurous and often came home with grazes and new holes in his clothes, but he now came home to a loving mother who patched him up and held him when he was hurt. He had learnt to read in under a year and loved the information that PW had stored away. Writing was still a problem however but maybe that was just because there was nothing to write about. Although Professor Willow was positive that Blake could talk fluently, he refrained from doing so as much as possible around other people.

So where had this boy gotten to now? As the professor continued to stray further from the temporary camp and into the woods in the direction which she had seen Blake run in (who doesn't peek as a parent in hide and seek?) the grass got longer, and the trees got closer together, blocking out the now fading sun more and more. The professor cursed that she had left her pokeballs back in the truck, imagining them there attached to her belt as it dangled from the rearview mirror.

A small rustle of the bushes in front of her broke her trail of thought.

"Blake?" she called out hesitantly. The rustling stopped. Silence.

Suddenly the bush erupted, the shock causing Professor Willow to fall backwards and catch her heels some roots. Bewildered and now with a wet backside the professor still had plenty of fight left in her. Lashing out with her arms in attempt to block whatever assailant had caused this.

Instead there was a squawk and a quick flutter of feathers and she was face to face with an equally confused pidgey. It must have been foraging when she disturbed it.

With all that commotion the forest came alive again, as if its curse was broken all the pokemon that were hiding in the bushes and trees came alive. Caterpie and Ledyba, kakuna & bidoof. All their cries could be heard as they resumed their daily lives. Surely they weren't that afraid of humans?

Professor Willow's thoughts were answered as a huge roar was heard throughout the forest. Silence fell once again as the pokemon retreated to their respected hiding places in a false sense of safety they would provide against whatever was out there. Even though she was no longer in sight of the camp, the direction of which was now a mystery the professor was sure that the rest of the expedition team had now heightened their efforts to pack up and move out as quickly as possible. With Blake still missing however, Professor Willow was not going anywhere.

No damage done, she thought to herself as the professor picked herself up off the ground and continued on her path deeper into the woods. Now slightly more wary of calling out for Blake.

Blake studied the Wall of rock that towered infront of him, Professor Willow definitely wouldn't find him on top of that. The outcrop was a little taller than the trees surrounding it, and seemed to be a combination of manmade rock that had been abandoned long ago, and the natural rocks that had crushed them in landslides that still seemed ancient. Since then trees had attempted to sprout off the rocky clump with little success, roots and moss were in every nook and cranny. But there were still plenty of handholds That Blake was looking promisingly at. He could hear Professor Willow calling out for him so he quickly made a start on the ascent.

After a few falls with a nice new collection of grazes to show the professor Blake had managed to conquer the rocks and now sat proudly on top with his legs dangling over the side admiring the canopy of the woods in front of him. From this high up he could see the small clearing where the expedition had set up camp. But this evening there was no smoke like the other nights where they sat around the fire sharing stories and looking at the stars.

Something Nudged Blake's side, at first he thought it must have been a stick that had snagged on his clothes but it was persistent even after he had pushed it away. To his surprise when he turned around to look at this troublesome snag there was a pink ball of fluff. With eyes! And legs! Blake still didn't know that much about pokemon. But it seemed friendly and this was not the first time Blake had encountered pokemon without any of his own.

Curious about where this pokemon had come from he went to turn around to look at it properly, just then a sudden flash of an image in his mind overcame him. It was in such vivid colour that he was dazed if only for a moment. It was an image of rocks crumbling and falling down on the wall that he was sat on. A Gargantuan roar brought him back to his senses as he felt the rocks underneath him give way to the vibrations of the ground below. He began to fall and looked back at the pokemon that was meant to be still there on the ledge, but instead was now in mid-air claws extended jumping straight for him! He glanced at the ground coming up to meet him and braced for the impact.

When Blake opened his eyes he wasn't greeted with mud or rocks, but with the same pink fluff of his new found friend clambering all over him. Surprised that all his limbs were able to move without sudden pain Blake was pleased with his lucky escape. He had fallen through the canopy of a nearby tree and it had broken his fall enough to leave him with a nasty cut on his knee and a lot of holes in his new trousers. To his shock however his top was ripped to shreds and lots of scratches were all over his chest, he doubted these were from the tree and looked to the fluff accusingly. Just like a cat, he said to himself. I think I will name you Kat.

Now interested in his surroundings as his life was not in danger Blake saw that there was a new adventure to be had, the wall that he was previously upon had completely crumbled away and instead lay a cave entrance. It was dark and menacing. Which made it all the more a mystery for Blake. He got up and looked expectantly at Kat who was now rooting through some bushes near to where he was standing.

He was stopped in his tracks by a familiar voice.

"There you are! You little rascal." Professor Willow said, striding into view, covered in mud and grass stains, heels however still intact. "Time to go Blake, it looks like we have both had our fair share of adventure today." Blake reluctantly turns his back to the cave and sauntered across to where the professor was standing. "Is your new friend coming too?" Blake turned around to look at Kat who was now bounding after him.

The professor bent down to take a closer look. "It's rare to see an Espeon so small! It must have evolved whilst very young." Kat shyed away and hid behind Blake. "Well you can tell me all about it on our way back to the camp, they must be done by now." The professor turned to leave and then remembered. "Do you know the way back? I kinda got lost" As she laughed awkwardly.

When they got back to the camp everything was packed up and waiting to go. Some members had already left and the ones who stayed, regardless of their feelings on the late appearance of the professor, kept their opinions to themselves and not even a tut or a shake of the head was seen.

Back at the truck Professor Willow was able to show Blake the pokedex entry on Espeon, giving him an idea about average height and weight, some moves that are commonly learnt in the wild and importantly the gender of his pokemon.

"Good job Kat is a girl, else you might have had a problem" Professor Willow joked, Blake didn't find it funny.