The Tales of Eight Choices

by FenneThePenne

Each Eevee can evolve into something special, but isn't it the journey that truly defines who you are? Learn about all eight Eeveelutions and the virtues they learned in their journeys to become who they are. Enjoy reading about a Vaporeon who fought for his love, a Flareon who mastered the darkness, and even a Jolteon who became the laughing stock of the entire world.

HI READERS! :D

Woah, all caps? That must mean this is super important, or a teenage girl hacked this author's note, or I'm too lazy to change it (definitely the latter). Anyway, I'm Fennelover the Pokemon writer! And let's begin the author's note monologue! (Insert reader yawning here). Relax, this note will only take about eight hours to read.

So this is a short story I've been wanting to try for a while since I love good stories and I also love Eevees. Like all good writers who try writing online, my summary does not do the story full credit. You'll just have to read it to see if you like it or not.

So what's my hopefully not to cliche plot about? Well I decided that I wanted to create a Pokemon based short story with each chapter having a different Eevee evolving into each type, but that's not the catch, the catch is that each evolution represents a different virtue of life and how they came to learn their life's direction. It's not so much about the changing as it is the lessons learned by each experienced story teller. I plan to do all eight evolutions and create a chapter for each virtue in my notebook so that everyone who reads it will hopefully identify with one character or perhaps more. That's the whole goal in a nutshell. (Yep, definitely cliche).

So which of the grand Eeveelutions claims the first chapter? FLAREON! YAY! He's my favorite Eevee type right now but I change it like every week. Anyway, this chapter includes Flareon's evolution. (If you don't like Flareon, then too bad! Read a different chapter!)

So this story is based on the virtue of achievement. Since the goal of great attainment through achievement defines my life, I naturally decided this virtue should go first. I have many more planned for later and I actually think they'll be even more entertaining than this chapter, but we'll see. As long as you find a chapter that you can relate to then my job is done as a writer. Well that and a lot of editing to do but then my job is finally done!

First things first, Pokemon belongs to Pokemon and I don't own any Pokemon. The only thing I do own is the ice cream in the freezer and you can't have it! It's mine! (Eats all the ice cream). And now I own nothing, I should buy more ice cream sometime. What flavor guys? Help me out here!

Unlike this author's note, I actually think this story is really good. PLEASE! You have to let me know what you thought of it! I love reviews and I love to talk (Really? You love to talk? I had no idea!) so let me know what you think of it, ok? I like reviews and I like messages just as much. What I don't like is you not talking to me and you forgetting to mention that you have ice cream in your freezer! But that's ok, I still love you. (Eats spoonful of ice cream). That's right, I got more that fast. Cookie Dough flavor. Deal with it!

So this chapter is dedicated to my father, who has taught me that all work is important only if it's done with other people in mind. Maybe one day I'll make an impact in the world as great as the one he has made for me. Love you dad! Say hi to the dogs for me!

So enjoy and let me know what you think. If you do like my writing and want to read more of this style, might I suggest A Cub's Crush! It's more adventurous and engaging then this story, but I get a lot of mixed responses. Who knows? Will you cry or will you brave the plot twists that await you every chapter? Or you could just, you know, not read it. :P

Ok! Ok. I'm moving onto the story! Quit complaining! Can you just be cool? Once? Please? Just once? Can you just once be cool? Please? Just… Just… … … Ok?

Have a bodacious day guys! Please let me know what you think :D

- Suggested Reading Songs: Speeches by Walk Off the Earth, Preacher by One Republic, Hall of Fame by The Script.

…

Chapter One: The Flareon Who Asked for a Job

The dinner table was quiet, father was not home yet so it was just my mom and I. My brown and cream tail swished on the floor in impatience. I watched as my mother's pink ribbons did the same thing across the table.

The living room had no fire going which was unusual for this time of day, all the windows in our small apartment were shut tight against the snow storm outside. Father usually gets home around six just before it gets dark, but tonight he's just running late. I looked towards the closed door of our apartment for the eighth time with frustrated eyes. I wondered what was keeping him? I'm starving, too bad I never ate dinner until he got home.

Two Oran berries sat on my glass plate just inches from my face, completely untouched by my appetite. I lazily spun one in circles and pushed it up towards the other like a miniature circus show just so I could be slightly entertained. My mom frowned at me from across the table because I hadn't eaten her well made meal yet but she knew my rule and wouldn't dare disrespect my funny family tradition. I never ate until dad got home, I wasn't even hungry until that door opened up. I looked up for the ninth time. Still shut. The house grew even colder and I felt my fur rustle in disappointment.

"He'll be here soon." The well groomed and impatient Sylveon muttered for me to hear, her eyes were also locked on the door every four seconds just like mine. We tended to do a lot of things in common my mom and I. "You can eat without him you know. Do you ever eat dinner when he's not here?"

I laughed since my answer was no. It was a little game I played with my dad when I was much younger, my mother always said you can't leave the table until you finish your food so I found a way to make that work in my favor. I liked eating as a family, and quiet tables are awkward to withstand, so why not wait to start eating until dad got home from work? I would wait at the door for hours, then he'd barge in and we would feast on whatever mother had labored over. That was when I was four, things hadn't changed much except for how small the table was and how cramped my paws would get waiting here for hours when there was important stuff to do all the time. Back in those years we still had siblings at the apartment, sometimes four to a room. The last time we had a complete family dinner was more than two months ago. I was pretty sure my older siblings were spread across the land now, making me the youngest by two years but the apartment still felt like home, even if my knees were killing me in a table that could hardly fit six of us. I had a lot of siblings, all of them gone for now. I squirmed uncomfortably and my tail shook once again. Come on dad, you're taking forever.

Now I'm thirteen, the most dreaded and somehow envied age of an Eevee. I pushed the Oran back to the other side of my plate and my amusement hardly peaked. I was starving, but my mind kept me from thinking of food. Thirteen years old? That only means one thing for a soon to be graduate like me. Eevee's only have eight choices after all, it's not like your life depended on it. My ears sank below my head, my tail curled up tight. I knew this moment of thinking was coming, I just hope no one pressed the confusing issue. I pushed the Orans back together again.

My mother laughed at my small berry game and I lost my thought, my ears shooting back upright again. "Anything new with school sweetie?" She asked with a smile, her food already half eaten. "How's the speech coming?"

I shrugged. There wasn't much to discuss. I pointed toward the papers on the side of the table where I had been practicing my well rehearsed speech for the entire day. The berries on my plate looked very appetizing again, but I wouldn't break my streak until I knew dad wasn't coming home. He was coming, he was just an hour late. I still wondered why he didn't call or something. The clock said seven at night.

It's a big speech, envied by every student who steps through the great double doors to the famous evolution theory school I knew so well. Apparently doing well means you're supposed to tell the entire school what happens when you graduate. I was the top student of this year's entire class, it's a big deal I guess, but the graduation was the least of my problems let alone the speech. Something so simple to complete, yet so confusing that it bothered me to the point of crying. My claws scraped the wood floor below me, an act that I knew mom hated.

Talking is fine for me, it's my height that bothered me. I was best in line for the graduation school in this entire district, the best of the evolution based schools in the world and I had acquired first place in favor. I am an Eevee though, not evolved, the embarrassment of the school's upper evolved class I was a part in. Having me do the speech is like having a Dedenne compete in a height competition. I was qualified beyond all means, except that I didn't complete the one thing the entire school is focused on. I had worked hard for an enduring four years, but my height? It was laughable. Brown pelts that stood one foot off the ground never gave school speeches, Eevee's never did anything worthy of this world. Even I had to giggle at the thought of presenting myself with my cream colored tail twitching in terror behind me while the entire school laughed at my lack of a decision. The most respected student in the whole school and I wasn't even evolved. I was first in class for everything, I was last in the one thing that mattered, the shortest Pokemon to attend for four years. Besides, years ago I agreed to the school's tradition and now I would be the first to break it, they were growing impatient with me right up until the last minute. My time was out as of two weeks ago and they would not let me talk if I showed up like this tomorrow. My ears folded and I bit my tongue.

If I did not evolve, I did not graduate, no exception. The speech was tomorrow and the last day of classes was over a week ago. The school was growing restless with their most prized student also being the shortest Pokemon they had, the stares in the hallway were anything but tolerant by now. My claws pressed anxiously on the ground in a hardwood seat that was even too small for me. One small decision, yet I couldn't do it. Why is it so hard to choose? Everyone else made the decision just fine. Why could I…

Why is this seat so uncomfortable? I squirmed again and considered eating now even though dad was not home. I waited patiently once again, letting the thought pass even though my anxiety would be back in just a few seconds. The clock read half past seven.

This is what I dread at thirteen, today was the last day that I could choose or lose my reputation with the school, having to attend another year even though I passed all the classes. I pushed the berry back to the other side of the plate and it nearly rolled off. Mom seemed to know what I was thinking about, I figured the whole school did by now.

"I've heard your speech sweetie." She started, breaking the silence except for the snow storm outside our home. "It's fantastic, try not to worry about it." The well groomed Sylveon grabbed the plate in her pink paw since she had finished long ago and still father had not come home. Chores had to be done and the sink was calling her name as it always did at this time. Maybe it was working for my father as a receptionist before they met, or perhaps it was having to raise eight cubs at the same time but I would never know how my mother could manage to keep this place so clean. It helped that everyone was out of the house by now except me, the youngest of her great cubs. "I'll be in the kitchen sweetie." She replied to my patient stare as I watched her walk away.

I smiled at her before she left, she smiled back. Our small apartment had just enough rooms for my parents and myself, a perfect fit for only three Pokemon unlike before when everyone lived at home. We had a living room that led into the dining room, which led straight to the kitchen. It was a small place, something I never quite understood with how wealthy we were, but for more than twenty years it had been home and my great parents had managed to raise nine cubs in here all at the same time. I was the last one left, but my final days here approached faster than graduation. I would have to leave once I evolved and I actually looked forward to it, joining the new world in a cause and purpose plus I would get a bigger room which was always a good thing. I pushed the Oran back to the other side of my plate. Come on dad, hurry up, my stomach's growling.

I squirmed in my chair a little. The table was obviously smaller than most, or maybe I had just grown over the last nine years. I remember being four when dad built it and I couldn't reach up to the seat. Now my tail sprawled out on the floor and my paws reached the ground without even sitting properly. Dad always suggested that he could buy a new fancier table if we wanted, but no family member dared to complain. I liked this table. I liked that my paws touched the ground as if I was still a cub when I sat in it. It was nice to both sit down in a time that seemed very unstable for me, besides the ache in your back that would from if you sat here too long in one position. I squirmed again and my tail brushed against the cold wood floor. My dad was also smart to insist on putting a cloth over his prized possession so it wouldn't get scratched as we grew older. For an old Pokemon he had done a nice job but I always wondered why he insisted on black when it wasn't his favorite color, maybe it was just for the nostalgia in his old life or something. We never changed the cloth, we never changed anything in this house. I smiled, even I hadn't changed. Not yet at least.

He had made it himself long ago. Rumor has it that my dad has made the whole world a better place. I stared at the six pieces of paper on my left. Just looking at them made me feel so much taller but I knew it was just an illusion. Sitting in an undersized chair did not make you a tall Pokemon, it made you nothing. The clock read ten minutes past seven and more time was wasted with no decision. My height stayed the same even though the world begged me to stand taller.

On those papers was my speech, a speech about a Flareon who had worked hard and changed the world through his billion dollar business. I always knew my father was a great figure, a point which became more and more clear as the years went on, but one day in class we were talking about the history of evolutionary stones. This was ironic I suppose considering how hopeful I had found that speech and how terrifying it was to me now. I was called to the front of the classroom. I was nine and it was the first day of school.

I was asked what I wanted to be, but I shrugged. Everyone laughed but I had a good point, the teacher quickly made the suggestion that I was right to wait and that in the next four years she promised she would help me make my decision. I gulped at the mere thought that this was supposed to be an incentive for making someone happy yet it turns out you can run out of happiness in due time. Perhaps it was my own fault.

The teacher began to explain by using me as a fun example of each type, thankful that she had an Eevee for this lesson. She asked what a powerful fire type is like and I stood up as tall as I could. Quick like lightning and she had me run between the desks. Everyone else wanted to join in the game and soon the class was in a frenzy. The teacher loved it but then she said a name that made me stop dead.

It was my father's name. I slammed to a halt and four cubs ran me over from behind. I looked up at the board just as the teacher wrote the full name down and the entire class froze in silence. My first class, my first hour of school, and my father was on the board? Was I in trouble?

The first lesson in the history of evolutionary stones, is my father. It was a long class period and that same day at home, we had a long dinner. Apparently you can't ask what your father does for a living without the entire table and family turning your direction. Another tip, don't ask that question during a family dinner when everyone's arguing. That was more than four years ago, back when I was nine. I missed those days when I had years to wait but only one decision remained for me now, the hardest of them all and I had never once been rushed to make a decision in my life. What if you could actually choose wrong? The storm blew outside and I hoped dad was ok.

I shoved the berry to the other side of my plate. I accidentally hit it so hard it rolled off and then fell to the floor. I hoped mom wouldn't be mad but at least it didn't explode in blue juice all over the floor. I guess I was only eating one berry tonight but the story went on in my head. I guessed what mom didn't know wouldn't worry her. I could hear the kitchen sink competing against my mother's soft humming as she quietly did what she loved best. Somehow I was jealous that all this time and her decision was just fine, I shook my head and shoved my paws up to my forehead. Jealously is never an answer, but finding a good answer is usually a lot harder.

So my father, head of Gemstones Incorporated. It was a rich company that promised to one day bring the cost of evolutionary stones down further so that all families could afford them. Whatever they were doing over there in the factory and mining facility my dad practically owned, it was changing the world. I was made a positive example of ever since that first day in class and I loved it until the teachers became impatient and the realization dawned on me that I wasn't ready to decide. Days passed by, soon the other four years went. My father stood taller than anyone I knew and I was now the smallest in the entire family, the entire school. Never in my life had I stood taller than I did that first day of school when I realized I could be anything. Now I realized, I'm very short, and that had to change before I ever would.

Legacies are one thing, evolution is another. I wanted to do this speech, a small part of my humility even dared to think I deserved it. But you can't talk at graduation like this, not this small, not with this stature. I'm an Eevee and Eevee's don't give big speeches, I pushed the berry back to the other side of the plate and nearly broke it in half.

If I didn't decide something tonight, if I didn't see a clear path ahead of me while eight paths remained, then I wasn't graduating. Not for another full year and I could say goodbye to…

The doorknob twitched.

My ears and tail shot up so fast I nearly fell out of my chair. My mom rushed to peak her head through the kitchen and we waited in silence, staring at the storm just outside the door. Was he finally here? Well about time!

The door slammed open and the great Flareon was inside before I could even blink. He took a quick breath to catch his air, and then smiled, his red fur obviously freezing. "Sorry I'm late guys."

The house was warm again. I shoved the berry into my mouth and chewed as savagely as I could. Arceus, I'm hungry!

"Hi honey!" My mom yelled from the kitchen. She quickly ran over and caressed his cheek, making him smile more since he was still loved even after being late. "Your fur is freezing!"

"Of course it is, I'm freezing!" My dad replied in his loud yet comical voice, a voice that always made me want to listen and remember his words. "I'm sorry I'm late, Mark's car broke down and I decided to give him a lift. It's a storm out there." He shook his fur and snow went everywhere. Even for a Flareon, he sure did have a big coat, made with both time and age. One look and you knew he had a few good stories to tell. I kept chewing but watched them smile and kiss each other. It made me laugh at the funny sight.

My mother frowned. "So you're telling me you manage to fit Mark in our car?" That probably wasn't a good thing. I continued to chew as fast as I could.

My father giggled right back at my mom. "It's fine, it's lasted for years and Mark isn't going to be the end of it." My father rolled his eyes and after finally taking off his jacket and his hat, he kissed my mom again and was ready to relax at home. "So what's for dinner? Do we have any coffee left?" If there's one thing I know about my father, it's that he loves his coffee. I personally hated it and I knew that I always would. I guess liking coffee came with certain jobs or something, but I would never like it as much as my father does, he had always loved that drink.
My mother proudly walked back to the kitchen where her meals were still warm. I watched as the pink ribbons flowed with life simply because father was home. The house really lights up once a Flareon is in the room. I rolled my eyes and stared back at the living room where my dad had just finished hanging up his favorite well-fitted suit. He walked right past the couch and towards the fireplace that he had impatiently waited for since the storm had hit.

I watched him in complete silence, my mouth stopping mid chew. I never understood it but the great Flareon sat down, and closed his eyes. What was he doing?

Every time. Every time without fail he would sit there like this. If you thought my eating habits were bad, you should see my father with whatever it was he was doing. Finally he opened his eyes after fifteen well counted seconds. Who sits still for fifteen seconds? The great red furred Pokemon grabbed a piece of wood in his mouth and then placed it in the worn out fireplace as if handling pure gold. It wasn't even cold inside the house now but father always wanted a fire going, even if he wasn't around. Flareons.

A short breath of fire and the wood burned bright. Watching my dad light a fire was something to see. Other Flareons stood with their paws wide and shot flames out in every direction. My dad would lean low with his ears held against his head and his tail stretched out tight. When he breathed fire, it was with patience. Sometimes it would take him twice to light it. I wasn't sure if it was his age or perhaps practice that caused him to light a fire with such delicacy, like he would break the wood if he wasn't careful but I enjoyed his measures to make sure everything was just right. Perhaps he was just getting old and I mistook experience for age but a Flareon that would lean low to the ground and stare at fire with purpose instead of meaninglessly create it, this Flareon would stand taller than all the rest, and my father was very tall.

The fire was lit. I wondered if my father would do that action again, but he just stared into the flames in deep thought and tucked his tail around his side. He turned around to come to the table and I quickly realized I was staring right at him, I hope it wasn't too obvious I was spying on his odd behavior. What was going through his head for fifteen silence seconds? I continued to eat the half finished berry in my mouth.

Thirteen years I had been alive and I still don't know why he did that weird thing. Everyone at school knew my father as the town's millionaire, I knew him simply as my dad. It's funny how I often get the two mixed up but it became obvious of how important it was whenever he was out of the house and he spoke a different language of finance and personnel relations. Then he would scratch my head and move on and ask me how my day went. I probably had the most peculiar family in the whole school, all starting with the Flareon I called father and that everybody else just called James.

"Hello Jake!" Father stated when he walked by my side, his smile never leaving his face. He took his seat at the table and looked more comfortable than I did even though he was twice my size. His fluffy tail reached past the chair and even to the hallway from our tiny table. Somehow he managed to sit with all four of his paws on the tiny chair while I squirmed in mine like a little cub. "How are you?"

Something else about my father, he never forgot anything I said. I shrugged and put the last of the berry in my mouth so that my plate was finally empty. Food tastes better when your father is home and even better when he sits by your side.

The observant Flareon wasn't going to let me off that easy. "How's Lucy doing?"

I nearly choked.

"Wait, what?" My mom yelled from the kitchen, dropping the clean plate in her paw and almost breaking it. "Are you talking about that Glaceon again? The one from school right?"

I quickly signaled for my dad to knock it off or I would rip his fur out.

The great Flareon just chuckled instead, eating the Pecha berry off his plate that was cold now which mother had left for him all night. "A Glaceon?" He whispered underneath his breath while staring at the berry. "I always figured her for an Espeon, considering how smart she is." My father gave it some more thought and then he started eating. "Anyway, I talked to her father the other day. They are excited to come over for the graduation party after your speech."

I was so thankful for my father's willingness to ask. It's hard to have a crush on a smart Glaceon without her knowing, and I knew she felt the exact same way about me all these years. There was only one thing keeping me from asking her out on an actual date but we still made each other laugh everyday in class. It was kind of obvious though that an Eevee cannot stand up to the height of a Glaceon so therefore, asking her out would just make us laugh as some kind of comical joke for the whole school. Come to think of it, she would've made a nice Espeon. I shrugged and decided there was a lesson in that somewhere, that's what I get for waiting to evolve a year after my crush does. It's not just graduation that bothered me, I would have to stay at the school for another year if I didn't make a decision tonight and Lucy was leaving as soon as she could. I would lose everything including her tonight if I didn't choose something, anything!

My mother came into the room again with more food and I stole another Oran to help quell my thoughts. "He gives his graduation speech tomorrow." She said to my father as if he didn't already know that. I noticed the quick glance she gave him but he just smiled at her instead as if saying he was more confident than her. My father's a fantastic listener, but he's even better at smiling all the time.

"Are you ready?" My father asked me, taking another berry into his waiting mouth.

I handed him my speech without saying a word. Hopefully I wouldn't have to speak all night if I wanted to keep my parents off my tail about this pressing issue. I knew the talk was coming soon.

The speech is well written. My father quickly read over the entire thing the way he would with new information at work. There were also rumors that he could memorize an entire newspaper in less than ten minutes if he wanted to. I didn't doubt it but something told me he had learned how to do that from one of his coworkers. Probably from his boss or something, that small Pokemon was a genius, the tallest of anyone in this world.

My father finished reading my speech but he didn't let go. I stared at him in confusion when he suddenly grabbed his paw and gripped it tight to prevent it from moving. He was shaking? Was he ok?

It was over a few seconds after it started. He waited a bit and then slowly let go as if his paw was just fine. I quickly looked back at my plate to avoid his suspicion but I couldn't stop thinking about what I witnessed. Maybe he was just cold from outside, it seemed to be a likely explanation considering he was a Flareon. My father set down the paper that his shaky paw had accidentally crumbled.

"You're talking about me in your speech?" My father interrupted my intense staring at my plate.

I nodded. Who else would I talk about? My father is a famous Pokemon and being famous makes for good speech topics. I shrugged since my father had a lot of influence at the school that was dedicated to the evolution of its Pokemon. Somehow I felt the magazine articles with my dad on them had more impact in class than my actual father did. It's one thing to picture how an important Pokemon acts in your wandering imagination, it's another to actually meet them at a family dinner conversation.

My father put down the paper and his ears folded against his head. I stopped chewing.

"Hmm." He mused to himself, his old fur and oversized tail keeping him warm and probably comfortable despite how uncomfortable I was. I wonder if he knew how bad my back was aching from sitting like this, who knows how I would be able to sit anymore if I chose an evolution? I imagined my tail not only sticking out the back of this chair, but reaching halfway across the floor just as my father's did. When I move out, I'm getting a space with a large living room and a big hallway, just so I can stand properly unlike this tiny apartment. Thirteen years is long enough.

My father turned his smart thoughts into words. "It's well written Jake, but your presentation is a little off. It seems, oh I don't know, short?"
I glared at my father. He laughed and my mother finally got the joke from the other room. Her laugh was so loud it could scare a newborn cub into crying for days.

"Relax Jake." I knew he was joking so I let up my stare. "Your speech is fine son, I'm just messing with you." Father was the practical joker in the house, he was even more active when the family was over but that was a rare occasion anymore. Now I received all his sarcasm but I continued to chew as normal and let this joke pass. Mom knew very well I got him back in the insult game just as many times as he got me. I wondered if other Pokemon play this insult game we had together? Truly the game meant a sign of great trust, but our case was special in this regard.

"Oh, sweetie?" My mom called from the kitchen, talking to her husband who slowly turned his great head. "Can you talk to him about evolving for me? He needs to make a decision tonight for his school."

Both my father and I turned to the kitchen door in annoyance. Mom had a funny way of ruining a moment by raising the serious questions. I waited for my father's response but he just winked at me and continued eating. Something in my gut told me we were having this conversation right now or I'm not graduating this year.

"That depends honey." He answered, making my ears shoot up since it was an odd answer to her straightforward question. "Will you cook us dessert?"

The great Sylveon actually dropped a plate this time. "What? I wait for you for one hour while your food grows cold and you complain about dessert!"

My father laughed and I could hardly stay in my undersized chair because I was laughing so hard. Dessert sounded nice, especially since I was still hungry. "I'll make dinner tomorrow sweetie." My father suggested. "Do we have anymore frozen berries?"

"No way!" My mom quickly took back her decision. "You burnt them to a crisp last time you tried to cook them. Fine, I'll make dessert." I think I heard her curse Flareons under her breath for liking everything burnt. It was true, dad was not a good cook, unless it was an oversized cup of coffee. Again, didn't quite understand his need for the drink yet he could burn berries without even using the oven.

I did a quick cheer in my head since dessert sounded nice, my father knew his end of the bargain was a heavier one though.

Mom was back at it. "But you've got to talk to him tonight James. He's been reluctant to…"

"Alright, alright." My father answered before my mother continued. The father and son talk was on. "I'll speak to him, don't worry."

Father gave me that look. That look that said I love you but you're driving your mother insane. I quickly stared at my plate again but it was empty. I guess having a full mouth wasn't an excuse to ignore this question anymore.

My father was smart so he tried the simple solution first. Why not start naming them off? Maybe we could eliminate a few choices before tomorrow's speech. "How about a Glaceon like Lucy? I know you like sitting next to her in every class period."

I stuck my tongue out in disgust. With that fur color? No way! Besides we had snow almost every day here, the last thing I wanted was to start falling in love with this horrible weather.

My father tried again. "What about your brother, Jesse? All your siblings are prime examples if you need to ask them their opinion." My father continued to eat since he was making progress. My mother continued to worry and wash plates.

Jesse is the most despised of all our siblings, to put it nicely. He's a Jolteon who's love for entertainment which sometimes shadows his love for life. He's the funniest of us all, and well respected by some. If he's not doing a thousand dollar show then he's complaining to his landlord about how he spent all his money and he will pay him back two months from now. He is either a shining star, or sleeping near a trashcan. He liked his life full of adventure and he rarely asked for help. I shook my head since he wasn't the most envied evolution in my mind.

My father shrugged. "It's a big decision son, but do you have any idea at all?"

This was the real question. I looked up at my father and he looked right at me. My mother looked through the kitchen door and everything held still. The entire school was waiting my answer, Lucy impatiently sitting at home and wondering if I would ever ask her and look her in the eye. Would this chair ever fit me right? Would I ever have a tail that stretched across the floor? Would I ever stand as tall as I did my first day?

I sat there and thought. My paws tightened against the floor, the well groomed tail behind me flicked around. I had no answer that would satisfy even the smallest bit of worry in my head. They say your decision comes over time, Lucy made hers in less than an hour convinced that she knew it was right the second the feeling hit her and then everyone congratulated her at school, including me since it was our third year and the feeling was becoming common. Everyone but me had their grand stories of how they chose their future and loved it. The biggest confusion to me though is that no one ever regretted it. I stared at my empty plate and my claws continued to scratch the wood floor. Everyone awaited my answer, my mother's smile started to fade.

I knew that if I made a decision now, staring at my father and mother, I would regret it forever without the proper thought and time in place for this decision. I had ran out of both of these a long time ago. I had no answer.

I was an Eevee whose paws stood tall on the floor, but trembled at the slightest mention of evolution. My tail shook, my ears never stood upright, my claws were ready to flex on command. I was an Eevee, and there was nothing proud in that. Thirteen years I could stand up tall, now my time was up. Do I choose? Or do I sit and tremble in anticipation and fear? The reality was dawning on me. I finally looked my parents in their eyes.

I shook my head. My Eevee tail curled up in fright from what I knew would come next. This was not an ok answer and the school wouldn't tolerate it.

My father smiled. "That's alright son."

"No it's not." My mother quickly interrupted. "He gives his speech tomorrow! The school won't let him graduate unless he's a prime example of their discipline. An Eevee can't talk in front of everyone, he has to choose!"

My father got down from the table and walked towards the kitchen. My ears fell so low I thought he was going to yell for the first time in years but clearly I underestimated his ability to love.

He didn't yell, he simply hugged his wife. "Relax honey." He told her, knowing she was stressed out to the point of crying. "He's a smart Eevee, don't underestimate his decisions." The conversation went quiet from there and I couldn't hear them. The next time they looked out that kitchen door I would be sitting in the living room staring at the fire. I was no longer as hungry as I used to be.

I had no idea what to choose. The school's rules were clear, you graduate when you evolve. It was a fantastic program, every cub searched and searched and finally walked out with a decision or an idea of what to become by the time they graduate. The fourth year is the most tormenting because by now the classes are dedicated to getting you a stone in your choice, thinking you already know your future. Every stone that came into that building was labeled with Gemstones Incorporated and my father's business worked hard to make the dreams of Eevees and other Pokemon come true. The school supplied the thinking, father provided the stones, and I provided the opportunities. The system was theoretically perfect, any job I would want could be attained if I just made a simple choice. Everyone was waiting on me, and I was getting frustrated of not being able to sit in the chairs at school without jumping up to their height. Sometimes the comfortable space of home and the familiar chairs I sat in as a young cub was just enough nostalgia to keep the world out. My family waited for my response but even I could wait no longer. Besides, if I didn't graduate this year I would lose Lucy. I looked at the clock and it read eight at night. Another hour used up and no decision had been made. I was out of time, I was out of time a year ago.

I stared at my paw that rested on the faded yellow couch and observed the brown fur and pink pads I had grown up with. Thirteen years old is alone quite a tremendous feat to accomplish, but it comes with a decision. I imagined waking up tomorrow and seeing this paw a different color for the first time in my life. My ears folded down in deep thought, my tail flicked every six seconds in complete distress. I did not know what color to choose, what stone to dedicate my life to, appearance was the least of my problems right now when the other effects would change my life.

I was very scared, and scared decisions are rarely the right ones. I had decided not to decide. I decided I didn't know my answer. How did everyone else make this decision? How could you not ever come to regret it?

I'm an Eevee. I bit my lip in frustration and pain. This is a hard decision. If only I was taller.

The great Flareon finally came out of the kitchen when the conversation was over. Turns out they weren't even talking about me for very long but my father convinced my mother to relax and talk about something else. Then he promised her that everything would be ok. Judging by his walk I guessed our earlier conversation wasn't even close to being finished.

Father was smiling on his way back from the kitchen, he's always smiling about something. "Mom's making a glaze for the extra Orans." He answered my staring plea. "They should be done soon." I smiled at the thought that their quick conversation went well and I was going to get dessert. Food wasn't what I wanted though, I needed something else. No stone meant no speech. No talk from my father meant no change from me.

My father has this unique stride that only his age and knowledge can create. Each paw hits the ground like he's trying to walk on something untouched with life without disturbing its presence, each step being just as graceful and thoughtful as the last. His tail is never held high yet never touches the ground, still moving left and right with happiness and grace. Soon my father came over to the undersized couch I was uncomfortably lying on but he chose to sit on the floor so he could match my height instead. This was the only place in the house that we could sit and be eye level with each other, though is was obvious who was unmistakably taller.

He did it again, shutting his eyes and concentrated on something unseen. I quickly counted in my head and tapped my paw in second intervals to see how long he did it. The fire was warm where his head was pointing, but why did he shut his eyes? What was he thinking? Did mom know he does this?

My father's ear shot up at the sound of tapping next to his head. He turned his opened eyes and observed me staring at him without realizing he had woken up. "Why are you counting Jake?"

Shoot! I had been caught. I quickly stopped tapping my paw and looked the other direction, pretending I wasn't doing anything. Perhaps this was the end of my little game but my father just laughed and decided to not even ask.

That smile would never leave his face. "We are having this talk son."

I rolled my eyes and stared at the wall.

The great Flareon had a reply. "If you truly have no idea to choose, then let me tell you how I did."

I looked back over at my father and my mother looked curiously from the kitchen when she heard those words. Father was the worst story teller in the world but I was curious to see what he was getting at.

He stood up and then jumped onto the table in front of me just before the warm fire. I wondered if mom would be ok with his claws ruining the nice table after he had bought it years ago but she wouldn't object, we both wanted to watch him break it and collapse to the ground eventually since it would be hilarious to watch. I'm surprised the thing was still standing. I bet he sat there just so he was closer to the flames and blocking the heat from me so I would freeze to death and he could absorb all the warmth, as if he possibly needed it. Flareons, they're always finding ways to keep their fur near fire, even if it's scolding hot outside they'd make a flames because they can. I knew that besides the obvious benefits, other quirky things came with evolving and Flareon's were up there on the list. Don't even get me started on Jolteons.

My father shook his head and let his ears fall flat so he was comfortable. He stretched his legs and then flicked his tail so his fur shot out in every direction, taking up most of the small table below his heavy red paws and thick fur. Compared to me he could still pick me up with one claw if he really wanted to, even with how old he was he was still tremendously strong. He sat down on the creaky table even though the couch seat was wide open next to me. For some weird reason, he told me he liked to sit on tables more than couches. I guessed it was a work thing like his love for coffee. "Did I ever tell you about the Pikachu that came to work for us, the one who wanted to be a salesman?" He asked, his tail naturally creeping closer to the warm flames until they almost touched it.

I nodded. I knew that story from two years ago, a story of how my father against everyone else's wishes fired the Pikachu after two years of working for his office. In less than two weeks, the Pikachu had acquired his dream job thanks to my father. Sometimes vision can go a long ways and a step backwards is needed. It was a moral that I could perhaps apply here but I failed to see its relevance, plus I was running out of time.

My father bit his lip as he thought up another story. "What about Lucas when he met my wife?"

I rolled my eyes and laughed. Come on dad, you can't tell me a story every week and expect me not to know that one. I would usually get bored listening to that story but mom seemed to enjoy it. Why? I don't know. Who care's what the most romantic restaurant in the city is and how my father had ruined the entire night? I sure don't care, although it would be nice to take Lucy there someday, hopefully with a different experience than my parents when they met.

My father stood there on the old table, his tail unmoving. He stared at me for the longest time.

I wondered if something was wrong?

"Did I ever tell you about how I evolved?"

My mother dropped another plate in the kitchen. "What? Are you kidding!"

Way to ruin the moment. The great red Flareon lost his trance and I laughed when he growled towards the kitchen. "Will you quit breaking my dishes you beautiful Sylveon!"

"Bite me!" Mom yelled back. "It's not my fault you love to eat so much." We both chuckled since she was right. I always wondered why she hated cooking yet still prepared so much food. Maybe she just likes seeing us together at the table or perhaps she still thought she had eight cubs living at home.

I thought about my father's question. I knew where he worked, I knew he was one of the richest and most powerful Pokemon in this city and likely the world, but never, ever, had he told me how he evolved. My friends had stories of how they came to choose their stone, some by accidental discovery and some by careful planning, but no story had ever been as great as the one my father thought of now. I could see it in his eyes that this was a story he loved and perhaps only tell it once a year, maybe once in my lifetime.

My father was a great Pokemon, but all great Pokemon start as the shortest ones in class, as I had once done. I shook my head to answer his question and my father winked at me in reply. He sat back down on the table so he could face me eye to eye as he always loved to do when telling stories. I couldn't stop smiling and he laughed at my eager face.

"Anyway," he continued, shuffling his paws and making the table creak like mad. "The story of how I evolved. Where to start?" My father shook his fur and decided to start from the beginning. I smiled and got comfortable on the couch and listened to the small fire crackle behind his warm fur. I hoped it wasn't a long story because I did need my sleep for the speech tomorrow, if I was even evolved by the time I arrived backstage the next morning.

The lessons were always great, I listened to every word. The only problem is my father is a terrible story teller.

"We'll start with lesson one." My father started, closing his eyes in remembrance. "I was about four. Wait, five?" He turned his big head towards the kitchen. "Hey honey? How old was I?"

"Six!" My mother yelled from across the apartment. She was just finishing up dessert but I knew she was sneaking some for herself before my father stole it all. "You were six sweetie, and the most intolerable Eevee in the world, not much different than now actually." I wondered, who's telling the story again?

My father rolled his eyes. "Whatever, that's not important. So here's how I decided to evolve. It all started with Mark, wait no, it all started with John, I think. It depends how far back I start, but we'll start with the apartment. Oh yes, I lived in an apartment, when I was seven. Uh… six?"

Like I said, he's a terrible story teller.

…

James the Eevee at six years old is the most attentive Pokemon you could have ever met, his large ears always upright and his face always smiling just because he chose to. The embarrassingly small Eevee that could hardly see over the furniture on the floor stared at his caretaker named Johnson as he held open the door to snow storm outside. They had been together for three months but things were becoming obvious as the paint peeled off the walls and then the walls themselves started falling apart that this was not working financially for either of them. Johnson is a Machoke with big enough arms to chuck James out of the apartment and into the wild if he wanted to, but the Pokemon wasn't as rude as most Machokes became. For the last ten years he didn't have enough money to take care of himself, let alone the Eevee he promised to raise for the last three months until James was old enough to be on his own. This apartment wasn't considered raising a cub, it was merely surviving if even that. Johnson wasn't chucking the obedient Eevee out into the world although that was the easiest option with his strong arms, he was just politely telling the cub that he could no longer take care of him for the first time. he could not afford to house them both, the Eevee was on his own to survive and hopefully he would do better than Johnson did.

In less than one hour James would be all alone. The Eevee had never felt shorter.

"Look kid." John stated loud and clear to the little cub staring up at him from the doorway since their table conversation was done. James had yet to say a word to his caretaker, his ears flat against his head and tears about to form against his will but he chose not to cry and instead chose to smile. Johnson rubbed his own face as he always did when stressed. "I can't afford you living here, the landlord will kick us out once he discovers I'm late on rent and housing another Pokemon." The rent was forty dollars a month. "So you need to find a way to make this work, or find another place to live."

My father shuffled his paws and quickly accepted the reality. He was not angry, nor was he sad, he knew this would happen and it didn't surprise him. "What can I do?"

"Nothing." John stated flatly, trying to intimidate the cub's morale before it got him into more problems. "Three months you lived with me, and now I'm three months more in debt. I can't afford to keep you here, I'm sorry but you need to leave now."

Eevees have no where to go in this world, my father stared at the cold blizzard just past the open doorway past the Machokes heavy arms. Inside his fake home was a table, a bed but not for James since he slept in the corner, and a lot of tools. John could not afford much else from where he worked. Most places have the paint peeling off the walls, this one had the very walls peeling apart from each other. Both of them agreed, it was not home.

The Machoke rubbed his forehead in embarrassment and sweat, he was running late to his job. "You understand me James? You understand what I'm saying?"

In five seconds the Eevee had a plan and his tail flicked in hope. "So then I have to pay you?"
John laughed. "With what?"

"I need a job."

The Machoke laughed so hard it nearly made the place fall down. James stood his ground and didn't budge, he had a habit of doing what six year old cubs always did of being stubborn.

Finally the Machoke could breathe. "You? And where will you work?"
"With you." My father stated, no emotion on his face. He jumped up and rushed to the open door. "Can I have a job?"

The Machoke froze in a complete stare. "Excuse me James?"

"Please!" My father begged. "I can do it. You don't have to kick me out."

"I'm not kicking you out." The Machoke grabbed his yellow hard hat on the floor next to the door. "It's just that I can't afford to keep you and your tiny head here so…"

"I'm tall enough!" James shouted at the top of his lungs. One long look at the tiny Eevee on the floor and he knew he was hopeless in this world. The blizzard would probably finish him by the time he reached the homeless shelter if even that.

But a job? It was impossible. "Sorry kiddo." John shut the door and the lights all turned off. That was the last bulb John could afford for this run down apartment. It was the last time James would be allowed to live here unless he miraculously came up with a notion to pay his rent, let alone his food. The time had come to see just how tall this Eevee was.

The Eevee stared at the ground. Try and find a job? He had, nobody hired anyone smaller than two feet tall. He was probably about, eight inches or so. Count in his discipline and maybe he could stand at nine.

James grabbed the doorknob and shut the door behind him with a quiet thud, the blizzard freezing his fur on the spot. He did not look back, but only forward. He would not return here until he earned his right to call it home. John had a car and just drove off, so it would be a long walk to the factory. From here it was at least a forty minute walk, twenty minutes if he ran.

The blizzard was strong. Without another thought, James went forward. He wouldn't hitchhike, he wouldn't complain. He would smile until it was frozen on his face and everyone nicknamed him for it. He would continue walking forward until he fell to the ground, then he would crawl. When he could crawl no more, he would stick out his tongue and that would be the farthest his limbs would ever take him in this life. He was going to make his living, or he was going to die. he was earning his rent, or he was not eating until he did.

If he was going to live in this run down dump of a place he called home, then he was going to deserve it, every penny of it. He wouldn't stop until the very ground he walked on was paid for, and until he stood with some respect. The shortest Pokemon in the world was about to become the tallest, at least James hoped so.

It was eight in the morning when Johnson arrived at his shift. He was five minutes late to his factory job thanks to that little Eevee that asked way too many questions. The blizzard outside was still going on even after he turned off his car and parked outside twenty minutes later. Time to get to work, he stepped through the large double doors to the chaos of a manufacturing plant in full throttle. Gemstones Incorporated had a lot of work to do.

"Johnson!" A Sandslash yelled from above a rafter inside the factory. Apparently he was the boss. You had to get used to the noise in here or you could go deaf in under an hour. "You're late. We have a huge order today on steel support beams. I can't have you…"

Johnson waved his large hand as the usual response and started walking. He was stopped short just after three steps. "Just give me a second. I'll sign in after…"

Right there on the floor, with a smile frozen on his face and his fur shivering with snow, was James.

"What the!" Johnson nearly fell over he was so surprised. The entire factory looked over and all construction stopped. An Eevee? Who let a little cub in here? How'd he get in?

My father, the greatly pathetic James, just smiled.

John was speechless for twenty seconds. "Who let you in here kid?"

James pointed towards the huge double doors. How else would he get in? That wasn't a very smart question.

John was again, speechless. "Well, um, you can't be…"

"Who's this kid?" The furious Sandslash was on the ground now and running up. James gulped at the sight of how dangerous he looked with a temper to match it. The Sandslash quickly glared at the rest of the workers and the noise continued although everyone was more curious to know what an Eevee was doing where he didn't belong.

Everyone stared. An Eevee had gotten into the factory. The only logical thing to do, was get it out.

John for the second time that day rubbed his heavy hand over his face. This was going to be a long work shift. "Come on James, I'll take you home."
"But you said I couldn't live there." James interrupted. "You said…"

"So he's with you?" The Sandslash pointed his claws right at John. "Fantastic. He's your responsibility then. Get him out of here or you're babysitting him all day without any pay."

John just through up his hands in frustration. "I can't! I told him to leave this morning."

"Why?" John's boss asked. Everyone was awkwardly listening in from across the entire building.

John had his reasons. "I can't afford him. I know I was entrusted with him, but I just can't. I don't make much here." His voice grew lower at that last sentence.

Zach the furious Sandslash was not a complete jerk. The factory grew quiet since they knew they were having hard times. More than three other places had been shut down recently, rumor had it that Gemstones incorporated was going under. "Well he can't stay here John."

Everybody waited. John had a job to do, but James was a very persistent Eevee. Everyone watched the little smiling pathetic Eevee that sat on the floor with all the confidence in the world. Already this bold cub was standing pretty tall.

John had a question. "Wait, why did you come here?"

James shuffled his paws and collected his voice, his tail rising in pride. "I need a job."

The entire factory laughed.

The Sandslash was done with wasting time. "Shove him in a closet or something John." The boss demanded. "He can't be here, he could get injured. He's one foot tall, and he's your responsibility now." The great leader walked away.

James may be one foot tall, but that was no match to his need to be stubborn. He waited, his little brown and cream tail sitting on the floor in patience.

The boss walked away and the noise immediately continued once a glare shot out at the factory. Johnson cursed, kicked a metal machine, cursed again, and then stared at my father. James didn't know Machoke's cheeks could turn red with fire but apparently the Eevee was soon going to find out just how strong a Machoke could be.

My father chose to smile. He had told me a million times, there's always something to smile about.

"You stay right here." The Machoke demanded, pointing at the floor below him just two feet inside the large metal doors and snow storm. "Don't move." He walked towards the factory and put his hardhat on. If he was lucky, the Eevee would still be there by the end of the day.

James followed him.

"Dang it James!" The Machoke was about ready to tear this whole factory apart. "Do I need to tie you down? I will glue your tail to this floor! Do you here me?" He pointed to the industrial strength glue sitting in a bucket no more than ten feet away.

My father looked up at Johnson in concern. "Where's my helmet?"

Johnson was at a loss for words. He looked up at the hardhat he was wearing. "It's not a helmet, it's a hardhat, they don't make them your size and you can't enter without one."

My father continued to smile. He looked around him but he didn't see any extra hats and he knew he couldn't break the rules. No hard helmet, no entry.

Johnson was about to leave, but he decided to make another point clear. "You see this yellow line?"

My father looked down where he was standing. There was a bright yellow line on the floor, just twenty feet inside the factory. From this point onwards machines and Pokemon moved in every direction, chaos came after.

John hoped this pestering cub was listening. "You're not allowed to cross this…"
My father jumped right over it.

Johnson's cheeks shot bright red. "No! You cant just…

The Sandslash was coming back. "What's he still doing here?"

"He won't leave." Johnson was starting to sound like a little cub himself. "I told him but he's, well, persistent."

"You're joking?" The boss was rather frustrated. They both looked down at the Eevee that was violating every regulation they had in this factory. "If you can't get him across this line, then I will."

Johnson lowered his voice in compassion. "He's a cub. I'm not hurting him."
Even the boss wasn't that bad. "I'm not hurting him, just persuading him. What is it that he wants?"

They both stared at the little Eevee, for the second time that day James had managed to stall the entire factory as everyone looked his way.

My father sat where he was, and smiled. "I need a job, and a helmet."

They glued his tail to the floor. He wasn't getting anything for a long time.

…

My father jumped off the table and onto the couch. There was hardly enough room for the three of us since mom had joined with dessert but we squeezed my father in.

My father kissed his wife, and stole a berry when she wasn't looking. "I still have the mark, right here." he pulled forward his tail and I was squished against the edge of the uncomfortable couch while the red fur pressed up against my face. I liked it better when he did the talking but dad always eventually brought props to his stories.

My mother grabbed his large tail first. She had memorized the feel of it after being married for more than thirty years. "Yep, found it." She showed me and shoved the huge tail in my face. She nearly pulled my father off the couch and he yelped.

"Ow!" My father flinched from the tug she gave. "Watch it sweetie, these aren't glass plates."

She pulled even harder. "What! Say that again. I dare you!"

I could hardly grasp the tail in my face while the two of them started pawing at each other. Surprisingly for their age, they still played like annoying little cubs. I finally managed to grip the red fur and stare at the spot on the edge for just a second.

Yep, just like my father said. A large patch of fur had been ripped clean out, leaving it's mark where the super glue had done it's work.

So I guess James didn't stay in that spot for very long. "Quit pulling on my ear!" My father screamed. He pulled right back and the two were rolling on the ground in seconds, laughing and pulling to their own content. I waited for them to finish, and waited, and waited.

Again, my father is a terrible story teller.

…

"Johnson, I need these moved to…"

The two Pokemon stopped talking and looked down by their sides. It was only nine o'clock and one hour had passed since they had dealt with the Eevee. "Oh come on!"

There was James, smiling. His tail stinging like mad.

"Johnson!" My boss pointed right at the Machoke who was about to lose his job. "I don't know what he wants, or why he's here, but he's your responsibility. I don't have time for this!" The furious boss stormed away and his reputation with Johnson just got that much worse.

Johnson was at his end. "I told you kid, you can't be here without…"

My father turned around and grabbed the yellow hat just behind his bruised and torn tail. He proudly pulled the hat in front of him, struggling from its heavy weight. The yellow helmet was almost taller than he was. "I have my helmet." James stated.

Johnson was lost for words. Across the factory someone was complaining about how his hat was missing after he set it down. What could James do? It was that Pokemon's fault for taking it off, there weren't any extras in the factory that James could find but he needed a job, so he took one. He would give it back!

Johnson stared at the Eevee who had followed him here, broke every rule he set down, tore up his tail to get inside, and had now stolen property of the plant. There was one thing for certain that Johnson knew.

James was never leaving. "I need a job." The Eevee reported.

Johnson dragged his huge fists across his face. "There's nothing here you can do. You're one foot tall and…"

James pointed to his right. "Those need to be moved right?"

Johnson's eyes shot wide open. "What?"

James demonstrated. He pointed both ways with his paw. "I saw you guys doing it. You were moving these things to the other side where you fit them into a machine. You pile them up, every fourteen minutes you move one but you'd be faster if someone helped you. Your boss was complaining about you being too slow."

John held up his hand, the Eevee had made his point. "Yes James, they need to be moved. And they're not things, they're hundred pound steel rods. Why do you care?"

James jumped right up and grabbed the first bar he could reach. He started pulling.

Johnson may have been getting fired soon, but this was too entertaining to pass up. He actually laughed at the Eevee trying to move something that weighed more than twenty times his own size. "You're joking right?" This was too fun to pass up.

James pulled, and pulled, and pulled. He tried a different approach and bit the edge with his teeth so all four of his paws were on the ground. He started pulling again.

Johnson nearly had a heart attack. "You're going to break your jaw!"

Dad pulled one last time. The bar moved an inch.

Johnson froze. His eyes bulged to the size of his own fists.

The loud screeching of metal against a cement floor can be heard for miles. The entire factory froze and looked over at the Eevee for the third time that day. A five pound Eevee had just pulled a hundred pound rod.

"Um, James?" John was speechless.

James pulled so hard his back paws shook uncontrollably. His ears flattened against his head and his veins shot blood red. He pulled the bar three inches this time, the noise ringing out across the entire factory. The Eevee let go and then quickly latched on with his teeth just as he had done before.

The entire factory stopped and watched. A tiny Eevee, hardly visible from across the mile long factory, had gathered every single Pokemon's attention, including Zach's.

James grabbed the bar with his teeth, and pulled. Another inch.

"You're going to kill yourself kid." Johnson muttered under his breath. Somehow he knew that even death wasn't stopping this cub's dream.

James pulled on the bar again. "How many do we need to move?" He asked after straining for a few seconds. By now the boss was making his way over again. Even he was not angry because of how peculiar the sight was before him.

Johnson decided to comply. "All of them. By today." Luckily for him, he could lift two at a time but obviously James wasn't able to help much.
James stared at the other rods, "There's one hundred and two of them."

Both Johnson and the boss stopped dead. "How'd you know that?"

"I counted." James was very observant when his tail was glued to the floor. "They need to be moved to that machine," the young Eevee pointed behind him which was his destination, "and I can move one at a time. That means…" He quickly did some math in his head. "I can get them done today."

Even Johnson laughed. "Today? Um kid…"

"Tell you what little runt." The boss was going to put an end to this, the giant Sandslash stepped forward and laughed. "You can't even lift this so if you can get this bar from here," He kicked the metal rod in front of the Eevee, sending it back a few inches to where it began, "to there," he pointed at the waiting machine where two more Machokes would load up the metal. "Then I tell you what little runt, you can have your job."

James grabbed the bar in his teeth and pulled harder then ever before. The noise rang out across the factory so loud that Johnson had to cover his own ears.

James pulled and the bar moved one inch. He pulled twice as hard, his teeth bleeding inside, but the bar moved two inches. He pulled one last time.

His back paws were shaking, his fur was on end, the blood was rushing to his head and his teeth were grinding apart against the metal… But the bar moved, and it did not stop.

The entire factory watched as the bar slid across the cement floor. James pulled it nonstop for fifty feet, the last inch before the Machoke's paw was where he stopped. He never slowed down, he never let go until the metal was exactly where the boss had pointed.

James walked back. His back paw wouldn't move correctly, limping in place. He licked his lips where he had torn his jaw and split his mouth by accident, but he could still bite when needed. The poor Eevee couldn't even move his paws unless they stood wide and shaking like never before. But he refused to listen to his body, it was weak. His stature was taller than ever before.

Forty seconds of screeching noise to get the bar in place, ten seconds to make it back. James sat down in front of his new boss.

"A hundred and one." He smiled.

The boss had walked right into that one. He wasn't one to dishonor his commitments, even if tiny Eevees would likely get severely hurt in the process.

The Sandslash looked at Johnson. Johnson smiled. "You promised him boss."

The boss said some words that James didn't understand. "Arceus above, fine! If you want to kill yourself pulling rods, be my guest."

He couldn't believe he was saying this, but the Sandslash gave up to the tall Eevee. "Ok, you now have a job here at Gemstones factory, you little runt."

James smiled.

"How much do you want kid?"

James turned right towards Johnson and asked, "how much is rent?"

Johnson was caught off guard. Everyone in the factory now stared at him. "Excuse me?"

James smiled again and asked. "How much do I need to pay you so I can live with you?" That was the original problem wasn't it?

Even the boss gave Johnson a weird look. "He lives with you?"

"Yeah, but…" Johnson waited a little bit, giving it some thought. "I don't know, four dollars a day." He picked a random absurd number. "You don't eat much, and you sleep on the floor, so… Four dollars a day."

"I'll work for four dollars." James replied to his boss. "Just four dollars each day, no more."
The entire factory laughed.

"Kid, even I make eight bucks an hour. You can't work for four dollars a day."

"Four dollars." James insisted. "I'll pull rods for four dollars."

This violated every reason to exist when it came to employee wages, but what was the boss going to do? He looked and found that the entire factory wanted to see this Eevee pull metal all day. It was quite amusing, it might even help with productivity.

The boss smiled. James would quit in two hours anyway, right? You can't pull if you're sore from head to tail. "Fine kid, four dollars. I'll pay you four dollars to move those rods."

…

My father smiled. "I pulled eighteen rods that day. I continued pulling rods for two full years."

My mother laughed at him since she had her own version of the story. "Just be glad Johnson isn't around to hear this. You almost got him fired."

My dad laughed too. "That old coot? He retired years ago, I doubt he even remembers my name."

My mother rolled her eyes. "Oh I'm sure he remembers."

I waved my paw for them to quit talking and to keep going with the story. My father was taking up the majority of the couch and even mom was getting frustrated in the corner seat. She wasn't the one sitting on her own tail just to be able to fit on the yellow cushions though, I rolled my eyes and leaned on my paw against the side of the uncomfortable couch. Dad's tail waved once and I swatted it away as it nearly smacked my face. He smiled a little bit and I growled at him in response. What time is it anyway?

My father gestured with his paw that he was moving on like we all wanted. "Alright, alright, I'll hurry along. But first Jake you need to see it." The great Flareon opened his mouth wide and twisted his neck just a little to the left. He was showing me something. I awkwardly sat upright and stared at his open mouth. My mother already knew what I would find and she sat patiently as I stared.

The back molar, just to the right, it was missing?

"Pulled it off on the second day." My father replied. "I bled on those rods until Johnson told me to stop. I didn't listen until the boss made me shove a towel in my mouth and insisted I stop, but I still pulled on those rods. Guess how many I moved on my first day Jake?"
"Eighteen!" Mom yelled, getting impatient since he had already said that. "Hurry up and tell the story."

My father smiled, one key tooth missing as a donation to the factory he loved. Two years he pulled those rods, two years he stood taller than ever before. I swatted his tail away again and considered pulling a chair over from the kitchen.

…

The day ended at six o'clock, just in time for dinner. Johnson was heading out and flicking off the lights when he heard something.

A small screeching, coming from across the factory. His eyes went wide.

"Arceus…" He stormed to the other side of the factory where he was sure his worst nightmare was busy pulling his teeth out and yanking steel bars across the floor. That kid was still going? It was ten hours later!

By the time Johnson got there, he saw the only Pokemon that had been the talk of the entire factory since the day had started.

There James was, his paws shaking and shivering in all kinds of pain. His jaw and teeth had been sore after the second bar, but the Eevee insisted on never slowing down despite the oppressive cheering from the factory. He continued to yank at the same pace he started, not letting his boss down. The only thing Johnson would not back down on was James wearing a hardhat. The Eevee would stop every five inches, turn around and pull up his hat, make sure he was going the right direction, and then start pulling again. The hard hat he wore that was insisted by his boss had slowed down his efforts by a great amount. So? James worked harder to make up for lost time. His tooth bled in blinding pain. The screeching had caused the Eevee to go deaf in one ear and it wouldn't recover until he stopped.

Another bar perfectly lined up beside the machine. Eighty-four bars to go.

Johnson really wanted to go home. "James, it's time to leave."

James for the first time that day stopped walking and looked up. He used his shaking paw and shoved his hat up so he could see out of one eye.

He smiled. "Hi John."

"James? We have to go. The factory closed down an hour ago."

The little Eevee looked every direction around him. Everyone was gone? "But I have eighty-four bars to go."

Johnson quickly interrupted him. "You don't have to move every single bar. You can't possibly do that!"

James just smiled, his shaky paws below him in excruciating amounts of pain. "I told him I'd work to move bars. I'm not finished yet."
The factory lights switched off and stayed off. "Well, sorry James but you'll have to try again tomorrow." Johnson choked. "Um, I mean, you can try and come in tomorrow, if you're not feeling to shabby." And by that he meant stay home and don't ever come near this factory again.

James looked in every direction, he had never seen a factory hold still before. It's an amazing sight but he was partly glad he had been a part of it in action. "So we're going home?" He said the question as if it was absurd to think about? Going home already? It was only dinner time.
Finally the Eevee was making some sense. "Yes kid, you earned it."

"But I haven't paid my rent."

Did anything ever stop this cub? "You nearly tore your teeth out! Who cares about a little rent…"

Johnson stopped. He remembered what his boss handed him more than three hours ago. Since James was his responsibility, it was now John's responsibility to make sure he got the money. Of course the boss gave it to him, it was the best four bucks the Sandslash had ever spent, and the most entertaining.

Johnson reached into his hardhat, and pulled out four bucks that was stuck to the top. There was more grime on the money than on the factory floor. "Here kid. This is from, well, your boss."

James took it with pride, gripping the money in his teeth. After a while, he was still just standing there with his head held high and his body pointing towards John.

"Well?" Johnson threw up his hands. "You coming or not?"

"I'm paying my rent."

Johnson nearly ripped the Eevee's neck off from how quickly he took the money back from his mouth. "There! You happy? Can we go…"

Johnson stopped. There was a little bit of blood on the money. "Hey, are you ok?"

James smiled. His teeth were bleeding. "Yes. I'm fine." His pride had never been taller.

Johnson wasn't sure what to do, but now he was certain of something. This little ambitious Eevee by his side was going to kill himself for four bucks a day. "Lets just go home kiddo."

It was a long ride home, John shut the door with him and the annoying Eevee inside. The Machoke sighed when he saw his apartment.

"What's your boss's name?" James asked for the fourth time today.

Johnson shut the heavy door behind him, his head aching in pain. "Why do you need to know?"

The Eevee sat down and patiently waited for instructions in his rented apartment. He wasn't going to be a rude guest, he had to ask if he wanted to touch anything even though he had been living here for three months. "So I can ask him questions." James replied.

Johnson had been sick of this Eevee the entire day. Three months of him living here and the young cub is just fine, but suddenly give him a job and he's obsessed with hurting himself? The Poor Machoke's curiosity was going to give him a headache but he dared to entertain his paying customer. "What questions?" What could this little Eevee possibly want to know?

Johnson would always regret those words. "What are the steel bars for?" James asked, following the Machoke around the house with complete obedience.

"We use them in the machines."

"And what do the machines do?" James asked again, his smile on his face.

Johnson saw where this was going. "They make rods to hold the mining equipment in other departments. It's how we keep the miners from falling in."

Even James had to give it some thought. "Can I get into the mines?"

"No." Johnson said before the Eevee finished. "It's too dangerous."

"What if I wear a helmet?"

"Hat!" Johnson corrected. "It's a hard hat! And still no, you're not even strong enough too…" Wait, Johnson took back what he said. James was surprisingly strong enough to lift steel bars. "I mean, you can't go down there because, well, you're an Eevee!"

That didn't stop him. "So what's your boss's name?"

"Oh come on! Look kid, even I don't know and I don't think you should care so much either. Why do you possibly need to know his name so badly?"

"So I can ask him for a job?" James replied. "I want to work in the mines." It all made sense now.

Johnson was frozen. If he understood anything about this Eevee today, it was that this was already set on his mind. James wouldn't kill himself pulling steel rods, he would kill himself by falling into the pit that the whole world save a few brave, tall Pokemon feared. Being a miner meant making money, at the risk of your life of course. It was not a favorable job.

But for an Eevee, it was certain death. James smiled and repeated his question since he assumed the Machoke didn't hear him.

Johnson was curious. He was about to wash off, smack his face against his pillow in his horribly unkept bed, but right before him stood the most interesting Pokemon in the entire world. "Fine. Why do you want work in the mines James?" Would these questions ever end?

James shuffled his paws. "They make more money. Samson was talking about it today."

Johnson froze. "Who's Samson?" How was this cub so good at learning names?

"The Pokemon I stole my hat from. I gave it back!" James quickly answered. "But I heard that miners make more money, so I could pay you for your food if I work there."

Johnson laughed. "Dinner's in the pantry." He went and collapsed onto his bed, never wanting to see this little annoying cub again. He still wasn't quite sure how that Eevee managed to pull those steel bars.

James had a problem and his crooked ears showed it. "But I didn't buy dinner."

"It's on the house." The Machoke threw his pillow over his ears. "Please James, no more questions! Just go eat and fall asleep."

James looked at the time. Eight o'clock exactly. This meant that every time at eight o'clock, Johnson would want no more questions. The Eevee shrugged and went to the dirty kitchen as instructed. It was awfully nice of him to provide food for free considering that he didn't pay for it.

Four dollars. James had made four dollars. He washed his bleeding mouth out in the sink and then helped himself to the old Orans in the back that were about to go bad. They were the least expensive meal in the fridge and James would help himself to no more without asking. Maybe he would feel better tomorrow, but probably not.

His paws were shaking, his mouth was broken, his tail fur had been torn, but he had made four dollars. It was the most proudly owned four dollars in the entire world.

The young Eevee repeated every word the Machoke said to him as he got comfortable in the corner of the floor near the broken heater. He made motions with his paws to mimic the metal going into the machines, then coming out reformed and ready to be moved again. He remembered seeing that they moved it to a different machine, then another, and then even another. Finally they loaded it up on a truck labeled Gemstone's Inc. and it disappeared from there.

And somewhere out there, making more money than he was now, was a miner. The Eevee fell asleep with his head resting on his tired paws. His limbs would shake twice as much when he pulled those rods tomorrow.

Eighty four bars left to go, and one question. He had to ask his boss if he could make it to the mines.

…

My father's yawn interrupted his story telling. "How late is it anyway?"

My mother had moved to the kitchen to clean since the story had bored her yet I was still uncomfortable on the couch. At least my tail wasn't squished anymore. "About nine now." My mother answered. "Why?"

I smiled at my father. He smiled back. "Just making sure I have enough time to tell the story. We need to be well rested for the presentation tomorrow."

"You should get some sleep." My mom complained. "Both of you. Jake could you just decide something in the morning?"
I stared at my father, he stared right back. He winked.

My father laughed and looked towards the kitchen. "He deserves to hear the ending eventually. We'll be fine sweetie. Now where was I?"

…

"James?"

I turned my head and lifted my hardhat to see once again, my boss was happy. "Well look at that." The Sandslash mocked me. "The runt can actually not pull bars. I told you James that you deserved a break, are you trying to set a new record or something?"

I stared down at the bar in my paw. "This is number thirty-two." I stated, my mouth feeling just fine. "I think I can move the other fifty by the end of the day."

It's true, I had moved more than thirty-two bars since the day had started. It was getting easier and easier after pulling for two years. For an Eevee that was now two years older, I think I could probably take on most of the workers here. Even I was impressed when I could pull these bars each in under eight seconds, still faster than any other worker here could carry them. I didn't know if meant it or not, but everyone said I was strong for a cub. What I cared about now was how tall I am.

Zach, my boss, folded his claws up nicely. "Two years ago I hired you, and you still don't ask for anything more. I can't just pay you four dollars anymore James, I won't allow it." I guess if you work like the rest of the Pokemon, you have to get paid like them too. I let go of the bar in my teeth and looked up, pulling the hardhat off and paying attention.

Zach asked his question again. "What do you want to get paid or do you need something else James? I can't just pay you too little anymore, I won't let it happen."

Two years I had patiently been waiting for that question. I thought about it once when I curled up in the corner of the apartment two years ago, now I thought about it again for the second time. There was a reason to my work and what others called, my madness.

I dropped the bar and stood up with pride, my helmet falling over my head and collapsing over my ears. "I want to work in the mines."
The entire factory stopped.

I lifted my hardhat and stared at him with one eye. "Zach, I heard two years ago from Johnson that it's too dangerous to work down there. But I'm stronger now, can I go down?"

Jackson shot Johnson a look so evil that even the Machoke thought he was going to get fired. Who put the bright idea in this Eevee's head that he could possibly work in the mines? "Why do you want to be a miner kid?" He asked as the factory stared his direction in wonder.
My answer was simple. "They get paid more."

"Oh come on!" Jackson nearly punched the ground with his own claws he was so frustrated. "Two years! Two years you pull those bars until your teeth almost fall out, and now you want a pay increase by changing jobs? I have employees yelling down my back about raises and you make a tenth of what they do. I can pay you more James, that's what I've been saying!"

James stood up as politely as he could. "I insisted on four dollars a day, that's what I make, that's what I work for."

Jackson laughed. "That was two years ago kid. You're pulling these bars with only three paws on the ground and you still pull faster than any other worker here. You must weigh what? Twelve pounds now?"

Weight still didn't matter much when it came to working in the mines. If you were too small, you'd almost always die. Supposedly they were talking about Pokemon like me when they made that rule. It wasn't about strength like pulling steel bars, it was just plain fact.

I was done wasting time. "Can I work down there or not Zach? I have more bars to pull." I gestured to the work beside me that proudly earned me below the minimum wage accepted.

Zach knew this was a pointless argument. But the mines? No one here would ever see that hole, how could James possibly get in? How was he better than every worker here?

This was an Eevee. Bar pulling or not, James would never stand tall enough to work in the mines. The young Eevee impatiently waited for his boss to respond, knowing he was wasting precious time if his answer was no. Was he pulling bars all his life, or was he going to stand taller?

"I tell you what little runt." I continued to pay attention since Zach unfolded his claws. I knew that look, he was planning something.

"There's a test in two weeks on mine activity and safety." Zach explained. "If you can get a better score than everyone else, I'll give you a shot at a job transfer to a miner. Maybe I've underestimated you, but I doubt it."

Johnson was at his side in a heartbeat. "You can't be serious. He's too small!"

"This Eevee's pathetic." Zach repeated, pointing right at me. I took the words in carefully. "He's the strongest Eevee alive, but he's still an Eevee. But Arceus above he can move bars like no other!"

The factory employees nodded. They would never need another bar puller for the next hundred years with the pace that I worked at. I could probably put John out of a job if it wasn't for the fact that they were low on employees in other parts of the factory. Sadly they needed me here which influenced Zach's decision to let me go. There was every reason to stay here with my current job, but there was only one reason why I wanted to dig in the big hole should Zach give me a chance. I was not as tall as I wanted to be, nor as tall as I thought.

Zach smiled, ignoring John's pleas. "I'll make you a deal. You beat everyone else in that test kid, then I can get you a spot in that mine, I think." He muttered.

I nodded hearing every word. The bars weren't pulling themselves so I continued to run and pull with all my strength as I had done for the last two years. I tried not to think that these may be the last bars I ever pulled in my life. It was refreshing to know I could change this job just by asking, I decided to work harder until the test.

Zach smiled wide and nudged John's shoulder the second I was out of earshot. "He'll never pass that test."

…

"I passed the test."

My mother and I laughed at my father's story. The couch had somehow grown more comfortable because we had sunken into the mattress and gotten too lazy to move. The Oran berries my mom made for dessert were completely destroyed mostly thanks to my late night appetite, and my dad's help of course. All the dishes were done and there was no food left to be eaten so we silently sat and laughed as my dad told his amusing story. I hoped I could get enough sleep tonight, it was getting late.

The old Flareon stretched on his seat and nearly shoved me off the couch. "It was a hard test, no questions, but you had to prove you knew everything about the equipment. I was the smallest Pokemon there, but I was the only one who got a perfect score. Did you know there's over forty-two knots you have to know in order to tie a bucket?"

My mom and I listened carefully, somehow we figured that last speech was irrelevant to the story but eventually my dad would continue on with the meaningful stuff. When my dad waited for a response I waved my paw to signal that he could move on. Forty-two knots, whatever dad, anything else you need to add or can the story continue? It was way past my bedtime.

My dad sat for a moment, then he looked up at me and smiled. "So Jake, the Machoke in the beginning of my story?" He hadn't mentioned him in a while.

I frowned for a second, was this turning into a quiz?

"What is his name son?"

My mom gave my father a quizzical look. He just winked at her and waited.

I thought for a moment. When the answer didn't come right away, I tapped my paw on the couch and tried to think. I pulled on my ear a little bit to get my head working. Started with a T right? Perhaps Tom or Thomas. I shook my head not really caring whether I knew his name or not but my dad was hardly disappointed. He knew it was coming.

My father chuckled. "Time for lesson one. Do you want to know why I succeeded at that plant Jake? It's because I did something better than every other worker there, and it was never about pulling the bars."

Now I gave my dad a look that made my mom laugh. I had no idea what he was getting at.

"I learned their names son." My father explained. "Think about it. What names do you know at school?"

I quickly recalled as many names as I could. There was the teacher, Mrs. Hill or something like that. Then there was Lucy of course.

My father grabbed my attention and I remembered every word. "It's lesson one Jake. Always learn names, every single one you can. If you don't then it's impossible to get to know someone better. I became friends with Zach, simply because I knew John's name. If you don't learn names then you don't remember Pokemon. It's important that…"

"I think he gets it honey." Mom interrupted. I rolled my eyes and signaled for dad to continue.

The Flareon sat straight back up, and smiled, his eyes fixed on the cackling fire he had proudly made for us, although it was mostly for his own pleasure now. "Right, where was I? Oh yes, the mines."

…

My paycheck increased from four dollars a day, to ninety.

"Alright kid listen up."

I had never stopped paying attention when I met my new boss on the first day. A giant Aggron with a thick head to match his body. I had to look straight up just to talk to him, it didn't help that the yellow helmets still didn't fit my head. I was inside a new plant, built around a single natural formation no one could explain, but there was a lot of money to make from the gaping hole to the center of the earth that was just past these large double doors.

"You listening kid?" The Aggron asked again, even though I was looking right at him. Unlike the factory there wasn't much equipment here and everything looked cleaner, except when you got close to the hole and dirt marks covered every object you could possibly touch. I made a mental note to remember that being dirty is ok here. "Congrats on passing the test." The Aggron smiled at me and I was thankful he didn't try and shake my paw or give me a pat on the back. "You start today ya puny wimp."

I smiled. First day on the job and I already got a new name and a new mentor. Maybe I could learn to like this guy. Judging from my last boss, odds are the Aggron would have to learn to like me more than I would have to like him.

We were on the first day of training, most of the miners were in the hole already but they tended to smile to new recruits that they saw. There was a lot of noise. "You see this yellow line. Don't cross it without a hard hat." The Aggron first explained.

I rolled my eyes at this statement. That was rule number one on the test, I tapped the thick hat that covered my head and half my body. I think it was starting to get stuck to my forehead I had been wearing this thing for so many years now. "My hat can…"

The great Pokemon snatched it off my head, and threw it to the side. I yelped in surprise. "But, but I needed…"

The great Aggron took two steps and reached behind him to a shelf laden with tools. The only way I would be able to reach what was up there was if I jumped off four platforms first. This was going to be an interesting job.

He threw something at me so fast I nearly missed it with my jaw. Was this one mine? Did they actually get one for me? "A helmet?"

"Hard hat!" The Aggron yelled back. "What do you mean helmet? That's a hard hat you puny wimp."

I put it on over my head. Perfect fit. It even had ear holes.

I smiled. A custom made helmet, just for me. the steel building around me already felt like home.

"You have no idea how hard it is to find someone able to make a hard hat for an Eevee, even one as strong as you." The Aggron rambled on and then growled. "Most Pokemon just laughed when I mentioned it. It took me eight vendors before someone said they could do a special order." He smiled at me after this statement.

I smiled right back, glad to know that someone here was looking out for me. Granted it was his job but this Aggron seemed a little too kind, even to me. I had no idea how much of a risky investment I was here, Eevees do not become miners. "So where's the hole?"

The Aggron walked at a pace that I had to run to keep up with. He walked twice as fast as I could jog but I still stood by his side and listened to every word. Listening was how I passed that first test, now I would have to prove I was worth the fur in my hide that they company was going to invest in me. Not everyone passed that test, and even fewer miners were worth the money the company paid for them. No one expected an Eevee to be worth a dime here.

The Aggron began to explain everything. The formation of the hole was completely natural, but gemstones were buried deep underneath and waiting to be mined. I asked him how many stones you could harvest in one day.

He laughed. "Thirty-two miners kid, excluding you, but we find about four a week on average. Sometimes eight."

I stopped walking. Truly four a week wasn't something to be proud of, no wonder these stones ran up in the thousands for a single rock.

"The most expensive items in the world kiddo," The Aggron stared at the huge building before him and then continued his fast pace around the corner. "The average price right now is just over fifteen thousand per stone, depending on what's in favor of the buyer of course."

I assumed those were technical details, but the point was I was not finding a stone anytime soon. "So why dig for them?" Is there a more efficient way to find them perhaps? My mind rambled on.

The Aggron ignored my question by not paying attention. We reached the final door I would learn to know so well. "Just past here is the hole room. We call it the pit."

Predictable name. He threw open the two doors similar to the factory design and I stopped walking in complete wonder.

It was huge. A roof shaped like a dome that could fit most of the city in it lay before me, I could run for three hours and not reach the other side. Miners were everywhere, and then some other Pokemon walking around and making noise. Everyone in here was easily over six feet tall, save for me.

I was only a foot and a half tall, and this was a very large dome. For the first time I questioned if I was tall enough for this job. "Sir?"

The Aggron turned around and faced me, mad that I wasn't following him. He had a busy schedule to keep up with. "You got your hardhat wimp, what are you waiting for?"

I quickly stepped inside and remembered what I was going to say. "Sir, I don't think…"

I stopped talking when he stared right at me. The team had invested enough money in me to buy themselves a small machine in a different factory if needed. They had wasted plenty of time, a lot of argument, and even more money, but when the decision finally came to find new miners they chose me above everyone else, believing that I somehow would make it back for them in dollars and perhaps output. The Aggron gave me a look that said if I quit now he was going to be very, very unhappy.

I decided to change my question. "What's your name sir?"

The Aggron rolled his eyes. "They warned me about you. Name's Mark."

Mark. I quickly drilled that in my head. I realized Mark was still walking and I ran to catch up.

"Rules are simple kid." The Aggron explained. "You can dig at any time you want, most of us go home for dinner but you don't ever have to leave the hole unless I say so. You will have me as a manager." He pointed to himself. "I'm responsible for your safety and making sure you have everything you need whenever you go down or come back up."

I quickly remembered all the knots from the test and names of the equipment. Soon I would get to see it in person. When I realized we were close to the hole, I stopped and looked forward trying to see the bottom. I didn't notice the red line that I crossed when my ears hung over the edge and my paws inched forward.

The claws of an Aggron are strong enough to tear you in two. I slid across the ground and was pulled backwards by my thick tail. "Rule number one kid. Fifteen feet at all times." He pointed to the red line I blatantly crossed.

I nodded. The rule made sense, I didn't want to fall in. The Aggron kept going and I quickly followed. My curiosity to see the bottom of the great hole would just have to wait, although there was plenty to stare at considering we were walking along the edge. I noticed that nobody else here was giving me odd stares, at least not yet. Maybe I was too small to even be noticed.

I quickly followed Mark and payed attention, but I had a few questions I needed to be reassured on. "I can dig anytime I want?"

Mark nodded. "Anytime kid. Just know that I won't be here at all times. There's always a late crew but…"

He stopped talking and turned around. I had stopped walking and was quickly counting in my head using my paws for the calculations. "That makes me able to work… Twenty hours a day."

Mark and everyone nearby stopped dead in their stride. I quickly redid the math and nodded in confidence since my answer was correct.

They factory crew had warned the other miners about me for a good reason. Mark smiled in curiosity. "What makes you think that?"
"Because four naps is enough to keep me awake." I explained. "Each for only one hour so I can perform without trouble. I can eat down there, especially since it takes time for the buckets to come up. I can return to the top every three days to recheck tools and bucket status." I smiled.

Ten seconds of silence, then Mark realized everyone was watching. With a quick wave of his hand everyone was back to work. "You want to spend three days down in the hole kid?"

I thought about it. I shrugged. "I like to work."

"And I like to make sure little Eevees like you don't fall. You sure you up to this kid?" Mark really wanted to ask if I was crazy, but there are better ways to phrase the question.

I thought about this predicament for a few seconds, remembering everything I had learned in training. Every page screamed this was a dangerous job.

I nodded to the challenge. I felt taller already.

"Fantastic." Mark stood up to his full height. "Then let's get you digging. Your spot is over here."

The hole is divided up into forty segments. A miner is lowered in their bucket with all their tools, possibly pictures of loved ones or memorable items, a lunch, and them themselves. You work on your one segment, carefully carving out dirt with the drill and hammer they give you. If you find a gemstone then it's up to you to make sure you don't break it, drop it, or snap your rope trying to get it. It's a very dangerous job.

I looked at my equipment and immediately my ears fell. "It's kind of big."

Mark laughed. He grabbed the wooden bucket I would soon call home and slammed it in front of my face. The rim was tall enough that hanging onto it my back paws would be a full foot off the floor. "No, you're just small." He threw me the rope that was tied to the pulley attached to the wall and I caught it just like I had practiced in training. Mark was in charge of rope pulling, specifically about lowering me down and bringing me up. We worked as a team.

Twenty minutes and I had all the knots tied. I noticed that most of the miners were watching me with curiosity as an Eevee jumped around with ropes in all four of his paws. Teeth came in handy for a job like this and mine were strong from bar pulling. I was amusing to watch an even laughable, I guess some things from the factory would never change.

"Hey Mark?" I asked while finishing the last knot.

The Aggron looked up in curiosity, his smile of amusement never leaving since he appeared to like me as his miner. "What kid?"
I finished the last knot. "Were you a miner?"

"Of course." Mark answered while he carried tools in one claw that would easily take my entire back just to lift. "I was one of the first miners here, and I trained most employees after that. You're actually not the sma…"

I accidentally interrupted him. "Then have you ever dug up a gemstone?" I was curious to know what they were like in person, I wondered if they truly did glow like the rumors said. I had never seen one in person before. I knew they came in different sizes, but the glow was what really interested me.

Mark rolled his eyes. "No, dropped mine on my first try. It was a Thunder stone, easily priced around eight thousand at the time. Though now they're just growing more expensive."

I tested my last knot where the ropes intertwined from the edge of the bucket. "Then do you have any advice for me before I go down?" I was ready.

Mark was quick to answer. "Stay fifteen feet from the hole at all times, wear a hardhat, and always test your knots." He grabbed my knot and yanked it in his paws. It snapped, I gulped.

"Relax kid." Mark threw the rope right back at me. "You forgot your second over knot. remember, it's not about the thickness of the rope, it's about the quality. It doesn't matter how big it is, it will usually snap unless it's made and done correctly." That knot was not good enough, I debated whether I was tall enough but remembered Mark's encouraging words.

I looked behind me at the hole that I was moments away from being let down into. I quickly restarted my knot when he complained I was wasting time just standing there. "How deep is it Mark?"

"No one knows." Mark began to explain, tying my knot for me so I wouldn't have to jump around and make a fool of myself again. "Rumor has it that it comes out the other side of the world. Most miners reach about fifty yards, but the max is always two hundred."

I stopped tying my knot and looked up, my ears upright in curiosity through the helmet on my head. "Why two hundred yards?"

Mark was slow to answer this time, as if remembering something from years ago. In fact, he was speaking from experience. I wondered if I would ever see that look again.

"Because kid, there comes a depth that even ropes won't save you at." He continued tying the knot. "They say the darkness at that level is enough to cause any light to dwindle, the light up top starts to disappear even though you've only gone a few yards further in. It'll make any rope snap and you'll fall forever. Sometimes it's just not ok to go down that far no matter how much you want to dig. Every Pokemon has their limits." He took a good long look at me, then he nodded and even laughed when he saw my face. "But you'll never reach that level so don't worry about it."

This made me want to frown, but I continued to choose to smile. "Nothing's too challenging with the right knot." I pulled on mine twice as hard and it didn't snap.

Mark laughed. He pulled on the knots like I did and they tested just fine. I guessed he was right about depths but something told me he was just scared. "And all miners don't wish to die." He gave me a hard look but then smiled. "Except you of course. Just do yourself a favor and don't look down. It's crippling for the first few days until you get used to it. You ready?"

I jumped into the bucket and struggled to climb over the top as I had learned in training. Beside me in every direction were tools of all kinds. There wasn't any food, Mark probably figured I would be out in less than an hour, crying for him to pull me back up out of the hole. Hopefully I was a better investment but Mark had his doubts and I had my hopes.

I had to stand on my back paws just to get my ears over the rim of the huge bucket. "I'm ready." I hoped.

Mark hit a crank and the entire bucket shifted. I let go of the rim and listened as the thick metal scraped underneath me through the wood. It sounded similar to the steel bars dragging across the floor, except this time I was being lowered and not dragged. My bucket continued to move towards the pit.

The steel floor plates closest to the hole are made differently. They're rigid and bumpy so that supposedly you can grab it easier if you happened to be in a dangerous situation near the hole. I hoped they didn't make the steel like that from experience. I listened as the grinding continued and I got closer to the edge every second. My paws started shaking but I refused to give in, I had never felt taller than when inside this bucket.

The noise suddenly stopped. Everything held still. There was nothing below me except an oversized bucket made of wood and a lot of tools. I waited and my tail flicked in every direction. I wondered what the hole looked liked below me now that I was inside it for the first time.

I admit, I was a little frightened. "How you doing kid?"

I looked up to see that Mark was yelling at me as I very slowly got lower and lower. He was in a rafter up top near the roof so he would be able to see me on my first day. The managers had their ways of making sure everyone was alright and giving out instructions without endangering their own lives.

I smiled at him. He rolled his eyes and laughed.

"Alright listen up kid." It just occurred to me that perhaps Mark never learned my name. "If you want to go down, you hold up your drill. If you want to come back up, you hold up the hammer. I'm checking in on you every ten minutes, just shout something if you need help."

I nodded. Seemed easy enough and I was ready. I held up the drill and Mark laughed, pushing down on the machine. The bucket started lowering and my paws held still.

Every miner starts at twenty yards deep. The dirt is still the same color at this depth, but once you're sure there's no stones on your side of the hole, they lower you down another ten yards and you search deeper in your segment. Then it's a repeat process all over again in search for the most rare gems in existence. I looked around me at the tools that were easily the size of my own tail and this bucket that I could just barely reach both sides in if I stretched with my tail and ears. I recalled every rule I knew about this place that I had learned. I remembered how well I did in training. I guess there really only is one thing left for me to do and that is dig. The bucket kept lowering and my thoughts recalled everything I saw inside this plant. Up top I could no longer see Mark, but I trusted he was watching me somehow.

On the double doors just before you walk into the plant, is a whiteboard. There were Pokemon names on it, marked with a number that was usually three digits long. The whiteboard was updated weekly with who was at what depth and what records had been broken. They gave out a lot of rewards here, some for fun and some for laughs. Corporate insisted they give their miners a good time.

The largest number on that board read a hundred and eighty yards. I knew exactly what that meant. No one had ever gone deeper, and perhaps no one ever would.

The bucket stopped. I guessed I was at my destination. With a small jump I was able to hold onto the edge and look over the top into the hole even though my back paws weren't touching the floor.

Everyone was watching me. I smiled at the mass of miners who all stopped to watch a little Eevee make a fool of himself. I wondered if I looked ridiculous or if they were all just jealous.

It was just like I practiced in the test. I jumped down and grabbed the hammer in my teeth and the drill in my right paw. With only two paws I jumped so I was gripping the edge with my claws and pulling myself over. It was a funny sight to see, an Eevee hanging with his back paws not even touching the ground in the largest hole in the world. The bucket was much taller than me, the hole was tallest of all.

Everyone laughed. Even Mark was watching from up top now since he couldn't resist. This was more amusing than anything the facility had seen all year. Apparently bets had been made to guess how early I quit. The smallest time was just under one hour and the largest bet was four days. There was no place here for Eevee's like me, nobody thought I was going to make it with this job, not even for an hour.

I twisted my neck, and smacked the rock with the hammer in my teeth. The clang rang out across the entire hole. The laughter stopped.

I looked at the dent I made. Some of the dust fell away and I watched the dirt and rocks slip just past the bucket. I peeked my head over the edge and stared down as a rock fell to the darkness below. I had looked down.

It was a large hole. I watched the rock that I broke loose fall for twenty seconds before I lost sight of it entirely. I listened for the crash at the bottom but I didn't hear it. Some more Pokemon were staring at me, others got back to work but I couldn't stop staring down.

It was deeper than I thought, deeper than anyone could imagine. My ears collapsed against my head and my tail hugged the bucket as best as it could. Mark was right, at two hundred yards there really is nothing but darkness. I watched as the rock disappeared, absorbed into an element I did not understand. It was obvious while looking at it that anyone who fell into this hole would never come out alive.

I observed the dent I made in the stone. That was one chunk gone missing, maybe with a thousand more hits I could move down ten yards and start again. If I hit harder then I could go down faster, provided I still searched for stones of course and didn't break any.

I did my math as quickly as I could to figure out how I would survive here. Sleep for four hours a day, eat and sleep in the bucket, less the time needed to pull up. I would have to be replacing tools a lot, getting food, checking the ropes, but if all this worked out then I could be moving down ten yards in… Less than six weeks!

I smiled. Six weeks and I would be ten yards taller. Six weeks of this job was nothing compared to pulling bars all day. I smacked the rock as hard as I could and the clang rang across the whole cave again to show my enthusiasm. Mark smiled from up top hearing his hard work paying off in the form of loud digging. I was an unusual investment, but even a small Eevee had the potential to pay off big.

I only knew one thing about this job, I was setting that new record. I would not sleep unless needed, I would not stop digging unless my tools broke or my rope snapped, and I would pass everyone in this cave within a matter of years, maybe even one if I got lucky. I would impress Mark, I would impress the miners, I would impress everyone. I was not stopping until my name was on that whiteboard.

I looked down as more rocks fell. Another thought occurred to me as I stared at the deep abyss, my front paws already hurting from hanging on the edge. This was a large bucket, in a very large hole. Quitting was out of my mind, so there was really only one alternative.

I am a very small Eevee, and Eevees don't stand up very tall. Johnson was right, I'm going to die down here.

…

My father yawned again, ruining the moment in the story. "Sorry." He finished his yawn after eight full seconds and I had already forgotten what he was talking about.

I yawned too. How late was it? The clock read ten-thirty and I really hoped I didn't feel tired during my big speech tomorrow morning. The school would be furious at me if I messed up the graduation speech, but there was always the more immediate problem of me still being an Eevee. I'm confident I don't want to attend another year at that school, not to mention Lucy was still leaving. There were eight choices to choose from but I was sitting here listening to my father talk. My heart wanted to growl in frustration knowing this wasn't getting me anywhere, but at least the story was entertaining. I quickly recalled dad's first rule, how did that help me here? Was any of this going to be useful? I had a big decision to make!

My father watched my distant stare and he knew I wasn't paying attention. "We can finish it tomorrow if you want? You and I have to get up early around…"

I grabbed my father's tail before he jumped off the couch. After a few seconds of silence, he sat right back down and absorbed the couch cushion under his weight again, making me have to lean away to the side of the couch. I smiled, and then embarrassingly let go of his heavy tan fur.

My father smiled and I did too, at least we could still smile at each other even at this late hour. "Alright Jake, but it's time for lesson two." He pulled his tail back and got comfortable even though I was still squished in the corner. I paid great attention as he sat down and smiled at me with complete sincerity.

My father yawned again. He lifted up his right paw in the middle of his yawn and showed me the underside without saying a word. I slowly leaned forward and knew what I would find, but I had never guessed until now what had caused it.

I stared at the undersides of his bright red paws in amazement, my tired eyes growing wide in thought. No other Pokemon deserved paws like my father, no one had mined like he did. He alone of all the Flareons and all the Pokemon in the world had pads like these, a symbol that had cost him most of the feeling in his two front paws many years ago. Despite what everyone told him, including his wife now, he knew it was well worth it when the time came to dig.

The undersides of the giant red paws were the most coarse, wrecked, and callused things you have ever seen. Torn, rebuilt, and torn again a thousand times a day for a thousand days. The pads were so thick with black flesh and fur I wondered if he had to coat them in red berry every morning to make them look even the slightest bit like a normal paw. Just by touching them I knew what he had been through, his patient eyes said the rest and I continued to feel the roughness of his fur. It even hurt to touch them.

I liked my father's paws. It was these pads that destroyed my fur every time my father hugged me when he got home. It was these pads that had rubbed the top of my head after an accomplishment and destroyed my fur by the smallest touch. I put my paw against his even though the size difference was embarrassing. Dad could not feel it, but I could. I realized that I had been awkwardly doing this for about thirty seconds now and it was starting to get awkward, dad probably wondered if I wanted to hold paws during this story so I quickly took mine back.

"They give you drills for a reason in those mines." My father muttered as he took his paw away and set it down on the soft couch so the pads were invisible. Once again, with his ripped pads hidden from view he became a normal Flareon. He yawned and started his second lesson and the image of his torn up pads never left my mind. I listened carefully.

"The best way to dig any kind of dirt son," he started explaining to my wide eyes and upright ears, "is to use your own paws. You can use all the tools you want, you can drill and smack and crush the ground but you won't ever get as far as your own four paws will take you." He stared at the undersides of his paws and flexed them back and forth like machinery to test his feeling again. I knew it hurt him to not feel with the four paws he owned, but it would've hurt him more to know that he never tried to truly dig. Something told me that if I had the chance to dig like my father did, I wouldn't have hesitated to ruin my paws twice as bad as his were. "The best way to dig son," he explained, "is to use your own paws. Always Jake, dig with your paws first, then you can use whatever you want to."

He showed me both of his front paws again, each equal to the other. They were beyond torn apart, beyond destroyed, the undersides underneath the flesh still had some black dirt in them from countless years ago during his first days on the job. Unless you cut off his entire limb, you would never be able to remove the dirt he pulled out in that great hole that remained in his fur. It was the giant hole's way of saying that they were one together. My father laughed and I laughed too. I reached up to touch them one last time but he sat back down and got comfortable, just out of my reach. I wondered if I would ever have paws as dirty as his.

My father yawned again. He scratched my head and I smiled when every fur stuck straight up. It would take me all morning to fix that. We both yawned and the story continued. "Right, where was I?" My father tried to remember where he was in the story. "Oh yes, so Mark showed up early that day when I…"
…

"James, I'm pulling you up!"

Mark had to shout at the top of his voice if he wanted me to hear him now. I showed him the drill but he pulled me up anyway, probably because he wasn't looking hard enough or he was just being stubborn. This was the third time this month that he decided to pull me up against my command. Shame too because I was confident I was near yet another gemstone.

Twenty minutes later and my bucket was back at the top. It takes a while to get pulled up from my depth. "You know they have beds for sleeping in, right?" Mark taunted me as I came up and jumped out of the bucket to stretch. I had already taken my hour nap four hours ago, what's his point?

I smiled, jumping out of the bucket with no problem and landing on the steel floor that was now black from dirt, only in my segment of course. "I'm fine Mark. Thanks for pulling me up. I needed a new drill because this one broke again, and the hammer too." Together we pulled up the bucket and secured it in place. I handed Mark a bag filled with three small glowing stones. "Sorry they're so small, they hardly even shine down there. There's no big ones unless you go deeper Mark. You know I think that…"

Mark rolled his eyes. "Never mind what you think, I think you've spent too much time in that hole. Quit talking about stones for once and eat something kiddo." He threw me a white towel from behind his back.

I sat down and stared at him for the longest time with the towel lying before my paws. "Um, is this mine?" I never owned a towel before.
"It is now." The giant Aggron gestured to every part of me while he grabbed his morning berry snack that he always brought every morning without fail. If I had a clock down there in the hole, I would have realized it was four in the morning but time usually didn't stop me. "You do realize what your fur looks like, right James?"

"Brown?" I answered Mark without looking. I shrugged and rolled my eyes. "I'm an Eevee, we tend to stay one color." I didn't see what his point was and I still had a useless towel in my paws. It took me a while to realize that no one else was here in the building, except my trusty manager Mark of course. He like having to come in early just to chat with me alone, and make sure I was still alive which even he still doubted sometimes.

How early was it? Even better question, what day was it? "Hey Mark, what's…"

"September sixteenth." He answered before I finished. "And it's four in the morning. I knew you would ask." He took a huge bite out of his food. "Only you James would forget what day it is because you work too much." He took another bite. "I'm surprised you remember how to talk!"

I laughed. "That still doesn't explain why you bought me a towel." I went to grab another hammer since my last one broke and dragged the towel with me.

Mark laughed. "Sure kid. Just rub the towel over your face and then go find a mirror."

I did as my manager asked. One swipe and the towel was completely black where I touched it. So that's what he meant.

I laughed in fake surprise. "Oh the dirt? Well it doesn't bother me." I threw the towel right back at him. Had I looked into a mirror it's likely I wouldn't have recognized myself. In fact, I don't think anyone who knew me outside this mine would have recognized me either. Put five yellow rings on my fur and I'm darker than any Umbreon to ever exist. "The dirt is darker the deeper you go. It's been two years Mark since I started, I know what I'm doing. You know I think I can hear them?" I rambled on as I walked to the pile of tools and searched for a new drill. I had gone through three already even though I hardly ever used them. Claws were much better diggers than any tool I had used down there but for some reason no one else liked to get as dirty as I did. "Mark, did you hear me?"

The Aggron stopped with his berry halfway in his mouth. "You can hear them?" Two years he had worked with me and never had he heard something so crazy. "What do you mean you hear them? Are you making theories again?"

I nodded, pulling out a drill that I broke last week and throwing it away to the second pile of tools that only existed in my sector. "Yes, the stones, I'm pretty sure they make noise. I keep finding more of them the deeper I go. I think there's something important down there at my level." I finally found a working drill.

The Aggron gave a snort that only meant one thing. "You're crazy!"

"No it's true! I'm telling the truth." I argued back. "I'll prove it." With an expert jump I was by his side and I grabbed a hammer and waited patiently, my tail flicking in excitement to prove my theory and causing black dirt to spread in every direction. Nothing on me was brown anymore, Mark was right, I should probably find some daylight every now and then in that hole. I told Mark to put his ear to the floor against the cold steel and he looked at me like I was crazy. I rolled my eyes. "Just do it Mark!"

It took him eight seconds, then he finally complied. The only reason he was doing this was because we were the only two in the entire plant and he somehow still trusted me. Mark knew very well I was entertaining to watch. He bent down close to my height and shoved his ear to the floor. "Ok?"

I hit the hammer very gently near his ear and he jumped back in surprise. "What the heck James!"

I rolled my eyes and dropped the hammer. Just as I had done in the hole, I shoved my blackened fur against the cold steel. "You can hear them." I complained. I tapped the ground with my paws. "Yep, there's one twenty yards down from right here. I'm telling you, they make noise!"

Mark didn't pull me up for no reason, he brushed the black dirt off his fur even though he hadn't touched me. "I'm not doubting that you're crazy kid, but if you keep pulling up stones like this you'll take up all five spots left on the whiteboard. You've already claimed the first twelve."
I nodded and smiled. It was true, the white board at the front of the mine was littered with my name. "It's not my fault no one else likes to dig."

"Likes to?" The Aggron stood up and pounded on my head. "I'm pretty sure your brain is about as empty as this hole you're calling home. Just don't convince yourself it's home, there's still a world out there."

I laughed. I just didn't see why you would stop digging if you were the best at it. "Can I go back down now?" I grabbed the berry he threw at me since he knew I was hungry. Hunger just wasted time though. "You checked the rop…"

Mark held up his claws and I stopped my question. "Not yet, we need to talk." I let go of the bucket with the new drill and turned my head. I was exactly fifteen feet away from the hole, but nobody here doubted my judgement. I had yet to come close to falling in even during the nightshifts when no one was here except Mark and some security guards. Sometimes I liked to try and jump from the steel rims into the bucket began to lower. No one bothered to watch me, I was so well trained in this mine I could jump from bucket to bucket with my eyes closed. If you ask me, concentration and these big ears really make a difference. I know for a fact that you can hear the gems, no one else seems to listen though. I was a very short Eevee but I feel taller the deeper I go.

Mark could mock me all he wanted, but I knew he was envious of what I did down there. There was a pile of gemstones in the storage rooms with my name written all over it. A hundred and fifty-two stones and counting. I smiled and sat down to listen to Mark before he started talking.

The great Aggron rubbed his neck, a sign of worry as I soon learned in my first days working for him. "Listen kid. Corporate is looking for a new manager since the last one left and they want someone who knows these mines really well, not to mention also knows the other miners."
I jumped straight up in complete glee and my tail flicked in excitement. "That's fantastic Mark! Go for it!"

"James, I'm not participating, I'm signing you up."

My ears fell, my tail dropped to the floor.

Mark had never had this look on his face before, he didn't get to say this often to miners he had trained. "Look James, you've been here only two years and already the rumors are out of control. You hold all the records, you dig faster than any miner in the world, and you've set the max amount at a hundred and ninety yards. There's no one else qualified for this job except you. I'm signing you up as the third contestant to become the personnel manager of this mine."

I smiled, but the reality of his statement was still hitting me. A manager? Not a miner? Not even a factory worker? "I'm not fit to be a manager Mark. You said I was puny. Everyone knows I'm an Eevee." Eevee's aren't even supposed to dig, how could I possibly hold myself higher than everyone else? What did being a manager even mean! I stared at my waiting bucket to the hole I knew so well. "Mark, I don't think I can…"

Mark got up and walked right over to me to cut me short in my complaint. On one knee he shoved his heavy claws on my head and I struggled to hold it up. My strength had grown as I worked down here and I patently held up his heavy claws while he just smiled at our little game. So far I had the to collapse. "Yes, you are pretty small. Pretty pathetic too."

I laughed and shoved his heavy claw off my helmet since most of his motivational speeches started this way. "What's your point Mark?" I needed to get back into that hole and finish what I started. There was a gem down there, I could feel it.

"Well, I never thought I'd say this…" Mark took a big breath and then let it out. "I think an Eevee has just bested every Pokemon in this entire mine, including me." I think the only reason he said that out loud was because no one else was here. "I'd be proud working for you kid, you got character, and a little dirt in your ear." I had to shove his paw away again when he tried to shove me over. I had gotten a lot stronger working in this mine, and according to everyone else, a lot wider too. I wasn't sure which one was more true but Mark shared my enthusiasm to try and stand taller than before.

Mark got his point across. "I'm not picking anyone else. I personally am not signing up either. I'm giving you the job whether you want it or not, it's a big promotion kid since you work hard and you dig like no other." The clock read just after four in the morning. The sun would come up in a few hours outside.

I didn't know what to say, so I just smiled. I truly wondered if after two short years, did I really deserve this? I stared down at my Eevee paws that were pitch black with dirt. Entitlement had never occurred to me, eventually I just worked enough that everyone kept asking me to move up and advance in position, just like Zach insisted I get paid more. Today was one of those days, but being a manager? Did Mark really trust me with his life here in this mine? Did everyone else?

Mark stood back up and didn't bother to check the ropes on my bucket since he assumed I had done so earlier. I hadn't and I forgot to ask him. "So? Have any questions James?"

I had a few. "How many others are applying?"

"A kid from Pokemon University more than four cities east of here. Rumor had it his dad runs some big business or something. The other is a smart student graduating two years early, but I don't think he's entitled to even walk in these mines. They have brains kid, bigger than yours," I wondered if he was making fun of my height again, "but I think if you're careful you can take them."

An entitled cub and a mastermind, both of whom had never set foot in a mine in their life. Maybe I could stand a chance, or maybe I was underestimating my opponents. I threw the new drill into my bucket without even looking since it since it was habit. I could head down anytime I wanted now. "Will I still get to dig?"

Mark laughed. "Dig all you want, I'm still paying you ninety dollars a day."

A new question popped into my head. "How much will I make with this new job?"

Mark replied, my head disappearing into the bucket as I jumped inside. "Two hundred thousand."

My body froze for a second, then my head came back out the top of the wood where my paws gripped the rim. "Excuse me?"

Mark laughed. He held up two claws to prove his point.

I frowned. "Two dollars a day?"

"Arceus kid!" Mark looked me right in the eyes. "I said two hundred thousand!"

I was still confused. "A year? Or is that a lifetime? Are you talking about my entire life because you could calculate it in years and…"

Mark was getting furious. "Arceus James, a year! Every year they will pay you two hundred thousand! Ok? What's so confusing about…"

I was so surprised I tipped the whole bucket over and tools flew everywhere. "WHAT!" I squeaked in bewilderment. The bucket fell over my head and concealed my screaming voice from underneath. I quickly had it off me but the astonishment was still on my dirt covered face and my stiff upright ears. "Two hundred thousand? That's outrageous! How can you make two hundred…"

"Relax kid." Mark laughed and finally told me to sit still and quit freaking out. I never knew my tail could twitch so much when I was this surprised, Mark forced me to calm down a little and quit squeaking like a little cub. "I know you don't like money James, so you can probably talk them down to just ten thousand since you never take full wage. But if you don't take it all, can I have the other half?"

I was so surprised, I couldn't even breathe. I quickly gathered everything I had spilled and shoved it back into the bucket. The words rang in my head like fireworks. That number couldn't be right, can you even pay someone that much? Who worked so hard they deserved two hundred thousand a year?

Twenty seconds later, and I finally felt my tongue work again. "Two hundred thousand?" I repeated, my paws feeling woozy at the very thought. "Two hundred thousand? Two hundred…"

Mark slapped me across the ear and I was snapped out of my trance. I stood there like a helpless cub but I realized I was still here, the job wasn't mine yet although I wasn't even sure if I wanted it now. Who works hard enough to make so much money?

Mark just smiled. "You deserve a lot more than that kid, but I think you'll be just fine with that amount. You going to dig or what?"

I remembered where I was. I quickly jumped back into the bucket and the whole thing lurched a bit and the ropes swayed. It didn't normally do that but I didn't hear the noise. Two large numbers rang in my head and I missed the odd noise of the bucket.

Mark hit the button and let me down into the hole. "Try not to think about it kid. I'll let you know more details later, just yell if you need help but I'm going to be gone for twenty minutes." He's probably finding more food or stealing a quick nap. I did a good job of keeping Mark busy throughout the night, even when I was just fine on my own.

I showed him the new drill I grabbed and he let me down further. I was so distracted by the thought of a new job that I didn't hear the creak in the rope. The bucket lowered into the pit, the one I knew and loved so much.

"Two hundred thousand." I repeated to myself. I imagined this entire hole filled with money. Truly I didn't deserve it all. "Two hundred thousand."

Wait, I was sinking, I needed to pay attention. I forgot my thought and checked for all my tools. Everything was here and the food Mark gave me was here as well. I passed the one hundred yard mark, still going down. The darkness starts to set in a little bit at this point but you can still see the roof of the building.

The bucket kept sinking. I had done this a million times before and it never got old. I stared at the other marks and holes the separate miners had created. Not one of them came close to my depth. There were only three sectors that reached past a hundred and fifty but my bucket kept going. The other Pokemon joked that my eyes were now nocturnal because I swear there was no difference at this depth other than the dirt color. I stared at all the holes I had dug before this, knowing which ones exactly had gems and which ones didn't. The rope swayed a little.

"Two hundred thousand." I repeated for the last time. Only if I got the job would that matter, but it was ok because Mark would still let me dig if I didn't get the opportunity to work in corporate. I wondered if that was a healthy way of thinking about it, or if perhaps this was another situation where if I didn't get the job, I never would.

A hundred and fifty yards deep. The dark started setting in so I looked up and forced myself to smile. The other Pokemon weren't kidding about this hole. Few who got down this far had the guts to stay this low for very long, unlike me. My bucket stopped right at one hundred and ninety. I would have to start a new sector soon if I kept this pace up.

My bucket came to a halt right in front of the hole I had been working on with my teeth. I quickly noted that nothing had changed on the wall and remembered where I had heard the stone in the dirt. Down here it didn't matter what color your fur was or how big you were. If you wanted to get the gems, you really had to dig for it. Teeth before tools I always told myself. An expert jump and I was on the edge of my bucket facing the wall, my front paws hanging on the wood rim. I had gotten so used to this position I could hold myself with one paw on the bucket for hours at a time if needed. Mark had given up saying how strong my claws had grown over time, he liked me more for my attitude than appearance. To him I was very tall, taller than even I thought.

There's one more thing I like about this depth. I closed my eyes and listened.

Complete silence, a calming darkness existed down here just before the end of all light less than ten yards down. It was beautiful. I took a breath and got back to work. Four hours of this and then I deserved the berry Mark gave me, but I could wait longer to eat if I had to. Hopefully my ears weren't lying when they heard that stone down here. I smiled and leaned forward out of the bucket as I had done a hundred times before.

I reached up and placed my paw against the wall. I shoved my ear against the side and closed my eyes to listen better. I smiled as the soft vibration was heard through the dirt. Maybe I was crazy, maybe everyone else is, but I swear you can hear success through the thick dirt if you listen hard enough.

A large thud from above, my eyes opened up in surprise.

Two years I had worked in this mine. I worked every day without fail, but I had never heard that noise before. It was supposed to be silent down here, the single thud faded as the noise disappeared into the darkness .

I stopped listening and brought my head away from the wall, my back paws slowly creeping to the inside of the bucket. I stared at the wall in complete surprise. My ears shot upright. I wasn't being deceived was I? Did that just happen?

I was two inches lower than where I started. I was sure that I hadn't moved, but something up top did and it was making my bucket sink.

I looked up. the rope was strained to the max but it always did that. the ropes couldn't tolerate much pressure at this extent and even lengthening them only created more problems. I had read the rule book over and over, I knew that I was safe.

The rope creaked again. The bucket shifted and I fell to the bottom on the inside. I felt the whole chasm shift upwards. Or was I moving down?

Four inches this time. I was four inches deeper than I should've been. That creaking noise rang out across the entire cave and my bones shuddered. My tail slowly wrapped around my paws with a terrified will of its own. It never did that. There wasn't supposed to be any noise down here, nothing was supposed to be making noise except me. What was going on?

My heartbeat quickened. I thought about Mark up top. I thought about what he said of leaving for twenty minutes. "Mark?"

The noise came back. There was a loud crank up top and everything froze in place. I wasn't that heavy, these ropes could handle hundreds of pounds. They were made to keep me alive inside this bucket, they wouldn't break would they? I was less than ten yards from the darkness below. If I sank too far, I would never see daylight again. I waited, knowing that if the noise came back it would be the last time the rope decided to test it's failing strength. My worst fears were going to be confirmed.

My eyes opened wide. I remembered my training, I recalled my question I forgot to ask Mark. Replacing ropes, Mark had never replaced this rope when I came up. I forgot to tell him how old this one was when I became obsessed with the paycheck of the new job. A quick math calculation and I figured the chances of this rope breaking were about ten percent, if not more from the creaking. I was certain something was going to happen, otherwise it wouldn't be making noise. I looked up to hear nothing right now but the rope was swaying and it never did that. One more of those noises and I would never hear anything ever again.

I gulped, my tail flicked in every direction and I backed up to the rim of the bucket, my paws shaking on the floor. I could do nothing down here, but Mark was not up top. "Mark? Hello?" I wondered if I should search for the hammer even though no one was going to see me. The rope lowered even more and I watched the hole grow taller. Six inches now, I was six inches deeper than I should ever be in my life.

Something was seriously wrong.

I waited. Complete silence. The bucket swayed left and right, The tools shifted back and forth. I watched as the berry Mark gave me rolled like the world it sat on was about to collapse. I could hardly keep my paws from shaking. My ears grew cold.

I knew it for certain now. Buckets didn't move, ropes didn't creak, and walls didn't shift like this. I looked up at the trusty rope I had dealt with for years and never had any problems with before. This rope holding me now was twine, string, I was being held by mere bubblegum at this depth.

Rule number one in the book. Past all the stuff about knot tying and manager's roles, past gemstones and drill bits and hammer swings, even past the rule of never, ever, going below two hundred yards…

There was one rule you were not allowed to break. The creaking came back up top, the noise grew louder and louder. I had seconds left to decide and the only thing pulled tighter than this rope was my jaw shut in worry.

"Mark? Mark please?"

I had time right? I could dig still and perhaps get into the wall. I could hold up my hammer or yell for help. I could…

The rope snapped.

I jumped from my bucket. The wall was wet and slick. I scrambled furiously for the hole in the dark that I had created but I missed it and started sliding down towards the darkness. I was getting deeper, the light up top was getting smaller.

I screamed. I pulled. I yanked my claws against the wall and slammed my body to the dirt. Six yards I slid, pulling the stones with me. Finally I held still against the cold wall and the dirt held in place. My strong paws could hold me on the edge of a bucket, but no Pokemon could hold on for life at this depth. I tried so hard not to look down, I tried so hard not to cry.

My limbs were shaking. The rope beside me whistled as the entire thing whipped by my head. I watched it sink to the bottom, disappearing from sight the second it sank just past my tail and into the black void. Darkness past this depth was different, it had a will of its own, hungry for whatever fell into it. I was yards away from never seeing light again.

The wall was wet. I cried in fear and my paws began to shake. "Please don't slip. Please!" My paws started sinking.

My front paw slipped. Another two yards, and I finally stopped sliding until I gripped harder. You can't grab the walls here, that's what buckets are for. You're not supposed to hang in place for long, that's what the rope was for.

All four of my paws shook but I was holding still. I may have been strong, but not this strong. No Pokemon could hold themselves for long down here, not in this darkness. I was stuck down here but I could still see light up top, just a little sliver of hope. I was ok right? I wouldn't sink any further? Please don't let me sink further? I'll do anything… I cried uncontrollably.

My head was still free, my wide eyes could barely see the dirt just inches from my face. Somehow there was a bucket down here, I told myself. It was my bucket, still strapped safely with my tools inside and hanging. No noise, no snapping, I was going to grab that gemstone soon and I was going to be ok. I would see daylight again. I could not lie to myself any further and my paws grew in pain.

I looked down. It was very dark. I was less than five feet from breaking the rules, whatever ones I hadn't already broken. Two hundred yards had never been closer to any Pokemon except for me. I was going to do what I finally wanted to.
I was going to die down here. My eyes blurred in tears at the thought of how clumsy I had been. I did not want to die, I regretted this decision. I am not tall, I'm short. Ok world? I'm the shortest Eevee to ever live! Are you happy Mark? Are you happy Johnson? Now get me out of this…

My front paws started slipping.

"No. No please!"

Ten feet further. Fifteen feet. I yanked the cold wall so hard my paws left marks thicker than nails into the wall. I could feel a liquid different than water rushing down past all four of my paws. I was bleeding. I couldn't hold this position forever, I was slipping, soon I would fall with no wall to save me for the final time. Just like the rope my claws were going.

I couldn't breath. I couldn't see. I looked up and it was just as I remembered him saying. The gap of light at this depth is less than an inch big. All the rumors were true. There was no greater darkness than what I was holding onto now. I was going to die down here. Already my strength that had gotten me so far was going to fail me after so many years.

Forget mining, forget this job. I was going to die. My mouth shook uncontrollably. I sank my teeth into the stone and knew it wouldn't do a thing. The fact that I wasn't falling yet was nothing short of a miracle. Any less amount of pressure and I would…

Start sliding. Two hundred yards and counting. Two hundred and three yards. Two hundred and five.

"MARK PLEASE!"

I stopped sliding. The ground was pure stone. My claws were ripping out. I wasn't sure if it was water or my own soul that was leaking on the walls. I shut my eyes and it was brighter than the dirt around me. My entire body hugged the wall but it wasn't enough. I couldn't tell if I was moving. I couldn't even see if I was holding on anymore, I was below that depth of darkness that no one ever crossed. I was past two hundred yards. It was no longer a question of whether I was going to survive or not, now the question was how long I would survive.

Two years I had spent at the factory and another two years of mining. I recalled everything I could, all the rules and things I had learned. Nothing would help me, I was finished here. My job was done. Mark was right, John had been correct all along.

my paws weakened from the wall. I opened my eyes and looked up, hardly able to see through the blur of tears. That wasn't light I was seeing. Was I looking down? Was I facing the wrong way? Where did the top of the hole go?

Was I falling? Which way was up? Do I hang on, or do I let go? My paws weakened on the wall, the darkness was winning.
"James?"

My eyes shot wide. I slammed my claws against the wall and hugged it for all my strength. I wasn't letting go. No! Don't give in, you won't survive down there, don't listen to the darkness! Trust in Mark. Trust in yourself you pathetic Eevee. "Mark please?" I begged, but I knew he wouldn't hear a thing. "Mark! Help!"

"James? Hold on!" The voice went silent again. I could hardly hear the scream from up top but I was confident Mark was there. My hope returned for a little bit. Mark was coming to the rescue but what could he possibly save?

I couldn't think. I remembered what all the miners said. Flying types can't tell which way is up at this depth. The say light disappears and turns into something else that no one has ever seen. They say that no rope can reach this far even with a bucket attached. Nobody goes past two hundred yards. Nobody survives this far down. Eevee's don't work in the mines, Eevee's never stand tall. I was going to die down here.

My paws started shaking again. I begged with words and tears but no amount of blood would keep them working. I started sliding inch by inch. At what point would the stone stop and I would continue falling, forever lost to darkness and beyond?

Darkness everywhere. The gap of light above disappeared whenever I looked up, or down? I cried but mere tears would not stop me. The darkness was overcoming everything. No one survived past two hundred yards. Ten seconds of will power, ten seconds of hope left. Than that mere centimeter of hope would disappear and I would have nothing left to hold onto. Up top the red lights started flashing in every corridor and a deafening siren went off in the entire building. I didn't hear a thing. The darkness was starving for my defeat.

I cried against the cold wall, my insides turning numb and sick. my stomach faced the other direction and I wondered if I was hanging on upside down. "Please!" I begged, my mouth dripping from sweat and cold dirt. My back was slowly sliding down, my tail hanging the wrong direction. Two hundred and twenty-five yards. Two hundred and thirty. "Help me! Please! I don't want to…"

I had reached that depth, the depth that no Pokemon has ever seen. Ropes would snap at Two hundred, souls would snap at just ten more. I hung here at thirty below. The rumors started coming true, only one fate remained. Ropes were being thrown up top and miners started climbing down to get a better look even though it was impossible. Managers started rushing through the doors into the building but I doubted I would see them alive again.

The rumors were all true, I admit that. I admit that I had no fear of them when I did not experience them. I believed I was capable of anything. The hole grew from fifty yards wide to three hundred. The depth looked more like twenty whenever I looked down, yet upwards it never ended. Which way was up? If I jumped I would survive, right?

My paws started sliding. Hope had returned in a different form. The farther down I got, the more I wanted to smile.

The darkness was winning.

Perhaps I was facing the wrong direction? My paws felt off balance. My tail hung the other direction out of pure belief but it only proved my theory was correct. I knew I was facing the wrong way, looking down into the darkness only proved it and looking up no longer worked. Perhaps darkness was my ally. Perhaps the light had fooled me this entire time. Did up mean down? Was down really truthful? I had lived in darkness for two years, I could get used to this, I must be right. I let go with one bleeding paw, my tail truly believing it was so close to solid ground that it was twitching in delight just to try and reach for it. There was only one thing that didn't quite seem right for me to let go.

I tried so hard but for the first time in years I truly did not feel tall. Perhaps I was wrong, the harder I gripped the wall the taller I thought I was yet I still wanted to let go. Perhaps I was weak after all. Even at this depth it becomes hard to simply smile.

If I just slide a little further then I would be alright. I just knew it. If I slid further then my crying would finally stop. I cried into the wall and refused to listen to the calls above, they were wrong. Mark yelled so loud his voice was deafening but it fell on useless ears.

I was the strongest Eevee alive. I had proven everyone wrong but it was time to prove them right. It was just time.

My claws slowly let go, the pit accepting it's gift of a terrified Eevee. Two hundred and thirty-one yards. Two hundred and thirty-two.

The flashing lights, the warning signs. They started to disappear. It was silent for the first time in my life. So silent. I heard the sound of claws sliding on thick dirt. Dig with your claws I told myself. Dig yourself straight down and just let go.

Darkness can twist the mind to believe things it doesn't want to. Two hundred and thirty-five yards. I needed light and I needed it now.

"Please?" I begged with my useless voice, the blackness was even overpowering my throat. "Please?" I begged it even further. "Light. I need light."

Something, anything. My right back paw went out. My fur lifted off the wall. If I was holding on I wouldn't know it. If I was falling I wouldn't feel a thing. Any further and I would die and I knew that even my great feats would not help me at this depth. I knew the temptations that waited just one inch further, one inch further and I would be blind. I was already blind to my ego anyway. Perhaps I should just welcome a second chance, a taller stature. Perhaps light had never existed in this life and Eevee's never did stand tall like I thought.

Four dollars a day, even ninety. What difference did it make? What difference did John make, did Mark make? They never believed in me. The tears kept coming. The darkness had taken my sanity.

Ropes were being thrown down. Emergency ropes that had never been tested. Four machines held each one up, lights attached to the bottom but they would not work. Everyone held their breath. Two full minutes the ropes would fall before they reached my distance. Twenty more seconds to go. Fifteen seconds…

I counted down to the darkness that was winning, my paws ready to let go and try again somewhere else. "Five. Four. Three…"

I gulped, my left paw giving out and everyone up top screaming my name. My tail twitching every direction, my ears flat against my head and freezing cold. "Two. One…"

"James?"

I opened my eyes. The darkness was so strong I immediately shut them again and gripped the wall in fear. I was sane again. I was at two hundred and forty yards, and I had heard something?

"James. Dig."

Who was talking to me? Was I going insane? Was that light?

I opened my eyes against my fear. Just the smallest bit of light next to my eyes. Behind me shown a lamp with a rope attached that would not go any further. The rope was even thicker than my own body but I couldn't see it down here. Up top everyone was screaming for me to grab on. Safety was just behind me but no light would work at this depth. No light, except one.

I stared into the wall, my paws stopped shaking, my ears pointing towards the dirt. So it is true. They do talk.

The darkness had lost.

A small red glow, sticking straight out of the wall. It was light, a small flicker of hope, I must be dreaming. Nothing existed this far down. Behind me the rope hit my tail and I felt the warmth from something in the real world buy I was memorized by the small glow in the black dirt.

It couldn't be. Not down here, not at this level. It was the brightest one I had ever seen. So beautiful, so warm, so full of glow. "Dig James. Dig, fight for light."

My paws shook like mad. The hole was starving. It was so close to winning yet it would lose to a tiny stone.

I dug for all my worth. I grabbed the light in my teeth and shut my eyes.

My paws let go and I screamed, grasping for a rope that I thought I imagined.

Two hundred and forty yards. Two hundred and forty-two. Two hundred and forty-three.
…

My father stopped talking. I didn't even realize that he was shaking from his story but I was doing the same thing. My tail wouldn't hold still and I embarrassingly shoved my back paw over it to keep it from twitching. My ears were pulling so tight against my head that I was getting a headache. Back in the real world we looked like two scared cubs that just finished a horror movie.

My father took a long breath and then he got down from the couch and stretched for a bit. He walked over to the fire place and reached behind a picture that i had failed to notice until now He came back holding something in his large paw that he had kept secret until now, none of my siblings even knowing of its existence. The great Flareon sat down and my curious eyes couldn't move away from whatever he was about to show me. What was so important that he had never shown it to me until now? Could it be from the story? Did my siblings ever get to see this?

My father unfurled his paw. I flinched.

"It's alright son." He gave the item to me anyway and dropped it on my tail so that I could touch it. "The stone's already been used Jake, it won't harm you."

I stared at the warm red stone in disbelief. Gem stones came in all sorts of sizes and shapes, each one matching the personality of the Pokemon who claimed it to the exact detail. The glow inside was more dazzling than anything I had ever seen, my eyes froze in complete bewilderment. If this stone was already used by my father, how bright did it shine when it was alive years ago?

I slowly grabbed the stone in my paw where my father had dropped it on my tail. It was still warm to the touch, a perfectly formed fire stone that today would be too rare to purchase with money. This small but powerful stone was meant for someone great, it would not indulge itself with the thought of going with someone lesser than my father. I could no longer tell how tired I was, how distressed I had been, every thought of mine vanished when the red stone touched my paw. My eyes did not blink, my tail did not stir, it was the first time I was completely still all night. Was there any flaw at all in this small red stone? Were there any flaws in my father?

My father smiled and pointed at the stone that I held just inches from my face, the glow mesmerizing my thoughts. "That little sucker, saved my life." The Flareon continued to talk but I didn't pay attention. I could tell at one glance that this stone was meant for my father. It reminded me of great I felt when he would come home from work and barge through the front door. The only thing equivalent to this priceless fire stone that sat in my paw, was the great Flareon that it chose to belong to. My father deserved this stone.

Twenty seconds later and I finally looked away from my paw. My father was smiling and I frowned since I didn't hear a word he said earlier. He gently took the stone from my paw and I still reached forward for it even though it wasn't mine to hold. I desperately hoped to have it for just a moment longer but my father knew it was late in the night and that my longing to hold his stone was just because I was tired. Without another word my father was back to the great Flareon he had always been and I was still the tired Eevee who sat before him. I tried to control myself but my eyes would not move away from the table. The small red glow kept insulting me, taunting my decision I had to make. I was jealous, my eyes envious of the stone that wasn't mine to claim. It was mocking me, proving to me that I wasn't worth to hold it, that once again someone had evolved and I was left behind. This was not my stone, I had no idea what mine looked like but I wanted this one and I wanted it now. The red stone on the table glowed again and I growled at the inanimate object. Clearly I was out of my mind but I really wanted to hold it even for a moment longer.

The great Flareon watched and laughed as I stood there like a confused little cub. My father knew it was a valuable stone, but it was never destined to be mine. I stopped growling and my cheeks shot red but my father did not care for my embarrassment. He was no longer intrigued by his glowing stone, its power doing nothing to him since he had absorbed it many years ago. What my father was intrigued by now was that one day a stone would decide his own son was worthy for its ownership. The great red stone on the table had decided to give up everything and let my father use it's waiting power to do many great things, what stone would lay before his son that would dare decide the same? What could it possibly look like? Would it be anything like his own?

I looked up at my father who had been staring at me for some time now. My ears lowered against my head when I realized what his stern face was thinking about. I was forced to come to terms with the same thoughts.

This stone on the table was not mine, it was my fathers. The red glow was the same color as his fur, the flawless design matching that of his eager personality, his never fading smile coming from the rock's always glowing nature. In every way, every corner, every mark that was on this stone resembled my father down to the last torn piece of fur on his tail and his callused and torn paws. The rock was big and bright, my father tall and smiling. They were destined for each other, I on the other paw was still just a silently confused Eevee looking at a very tall Flareon with his very tall rock.

I stood in silence, my thoughts moving away from jealousy and onto what my father had patiently made me consider. Out there was a stone with all its flaws and cracks and glowing light inside, but it would look just like me. I wondered how a stone could possibly find me worthy for its use? What rock would decide that I alone was destined to complete its journey, that I was tall enough to claim it's immense power? What one rock in this entire world belonged to me?

The trance from the stone was over when my father rustled my head to get me to wake up and quit thinking. I tried to pay attention and fix my fur but it was getting very difficult with my eyes constantly wanting to droop shut and try again tomorrow. I hoped my father's narrative would continue on even though I was doomed to fall asleep in the middle of the story.

My father cleared his throat and got comfortable, shoving me into the corner of the couch again where my tail was cramped in pain. We were back to our old selves again and I tried to push him back to no avail. Why did Flareon's tails have to be so big? Sometimes there were nice things to still being a tiny Eevee. I continued to try and push him out of the way while he didn't even realize he was squishing me.

"Where was I?" My father mused, his tail smacking my face until I bit it. He quickly moved over but it was clear that we needed to buy a bigger couch if we were going to do this again. "Um, oh yes, I was in the pit past two hundred yards and falling…"
…

Mark ferociously pulled on the rope. The rest of the miners were coming down, no more than one hundred yards deep from the surface. They all watched in desperation, all voices silent except for the loud screaming of the sirens and the flashing red lights on every door and hallway. Everything except Mark's claws were holding still.

They had felt a tug on the rope more than twenty minutes ago. The rope got heavier so Mark started pulling. It was worse than waiting, the giant Aggron knew that if he pulled too hard or too quickly for just one moment he could snap the rope and the Eevee would be lost forever. Everyone wondered if Mark was lying, perhaps just an impossibly hopeful tug from down below. Everyone knew the rules, no Pokemon had been strong enough to survive past two hundred yards. No one came out alive so obviously there was no hope.

Someone from down below started making noise. "Hey! I think I see him!"

The edge of the hole was surrounded with Pokemon. Mark kept pulling.

"It's the Eevee! I see him! He's alive!"

The Aggron pulled as hard as he could. He bit the rope with his teeth and yanked it in. He wasn't leaving James down there for one more second! That Eevee of his was not going to die, not while he had something to do about it.

Just twenty more yards to safety now. Fifteen more. Ten…

Everyone held their breath. Clutching the rope with its teeth and all four paws, its tail wrapped around the rope and turning white with fear was the palest, most terrified, most frightened and whimpering Eevee anyone had ever seen. It was me, the great James who had braved the darkness. Mark pulled once more and the rope was fifteen feet on solid ground, it was finally over.

I hadn't moved an inch, I wouldn't dare open my eyes and I could hardly feel the rope in my freezing cold fur. I was touching solid ground but I would not let go. I couldn't, what if it was all a lie? What if the darkness had won?

Everyone cheered. Mark ran right up and yanked me off my rope with his heavy claws. I cried and reached for anything to grab with my claws, I was not letting go! "James! Wake up!"

I hugged him. I reached out and clawed at his chest and wouldn't let go no matter how hard he tried. "Mark! Mark please help?"

Mark could not care less who was watching him. He grabbed me right back and squeezed my fur tight against his chest until I couldn't breath. He rubbed my head and listened to me cry, straightening out my shaking tail like a young cub when they are frightened. "You're safe James. Relax, you're out of the hole." Mark backed up five feet just to make sure he was away from the pit and the safety zone was far ahead of him. He collapsed to the ground in his exhaustion and everyone finally dared to breathe.

I could not let go, I could not open my eyes. I did not want to be lied to again and see nothing but darkness. "Mark. Mark I can't do it." I clawed at him further and knew it was hurting him, but the great Aggron did not let me go, not until he knew I absolutely needed to. Solid ground had never felt so good, touching something real had never been so extraordinary. My back paw flinched against the cold steel below and Mark started pulling me away to force me to relax. "You have to let go James. You're safe."

I couldn't. I can't, I was still down there. The darkness had won, I had succumbed to it, the horrible temptations to fall repeating itself in my head. "I'm so sorry Mark. I was wrong. It's so dark. It's so dark down there."

Mark suddenly had a problem and he yanked me away from his chest in one strong paw. "James? What's in your teeth?"

I opened my eyes at the odd question. I blinked and shoved a paw over my face when the red warning lights blinded me. I noticed a Raichu in the corner snap his paws and demand that they be turned off immediately. The rest of the miners were climbing out of the hole now and all eyes were on me as the blinding red light took over my vision. I forgot that not opening your eyes for a while can hurt when your faced with a world of light above. I made a mental note to never open my eyes that fast ever again.

Mark stared at me with a look I would never see again. "Are your teeth glowing James?"

My teeth? Oh yeah, I had nearly forgotten. I blinked and focused my eyes so I could finally see the great Aggron's face and my eyes adjusted to the light. "Mark? Mark, I can't go down there. I can't…"

"Relax." The giant Aggron forced me to get off his chest. My paws hit the ground and I collapsed against the steel floor shaking like mad. My tail was getting sore from this twitching and the noises and lights were starting to make me dizzy. Mark was smart when he set me down and left me to myself. I had to stand on my own four paws just as I had been doing for the last four years. Soon my senses started coming back, my worried thoughts started to become sane.

I stood up, my body leaning to one side in dizziness but I refused to fall over. I found my voice returning after every passing second and I could finally see straight ahead, although my paws still shook like mad. They would for days to come. "Mark? Mark, I think I'm ok. I think I can…" I fell before I completed my sentence.

The giant Aggron laughed and the noise brought me back to reality when he stood by my ear. "So tell me James." He bent low to my side and it made me smile to see him acting normal again even in this situation. He was a very smart manager and I could finally think like I normally did, his confident stature towering me as it has always done. "Why is your mouth glowing kid?"

Everyone's eyes shifted to my teeth. Through my closed mouth there was a small red glow that only Mark could see from standing so close. My whole body was still black with dirt, my paws turning red on the bottom where most of my claws had broken loose and needed hospital attention. But my mouth, it was definitely glowing, it didn't normally do that and everyone watched in curiosity.

I smiled, I dared to close my eyes and rest on the ground with my back paws sitting in triumph. The darkness was defeated, thanks to my awkwardly glowing mouth. Mark waited for my answer.

I could feel its warmth. Deep in that cold abyss, deep down where no one goes and no one survives, there are reasons to go down there after all. Mark had told me I was crazy but my glowing mouth only proved my sanity. I knew it was true, I knew I was tall.

My mouth was getting hot so I decided it was finally time to show everyone what I had found. I spat out the stone.

Everyone gasped as it bounced on the ground and landed in front of Mark where it twirled and then held still. The red sirens were nothing to the light that this little miracle gave, finally exposed to its first signs of life. Just like my continuing smile, the small stone continued to light up the entire plant. It helped that the lights were still off but it was clear what kind of stone it was, it was even more clear who it belonged to.

Mark smiled so wide I thought he was going to faint. "Well I'll be." He stood over the stone in awe, believing with all his might that the small stone had more power than all the stones here combined. "You were digging James?"

I smiled. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say so I told him the truth. "I told you Mark."

Everyone stared at me. The small stone reflecting off my face and the red light glowing across the entire plant. Mark had a quizzical look in his eyes, one eye raised at me. I decided if I was right for once then I was at least going to rub it in.

"I told you Mark." I stated again, staring at the stone that looked just like me, beaten and dirty but worth of thousand more that did the same thing. "You can hear them. You can hear them the farther down you go, my theory was right and you didn't believe me." I wondered if he still did, I did look a little crazy right now but at least I had my stone.

I continued to stare at the stone. Even when the others walked past me and continued to clean up their equipment, I couldn't move my eyes away from the stone that found me to be its owner. Their was plenty to do thanks to my disruption but a Raichu in the corner yelled that no digging was to be done for the rest of the day. Mark sat down and patiently waited for me to look up, knowing that my thoughts were mesmerized by the stone for as long as it deemed necessary. I was intrigued, this was my stone. I deserved a good long look at it.

It was my stone. No one expected it down where it came from and no would've seen it without me. My paw suddenly shook and the stone dropped to the ground. I flinched since I had forgotten how badly my paws hurt but Mark laughed and walked over. My trance was over just moments after it begun but there was no question in anyone's mind who this stone belonged to. The only question now was when would I use it? I wondered if that decision was mine to make or perhaps it belonged to the stone.

Mark respectably picked the fire stone up and set it back down on my open paw, but I dropped it again. We both waited and stared at my paw that was not holding still ever since I got out of the hole. It wasn't doing this earlier. Why was it shaking?

Mark bent down and gripped my paw tightly. Instantly the dirt on them turned his claws black but he didn't care. Even in his strong grip I couldn't control the shakiness.

Mark laughed. He wasn't expecting this to happen. "Well shoot kid, you might be traumatized."

I yanked my shaky paw away from him, confused by his words. "What do you mean?" I tried to grab the stone again but I dropped it in frustration. Would this shaking thing ever stop?

Mark didn't answer my question, but he picked up my stone for me anyway. "Never mind that, you have some bigger issues to worry about."

My ears lowered in concern. What could he be talking about. "Why? What's going on?" Was the plant closing down for the day? What did I even do? Well, besides fall in the hole of course. I hoped nobody would be mad but most of the Pokemon here actually looked happy not to dig.

Mark grabbed the stone in his paws and decided to put it somewhere safe. "Well you've managed to close down the whole plant and I've got countless meetings to go to now, but at least your safe. You'll be needing this to make it through the rest of the day."

He threw me a white towel. I dawned on me what Mark meant as he walked away and laughed even though he was the one who would have to spend all day listening to safety seminars and talking to the most expensive manager in the world, but at least he wasn't the one with dirt from tip to tail. I picked up the towel and wished I was back in the hole but at least I had my stone.

I frowned. I really hate showers.

…

My father yawned again for the longest time and I snapped out of my trance. I had never looked at my father like I did just now, the dinner table experience now made sense.

"What time is it?" He questioned to nobody but the dark room around us. The fire was starting to go out. I refused to answer his question when the world twelve o'clock popped into my head. I wanted to hear more of the story, please don't end it now.

"If I'm going to finish the story, then I'm getting more Orans." Father jumped off the seat and stretched for a few seconds, then he hobbled his way to the kitchen on his exhausted paws. His curious looking tail did not move or sway but stood elegantly of the ground without moving. I wondered how he did that, I could never hold mine still for more than ten seconds.

I looked over at the fire that still dwindled with a little bit of heat. Who cared about school the next morning? Who cared about the speech? I wanted to hear the rest of the story! I stared at the table to see if the stone was there but father had taken it back when he went to the kitchen. I frowned and I wanted to roll my eyes. Drat! I would love to hold it again, just for a second. I remembered by dad's speech as he began describing how the stone was one with him and how it was his only stone. The same thought reoccured to me before my dad walked back.

I was small, but I got good grades. Maybe my liking for Lucy would show in the stone, or perhaps my twitchy tail. Of all the possibilities, what would my stone look like?

Dad came back with three cold Orans from the freezer, too lazy to try and cook them. "This will help warm you up." He joked and I laughed since they were cold to the touch. "You're not going to bed until I tell the rest of the story huh James?"
I nodded.

"Fair enough." My father answered, jumping onto the couch again and making me scoot over. He played with the red stone in his paws and my eyes went wide when I realized he still had it. Was he just taunting me or something? I refused to ask him for it when he set it down on the table again. Maybe if I asked I could hold it for the rest of the story but something told me to leave his stone alone. One day I'd have my own but I had bigger issues to worry about for now, my ears sank at the thought of my giant speech tomorrow, or would you call that today? The clock read one in the morning.

"I guess you don't need too much sleep" Father threw me an Oran which I barely caught in my exhausted paws. I couldn't get my eyes off that stone, I slapped myself and the trance was over since pain took its place. Relax Jake, it's not even glowing anymore, quit staring at a useless stone and stare at your father instead, at least try to pretend you're not falling asleep.

My father was staring at the fireplace again. I frowned and my ears fell to one side. Hey! He was doing it again. Why were his eyes always closed?

"Ok Jake," my father started and instantly his eyes were open again. I quickly averted my own when I was giving him that confused look again and he missed my curious stare. "I can tell you the rest but there's another lesson to learn before we continue." My father grabbed my attention and I smiled. I bit into my berry and winced. Arceus, the berry was freezing! Father bit into his own food with no problem taking half of it down in one bite. Again, another odd thing about being a Flareon.

"Do you remember the first two rules?" He asked me.

I nodded, quickly recalling the earlier parts of the story. Rule one was always remember names, the second was that paws dig better than tools. I bit into my Oran and some juice spilled onto the couch. I hoped mom would be merciful tomorrow when she discovered the stain after school. That would be the least of my problems, I stared at the stone on the table and realized again that I didn't have my own.

He must've read my mind because he grabbed the stone and hid it underneath his tail. "Pay attention Jake. This one's rather confusing."
I frowned. Confusing? As if the last one wasn't? What was more metaphorically confusing than always digging with your paws? I awaited the challenge of figuring out what my father would consider confusing and the frozen berry in my paw lacked my attention.

The great Flareon shifted his tail in place. I shifted my paws and got as comfortable as I could. Upstairs I could hear mom snoring where she left the door open expecting her husband soon. I doubted I was getting any sleep tonight after lessons like this.

The passionate Flareon stared deep into the fireplace. His paws had been torn by the dirt many years ago, losing all feeling. His tail had been bruised, his paws sometimes shaky, he always smiled, and he never, ever, forgot something he said to me. I smiled and wished for a moment that he would rub my head again. I wished to fall asleep on this couch with his tail pushing me into the corner. I wished for warmth like that stone provided, like his smile gave off. For just a second I wanted to feel like he did. I lost my thought when I remembered what time it was and considered that maybe making decisions at this time was a bad idea. Maybe it was just the Orans in my throat but there were still seven choices left for me to consider. But that fire stone. Could I hold it again? Please?

My father gave me a look that meant pay attention or we were done with the story. I shook my head awake and smiled to prove I could still listen. Father laughed and rolled his eyes since he knew I was trying so hard to pay attention and I would fail any second now, forgetting everything he said until the morning sun hit my eyes. I yawned again against my will, darn sleep schedule set down by school.

My father thought about it for a second. He nodded once and agreed that this was a rule I needed to hear. "Rule number three. Always, no matter what Jake…" He paused for what I assumed was dramatic effect. I didn't hear a single word incorrectly, my ears and eyes locked in on his lesson. The great red beast stared me down right into my tired eyes.

"Always Jake, no matter what, go below two hundred yards."

Father was right, It's a confusing rule.

…

"I don't know about this."

Mark insisted it be me. Two weeks after the incident and I was standing before a very large doorway in a completely empty hallway. The meeting and my interview for the role of plant and employee manager had been put aside for two weeks after my incident at the plant and a couple of safety inspections that took over everyone's time. It took me only two hours before I was willing to go into the hole again, but for some reason everyone including Mark insisted I stay out. Besides, I had bigger problems to worry about than my section of the hole, even Mark told me that I would no longer need to dig so long as this went as planned, or at least as he planned it to happen.

I stared up at the massive doors before me. I couldn't even reach the doorknob without jumping. I reached up but tripped and fell on my face. This wasn't the first time that had happened today.

Mark laughed. "Quit tripping on your suit. It's not even that oversized, grow a little taller so we can find some equipment that fits you for once you little Eevee."

I smiled at his mean voice. I wondered how many years I would have to listen to that again. "I'm just a little worried." I smiled at the thought of myself being more scared of a business table than a gaping hole that almost ate me alive.

Mark laughed again. "Just trust in your suit." He smacked the pocket in the corner and I almost tripped again. Were suits supposed to strip the air from your neck? I adjusted my collar and the whole thing got out of place again. The only thing good about this outfit was that the tailor said it looked good on me. A bright blue color with the paws wrapped in white and a neck line to match my own. I would still prefer a utility belt over this thing any day of the week but everyone insisted I looked great in it. Why are these things so tight!

Mark pulled down on the corners of my suit to straighten it out for the hundredth time. He finally stood up since I was looking as good as I ever had. "You washed your ears right?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes." I answered. What was I, two?

"And you got all the dirt out?"

I stared at my blackened pads underneath my paws. I had scrubbed for three hours and they still looked like the underside of a fire pit. I rolled my eyes and decided not to answer. Maybe I could just pretend that I didn't sleep in the mines like a crazy Eevee for the last two years. I couldn't help it, I was so good at my job.

Mark pulled up on my ears and kicked me in the stomach with his huge claw. "Stand up straight, hold your tail high. You have to be better than everyone else in there."

My tail sank straight to the ground. "But that's mean."

Mark was about ready to quit giving me advice, but he couldn't help himself to just a little more. "Fine but just listen when I say this. You're walking into a room with professionals that hold egos higher than your bucket will ever lower into that pit. You thought that hole was bad, try the Raichu in charge of everything. He'll tear you to pieces."

I gulped. Somehow smiling didn't seem appropriate but I decided to smile anyway since it came naturally. A new question occurred and my nicely groomed ears flew flew out of position. I would never look professional in this outfit no matter how hard I tried. "What's the Raichu's name?"
"I can't tell you that." Mark quickly answered. He got up and started walking away down the hall.

"Wait, why?" I begged him, having difficulty turning around in this overpriced suit. Who pays five hundred dollars for a suit? "Wait! Mark? What's the Raichu's name?"

Too late. With a giant thud the double doors on the opposite side were closed and the Aggron was gone. I was alone. This was a long hallway, it would take me forty steps to get to the other side but somehow it felt like four hundred.

I was applying for the job. I was applying for a job that was way over my head, literally. I couldn't even reach the doorknobs to the room without jumping. Why did Eevees have to be born so small? Why couldn't my pride just match my suit for once? Why did I never choose to try and stand taller, even when I deserved it?

I had no idea what I was walking into but I decided confidence would be a good mask. I remembered Mark's first words.

"Just be yourself you puny wimp." His advice replayed in my head as we were buying my suit. "You're an Eevee, they'll eat that up. Just say what you would want to."

"Two hundred thousand." I told myself, just as I had done the day I fell into the hole. "Two hundred…"

I shook my head. I didn't care for the money. Money would buy me new suits, it wouldn't make me any taller. I wasn't doing this for the money, I still had plenty from mining before that tailor and grooming center took it all. I stared at the black dirt trapped in my paws, forever a part of me. I wondered if I would one day outgrow the job I loved. I wondered if I should ask for more money just because apparently that's what everyone else up top cared about. I truly was not one of them, they were stuff of legends. I was just, well, a horrible miner. But there's always something bigger than your own satisfaction to look up to.

If I was ever going to move on, to gather more respect, to create more of a difference, then this was the next step. If I didn't get this job I might never move on. It was competitive, fierce… I hated it. Why couldn't I get this job out of respect? How could everyone else possibly have more credibility than me for this position? Was I really that weak? Was I really that much of an Eevee?

I put on a new face against my will, one of confidence and complete understanding, one against my own feelings. That's who they wanted to hire right? Someone who could get the job done by yelling and discipline. Someone like Mark, or Johnson, or Zach. They had no room for Eevees. Eevees were trash. Eevee's were small, pathetic, I would have to convince them that my ego stood taller than my paws on the carpet floor even though my passion was through the stars.

I stood upright but almost fell over again from the embarrassingly tight suit. My heartbeat quickened, my mind told me I was wrong. It was just like the darkness, lying to me in an attempt to convince me of the truth and to cower back down the hallway. I was an Eevee, that would never change at heart, my stone still deciding to be patient and wait, but perhaps my job could change and hopefully with it, my influence. My name was on the whiteboard, so what was the next big step?

What they needed beyond these doors was a leader. I had convinced myself that I am not that leader but if everyone else thinks otherwise, does that make you one?

Does being a leader not mean how short you think you stand, but how tall everyone else thinks you are? Does being an Eevee mean nothing else if everyone comes to you for advice? Was I really that short? I gulped and hoped I knew what I was doing.

I opened the door.

I wish I had a different reaction for my entrance. My paw shot up to my face and my suit folded around my neck getting ruined again. The light from the window was blinding, I didn't know they made windows that big. I guess that's what happens when you spend two years in a hole without crawling out except for food and new tools.

I could finally see everything around me. The room was huge, bigger than anything I could expect. It didn't help that I was so small to begin with. Was that table made of gold or were my eyes just fooling with me?

Everyone was talking. I quickly counted twenty-four Pokemon and all of them were talking, chatting, hugging, or laughing with one another. I swallowed and realized that I was once again the odd one out, and the smallest which came to no surprise. I was fifteen minutes early to the meeting, but I felt two years late.

I decided I should at least enter the room to start. I pushed up on my collar, ruining it further and tried to remember to keep my tail off the ground. I walked into the room and knew my paws were probably leaving little dirt marks on the white carpet wherever I walked. One look at all the Pokemon around me and I knew they had never gone within twenty yards of the hole I lived in, let alone seen an apartment like the one I called home. They were rich, prodigious, overpowering even by the voices in their teeth. I was just an Eevee, I was in the wrong place by a long shot. I silently wished to be back in the hole even though it felt wrong. It felt wrong to cower, but I knew how to dig, I did not know how to stand.

A group of Pokemon laughed. For the first time in my life, I found a competitor. The tall and well groomed Luxray all the way across the table was going for the same position as me. I could tell by the way he had everyone's attention that he stood a better chance than I did at getting the job. I didn't get the conversation, but apparently it was about him and his father and his degree. I wondered if the university he talked about paid for his white and gold suit that he wore. It looked good on him, he was going to get the job long before I ever came close, he made the group laugh again.

I was definitely in the wrong place. My paws started pacing against the new carpet. My new suit folded up around my neck and shaky tail. I wondered if I was pacing so hard Mark could hear it downstairs. I wondered how fast I could leave this room without getting caught. I was small, maybe I could make it and no one would notice me running down the long hall.

Maybe I had just been kidding myself. There were hot drinks in their paws and valuable suits covering them from head to tail. Mine was probably the least expensive one here, the explosion of colors making me question my choice in a dark blue. There were enough chairs here that I could jump from one to the other and never have to touch the ground. There was so much light it blinded my thoughts, my worried mind. So much power in here, so much confidence.

I was sucking the life out of this room. Maybe Mark would let me live with him when Johnson eventually kicked me out. Maybe I could grow old just by mining. What if I hurt my paw? What if I never got this chance again?

An Eevee with a dark blue suit, but still an Eevee. I wanted to lose my smile. Why did I have to be an Eev…

"James!"

The voice was so loud I nearly tore my suit in half from the flinch that I performed. A huge Ivysaur quickly pushed his way through the groups, all the Pokemon continuing their conversations as he passed by. A few said hello again and he quickly dismissed them in his hurry to me.

I noticed something else here, something I didn't expect. Normally I had to go up to Pokemon in order for them to talk to me, but him? He was coming straight to me, this didn't happen very often. "Um, sir…"

"Relax James." The great Ivysaur finally made it and he stood up tall in my sight. His suit was green with just a hint darker shade than his own color. I noticed that in one vine off to his side he had the largest white cup I have ever seen filled with a steaming liquid. "My name is Matthew and I'm here to serve. Though not like Jessica the Vulpix just down the table, she actually will serve you since she's the receptionist, but I can get you whatever you need and help you around on your own four paws. What was I saying? Oh yes, I'm your personal servant James." He did a small bow that I wasn't expecting, spilling his drink a little just to the side of me. What a peculiar Pokemon. I hoped the white carpet wouldn't mind the stain.

I quickly made note of his name and everything he said, making a special place for this Pokemon I was sure to see over and over again. Something told me he liked to laugh a lot, and eat a lot too but that was more obvious.

The great Ivysaur continued. "I read your profile and Lucas told me to help direct you once you entered the room. Tonight I'm going to be your servant James." He laughed at that statement and I forced myself to fake chuckle in agreement. I wondered if he had ever served anyone in his life let alone an Eevee like me. I could tell by the way he smiled that he was glad to finally meet me, I hoped I could return the favor somehow.

I had no idea what to say, so I just paced my paws like an embarrassed cub. "My servant?"

The Ivysaur shrugged. "I know it's scary, and you're not exactly the normal age for these hiring requirements, but Mark insisted to the Raichu that…"

"The Raichu?" I quickly interrupted. I didn't realize that my tail and ears had shot up in a very embarrassing fashion, ruining my suit again. I could hear the Luxray snicker across the room but I paid him no attention.

That Raichu, I needed his name! "What's his name?"

The great Ivysaur laughed, then he sipped his drink which everyone luxuriously called, coffee. "Nice try kid but if you were listening with those ears of yours, I might tell you his name sometime." He finished his drink and then set it down on the table and assumed that I didn't get his joke, little did he know that I had memorized every word. I noticed that the table he set his drink on had a black cloth over it where all the empty cups waited to be filled. I didn't know you could put cloths over tables, that was a pretty smart idea. I decided that would be a good idea to try in the apartment should we ever need to keep the table from falling apart.

I shook my head, unsatisfied. I needed that name now and he wasn't stopping me. "Can you please tell me?"

"Would you like a drink?" The great Pokemon walked away to a table with cups and black liquid containers just to ignore my question. So much for first impressions.

I didn't know what to think of him. Twenty-four Pokemon in this room and he was by far the most mysterious of them all. I remembered what he said exactly and replayed the words between my ears but I still wasn't quite sure he answered my question. Perhaps, but I doubted that was his name. Matthew was the Ivysaur's, but who was the Raichu's?

Wait a minute, did he say profile? He read my profile? I wondered if that was a good or bad thing. The Ivysaur came back, holding two white cups that had pictures of boiling water on the side. He handed me the much smaller one.

I was hesitant to take the drink, the cup hot from the liquid inside. Who drank boiling water? One sniff and I knew drinking this would kill me, let alone burn my tongue off. I really hoped I could hide this before the meeting started and pretend I drank it all like everyone else just to give the appearance that I was fitting in.

The Ivysaur chugged half his cup before he finally stopped, wiping his mouth clean. "You'll have to excuse me, a certain Pokemon has been keeping me up all night trying to fill paperwork for the incident we had two weeks ago." Before he yawned he quickly drank some more, I wondered if boiling water somehow kept him awake. I knew it would make me cry if I drank it but the Ivysaur seemed to like it. I wondered how everyone here could possibly love this weird smelling liquid.

Incident? Oh great, he was talking about me. "Sorry sir." I whispered.

The great Pokemon laughed so loudly I thought the windows would break. "Enough about me, Coffee does just fine for keeping the eyes open, what can I do for you James?"

Well I had a lot of questions. "Who's the Luxray across the table?"

Matthew took a long time looking to his right, finally he just shrugged. "I don't know, some college Pokemon. But he's smart and his father runs the Eastern side of the business just under the Raichu."

I tried so hard not to ask twice about getting the Raichu's name, so I changed my question. "What's your job sir?" He had already told me Jessica's, and I knew what Mark did, but what about him?

The Ivysaur gave me a peculiar look as if he wasn't expecting me to act so serious so soon. "They told me you were a funny one James. I work in personnel relations as the head manager." He drank the rest of his boiling water. I could've sworn I saw that it was brown in color. What kind of liquid is brown?

I paced my paws, hating myself for knowing so little. "What's that?"

"Well it means I have to be friends with everyone." He threw the second finished cup to his left and hit a trashcan. "It's the one job here without much paperwork," until I came along and almost fell in the hole I guessed, "but it's enjoyable. I get to check up on everyone, and there's always someone I can help out here." He gave me a wink that made me think he was planning something special for me in the back of his head already.

I considered his job. Getting to know everyone? That sounded like fun. I wondered what it would be like to get paid to talk to everyone, it seemed like a fun time. Surely they had the Ivysaur do some mining or something manual from time to time because nobody I knew would pay someone just to be friendly. I would be rich if that was the case although it didn't help that I still didn't know the Raichu's name.

I noticed that everyone was heading to the main table and now Matthew was also. I quickly hid my drink under the cloth on the drink table and ran to the nearest open seat at the main one, right next to the Ivysaur who somehow had acquired a third drink as large as the last one.

I jumped up to my seat, and fell to the ground. Across the room the Luxray laughed again. I wondered how ridiculous I looked right then but the laughter soon stopped when he realized no one else was judging me.

I jumped up for the second time and made it, the left pocket in my suit making some sort of clinking noise. I looked down in surprise and wondered if I had accidentally clawed it open. I hope it wasn't torn. This was a rental!

I sat down and realized I couldn't see over the table. This was going to be bad. Matthew chuckled and then offered me a box to sit on. I refused but knew I would regret it later if anyone called my name. Why do Eevee's have to be so short? Again I was reminded that this was a very bad idea.

I glanced to my right, the Vulpix from the drink table was there. I wondered if avoiding eyesight was something you were supposed to do here or perhaps it's just me. The Vulpix noticed I was staring at her, her happy face not changing but I could tell she was trying hard not to laugh at my suit or perhaps upright ears. She had seen worse Pokemon in her life, Eevees were nothing to her experience.

I smiled. "Hi Jessica."

All six of her tails shot straight up. "You know me?"

No, but I knew that the Ivysaur knew her and told me her name and job. "Your name is Jessica, and you're the receptionist." I wondered if repeating facts and claiming that you owned them was somehow rude, maybe I should mention Matthew but he just watched my interaction as if I was somehow an experiment.

The Vulpix did something I wasn't expecting, she smiled and held out her paw. I continued to smile but I wondered if she was trying to offer me something or if this was another cultural norm I had lost.

Turns out you don't shake paws much as a miner. "Grab it James." Matthew whispered when the Vulpix started to giggle. "You're supposed to grab her paw."

I did. She shook it. My first paw shake and all I could do was smile.

Jessica winked at Matthew and turned right back to the table.

Now I was confused. I turned around to both of them, what was going on? Did I miss something? Was this a game because something didn't feel quite right?

"Hey James." The Ivysaur leaned in close and I could smell that brown liquid coming from deep in his throat. I was glad I hid mine just a few minutes ago. "What can you tell me about that Luxray across the table, the one that you've taken such a keen interest in?"

Something told me this was a trick, but I decided to comply. I had never seen a more white suit in my life, it looked good on him, much better than mine did. "You told me he was a college student."

The Ivysaur nodded. "Come on James, if you had to say one thing to him, what would it be?"

"What's your name sir?" I answered without hesitation. Matthew looked down at me in surprise even though that was my honest response. "All great conversations begin with sharing names, Matthew." I repeated.

There wasn't much else I could say. That's exactly what I would say, and that's what I would say to anyone I first met. Hopefully I would never have to ask that question again to the same Pokemon twice.

Matthew was the personnel relations manager for every branch that this company owned, he told me his name.

My ears shot upright just the smallest bit. It was funny because Matthew already told me that, I guess I needed to pay attention more.

The table got quiet. I could barely see over it, my large brown ears sticking out over the top. If it wasn't for the fact that someone just entered, I would've been the laughing stock of this entire table. I think the suit is what kept everyone from making fun of me, considering that in this room it was worth more than I am.

He was here. Everyone turned towards the white door that was built into the wall just past the head of the table. Matthew smiled.

There was laughter for a while and finally he stopped. "Thank you Lynda, I'll let you know what plans I have for next week." The Raichu entered with a smile and something told me it would never leave his face. I liked this guy already, but I doubted the feeling was mutual. "Have a great lunch and thank you so much for helping."

He shut the door and turned around. Most of the time that he walked into the room everyone would be staring at him. The great Raichu was worth more than the entire infrastructure of this building combined, he clapped his paws together once and rubbed them methodically. "Alright, sorry I'm late everyone. My wife Susan and I are planning our vacation to Kanto since ten years ago we both met there when we graduated. Lynda my receptionist is helping with planning but never mind that, lets get started." I hadn't even realized there was a whiteboard in the room but he was already in front of it. I could hardly see him over the table. I quickly tried to remember everything he just said when he walked into the room.

He hopped once right to the front chair of the table. Something told me he had sat in that chair a lot during these kinds of meetings but he didn't this time. Everyone was still quiet. I observed everyone around the table in this moment of complete honesty.

The great Luxray stared at him with keen eyes, no smile on his face. Way in the back by two seats was a small Furret who had more pages in notebooks than I had spent days in the mine. Everyone else had nothing in front of them but I knew they would remember every word, just like me.

The Luxray noticed I was staring at him. He laughed when he saw my ears duck under the table but it wasn't his glare I was worried about.

"Where's James?" The Raichu commanded. He hated it when Pokemon were late.

I raised my paw. No one saw. Matthew rolled his eyes and pointed to the seat next to him.

I didn't know it at the time, but apparently to talk to the Raichu you actually had to be able to see him. "James, can you stand on the table?"

Great, this was embarrassing. Part of me wanted to say no but judging by the look everyone was giving me I had no part in this question. I jumped onto the table and sat down, now taller than everybody. I was right, this table was really made out of gold.

Again, that clinking sound in my pocket. I reached with my back paw and tried to feel what was inside. Did Mark give me money? Was there something in my suit that someone forgot?

The Raichu continued his meeting, staring right at me and smiling. "Glad to see you made it James. I was there two weeks ago, you gave us all quite a scare." He pointed his marker at me. "How are you?"

I liked up but I had no reply with my back paw awkwardly stuck in my pocket fishing for the item that was stuck in there. I tried to pull my paw out and almost tripped. Now three Pokemon were laughing and it was not just the Luxray. Matthew just quietly sipped his coffee.

The Raichu wasn't dumb. "This great Eevee before you is James, the one who caused us all a lot of fright two weeks ago." He winked at me for some reason and the distraction away from my blunder had begun. "But no matter, as I'm sure you all had fun with the paperwork I assigned."

"Jerk." Matthew whispered under his breath. Everyone laughed, including me. The Raichu just continued to smile and knew that he would get the insult back over a few drinks another day. The two had a game of insults going, and the Raichu was by far in the lead.

Onto the next point. The Raichu twirled the marker in his paw. "We have three guests with us today." He pointed at me first though I guessed it didn't mean anything special. "James, the Eevee from this very mine. He has been with us for two years and is applying for the position of relations and worker manager. Congrats James."

I hadn't won anything yet, but sure I'll take the feeling. I smiled and my cheeks turned red. What was in my darn pocket! Jessica beside me was considering offering her help to grab it but her embarrassment kept her behind. I would later learn that she was the best filer of every Pokemon in a thousand mile radius. She also had a great smile, the perfect qualities for a receptionist though at times just a little shy. Matthew rolled his eyes and knew I blew my opportunity to get this job if I looked any more embarrassing than right now on top of this table.

First impressions mean a lot. The Raichu pointed his marker towards the second Pokemon just to save me the embarrassment but I knew he couldn't care less. "This is Shawn, the Luxray. He's…"

"First student at Pokemon University and first born to Charles my father." He interrupted him, smiling proudly. "It's great for me to be here Mr. Raichu." Everyone stared right at his powerful stature with a suit to match it as if in awe. He was supposedly, very, very, smart.
Two things. His name wasn't Mr. Raichu, and what the heck is a university? Why did this Luxray have to be first in everything?

The great mouse seeing that he had nothing else to say turned to his third contestant. "And this is Rory. He's a Furret from Pokemon University as well."

Everyone turned towards him. The young Furret was scrambling to write things down so fast I wondered what he could possibly be taking note of. He didn't say anything but just waved instead and his cheeks turned red. I guessed he wasn't getting the job either with embarrassment that was worse than mine.

The Raichu took in every second of this conversation, he put his paws on his side and finally stopped twirling the marker. It was just then that I noticed his suit had more gold color in it than this table. "I'm curious Rory," he started, "Do you two know each other?" He pointed to both Shawn and the Furret he addressed.

The great Luxray looked behind him and the Furret met his eyes. It was obvious who was in charge. "No." The Luxray replied. I wondered why he talked so sternly. Everyone here listened to the Raichu, not him, so why talk like that?

The Raichu nodded. "Fair enough. It's a large university but it may have been smaller when I graduated." Did everyone here know what a university was besides me? "Anyway, lets begin."

The Raichu unclicked his marker, and wrote a small number one on the board. He twirled the marker a few times and then pushed away his seat. He didn't feel like sitting down for this meeting. I would later find out that he never sat down in desk chairs if he could help it, another quirky thing about being a good manager.

The Raichu began, having memorized the paper this morning as he always did. I wondered if I would ever learn to do that, possibly from him if I managed to get the job. "Price for gemstones has fallen ten percent in our market share since last year." I quickly tried to remember everything he said even though the vocab was clear over my ears. What was market share? Pricing? Fallen?

The great Pokemon smiled, clapped his paws and rubbed them together, and then asked… "So what do we do?"

The table burst in argument.

It dawned on me, sitting right here on the table with everyone in plain sight as they said every word they knew. The Raichu was a businessman, the stuff of legend in my eyes. He was the kind of Pokemon that knew more terminology than I had spent time in the great hole. My tail sank straight below my hind paws and I knew I was doomed. I still hadn't figured out what market share meant.

I stood no chance. I wanted to leave. My paw finally sprung loose of my coat pocket and tore a small hole but at least it was free. I looked at the object in my back paw in surprise.

A small red glow. Eevee's didn't belong here, but obviously I wasn't a normal Eevee. I smiled so wide when I saw what Mark had hidden for me. The stone wasn't ready, but it's boost in my confidence was all I needed. I would not evolve, not for a while, but I still had a brighter glowing stone than anyone in this office had ever seen.

"Trust in your suit." Mark had told me. That stone from so deep down had kept me alive. I wouldn't dare use it so soon, not now because a business meeting is an awkward place to evolve, but at least I had a direction. I found this stone at two hundred and forty yards, the deepest I had ever traveled to was that distance.

I looked around the room, realizing for the first time how deep I was. This was easily three hundred yards deep. I raised my paw, providing a solution to the current crisis of financial budgeting, which I knew nothing about.

The Raichu instead pointed his marker at the loudest Pokemon in the room. "Shawn, what do you suggest?" Everyone went quiet. I watched the red marker twirl in the Raichu's paws like it was going to explode with a timer.

James stood right up in his seat, matching my height from his chair. "We can cut equipment costs."

Cut? I didn't like that word. If he cut anything in that mine without being careful, he could very well snap a rope that held a miner.

The Raichu nodded. "Tell me."

Nobody usually calls out Pokemon when they offer an opinion, but this Raichu was good. "Um," The Luxray found his throat and hurried with his words. "I've looked into your buckets a few times, the ones at my father's branch are actually smaller, yours are way too big and therefore, much more expensive."

Now hold on a minute, I fell out of that bucket!

"Good." The Raichu wrote 'smaller buckets' on the board next to the one. "I've been thinking about that too." He quickly added his own two cents. "High maintenance and production standards is costing us a fortune, I take great value in the best of equipment." He nodded at the Pokemon by his side who apparently was responsible for brining him the financial information every year. "How do we get around smaller buckets though for larger Pokemon, Mr. Shawn? The type threes we use are above standard, I like to know that my miners are safe and…"

"Yes sir," the Luxray dared to interrupt him. "But most of your miners are actually oversized. There's plenty of workers who can fit in a bucket half that size and not take up as much support. It's about numbers, not quality. It would save you at least ten percent. Extra managers and heavy miners are slowing us down and holding the capacity back, so because your equipment is costing you so much for safety, perhaps you…"

"I will not sacrifice safety."

I had never heard more strict words in my life. The entire table was instantly silent at the Raichu's simple tone. Holy Arceus, where had that come from? I guess interruptions were a mutual thing between the Luxray and this Raichu.

The impatient corporate mouse twirled his marker faster. "You were saying about equipment costs Shawn, what is your point?" The nicer tone was back to normal and he was the manager I first took him for. I still remembered his threatening tone, it made me smile to know this Pokemon was thinking of my safety above all else, including money.

Shawn dared to continue. "Well, yes sir, of course. Your managers and equipment are costing you a fortune. You can lower the average amount per miner and you should still get the same results. You don't need every manager you have here. Perhaps…"

My tail shot straight up. He was talking about Mark? He was talking about firing Mark! I shot up my paw. "Sir! I disagree."

The entire table turned my direction, my ears fell below my head.

The marker unclicked again. The Raichu wrote a number two on the board and smiled. "What's your solution James?"

I had an idea, though it was much less thought out than I had hoped. I was gripping the stone so hard in my back paw I thought it was going to spring loose and smack Jessica in the face. Why was I standing on this gold table just as tall as everyone else?

"We could just mine more, sir." I offered.

The table laughed. The Luxray growled.

"How so?" The Raichu held up his paws and everyone went silent again. "You know these mines better than anyone James, so explain." He wrote 'mine more' on the board next to the two he wrote just a second ago.

I didn't actually have a direct answer. "Well, I'm not sure how, but don't fire Mark." I stared at the Luxray who had dared to mention his opinion of cutting costs. What a cruel table. No one except the Raichu understood what I was getting at.

The Raichu was still confused, but he could tell I didn't have a clear answer so he wouldn't waste his time with a clear question. He twirled his marker the other direction. "What was in your pocket James that you now have in your paw?"
My ears sprung up, everyone looked at my back paw which I thought I had kept hidden.

The Raichu laughed. "Don't worry, I won't judge. I've got a good luck token in my office as well." Everyone laughed. "You think I'm kidding but believe me, my purple tie makes a big difference." I noticed he wasn't wearing it this time, he went with gold instead. I wondered, could you change suits depending on how you felt about yourself? Did different colors mean different things? Perhaps statuses or the amount of money you made? I suddenly wanted a different colored outfit. Dark blue would never work for me again after today.

The Raichu wasn't letting the question go. "Can you show us James, or not?"

I did. I unfurled my paw and slowly let the giant red stone show itself. Jessica gasped, the Luxray went wide eyed.

It hardly fazed the Raichu. He had spent his life to study and find ways to sell these stones. "It's very beautiful. I'm glad you brought it because those little things are the problem."

My ears fell a little bit. They are? Everyone looked back at the Raichu even though the whole point of the conversation was about the price of stones. I suddenly realized that like this Raichu, I should probably keep the main goal of the conversation in my mind at all times.

"I expect future prices to drop." The Raichu again gave his thoughts to the table. "But we've got this year to worry about it so cutting costs is an option, but of course we risk both safety and productivity if we use worser equipment." He pointed his marker at the Luxray but didn't say anything else to disapprove his valuable theory. "As for you James?" He now pointed his marker at me and I gulped. "I'm not firing my managers. They're too costly to replace, not to mention their the best personnel this plant's got."

So that was settled. Option one was out, I hope. The Raichu pointed towards option two. "How do I dig better?"

The Luxray had another option. "What good does it do? It costs us too much per stone just to find them."
the Raichu waited until he finished, then he spoke. "Then we have to find more, more often?"

I guess that made sense. No one else understood it though.

"How do I find more stones more often James?" he asked me. This was my suggestion, therefore I had to own the answer, whether it was good or bad.

"You can dig deeper." I muttered, the table turned towards me again.

"Now we're making progress." The Raichu smiled again and waved his marker at me, twirling it again in deep though. "Explain James."

I had always had this theory, even after falling in the hole. "Well, um…" Do I tell them or not? I guess I had nothing but ego to lose if I was wrong. "Well, you can hear the stones sir when you go farther down."

The Luxray laughed.

"I can hear them." I quickly explained to not look like a fool. "I found my first stone at one hundred yards, then the next at one hundred and twenty. But the farther I go down, the more I can hear them in the walls." Not to mention the risk of dying increasing once you get past one hundred and fifty, or actually dying past two hundred. "You can hear the stones sir." I can't believe I just said that aloud.

It was silent for a long time, The Raichu in less than ten seconds reconsidered every book and theory he had heard on the subject. It was a possibility in his quick mind, but that didn't mean it would save his company. "Are you suggesting that stones grow in quantity the farther down you go?"

"That's ridiculous." The Luxray interrupted. Apparently he knew what he was talking about. "Everyone knows they are random in the ground, they have been that way for thirty years of mining."

"I know Shawn." The Raichu answered when he was finished. "But I've been wrong before." It just occurred to me that perhaps the one writing the books on stone mining that every university read was this Raichu. I was going against everything he had ever learned and this mouse was the one to consider my opinion, despite what the confident Luxray just told him about impossibility.

The Raichu smiled, then he nodded once in approval. "Very well, I like these two options. Shawn," he turned and looked right at the Luxray and pointed his favorite marker right at the number one on the board. "You claim better buckets can cut costs by ten percent, I'm putting you in charge of that. Can you drop those costs but not lower my risk in safety? I care for my miners as much as my money."
The Luxray wasn't sure what to say, so he answered with, "sure."

If there were two answers you never told a Raichu that owned more wealth than everyone in this room, "sure" was the second worst option you could possibly choose. He turned towards me hoping for a better response. "And can you James, prove that stones get more numerous the further down you go?" It was an interesting theory but without details and some innovation to match it, it was just an Eevee's theory.

I had never been in charge of such a complex task. Everyone always explains to me what to do whenever I took a job, never did I get asked to explain something else to them. I guess corporate had to do this kind of thinking a lot when it came to innovation. The Raichu raised his eyebrows when I wasn't answering. Again, he was very impatient with his time, a trait he had learned to master with experience and my silence was costing him a lot of time.

I gulped, not knowing my answer. I finally just decided to shrug.

The worst possible answer you can give your manager, even above just saying sure, is a shrug. "Very well then, that is everything." The Raichu clicked the marker shut and knew that whether he chose to hire the Luxray or me there was a lot he had to teach us. "There's pizza in Matthew's office if you're hungry. Thanks everyone for making time for me and we'll have a follow up tomorrow. You're dismissed." Everyone jumped off their seats and the conversations began. I took note that Matthew's job as personnel relations manager also meant he got to order the good food too. Guess which certain Ivysaur got to keep all the food to himself once every meeting was over?

I jumped off my seat, shoving the stone back into my pocket. "It's very beautiful."

I turned my head. Jessica was there, smiling and walking up to me since our conversation wasn't quite finished from earlier. I noticed her suit was cheap but the purple did look very good on her. I recalled my earlier thought about suits and personalities. "I think you were very brave to stand on that table James."

Bravery didn't get you a paycheck though. I just smiled. "Thank you Jessica."

"But you are also smart." She continued on. "I never thought stones would become more numerous the deeper you go, but we do tend to find them from experienced miners who are further down. Who knows, you could be right." She smiled and walked away. "Come by my desk sometime, I like your conversations James." Well at least she was honest. She started talking to Matthew the second she was out the doors and the business conversations were in full swing. I hardly understood a word they said.

Jessica was partly right, thinking like I just did at the table would get me a job. I watched everyone leave and I stood there alone, feeling only the slightest bit taller since I had walked into the room. I guess things never turn out as bad as you can expect them to.

The large doors shut in front of me. The Raichu was going over to the other side of the table to end the debates. On one end of the great gold table stood me, the other end held the Luxray. He sat patiently and stared at the Raichu in what I assumed was a stare of ego, or perhaps confidence. I could hardly tell the difference anymore when it came to his character.

I had never seen a more dangerous Pokemon in my life. The Luxray was going to win this job. I gulped knowing his ideas were more thought out than mine and at least they made sense. Cutting costs was a much more practical solution then exploring fake theories from an Eevee who rarely saw daylight.

The Raichu was talking to the Furret at the back of the table. The proud student showed the Raichu his notes and how much he had learned. The great mouse thanked him for his time and told him to try and finish school at home instead of here. He dismissed him, a long walk to the hallway and back home awaited the young Furret. Hopefully his parents would be proud, he was even older than me and he stood no chance for this job? What would I do when my time came? If that genius didn't make the qualifications, how could I?

The Raichu jumped onto the table, and lied down on it. He stretched his exhausted paws since everyone had been up all night trying to deal with the safety issue from two weeks ago, but the Raichu refused to let that bias his opinion for today's manager choice. Accidents did not change results, but they did change sleep patterns. "James? Shawn?" He gestured for us to come over and he continued to stare at the ceiling while waiting. I wondered if I was the second most crazy Pokemon here and not the first when I saw him lie down on the table like it was made of fresh carpet. "Hurry please, I know how much Matthew likes pizza and I am quite hungry." He would not ask us again.

I ran and tripped in my suit. The Luxray made it first and laughed when I gently walked over to not tear my outfit again. It occurred to me what was going on, the final time of judgement was here. Whatever was about to happen, it would happen now. The Raichu was very tall even when he laid down on the table but he stood up and jumped off, matching both our heights on the ground. The game of who was taller began.

For the shortest second my eyes saw something I didn't believe. The Raichu, he jumped just like I would. That's how you were trained to jump into the buckets. Holy Arceus, was he a miner? Like me?

"Ok." The Raichu twirled his marker again. "Thank you guys for your input, but that's not what I'm hiring you for." I noticed the Luxray was just as confused as I was when we looked at each other for a second. "Do you guys know what you are applying for?" The Raichu asked just to make sure he was clear. I later learned that if you weren't clear, then you weren't a very good manager.

I replayed everything that Mark had told me about this position. "Plant and employee manager, sir?"

The Raichu nodded, he set his marker down on the table and rubbed his paws together. "Correct, but I need someone better than that. You both know Matthew then and what he does?"

I knew him. The Luxray nodded also but I remembered that Matthew told me he had never seen the Luxray before. Was he actually lying to the Raichu? He couldn't get this position with a set of lies could he?

The Raichu continued explaining what we both said we knew. "He's the manager for personnel and employees at all three of my mining plants. He's requested that since Mark won't stand up to the job," it suddenly occurred to me that Mark had substituted me for this role instead of himself, even after he complained of my great paycheck, "we are finding someone else able to make relationships with those in the factory with the same skill as Mark or Matthew. I need someone friendly, someone who others can look up to in times of discipline and trouble. I need someone who stands tall."

The Luxray laughed. When we both stared at him, he realized that he was the only one who thought the Raichu was making fun of my height. I found out the joke and smiled myself at the Raichu's unintended wordplay.

The Raichu pointed his tail right at the huge blue furred Pokemon, making him jump. "You're eager to prove yourself Shawn, so you are up first. What can you do for my employees?"

What a question. "Um, I can overwatch them." Shawn immediately answered. "I'm great with instructions and always know what to do. I can be a leader sir."

A leader? A leader who interrupted his boss in the middle of his speech? The Raichu raised his eyebrows. "That's fantastic, can you learn your employee's names and remember what they say?"

The Luxray scoffed and then shuffled his paws to make up for his action. Holy Arceus, was he actually a little nervous like me? This Raichu was as intimidating as the legends say. "Of course sir." That was a much better reply than his last response when the Raichu asked him a question.

The great mouse Pokemon looked right up into his eyes. "Matthew the Vulpix thought the same thing. He said you were top of your class in all standings."

"Indeed sir. I am. I completed…"

Oh my Arceus. My ears shot upright in awareness and my tail quivered in every direction. Vulpix? This was a test. This was a test and we were going to fail it!

The Luxray finally finished talking. "With perfect grades sir."

"Fantastic." The Raichu was still listening to his every word, the smile on his face present to show that he cared. "My wife Sally would be impressed. She finished around your standing just eight years ago when I graduated." I was trying so hard to catch every lie. Ten years ago, not eight. Ten! And his wife's name wasn't Sally?

The Raichu finally stopped twirling his marker. "Shawn, you may wait outside. I'll converse with you in a moment." The Raichu finished after the Luxray refused to see what was wrong since he had apparently passed the test, or so he thought.

The Luxray was beaming in a smile. Without a word he turned and walked towards the door. The great Raichu before me didn't notice when the blue Pokemon flicked his tail at me, but I did. Surely he had won this case. The large door opened to the voices of pizza being eaten and managers all laughing. Shawn went to join them.

The door shut, now I was alone, and this Raichu stood very tall.

The great mouse sighed. "Well, he's tough and ignorant, but very smart." There was no mercy when it came to hiring. "But he's not a good listener. I hope you understand that James." He wasn't looking at me this whole time but stared right at the door.

The Raichu was no longer smiling. He was considering everything in his head about what he heard, ever since the meeting started to when that door shut tight. The great leader nodded twice, thinking about the positives of hiring Shawn and also considering the negatives. Finally he clapped his paws together and stared at me.

My turn.

The great Raichu smiled. "Arceus James, you fall down a hole just two weeks ago, and now you're standing here? I wanted to properly thank you by the way for maintaining principle. We checked your knots and bucket, they worked just fine save for the rope."

I smiled. I had always tied my knots well. "It was the faulty rope sir, I had forgotten to replace it." I quickly answered hoping honesty would help. It was kind of Mark's fault but I wouldn't dare tell that to anyone, not for a long time.

The Raichu knew this information. He sat down on the ground so he could look me in the eye and the height war was instantly over. It was a game of passion now and I listened intently. "Indeed." He began. "My wife Sally was really surprised you came out alive. Even I was."
My ears dropped down. Everything was quiet for four seconds before I finally said, "You mean Susan, sir?"

Now he smiled. This smile was genuine, now the Raichu was playing the game he wanted to. "And the Vulpix named Matthew? I'm sure you met him?"
What was with these weird test questions? "Her name is Jessica sir. She's the receptionist."

The Luxray clapped his paws and rubbed them twice as hard. He loved his smile. "And the Ivysaur?"

I smiled right back. I liked this game, I was good at it. "Matthew sir."

"And the receptionist in my office, who you did not meet or see?" The Raichu got up from the ground and I jumped up to meet him.

I thought for a second. "It's Lynda sir." I remembered him saying that to her just before he left and closed the door to the hidden white room where he worked.

The Raichu could hardly contain himself. "And how many Pokemon here drank coffee tonight James?" He already had the number in his head, the second he walked in he knew every answer to the questions he was asking right now. The Raichu's well trained mind never missed a second. I wondered if I would one day dare to try and match him.

I thought for a second, just me and the Furret were left out when it came to drinking that disgusting beverage. "Twenty-two sir." that was the answer unless you counted mine that was under the table cloth. I should probably tell Lynda about that before she cleans this place.

The Raichu was so proud, he folded his paws and stood his ground in complete glee. Now he was just having fun.

The tall mouse nodded his head again. "And how many years have I been married?"

I thought back to the boring monologue that he went on about just before he started the meeting. "Ten sir." I answered, having memorized every word.

"And where did Susan and I meet?" The Raichu wouldn't stop smiling.

"Kanto sir." I remembered everything, I wondered if this was just for amusement or some sort of game. Truly no one would pay two hundred thousand dollars a year just for someone to memorize names and facts. Was I really worth that much more than the Luxray?

The Raichu just had a few more for me, providing I was really as good as a listener as he thought I was. Sometimes there was just as much to see as there was to listen to, especially when it came to a mining facility. "Who holds the title in this plant for most time spent napping?" The Raichu asked, hoping I knew the answer, because he did.

I answered, the memory of the whiteboard at the front door coming to mind. So it wasn't just listening then, he was testing my observational skills. "That's Daniel sir." He was Mark's good friend. Everyone knew Daniel mined the least but he was a good miner despite his flaws. He rarely caused problems because of how funny he was unless he was snoring in the break room. I had yet to set paw in there but last year they gave Daniel an award for the loudest snorer. I laughed at the thought of myself trying to compete for that trophy.

The Raichu's was so excited that his paws were getting tired from rubbing together in encouragement. "And what was the name of the Furret who sat in the corner?"

"Rory sir." I answered without hesitation. I smiled simply because the Raichu was smiling right back at me.

This guy loved me. "What was the name of your tailor?"

"Leo." I answered, that question seeming a little odd. I hoped Leo wasn't working here because this suit was a little tight. Actually, a little was an understatement. It suddenly occurred to me that my collar was out of place again and I tried so hard not to think about fixing it.

This wasn't a test question, I found this out when the Raichu bellowed in laughter when I answered him. "I know Leo." The Raichu talked further. "He's good priced, but a little inexperienced." He flicked the suit he was wearing and I realized he had gotten that from somewhere much better than Leo's. It was probably from somewhere only he knew existed. "I'll buy you a few suits James before you start. You're going to need them if you are going to talk to my advisors at different branches."

I almost fell over my tail I jumped backwards so fast. "Wait, I got the job?"

"Just one more question." The Raichu started, that smug smile all over his face. This question was the worst of them all but just like this Raichu, I was confident in myself to answer correctly.

Turns out my confidence was overestimated. "What, is my name James?"

I bit my tongue. My tail held still in thought. I wasn't sure if i knew the answer. Do you?

This was a hard one. I stood there silently for a little bit, my smile nearly disappearing. I recalled my conversation with Matthew just after Jessica winked at him for what appeared to be no reason at all. He didn't tell me the answer I needed, I recalled every word Matthew told me as quickly as I could. I didn't have my answer, at least not completely.

This unnamed Raichu loved to smile. For the first time in his life he was smaller than everyone else in the room, he dared to let his ego fall and let mine rise. He was older, and obviously taller, but deep inside he knew that all his training and all his books had led him to an employee like me. I was a worthy investment, even as an Eevee. After all, he was a worthy investment, even as a Pikachu.

It was a tough question, the Raichu had me bested. I decided that even though my answer wasn't perfect it would have to do. There was a chance I could get it wrong.

The Raichu flicked his tail in impatience, he could read my mind like Matthew could read a menu. "Risk and reward is your first lesson James." He stated knowing a smart cub like me got the meaning. "What is my name?" He hated to repeat himself and this was the last time he would ask. He knew I heard it before, Matthew had been well instructed when he was asked to be my servant.

It was now or never. I paced my paws, remembering the one word Matthew slipped into our conversation that he thought I wouldn't notice. "Your name is Lucas sir." I smiled.

Lucas put his paw on my shoulder, and smiled until his teeth showed. "Correct, and you James, can call me Luke." He stood upright and stared at me for a long time, he started rubbing his paws together and then looked around the room. "I could use some pizza. Come with me and we'll talk about what I need from you this week." He started walking away at a pace I didn't know small Pokemon could even walk. "Come on James."

I waited a few seconds, but then it hit me. "Wait, I got the job?"

The Raichu chuckled a little. "I actually gave it to you when you told me Jessica's name. I've been watching you and your behavior in this plant, Mark was smart enough to finally let you off his paws and let me take you. You'll do great James, but there's some things I want to discuss first, such as the quality of your undersized suit." He was beyond observant, this Raichu was a prodigy.

I quickly jumped up and followed him. I was only partly relieved that the job was mine, something told me though that this was just the preparation for the bucket and now I was finally being lowered into the hole. Arceus, how fast could this Raichu walk?

Luke was silent for three minutes as we hurried towards the offices of the other employees, but finally he spoke aloud once we were at Matthew's door. "You really think there are gems below two hundred yards?"

My tail froze in place at the well considered question. I thought for a bit, then nodded in agreement. "It's just a theory sir."

"And I'm just an evolved Pikachu." He looked at me and smiled. "But we've both got one thing in common James."

Now I was confused. I quickly doubled my attention and thought about what he just said. I missed the fact that his paws had scars on them from countless years ago, before the ropes were of the same quality as today.

Luke smiled, he liked me a lot. "You're not the only one who's fallen into that hole, and don't worry about the coffee. I didn't like it much either when I first had it." he disappeared behind the door.

My thoughts were shattered, I stood frozen in place as the conversations continued on inside. He couldn't be telling me the truth, could he? Was I not the only Pokemon to fall in that hole? Had others like me gone below two hundred yards?

I knew he was wrong about one thing though, my smile showing how adamant I was despite what the Raichu told me.

Never, ever, would I enjoy coffee.

…

My father could hardly keep his eyes open, he yawned for probably the twelfth time tonight.

I impatiently played with my paws and fidgeted my tail in every direction. He was almost done. He couldn't quit now, I wanted to hear the rest of the story!

My father looked at the clock above the fireplace, then he looked at me. It had been tomorrow since three hours ago. My speech was in less than six hours and I hadn't slept a wink, at least, not for very long.

He yawned again, then he smiled his famous never ending smile, even this late at night and he still found reasons to be happy. "I can try to finish it son, but I might doze off." He got up off the couch and I frowned since I didn't know what he was doing. Ten seconds in the kitchen and suddenly he was back again but for once he wasn't carrying any food but something in his paw. I wondered how many Orans we had gone through tonight, mom would be rather disappointed but at least we weren't hungry.

The great Flareon was back and he held his stone again. I was too tired to even feel remotely close to how I felt earlier while staring at it, the glow on the inside seemed to react to how late it was and how tired we were. My father sat back downed immediately handed it to me.

I frowned. He wanted me to carry it? But didn't he put it away for a reason? I gently took the stone to hold for the remainder of the story.

It was still warm. My eyes shot wide when I realized that even this late at night the stone was eager to do what it did best, provide warmth for an entire room and one Flareon. My father shuffled his paws and smiled, the place on the couch where he sat would be indented for days after this long story he told. I held the stone gently but looked at my father.

He finally explained. "I just need it for this part of the story and I know you enjoyed holding it." He quickly took it back and I flinched when it was gone. "It's about time that I tell the part that you've been actually wanting to hear."

Now I was confused. The stone glowed just a little bit.

My father laughed so loud I thought he would wake mom up. "Well I still need to explain how I became a Flareon don't I?"
…

I had never liked my job more in my entire life.

Lucas spent a lot of time with me, mostly for training. He talked of vocab and terms and made me memorize them, but mostly he was asking me about his employees as that was the most important part of my job. I became keen on noticing any problems arising before they happened, by now everyone in the entire plant would trust me with their lives even though mostly just checked their tools. It was a fun job, even the papers from time to time. Four weeks had passed and I had never been busier. Sometimes I did miss the silence of a deserted hole though. At least the new suits fit, courtesy of the tailor that Lucas paid for me to visit.

My favorite part is the training. New miners always came in and I was the first to greet them, almost all of them being surprised to meet an Eevee in a suit. I always gave them quizzes at the end, especially on the knots that I so elegantly taught them to make. I always knew if they would fail or not depending on if the laughed when they watched me tie knots. It was usually after Mark bullied them a bit that they realized I was no joke. After that, they tended not to forget my name. Mark would handle them from there, telling them stories of an Eevee that would dig until he came out the other side of the hole. I tried to have Mark in my office a lot but he was usually busy, probably finding ways to make up for his extra time since I wasn't digging anymore and keeping him awake all day long.

My stone sat on my desk. It glowed with as much intensity as it could, ironically it became active whenever I smiled but I also seemed to smile a lot. Some managers would take a quick peak when they passed by my open door, I always stared at it whenever I had time, my paw wanting to shake the smallest bit at the distant though but the stone would calm my mind just by looking at it. It wasn't ready for me but I was ready for it. I suppose the decision is not just made by me alone but the stone knew something that I didn't. I had no reason to be taller, at least not yet, so the stone would wait and so would I. I quickly hurried down the hallway before anyone caught me standing just outside my door for what appeared to be no reason.

Every second that I wasn't training, teaching, talking, or even sleeping, Lucas had me in his office. We had filled up three white boards by now and I figured if we encountered even one more problem, we'd have to fill up four more. There was a lot of paperwork and deals to be signed, but we found a better rope and with it, a much better opportunity.

"It could work." Lucas muttered to himself, talking about the plan that we had discussed more than four weeks ago while sitting in his office. He stood back in awe, all the important details worked out. "You'll need a flashlight."

We had already made our decision. If anyone was going back down into that hole to try the impossible, it was going to be me. After all, I was still the smallest one here and weighed considerably less than every miner. I looked down at my paws which were now always placed firmly on the ground. I didn't bring my suit today, because today was the day that the entire plant would master the darkness, starting with me. I was now the tallest Eevee in the world but a lot could go wrong.

The next time I looked up we were fifteen feet from the hole. Lucas had asked me to help him in his research idea on better lowering techniques but I soon made it a plant effort. Ideas emerged, I reworked them, and Lucas was impressed. The once impossible had now only become improbable, we had to try it. Whiteboard ideas were one thing but to try something in reality seemed ludicrous at times. Nothing could go wrong on the whiteboard so why would it go wrong here?

We now all stood at the mining grounds with the hole deserted. New recruits were here, curious to see what was going on. I had to remind everyone to always stay fifteen feet back and they all complied. Who knew such small Pokemon could give such big orders?

"It's all here kid." Mark still refused to call me by my name, regardless of how many suits I wore. Lucky for me I was back to the utility belt with a few tools attached to it, I never needed much to dig with even with new equipment, I still loved using my paws. "You sure you're capable of doing this?"

I gave Mark a cold look. I was the trainer wasn't I?

Mark just laughed. "You ask me, I think you should make that Raichu go in first before you, it's your neck on the line kid."

I rolled my eyes. Lucas was just as much to blame in this idea as I was. "It's my idea, I'll take responsibility for it." I grabbed the rope we bought that was so thick it would take four of my tails to match its width. I started tying the knots and jumped from side to side with the rope in my teeth and paws. I had gotten rather strong from training new miners over and over again, my office chair had yet to get a single crease in it. "I'll be fine Mark, quit worrying over me."

That's what I told everyone. When Lucas gives me a hard task, I tell him it'll be fine and he smiles. When Mark tells me the same, he laughs and then realizes I'm serious. He did this now as I finished the last knot. I had never seen a bucket as strong as this one, but I hoped it would work as planned. There are plenty of things to go wrong besides a bad rope or a different bucket failing.

Mark scratched his neck and gave Lucas a cold stare. The great Raichu just shrugged since I had insisted this be done by me since it was my project. It wasn't about the credit, and I trusted the miners here, but this was my theory. If anyone was going to risk their life trying to prove something, then it makes sense they take the fall when they are proven wrong.

I was convinced that the farther down I dug, the more gems I would find. No one else believed me so perhaps I was wrong. The only question is, would I be willing to lose my life to it?

The bucket had been reinforced with lightweight steel, there were four ropes tied to each end and the two rope supporters were easily strong enough to lift half this building off the ground. That was all we could do, so I insisted on finding more answers when the chalk ran dry since I knew it wouldn't work. We soon decided that since the length couldn't be expanded, we would just have to find a way to tether the ropes deeper.

And that's what I did. I double checked the tools on my belt, then I realized something was missing. "Hey Luke?"

The Raichu unfolded his paws, a sign I soon learned that meant he was nervous since he always liked them touching something. "Yes?"
"You got me a flashlight right?"

Ten seconds later and I was thrown one. I grabbed it, tested it, and then threw it onto my belt. I was surprised when it didn't fit in the slot I thought it would so I threw it into a different one. I didn't bother to check if the other small pocket was filled but I guessed something was in there, maybe I would need it later. I finally got the flashlight to stay put by my side but the belt was a little tight now, maybe I shouldn't have eaten with Matthew all those times.

I repeated the steps back in my head as the bucket stood ready. They all made sense, and all errors we could think of had been addressed. The flashlight for the darkness, the tether for deeper distance. Mark would be responsible for pulling me up and Luke would oversee him to make sure he made the right decision.

Strength mattered little here. Sometimes rules are broken when you reach that certain depth, I knew the thickness of the rope wouldn't matter then. My back paw played with the flashlight securely strapped to my side.

Two hundred yards changed all the rules of mining. Up would become down. Confidence would turn to fear. I remembered six weeks ago, I remembered my own grave that I barely escaped. There was only one thing more scary to me than the deepest part of this hole.

I needed to know if my theory was correct, did more stones grow the deeper down you go? Or was I just fooling myself? Could an Eevee really stand taller than every Pokemon in the world?

I pushed the bucket with my head and the huge container scooted. Ten feet from the edge. Five feet. It slipped off the edge and I jumped in just as I had practiced.

A small second of silence, everyone held their breath. The ropes started going deeper just as planned.

I was going down again. Not to a hundred yards, not even one hundred and fifty. I decided the only way to test my theory even though everyone else thought I was mad was to go to two hundred and fifty yards, farther down than ever before. Only at the deepest recesses of this hole would I know if I was right or not. I hoped I was, because I wasn't getting back out if I was wrong.

Lucas finally decided to breathe, Mark was even more worried. If he had to pull out a shivering Eevee one more time, he was going to quit this job and work in a restaurant where less action happened every day. He liked an exciting job, but no one was as crazy as this Eevee. I noticed that just before my bucket lowered far enough he gave me an odd look and then tapped his side as if saying something. I hoped he didn't touch my equipment but he was smarter than that to know what to touch and what to trust in my own paws. He continued to lower the ropes and watch me get deeper.

I was in the hole again, the walls I missed so much going past me as I got deeper. I reached up and held onto the edge, looking down into the hole as I always loved to do.

There's the seventy yard mark, and now past the eighty.

I wouldn't have much time. The ropes would cut short at one hundred and fifty. If I didn't get them harnessed to the corners then, they would not be strong enough to hold me when the darkness set itself in. I looked down one last time and thought hard about what I was doing.

That darkness, it was worse than I remembered. Somehow I had gotten over it but if I had to hold onto that wall again I don't know if I would make it. The bucket suddenly shifted and I slipped to the ground.

"Sorry!" I heard Mark yell at the top. Everyone glared at him and the Raichu considered firing him right there. "You're at your distance kid. One hundred yards as planned."

I nodded and held up the drill even though they could barely see me. The drill meant I was ready for the next step. I quickly grabbed the extra rope in my teeth and prepared for the throw.

I had been practicing. I jumped onto the edge of the bucket, my back paws not touching the ground. I was lucky to have strong teeth from that metal pulling, surprisingly everything I had learned and trained for was leading to this moment. I never thought throwing a rope would be what all this tension led to, but the rewards were well worth it.

I gulped. The rope tasted horrible. Time to make this shot or restart tomorrow or possibly never again. The rope was well made, I had tested it myself. Attached to the end was a hook that would up against any amount of weight.

I twisted my neck and threw it. Everyone watched as the rope whistled towards its target. I smiled when it was only halfway there knowing that I had done it perfectly.

The hook grabbed, it sank and the rope pulled tight. Not bad for only practicing this outside on the roof. Down here it was much different.

The Raichu clapped his paws, "Now that's a throw. Hurry up James, you don't have forever down there."

I showed him the drill again just to regain confidence. I quickly untied the weaker ropes, letting the heavier one grab hold of the bucket. A quick glance up at Mark, and he let the pulleys go again. One hundred and sixty yards. One hundred and seventy.

I had learned my lesson the first time I failed. I shut my eyes and listened as hard as I could. One hundred and eighty yards. One hundred and eighty-five.

There was no squeaking, no tearing of rope, not even the slightest sound. This rope was going to hold, I knew it. I quickly jumped up to the edge of my bucket and looked straight down as I longed to do for the longest time. I was going to brave the darkness, and this time I had bucket below me. Nothing could go wrong.

It was very dark, the layer of black approaching fast as I lowered towards it. No one in a long time had been this close to the darkness, this murky black depth that turned all blood cold. One hundred and ninety yards. One hundred and ninety-five.

The shadow was within touching distance, the hole started growing darker and I could see deeper into it. Mark grabbed the ropes up top and held all three of them still. This was all part of the plan, just in case I wanted to back out now since this was the last time they would ever hear my voice. I was confident that I was just fine, the bottom of my bucket sitting inches from the black mist below.

"James!" Mark screamed at the top of his lungs. Everyone waited for my reply. I was supposed to yell back up for him to continue if I wanted to go down, otherwise he was pulling me up as fast as he could manage.

I stared straight down into that darkness. I remembered my first day moving steel, the blood pouring from my broken mouth. I remembered my paws shaking, Johnson kicking me out, Zach testing me to become a miner, I remembered everything I had done to get this far. This was where my theory ended, this was where the tallest Eevee in the world had always grown short.

One hundred and ninety-nine yards. I gulped and prepared to yell, falling back into the safety of my steel enforced bucket. It was about to get very dangerous from here down, I could still go up if I wanted.

I tried to speak, but my mouth was numb. It was cold down here and I didn't notice that until now. I clawed at my tongue but the fear had gotten to me and I couldn't talk.

Mark rolled his eyes. "Alright James, I'm pulling you up."

No! Tension upwards would ruin the ropes, I would have to restart. I searched around me frantically for something to signal him with.

My flashlight. I grabbed it and flicked it on as quickly as I could. The light penetrated the darkness and I looked up towards the top. The ropes froze where they were.

Everyone knew something was wrong, but now even Mark stopped. "Come on James?" He complained to himself. "What are you doing?"
I waved the flashlight through the air, then I pointed it straight down into the hole.

It took a few seconds, but Mark finally complied. He sighed a long sigh and gave Lucas a look that could kill. The Raichu nodded back, his paws folded across his chest since he trusted my judgement. What he didn't trust was my overeagerness to get back into the hole.

Luke was worried, and his strong opinions were almost always right. "Let him down." The Raichu commanded. Nobody there wanted to see what was below the darkness as much as Lucas and I wanted to.

I smiled, the ropes started moving again and I disappeared into the hole. Two hundred and five yards. Two hundred and ten…

I dropped the flashlight.

"NOOOO!"

The light dropped below the darkness. Within seconds the mist was too strong and the light switched off and fell out of sight. I stared straight down into that darkness, the black enfolding around me but it was gone. I had dropped it, I had dropped my only hope.
I had lost my light source. I had lost the one thing I absolutely needed. Two hundred and fifteen yards. Two hundred and twenty.

"No, no, no! Please?" I started pacing my paws on the edge of the bucket. I considered jumping overboard to grab it. Two hundred and thirty yards. Two hundred and thirty-two.

I could feel it again. My paws lost the feeling of the steel and the wood touch. The ground below me vanished and I thought I was facing the wrong direction. I looked up, nothing. I looked down and I thought I could see it. Perhaps I could reach my flashlight from here. Perhaps if I just reached…

No! I fell back into the bucket and curled up tight. I would be fine, I told myself. "I'm fine." The darkness was winning. Up top the Raichu set a timer for twenty minutes knowing he would pull me out after that. There was no way to signal from down here so a time limit had been set. It would be the longest twenty minutes of Luke's life but the rewards we both knew could be well worth the wait.

I looked around me, the darkness taking everything over. The steel below me became freezing to touch. I backed up against the wall and considered jumping over to not freeze to death. There was no darkness like this anywhere else in the world. I would die down here without that light, without my hope, curled up and frozen or perhaps I could just jump. The ropes creaked a little bit but I didn't hear thing. My will had been broken, I needed a light source or I wouldn't make it.

The depth was getting worse, my ears could no longer hear a thing, even the ropes made no noise. I stared up wondering if the ropes had snapped or if my brain did. Was I even breathing? Was there anything down here? My thoughts went silent, my breathing made no noise, this was the farthest I had ever slid but the ropes kept going.

Two hundred and forty, ten yards from my set target. I couldn't tell what I was touching, my paws felt like they were hanging from the ceiling. What was I standing on? Was my tail hanging over the edge, or were my ears? Was the bucket shrinking? Why was everything spinning? I felt around for the bucket thinking I was no longer in it, begging the darkness for my flashlight. I begged the darkness to spare me mercy, even if the light source was fake I needed to see something. "Please?" I asked in every direction. The steel was freezing my paws and making them shake. Up top they counted off eighteen minutes to go, the clock patiently ticking on.

I had lied to myself, an Eevee was not tall enough for this depth. A flashlight wouldn't save me down here, nothing I could do up top would save me now. Five minutes. I gave myself five minutes before I jumped over the edge unless something changed. "Please. Light!"
Two hundred and fifty yards. The ropes jerked to a halt. Everything froze still and time slowed down.

The smallest noise of creaking shot through the dark. I played the sounds of the ropes snapping in my head and it drove me mad. I bit down so hard it broke my teeth and I felt no pain. I looked up only to find my paws. I looked down and noticed I had the direction wrong this whole time.

The ropes were holding steady, the bucket wasn't swaying. Mark smiled from up top and Lucas clapped knowing my genius techniques would change the world of mining. The only thing that wasn't holding steady, was me. I had betrayed myself, my willpower was strong enough but no Eevee in the world was supposed to survive at this depth. It's too cold, too dark, I wouldn't make it whether I wanted to or not.

I waited, the seconds going off in my head. One second. Perhaps two, or maybe five. I was counting too fast, I couldn't do this.

The ropes held firm. I gently reached for the bucket I couldn't feel and tried looking over the edge. Even the smallest glimpse of something real would help bring me back to reality, I hoped.

Nothing ever made it this far before. Everything that had gone this far down had died. I flinched and made the bucket swing in every direction just from twisting my small head. I heard a clang at the bottom, probably my flashlight which had finally reached the depth I most feared. How much time had passed before that noise came. It had to be at least four minutes.

That was a long fall. I froze and shivered and cried out to anything in vain. "Please! Ple…"

My throat was going dry. My paws turned blue and froze over. You could freeze at this level? Could you actually die while still safe in the bucket? I gripped the steel enforcement around me until my paws started to bleed. "Please!" My tail wouldn't hold still, it was going to tip this bucket if I wasn't more careful. "Mark! Pull me up. Pull me up!"

Mark looked at the Raichu, the strong ropes holding firm. He checked the clock and repeated back fifteen minutes left.

I started counting. I couldn't take it. Which way was up? Which way was home? Why wouldn't my paws move? Was it cold, or was I already dead?

The bucket was lost on my paws. I felt in every direction but the emptiness just continued for miles. I reached out in desperation but nothing was there. My paws had lost all feeling of my surroundings, soon it would reach my head.

I tried to count how long I had been in here. Maybe five minutes, but it felt like an hour. If I didn't find something soon, if I hadn't dropped my flashlight.

Twenty seconds. I could count down, at least I could remain in control if I counted to myself, my paws shaking and making noise against nothing. "Nineteen." I stated with pride, glad that my defeat was acceptable to my own voice. The noise echoed off the walls that were so close to me now. "Eighteen."

Eighteen seconds. Eighteen seconds and I was going to jump.

I thought about Mark. I thought about how Lucas trusted in me to be the tallest Pokemon alive. "Seventeen."

I thought about all this hard work I put into this. I was wrong. Nothing could beat this darkness, it just wasn't possible. My tail grew cold and froze over, I felt the ropes start to creak as I leaned to one edge finding that the farther I moved from the center, the more confident I became. It was a lie, but I needed to do something now. My ears lowered towards my head but it felt like gravity was pulling them the other way. I considered jumping up just to see which way I fell. If I jumped up, I would be heading down right? If I jumped over, I would see light again?

"Nine." I repeated to myself, my eyes shutting and providing more light than in the hole. "Seven."

A miner always checks his tools. I reached for the drill and found it in its place. I considered taking it with me. Up top they were counting down from thirteen minutes, the Raichu was smiling since nothing seemed to be wrong.

"Four." I whispered. I threw tools in every direction in my haste to move the bucket. I was so cold, so forsaken, so small. My mind was ready for this but my stature was not, it was giving in. How do you make an Eevee taller than everyone in the world?

"Two." I whispered, knowing if nothing changed then I was going to have to come through with my decision. I couldn't stand this freezing place for one more second, even if it would be my last. I could listen to the darkness just this one time and then hopefully never suffer this again. Can you defeat darkness?

So forsaken. Alone in a pit that would freeze me over. I heard nothing, I thought nothing. What was left of passion had been snapped. What was left of a once determined heart had failed the second I set paw out of my door and decided to try and get a job.

It was not worth it. I was not successful. I jumped up to the edge of the bucket, and held on, my back paws not touching the ground. I could feel the gravity switch as the bucket tilted towards my direction, just begging me to spill over like a container filled with old garbage.

"One?" I started to cry. I didn't care how much time was left up top, I wanted to leave. I let my paws slip just the smallest bit, the steel grabbing my shivering fur.

A different tool fell from one side of the bucket and bounced towards my back paws, smacking the steel that I was hanging onto. I snapped open my eyes, the familiar sound of clinking registering in my tall ears. I knew that sound, I thought it was still on my desk.

I was on the edge of my bucket. My eyes shot wide open and looked down into the hole. What was I doing!

Mark felt the ropes pull tight. His claws gripped the ropes twice as hard. "Lucas? Lucas he's letting go!"

I jumped behind me and screamed. I curled up tight and screamed until I was sure I was safe inside the bucket again. What was I doing! What was I thinking! You don't ever jump out of the bucket. You don't ever leave the bucket, it's the first rule in the book!

The darkness had lost, it restarted its countdown. Four minutes, four minutes and my sanity would be lost once again, but an Eevee like me could do a lot with four precious minutes. The ropes held still, everyone up top held their breath.

I waited for an eternity before opening my eyes. It was just as bad as I remembered and the darkness was winning. "You're ok." I told my worry that was screaming for me to panic. "You're fine."

I stood up, my paws shaking so badly the entire bucket shivered with fright. I decided that whatever made that noise I had to find it, I had to see what distracted me from jumping. I took a confident step.

The bucket shifted, I dropped to the ground. I forgot that at this distance even the smallest movements could tilt the entire thing sideways. I gulped and tried again, taking a slow step that was sure not to shake the ground below me. The darkness would try again in a few minutes and it wouldn't hold back the second time. I had to find that object.

I wondered what I was doing. What did I even hear? I had to be imagining it, Mark wouldn't hide it for me all the way down here in my belt. It was still on my desk, I was all alone down here. I was being lied to!

"No!" I slapped myself three times. "You're fine." No I wasn't. "Yes you are!"

Forget it. I reached forward once again and felt around the bucket for the noise even though I was tilting the thing like crazy. There was my drill in the corner, my hammer, I didn't bring much else down here. Why did I have to drop the flashlight? Why did I have to be such a blundering idiot and drop my only hope?

I found it. My paw froze still and I stopped moving. I stood with one paw touching the object and I knew it was true.

My tail froze in place, my eyes shot wide seeing no light but I could feel it. I was right, my paws didn't lie to me. Mark had hidden it in my belt when I wasn't looking, his way of making sure that his favorite Eevee didn't give into the darkness.

My stone, it was here. My paw slowly gripped it like it had never done before.

The decision was simple. Four years I worked in this mine, and already I was in the job I had never dreamed. I loved it, I loved everything about it. I looked up knowing my clear head knew exactly which way I was looking.

I could jump. I looked to the other side of the bucket and remembered the fear. It was scary, but so was this dark hole. An Eevee should be scared in this hole. No Eevee could survive at this distance, that was impossible and I knew it.

If there was one thing Mark knew, that Lucas knew, even Johnson when he first told me to pay my portion of the rent, everyone knew something was wrong with me. They took one glance and knew I was different than the others.

I was tiny, a weakling, pathetic. An Eevee with nothing to show for it, no hard hats to fit it, no drill small enough to fit in my paws. No table would be too short, no title would dare stoop low enough to my own stature. Everyone laughed, it was merely my heart that got me this far but that was about to change.

I had a choice, a choice between normality or a decision. A choice between a miner, or a coward. There were a million different options, a million different outcomes. What if these last four years I was wrong? What if I would regret my decision? Was I truly ready? Was the stone?

My eyes blinked, it was growing colder in the bucket despite the warmth coming from my paw. "Twenty seconds." I counted as the darkness turned the bucket invisible. I knew I wouldn't last a second time.

It was now or never. Do I commit my life or do I flee? There's always plan two. I could just run away. I could restart in any way I wanted, back to the small Eevee I had started as, the one that dared believe it was tall until proven otherwise.

But not this time. I quit shivering, the warmth flooding through me. Tonight I was coming out of this hole with a heart of fire and the height to match it. For the first time ever, I would be as tall as the fire stone I held in my paw.

I grabbed the stone and curled up tight. Weeks and weeks I held it since it saved my life, now it was time for the stone to return the favor. The fire stone had finally found its Eevee worthy of the power that was held inside. Countless years it had waited while other stones had been used, countless years I had worked without complaint. The two of us had waited long enough.

It was very warm as it had always been, but for the first time I ever owned it, It actually turned hot. The darkness sighed away when it realized what I had chosen to do.

At first, nothing happened. I stood waiting but the timer in my head kept counting and my tail twitched in anticipation. Ten seconds went by. Twelve seconds, was I doing something wrong?

I waited and waited. I wasn't sure what to expect. I figured it would be something I always remember. Something flickered against my closed eyes and I squinted at the bright vision.

Wait a minute, it couldn't be. I unfurled my paws and stared down wide eyed.

Light. There was light! The bright red stone started to glow.

It was happening quickly. The light lit up the ground around me, the bucket coming into full view. I backed up in fright, the wall behind me turning warm to the touch.

The bucket was getting very hot. I squeaked in fear and my tail swished in every direction. The air I was breathing, my paws, the floor, even the cold darkness, everything was burning hot!

My ears shot upright. For just a second I had a thought. Nothing was getting hotter, except for me. The stone had made it's decision. Was I actually evolving? Is this what Flareons felt like?

I fell still, the ground around me burning to touch. It was like standing near a fireplace that was just too hot. It was heat, and plenty of it. The hole stood no chance against the bright stone beside me.

I backed away from the edge of the bucket. I looked down in surprise. The cold, it was gone. Nothing was cold anymore? Would I ever fear it again?

My paws shifted. I looked down in surprise when they started sliding on the ground. The bucket was holding still right? I wasn't moving but the bucket kept swaying. I tried to hold still but my paws slid outwards towards the edges of the bucket. The stone was growing brighter and brighter, the darkness had vanished and my paws kept slipping.

I was moving, or the bucket was growing smaller. I swallowed and backed up to the wall. The red light from the stone was too much, I could barely see anything. Everything was too hot, I was going blind form the white light!

"Mark?" I begged, the warmth making my tongue return to life. I swallowed and tried again as my heart panicked and beat uncontrollably. "Mark? Pull me up." This was a bad idea. What if I regretted it? What if I had made the wrong decision? "Mark!"

He didn't hear a thing. Up top they were patiently waiting. Mark was getting restless and Lucas was pacing. They didn't like this one bit. Someone from up top looked down again and noticed a faint red glow. He quickly yelled it out and everyone looked down again into the hole.

No one was quite sure what was going on, a bright red glow was shining from the bottom of the hole. "Is he alright?" Mark begged when Lucas came running over to check the ropes for the eight time in the last two minutes.

Lucas took one look down, and squeaked in surprise. "So that's what he's doing. Dang it, I just bought him a new suit too."

Mark was a little confused when the Raichu smiled in glee. "Well is James alright? Do I pull him back up?"

Lucas actually laughed. The noise was so loud that everyone turned his direction and thought he had gone crazy. Why would he be laughing at an Eevee stuck in this hole?

Lucas had to have his fun with a moment like this. "You can try Mark, but expect him to be much heavier."

The red light continued to shine, but now it was growing dimmer.

I could feel it, every passing second was another second of change. Very slowly my paws slid across the bottom against my will, they were touching the edges of the bucket now. My tail hit the edge and I looked over in surprise as it pushed against the edge. I couldn't see it but I could feel it against the wood. There wasn't much room to maneuver anymore and I had to shove my back against the bucket and collapse when my paws gave out underneath me. I squeezed my head against the bucket and felt my back inching up its surface, pulling on my fur. I shut my eyes and my tail reached so far around the wood engulfed half the bucket in its thick fur. I pushed as hard as I could against the ground, but my paws kept growing in size. I was getting taller, much taller. Everything was a blistering red color.

I didn't know how long it would last. What would happen if I got too big? Would I feel different? Would I regret it? I shut my eyes and bit my tongue but everything still felt the same with my eyes closed. I reached forward and my paws slammed against the other side of the bucket. I could reach both sides now?

My eyes shot wide open. The other side? I was that tall? But my back was still pressed against…

The light started to fade. I could see again. The red was everywhere but mostly it was from my own fur now. The stone had finally stopped glowing.

My tail. I watched in amazement as it swished once and the tools shot across the bucket. I was lying on my back but even then I took up too much room and pushed everything aside. My once small Eevee tail now felt very heavy. I watched it move from one side of the bucket to the other and it made smile to see so much light and movement. I was easily four times my old size now. The changes were slowly coming to a halt, but my mind still ran rampant with thoughts.

I smiled. I truly felt tall. I was much taller, I had to be. I was truly as tall as my heart finally allowed.

I was warm, everything was hot to the touch like firewood after burning bright. I liked it, nothing in here was cold. For a second I forgot how deep down I was in the hole. The light from the stone was starting to fade into nothing, its power exhausted for the last time. It had done its job, now it was time for me to do mine.

I shot my paw up to my face and looked at it. It seemed huge, and very, very, red.

A dark red color was everywhere on me. I was covered in the thick fur, each strand felt the same vibrant color as the other, each paw acted the same as before and I could still move the same way. Everything was just larger, and brighter. I gulped at the thought that red fur would always be my own color now, I had grown so used to brown but this was much more lively than before, it made me feel tall. I wondered if Lucas would dare purchase another suit for me after he had already bought me the last one. I wasn't going to fit in a lot of stuff anymore but at least I could see over the table. I smiled at the thought of everything I had given up to gain this. The stone slowly glowed as my smile spread across my face. Maybe I could…

My tail swished again. The entire bucket turned one direction and I shot upright, my red paws kicking tools in every direction just to gain some balance. In half a second I was frozen still and waiting for the motion of the ropes to stop. Up top Mark was yelling at me to hold still but he finally got the ropes to hold steady. I was lucky they were so strong.

The light from the stone finally faded. I was alone once again and the darkness tried in vain to penetrate my mind. I stared at my red paws as they disappeared from view but I wasn't scared, the only thing that came to mind was warm thoughts and how much heavier my fur felt. I had never carried so much fur before, I had never felt so warm. The whole thing was over but the real journey just begun.

I had made my decision, and I smiled. The stone would no longer show its strength in a hidden glowing rock, but now it would show in the never-ending smile that spread across my face. We were one and the same. I was a Flareon, the tallest Eevee in the world.

I frowned for a second, looking around me into the nothingness that no longer felt so empty. Granted I was still at the bottom of the pit that everyone feared, maybe I should do something with the little time I had left in this great experiment. I closed my eyes and listened to make sure I could think straight.

The darkness did nothing to me. I had done it, I had braved the depth that all Pokemon feared. I smiled and reached for the other side of the bucket to jump up to the top so I could see again. I flinched when there was nothing there like I expected.

Oh yeah, I was taller. I brought my paws down and realized the edge of the bucket was below my neck now, I didn't even have to jump. I would have to be more careful if I didn't want to fall. I peered over the edge of the bucket with all four paws safely on the ground.

It was still dark, and I was still alone. They counted eight minutes up top before they pulled up what they hoped wouldn't be an empty bucket.

Well that's great, I'm a Flareon. I sat back down and wondered how this could possibly help my problem, my large tail swished in thought. I noticed I was sitting on the drill and backed up in surprise when it didn't even hurt my fur. I wonder what happened to my hard hat? I had probably lost it when I leaned against the edge of the bucket and my head felt taller. What about all the other tools I had? Did I break my belt too?

I thought about what I needed most. Perhaps some food, or a larger bucket for once. No, my flashlight! I needed my flashlight if I was going to do anything down here. I needed some kind of light or this whole thing was for nothing.

I searched around me for the stone and found it sitting in the corner. It was smaller and fit in my paw without hesitation. It was weird being able to carry everything so easily, my large paws pushing the bucket around with ease. I sat down and stared at the mass of tools around me just waiting to be used. I stared at the stone in the corner.

The stone wouldn't glow. If anything, I was the shining light it had hoped to find. I would need to find a different way to light up the walls at this depth.

My ears fell still, my large tail folded up tight against my waiting paws. The purpose of the stone dawned on me, I remembered why fire stones made the change in the first place. There was one great perk to being a Flareon that no darkness could master.

Where no others could see, Flareons provided a guiding light. Down here, alone, with just me and my large tail, I could provide the only light that would break the darkness. I smiled at the realization of what gift the stone had given me in return for a favor to try and prove my theory true as we both believed.

I dropped the stone and rushed to the edge of my bucket, peering over the edge that lasted forever. I knew how I was supposed to see down here, I smiled at the thought of myself being a Flareon, of the great perks that came with it.

With this great decision, came a great gift. I felt my heartbeat rise and the wood turn hot below my paws. My throat felt funny, my lungs took in more and more air.

It happened automatically. My paws started growing hot again, the cold air rushed to get out of the way of the heat on my fur. I was taking in a lot of air, my throat felt very hot.

I stood up on all fours, each paw spread as far as the bucket would allow me to stand. A quick intake of air and something inside me sparked like an explosion. I had never known that feeling before. I didn't know what caused it. It was a flame I could call my own, and no one would ever take it from me.

My fur turned bright red and glowed, my tail swished in excitement. The cold air rushed to get out of the way as I stared down and all my thoughts disappeared. The fire in my throat continued to build in intensity.

I didn't know how big it was going to be, but maybe I should've held back just a little bit. This was going to be a very big flame from a very tall Flareon.

Mark up top was growing as impatient as ever. "Can I pull him up!"
"No." Lucas was adamant. "If he's digging and we pull him up he'll fall right out. Give him time, he's got his flashlight."

No one believed his encouraging words, but Luke held his faith. All the miners looked down in desperate hope that everything was going to be ok.

Mark was growing even more impatient, how did the Raichu stay calm at a moment like this? "Hey, what are you doing?"

The Raichu did what he believed caused all fear to disappear. He folded his paws and shut his eyes. Fifteen seconds. Mark counted for fifteen seconds of the Raichu just standing there in unmoving silence. Luke rarely showed this to anyone but he could not have chosen a better moment, he opened his eyes and all hope was restored. "Just give him some time Mark."

A noise like an inferno rushed out of the hole. A bright yellow and red glow shot forth that made everyone shield their eyes. The flames traveled downwards, taking the darkness with it.

I stood on my back in complete amazement, landing inside the bucket. I didn't know flames could knock you off your paws, I quickly shut my mouth even though my heart wasn't done and the fire burned bright inside my stomach. I swore I could see the light emitting from my fur from how much fire I had still kept inside my throat.

I jumped back over to the edge of the bucket and peered down as far as I could. The fire traveled deeper and deeper.

A moment of silence, of complete darkness, then my eyes dazzled.

My tail fell to the floor. My eyes squinted at the sight. Holy Arceus! They were everywhere!

Mark was not expecting me to launch an attack. "Fire? You mean he's a Flareon! Why didn't you tell me he evolved you crazy mouse!"

Lucas forced the giant Pokemon to quit talking. They all stared down as the flames traveled down the hole. The light shot out in every direction, the moment of truth to find out if something was truly hiding in this great hole.

The flames went on until they disappeared from sight. There was a moment of silence and darkness, then the light exploded upwards to the surface.

Colors of all types, purple and red, yellow and blue… The cave shown with lights better than anything the miners could imagine. Everyone jumped back in amazement and blinding light.

If Luke could count as fast as the light shined, he would've recognized over eighty thousand glimmers of light coming from that hole and that was only what he could see from up top. Down where I was there were colors I didn't even know existed.

Lucas stood so close to the hole he forgot about the rule to stand fifteen feet back. The entire plant glimmered with shining lights for a full minute, finally it dissipated and the bland yellow lightbulbs took back their place. The stones waited for the next burst of fire to reach down and show them to the world once again. Countless stones were down there, hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of them, all better than the last.

Everyone was silent, everyone's minds fixed on the Eevee that had done it all. An Eevee had braved the darkness, but he was no longer the small Pokemon they knew. He had earned his rightful title of the tallest Flareon in the world.

Mark looked at Lucas. Lucas looked at Mark. They both smiled knowing what the other was thinking, this changed the game of mining for the next thousand years. They needed to fill up more whiteboards with more bucket ideas, longer ropes, more safety protocols. They had to get more miners down there immediately.

I smiled as I stared down at the twinkling lights that enjoyed my glowing fur as if I was the show they had been waiting to see. My right paw gripped the drill like I was about start a race against time. I still had five minutes before they pulled me up, and I now knew where the lights were shining.

I was about to make Lucas a very, very, rich Pokemon.

…

My father was done with the story. He had left out some parts, but I stood in wonder staring into his old and tired eyes. I quickly snapped out of my trance and stared at the living room around me where the fire had long gone out. The story was over, the great hole was gone. I wished again for my dad to describe the twinkling lights but I knew it would be a favor too much to ask at this hour. I glanced at the clock.

Well, I might as well get ready for school.

My father jumped off the couch and stretched again. He stretched for a full two minutes before he finally stood up and decided to walk. I noticed I had been clawing at my tail this whole time from the stress of my future decision. Where did that red stone go that father had in his paws? I decided it didn't matter and yawned again.

The great Flareon walked over to the fireplace without a word. He took in a deep passionate breath and let it out, the burnt wood rekindling itself and its red glow warming up the room. My father sat and stared at it for fifteen seconds again, his eyes shut closed.

I had to ask, I just had to, but I held my tongue.

He finally quit staring at the fire with his eyes closed and then stretched again once he was finished. In his heavy paw he grabbed something off the fireplace and walked back over to me. It was next to the family portrait, a small picture that he had hidden his stone behind earlier. Was he going to show it to me? How had I never noticed it before?

Dad handed me the picture. I stared at the three figures that appeared to be standing in a very large and empty warehouse. Or was it this mine were my father had worked?

"Guess who the Flareon is?" Father yawned again and massaged his badly aching tail. I was having the same problem since my tail had been cramped in the corner this entire time. I laughed and then looked at the picture to see what he brought me.

It wasn't what I expected. Right in the middle was a dancing Raichu that stood taller than any mouse I had ever seen. Dad wasn't kidding, that tie really was made of gold. The Raichu was cheering and rubbing his paws together just like my dad described him.

And next to him, being hugged off the ground by the colossus Aggron by his side, was the smallest Flareon I had ever seen. Dad was no older than I was in this picture. His smile telling the whole story from the beginning to end. I realized right then why I liked my father, his tail had never wagged in pride, his ears had never stood tall in defiance. Not once in his entire life did my dad consider himself better than any other. All that aside, the red furred Pokemon did look a lot like me. I guessed that's where my bushy tail came from if it wasn't from my mom. Dad wasn't kidding about a lot of things, I never would've guessed his stories were this truthful.

Behind all three of them, just behind the bushy tail that my father took great pride in, was a pile of at least forty gemstones spilling out over the top of the steel miner's bucket. My eyes went wide in astonishment.

Dad laughed and took the picture back, looking at it himself. "I nearly doubled our profits in our first month. We quickly designed a rope that held any sized Pokemon and a fire type was required to go down with all trips past two hundred yards. I went for a long time," my father shrugged, "but soon I got too old to go down. Lucas found a replacement and instead wanted me by his side at all times. That Jake, is how I got my job and this…" He showed me the picture again, "is how I became a Flareon."

I stared in amazement at my father. The thick paws he had destroyed every day just to chase his dream had grown old and worn with use. The descending into the depths knowing full well he wouldn't survive was mere habit now. This was no ordinary Eevee that I had heard about, no ordinary Pokemon, this was the tallest Flareon in the world and yet the Flareon in this picture that hardly stood taller than me. The only thing different was his fur color, and perhaps his smile.

The great father yawned and smacked his tongue against his mouth to my annoyance and disgust. He was back to being my father again although something told me I would never see him the same way after today. He started talking after he finished yet another yawn. "Well, I'm tired. What time is…"

We both stared at the clock. I could hear mom coming down the stairs now. I hoped she didn't ground me for staying up this late. Dad realized it too and couldn't believe his eyes. "It's that late? Oops." He smiled and I giggled.

Dad just laughed and walked over to the stairs. Mom said hi to him and smiled, then she realized that we hadn't slept a wink this entire time. Immediately she blew up in a well deserved rant that my father just smiled and listened to. He yawned during her speech and she wanted to tackle him right there and then. She couldn't stay angry at him, but obviously he needed his sleep. We both did, I had a speech to give in less than two hours!

I stared at the couch below me, my ill groomed tail sitting cramped by my side. My fur was disgusting, my ears folded over, and I was sure those Orans had destroyed my teeth or at least stained my mouth. Staying up all night did nightmares to my appearance and I feared looking into a mirror knowing I didn't have time to clean myself. I had a speech in two hours, forget the talk, I was going to be the laughing stock of the entire school when they saw me walk in looking like this.

I replayed dad's story through my head. Rule one, always remember names. Rule two, always dig with your paws. Rule three, always descend past two hundred yards. And finally…

"Dad?"

It was the first word I had said all night. Both my mom and my father turned towards me in surprise and stopped their friendly argument. "Yes, son?" He asked.

I wanted to ask a million questions, but only one seemed reasonable. I stared at the fire before me, the small wood rekindling to its full size. I was like that fire, starting small and growing but now my time had come to fend for myself. Dad's first steps started by moving steel, mine would start with this great speech.

My journey started in less than two hours. "I think I'm ready."

"For school?" My mom complained. "Are you kidding? You look hideous! You both do! How could you not sleep on the night of his biggest speech you crazy Flareo…"

My father finally shoved his paw over mom's mouth and we both laughed. "What son?" He asked again. The impatient Sylveon bit him and dad yelped in surprise. If he wasn't awake before, he was now. He shoved her but then ran down the stairs when she almost shoved him back. The two were going to have to settle this later at a different time.

I repeated my words, sitting in the middle of the empty hardwood floor away from the living room. I liked this place, but my thirteen years were up. "I'm ready."

Now my father laughed this time. "For what? Ready for what Jake?"

I gulped. It was now or never. I stared back at the fire, then I stared at my dad. The two were the same thing, fire that burned bright and never stopped. Father would never stop until he changed the world and he refused to stop after that. He had changed the idea of evolution, he had changed the world for small cubs like me and there was no doubt about that. I wondered, what would I do?

The smiles dropped from both my parent's faces, they realized what I was talking about. "Jake? Are you…"

I was scared. My tail twitched as my father's had done in the bucket. I felt my paws grow cold and pace on the floor to keep warm. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, maybe it was the story, but I had never been more sure in my life. "Dad. I think…"

They both ran to sit right in front of me, shoving to get out of each others way. Finally they sat before me, my father hugging my mother as she tried to realize exactly what I was saying.

"Jake?" Mom quickly made her point clear. "You don't have to choose. We didn't mean it, you can wait. We can pay for another year and…"

I held up my paw, my mom became silent. I watched as her patience grew longer than I had ever seen before. My father hugged her and they knew, their last cub, their last success, had finally made his decision.

I pawed at the ground, I turned back around to the fire and stared as the flames disappeared. I guess it was my turn to finally light the fire for my own home someday.

Dad was right. The darkness is creepy at first, you start to doubt your decision, wondering if maybe you should choose a different route. Then your throat goes numb and your paws pace, fearful of taking on the change that would forever impact you, a decision you could not back away from. If you were going to choose work, discipline, focus… Then you had better be right about it before your time came.

But my father was right, the last part is confidence. I stood up as tall as I could and finally made my decision. My tail held completely still for the first time in four years. "Dad? I think I'm ready."

No words were said after that, but I did smile. The clock continued ticking and we both looked over at the noise from the fireplace. My smile disappeared.

Mom was in a frenzy faster than I could blink. She shoved the great Flareon towards the door and screamed at him. "WE'RE LATE! GET IN THE CAR!"

…

"You're up in two minutes Jake."

I nodded and the Buizel went back behind the door to stand behind the big curtain. Outside just past the closed doorway I could hear everyone talking and laughing. It was graduation day and more importantly my speech was on in less than two minutes.

I said my speech out loud to myself and highlighted the main points as best as I could remember them, then I yawned. I stood no chance with this speech. I was doomed. My father and I already agreed that from now on all stories had to be started before dinner and finished before midnight. I forced him to agree to midnight since if he ever had a good story like that again, I wouldn't want to ruin the moment until he finished. I smiled and remembered my father describing it in such detail. I hate to admit it, but sometimes he's a good storyteller. Obviously that was the case last night which led to my zero hours of sleep. I yawned for fifteen seconds before I could finally think straight again. This school speech was going to be a disaster and I knew it. What could I do in less than one minute to prepare myself and my disastrous fur? Did I even have that much time?

"Thirty seconds Jake." The Buizel disappeared again. I slapped myself and forced myself to concentrate. It was so hard to think, why did I have to be so tired?

I looked awful. There was no time to groom anything let alone fix my outfit. A weird cap sat on my head and quite ironically, it was a little too small. This cap had fit my head just fine since one hour ago, but now everything was way undersized. I hoped no one would notice my unkept fur or my ill groomed tail that wasn't hard to miss. The whole school would probably just stare at my droopy head all day as I gave this speech and fell asleep mid stage, somehow I was still excited to walk out on that platform to talk even after all this.

I quickly repeated the first line in my head just so I could concentrate, but I had already forgotten the words. I rolled my eyes and clawed at the ground. Oops, apparently I can scratch thick wood now. I would have to take note of that and find a new way to express anxiety, my tail swished and accidentally hit the chair behind me.

Twenty seconds left. I stared at the clock and each second took an eternity. Soon I would be in front of everyone, fully exposed and known as the most successful student that had done the best four these four years. The Eevee that no one laughed at, except for when it came time to jump up to the desk seats. I quickly paced around the small room just so I could concentrate and stay awake. I was glad this was over, never again would I struggle to get into a chair, except the ones at home. We were going to need a bigger table too, and a new couch.

My mom and dad were proud, and that would never change.

And Lucy, well she was in for a surprise when she came over for dinner tonight along with eight other friends that I invited. The surprise would be ruined though the second I stepped out that door and past the curtain. I had just seconds left and already I was starting to feel my throat choke and another yawn approaching. This was a bad idea, but I loved every moment of it. How could I not enjoy something that felt so different, so tall?

Lucy would love it. I loved it. Already when I stepped through the back door to the staging area I had already caused quite a panic. I tried to find some peace and silence to think about it these new experiences but apparently it's awkward to cheer in the closet about your success when others don't know that someone is hiding in there. Lesson learned, janitor closets are not sound proof.

"You're on Jake!" The Buizel threw open the door which he thought I had already walked through. "Will you hurry up?"

Shoot! I hate being late. I grabbed my notes and spilled them everywhere and knew I was going to ruin this speech. I rushed out the door as fast as I could with only half my notes. I would have to rely on my words and I already felt like falling asleep as it was.

I stopped right before the curtain. Wait! I ran right back inside the room just a few feet behind me. The Buizel was getting more irritated by the moment and held the door open. They called my name outside, introducing me with a long title and finally my name. My parents cheered, the whole school did, but I was still inside the room. Now came the awkward silence I was supposed to avoid at all costs during this ceremony.

I gazed at the stone that I had kept with me ever since this morning. The lights of the preparation room shone on its surface and revealed the red glow from inside. The colored stone lit up my entire face when I held it near my eyes, observing each and every mark. The Buizel outside dared to step in and stopped in silence when he saw it.

It was perfectly carved, mined in my dad's own business just like the others, but obviously this one was much different. It was well made, having come from a deep depth like the other great stones, perfect and smooth to the touch and not very big. It was my own stone. No one else had one like it. I was well taught and pulled straight A's, the best of the best. I had obeyed every rule and learned everything I could. The only flaw was right in the center, where the design was smaller and less bright as if the stone was late in the making over thousands of years. The inside was gentle and cautious while the glow still shined as brightly as the others. Other than that, it was flawless. Other than my patient and considerate heart, I was flawless.

This stone was truly my own, my question had been answered. Now the whole world would know what my stone looked like.

I smiled. The Buizel finally blinked and woke back up from his trance. "Is that yours Jake?"

"Yep." I answered with a smile. I looked up at the open doorway and everyone that was waiting outside. So much for my mom trying to get here on time. 'Thanks Mr.…"

I frowned. All this time and I had never asked his name. Four years of learning to evolve here and I never bothered to even ask his name. Rule number one played over in my head. "What's your name, sir?"

The Buizel smiled. "Johnny. Now are you done fluffing up your tail Jake or do I need to pull you out there myself?"

"Right." I quickly made sure my notes were in order even though they weren't and I made a mental check to see if I had everything. The podium was empty, waiting impatiently for me like the whispering crowd.

The Buizel was tapping his paw now on the hardwood floor. "Hurry up!"

"Alright, alright." I checked my tail, complete disaster. I checked my fur, another disaster. "I look hideous though!"

"No one cares!" The Buizel rushed into the room and started pushing me. "Just get out there already! We will all look like idiots if you don't say something!"

Fine! Forget the fear. I was giving a speech but I'm not going anywhere without my trusty stone. Outside they could here the commotion of a Buizel struggling to push me out the door and everyone laughed when they heard their favorite student complaining and throwing a fit. I got pushed closer and to the waiting door and the curtain was in sight. I wasn't sure about this anymore, have someone else do the speech but don't put me on that podium, this was going to be a horrible disaster.

I took one last glance at the glowing stone on my desk, and grabbed it. My dark colored paws folding over the gem, my fur the exact same color as the glow. This was my stone, my own. This was my choice, and I smiled because I would never regret it. I was graduating this year but obviously that didn't matter if I never gave my speech.

The Buizel had to pull on my ear to snap me awake. "Quite staring at your rock and go! You're on right now!" He shoved me out the door and past the curtain. My only graduation speech and I was being shoved by an angry Buizel towards the door.

I was out the curtain in seconds. I nearly dropped the stone when all eyes shot to me. This wasn't good.

The entire crowd gasped. I was thankful that my red cheeks couldn't blush but my twitching tail gave off my embarrassment. Everyone made noise and then suddenly it was silent.

Well, almost silent. Lucy looked up and squeaked so loudly it made four other Pokemon jump. "Fl… Flareon?" She gasped. The whispers started spreading right after Lucy asked it. "Is that Jake? It can't be. He's so tall!"

I had to do something. I rushed to grab the microphone but my paws nearly crushed it. Lesson two, large red paws don't grip things like Eevee's do. "Yes, well, um. Sorry I'm late." Complete silence, I hoped it wasn't my fur they were staring at but it was hard not to notice how terrible I looked. I decide the best I could do was smile and pretend that I looked just fine. "To start I would like to…"

I stopped. Their stares, everyone was speechless. An Eevee did not stand before them, I did. A Flareon with droopy eyes, destroyed fur, and a cheeky smile now stood before everyone. I quickly found my favorite friends, my dad snoring in the back with my mom shoving him awake, and then Lucy sitting in the very middle. Slowly, her cheeks turning red in embarrassment, she began to smile.

I looked right at her and decided, I was asking her out after this speech. Her cheeks shot bright red when she realized what I was thinking but there was no backing down now. I had to ask her out tonight during dinner, I hoped it wasn't too awkward to invite someone over and then tell them that you've had a crush on them for over four years.

"Um, well…" I had better say something fast. I looked at my notecards that were out of order. This was not going well and the school knew it. The silence continued to grow like a darkness that spread down from the roof. I would have to light this room up with a fantastic speech and my bright red fur.

"Um, actually, I have something different in mind for this speech." I dropped my notecards and gathered the attention of the open-mouthed Pokemon around me. It didn't take much to get the attention of an audience when you give them a great red Pokemon instead of an Eevee. "Just a quick change if that's ok?" I stepped off the podium and sat down near the front of the stage. This was going to be fun, or highly embarrassing.

I smiled. I replayed the great story in my head, remembering the rules just as my father had said them. Rule one, always remember names. Rule two, digging with your paws is always better than tools. Rule number three, always, no matter what, go below two hundred yards. And rule number four…

Always, no matter what, stand taller when you're the shortest one in the room. "Can I tell you guys a story instead?