It was odd having a Pokémon. I asked the little brown fluff ball if he wanted to go back into the pokeball, and his response was to jump on me. So here I was, the girl who never wanted Pokémon, with an Eevee in her arms. After thanking Mr. Larch for his time and patience and casting a playful glare at Gale, the fluff and I began walking through the streets of Canalave City.
Ok, in truth, I had never even been much of a people person. But if a person comes up to me, I can at least make conversation. There was nothing about Pokémon that I understood, except what I'd heard little children shout in the streets. I couldn't have a conversation with the Eevee. If it were a child, I might introduce him to the water-based city, the boats, or the water right in the center that we had to cross a bridge to get over. But it was a Pokémon. What could I do?
Walking through town suddenly introduced to me the stark contrast between me with a Pokémon and who I had been before. It didn't really bug me when I saw a couple people glance out their windows. However, as I walked by a group of kids who had just gotten their own Pokémon, their conversation stopped altogether. It was apparent that I was going to shock the entire city just by having a fluff ball in my arms.
"Wow!" One of the boys exclaimed before the others could recover, and all three of them rushed over to me, surrounding me in an instant.
"What Pokémon is that?" Asked a second one.
"It's… an Eevee."
"Vee!" The Eevee said, as if to confirm this fact.
"Really? I've never heard of one."
"Well, I have." Said the third boy. "They're really rare and an Eevee can evolve into seven different things!"
"Seven?" The other two boys chorused.
I looked at the Eevee in surprise, and it smiled up at me, its ear tickling my chin as it turned its head. This little thing could evolve into seven other forms? Was that even possible? I thought Pokémon were limited to two possibilities, at the max!
"So what's going on?" The first one said, stepping close to pet Eevee's head. "Are you just babysitting it?"
"How hard did you fight before you gave in?" snickered the third.
"I resisted for five years, but now this Eevee is mine." I mumbled, defeat coloring my voice.
The three boys stared.
"So… You're a trainer now?"
"I guess."
"Yeah, right." Said the second boy, crossing his arms in disbelief. I held up the pokeball as if it was proof. It seemed to be, because the boys all gaped.
'What idiots.' I couldn't help but think.
"Alright then!" Declared the third boy, the brainiac. "Battle with me!"
He jogged a few feet away and then turned to face me. The boy took out a pokeball and, with a push of a button, released his Pokémon. The stream of light formed into a Staryu, which spun as if to accentuate its energy.
"Actually, I was going somewhere."
"What, you afraid?" The first boy taunted, but I felt no inclination to take the bait.
"Listen up." The second boy said commandingly. I raised an eyebrow at him. What was this squirt doing ordering me around? "You've turned your back on Pokémon for almost all of your life! You don't deserve to have something so rare all of a sudden! So you've got to prove your worth!"
I was giving the kid a dangerous look, and he was just about to back away when Eevee jumped from my arms. I looked down in surprise as the fluff ball landed easily and swished its tail, looking seriously at the Staryu across from us. He looked back at me.
"Vee!" he said commandingly.
I frowned. I didn't like being commanded on a good day, but after I had finally been beaten in my life-long quest to stay as far away from Pokémon as possible, I was even less willing to take orders from the very fluff ball I was avoiding. But something in Eevee's eyes caught my attention. It wasn't necessarily the sense of an order, but a request. I could deal with a request. Besides, this might be a good way to test whether or not the fluff ball and I were compatible partners.
"Alright. We battle." I announced.
After a short celebration on the kid's side, Eevee and Staryu ran to appropriate positions, facing off against each other. The first boy who had talked stood on one side of the area, holding up his hand as if to hold us off. When his hand fell, we would begin. The other one stood on the other side, crouched on one knee and watching carefully to make sure the fight was fair. The boy across from me tensed as if he was about to battle while I leaned on one leg and stuck a hand in my pocket. Our Pokémon seemed to mimic our mood. Staryu stood at attention while Eevee sat down, fluffy tail swaying, and cleaned himself by licking his paw and dragging it about his face.
"Ready?" the first boy shouted, and Eevee got up. "Go!"
As the boy's hand fell, the one across from me was already shouting an order.
"Staryu! Tackle!"
I was surprised that little Staryu could move so quickly, and it bashed into my Eevee. Eevee gave a cry, but stood strong. The boy wasn't done yet. Though he seemed like the book boy, his tactics were very aggressive.
"Again!" The boy shouted.
Of course, I was ready this time. I shouted for the fluff ball to dodge, and it leapt to the side just in time to avoid the blow.
"Good going." I muttered under my breath, so it might not hear me and start feeling proud.
"Gah!" was my opponent's reaction.
Though I had plenty of time, I delayed attacking. Staryu was right next to the water that ran through Canalave, and I was certain that dropping Eevee into the water, if he missed, would not improve our chances. The boy, unsurprisingly, started again with another tackle. Eevee dodged again, but then I shouted the first thing that came to my mind: "Tackle 'em."
Eevee swept to the side with his dodge, and then immediately pushed forward, turning sideways as Staryu tried to slow down and recover from his own attack. The fluff ball's shoulder slammed into the Staryu, and the star-shaped Pokémon was sprawled on the floor. I ordered Eevee to move out from between Staryu and the water, which he did quickly. However, my opponent seemed to be angry.
"Harden!" he ordered quickly, worried about me landing another hit. "And then use Water Gun!"
"Move, Eevee! And keep moving."
The brown ball of fur ran about, jumping now and again to avoid the jets of water that were coming at him. Staryu seemed content to do as his master bid, unleashing spray after spray. I could see Eevee was getting tired, but I was having a hard time drawing on past knowledge. Unfortunately, I wasn't much help. Then an idea came to mind, and I let a small smirk show.
"Whip your tail around, Eevee! Mess with 'em. Taunt Staryu with it."
Eevee didn't seem to get it, but through a few trial and errors, understood what I was telling it. It used the move Tail Whip, swinging its tail around to seem endearing, while also causing Staryu to become flustered by coming close, tickling Staryu with the tail, and leaping away again. Staryu actually became confused, and when it stopped listening to its master, Eevee let out a barrage of Tackles to finish off the job.
I was feeling rather accomplished. This was my first battle, and I had won, despite having no real knowledge on such a feat. While my opponent's friends gathered around him and his Pokémon in pity, Eevee trotted over to me, happy but tired. I couldn't help but reach out and pet its head in congratulations, smiling. Feeling successful and holding up long enough to get praise, the Eevee promptly collapsed with a playful "Vee." It was amusing, and I laughed, but then I picked Eevee up, forgetting I could just use the pokeball. I thanked the boy for a good battle, and then turned to go home. Eevee needed rest. Making money could wait.
Mother wasn't home when I got there, which was a relief. I didn't think I could stand going through her congratulations if she knew about this. Or maybe she'd just kick me right back out the door and tell me to go adventuring already.
I introduced Eevee to my room and house, pointing out various areas. Didn't I just say something about not being able to talk to Eevee not too long ago? Oh well. I set him down in my room and hopped on my bed, telling him he could sleep wherever he wanted. He jumped on the bed as well and curled up next to me.
We were woken up by a knock on my bedroom door. I turned and lifted up my head while Eevee put his front paws on my shoulder so that he could see. The door opened when I gave them permission, and Gale stuck his head inside. At first, he looked worried, but then he smiled when he saw Eevee and I together.
"Oh, look, you've already bonded."
"What do you want?" I said a tad bit icily.
"I thought you were going to try out that machine."
"Oh… right."
In all honesty, it had slipped my mind for a while. I was a person who was so angled towards taking care of everything when I could that, even as I woke up from a nap, my main concern was how I was supposed to take care of Eevee. For some reason, a job for Mother and I had just disappeared for a while.
"How you feeling? Better?" I turned to Eevee and asked it. It gave me an enthusiastic 'Vee!', so I nodded my head before getting up.
"Was it sick?" Gale asked as Eevee and I followed him down the stairs.
"No. We had a battle, though."
"Really? I thought I heard something about it, but I didn't believe it was you."
"Neither will anyone else, I'm sure." I mumbled.
When the door to the house opened and Eevee and I were ushered outside, I took a moment to stretch. Eevee watched me extend my arms to their fullest and arch my back, yawning all the while. It felt odd, being watched by such a fuzz ball. The feeling honestly reminded me of being examined by a child.
"How old is he, do you know?" I asked Gale.
"Pretty young. Hasn't really had anyone to bond with, since Larch is more of a computer's man. Larch used to take care of cataloging the farm, if you remember."
"Yeah, I remember."
Gale and I both watched as Eevee stood on its two back feet. It raised its paws hesitantly, trying not to fall, and then tried to stretch its front legs. Eevee failed miserably, but my chuckle was short. Confused, he tried to stretch again from the ground, and found it much more satisfactory. He stretched his legs, twitched his tail, and rolled around a bit on the ground.
"Alright, that's enough." I ordered. "Let's go."
"They say they're almost done with their time here, so I figured I'd make sure you weren't going to bail." Gale teased me.
"I was just having a nap." I protested, pushing his shoulder.
"Alright, alright. Now, go!"
"Fine, geez! Where are you going?"
"Back to work. Larch's so excited about the readings he got off that machine in the warehouse. You'll come tell us all about it, right?"
"Maybe. I'd fancy another nap, personally."
"Yeah, looks like Eevee would, too." Gale said, watching Eevee edge along the building, exploring nervously out of boredom. "You really let him get beat up, didn't you?"
I didn't bother answering. Gale had a habit of making fun of everything I did. In this case, it was understandable. The Eevee and I didn't exactly seem like a miracle team, and I had failed to react when the fluff ball was first hit.
"Alright, let's go." I raised my voice so it would carry to Eevee. His ears stuck straight up, and then he bound to my side, making sure to stay near me as I walked over to the warehouses. It certainly seemed like this Pokémon hadn't ever been anywhere but inside that pokeball. I wondered if he enjoyed walking around like this. His eyes were certainly big enough. Or maybe that was just a quality of the breed.
Eevee trotted freely about, sniffing and examining anything that he found interesting. I kept a close eye on him. The group I had seen at the warehouse suddenly made me nervous, so I didn't let him walk behind me for long. Suddenly, shadows in dark alleys between the warehouses made me nervous, and as we approached I called the Eevee to my arms.
Fluff ball held to my chest, I approached the boys at the warehouse, who were looking disappointed. I had to push through the crowd to make it to the inner edge, but enough grumbling and shoving later, I obtained that goal. Now it was time to see what all the fuss was about.
"Hold up. You got one more guinea pig." I called.
The warehouse guys turned to look at me. They seemed unhappy. The entire day had, no doubt, reaped them no rewards. Whatever was in there had, so far, proven to be a waste of time and money.
"Sorry, kid, but we're done." Said one man irritably.
"No, wait!" called out a woman.
As I watched, the woman ran over to the irritable one and whispered to him. It made me nervous when they pointed at me, and I got the feeling they were pointing at the little ball of fluff in my arms. Was an Eevee really that rare?
"Alright. But you're the last one!"
My hesitation would prove to be in favor of my better judgment. But I ignored it and walked forward, feeling as if I was being invited into the lion's den. Eevee buried his face in my arms and his furry collar.
After being escorted into the warehouse, it closed, making me even more nervous. But instead of providing an ambush, the smiling people showed me to a machine that was in the middle of the room, all bathed in light like it was holy or something. It was a strange machine, consisting of two giant canisters that were connected through a series of thick wires and boxes.
"We'll tell you what you have to do." Said a man standing next to a controls console. The man at the controls was tapping away furiously and pressing all kinds of buttons.
"This machine," started the woman who spoke earlier, " will allow you to share in your Pokémon's power. I promise it's entirely risk-free. Nothing will happen to you or your precious Eevee."
'If it's risk free,' I wondered as I noticed her eyes lingering for too long on my Eevee, 'then why are you testing it in a cold storage warehouse in Canalave?'
"Now, how it works is like this: you stand in that one, your Pokémon stands in that one, and the machine should work."
"Should?" I said a bit coldly.
"Well, no one else has been able to do it. There's been no real problems. It's just that, when the doors open again, there was no change."
I sighed. There was no way I was going to be able to do anything about an obviously broken machine. Why had they let me in here in the first place? I only got paid if I could successfully use the machine, and since it didn't work, I was wasting my time. Not only that, but when I went home to report failure, my mom would notice the Eevee and send me on my way to adventure. I was so screwed. But there was no use in going backwards, now was there?
"Eevee. We haven't known each other for long, but we need to do this. Do you understand?"
Those big, brown eyes turned up to me, gazing curiously at me. I looked down at it, hoping my eyes would show how serious and desperate about this I was. Just maybe, maybe, this could work.
"I need to help my mother. So we need to do this."
There was a moment of silence between us. And then the fluff ball was wiggling in my arms. I let it go, and it landed with the small pats of its paws on the ground. Bounding, he made his way into one of the canisters and sat down in it.
"Wow!" Said the woman admiringly.
"A smart little fluff ball, aren't you?" I said snidely, raising a brow. All I got was a determined 'Vee!' in response. "Right then, let's do this."
I walked into the giant canister, all calm and determination. As if I didn't have any doubts. What a ruse, but there you go. I didn't trust these people at all- there was just something about them. But still, if a fluff ball that knew nothing about me could walk into a defunct machine for me, so could I.
The doors hissed shut, and the lights went on full blast. I closed my eyes compulsively and growled under my breath. Oh well. Quit being picky. Just deal with it, and things should be over soon.
The air in this thing is cold, and it starts circulating, which doesn't make it any better. Eventually, some force takes a hold of me and lifts me up. I try to balance myself out. Without my feet on the ground, I can't do too much, so I eventually have to surrender myself to the force that's holding me up in the air. Then a magnetic pull draws my hands to two handles on the sides, and I find I can't let go. The whirring of the machine is almost to the point where it has drowned out everything when I hear something quite frightening.
"Uh, boss. They're in the wrong canisters!"
That's when the electricity hits me. I can't help it- I shout out in fright. I wasn't expecting it, and when it hits again, I hold my tongue, but react by jerking around. Then it hits again, and this time it's using a path through my legs and out my arms as a conduit. The current intuitively fits the path of my body, and my muscles tense up while I try to master my fear of this frightening ordeal.
It doesn't take long for my body to feel strange. So thoroughly shocked by the electricity, I can't feel anything right, and while some parts of me are entirely numb, others feel like they've been distorted. It's almost as if my ears are touching the walls, and when I grit my teeth, I accidentally bite into my gums.
For a split second, I wonder if Eevee is okay. And for some reason, I know that he is just like me- scared, but bearing it. I feel proud of him, though I'm not sure why. He, in turn, feels gratitude towards me, but wished he could take a very long nap after this.
Finally, at long last, the machine's whirs slow down, and I am released from its tenacious grip. My hands seem glued to the handles, but my cramping legs collapse from under me, so I hang with my arms raised as if I had been shackled. I didn't remember the handles being so high. They were almost lifting me off the ground at this point, so I try to get up as some sense of the world returns to me.
A few of the lights dim, and the door opens. Outside, there's a flashing green and blue light amidst a bunch of smoke. There's a lot of shouting, and while one person runs over to the other canister, the woman runs over to me. Good. Maybe she can get my hands off the bars.
"Are ok?" And then she gasps and backs up. No, come over here and help me, dang it! "Oh my goodness!"
I guess I'll have to pry my own hands from the handles. I do so with the aggravation I would imagine a very, very old person to have. I have to flex them so that feeling will return to them, and then push myself onto my feet.
"What, what's the matter?" Several other people exclaim, and run over to see. Their appearance is quickly followed by gasps and exclamations that come faster as the smoke clears. I can see Eevee in one of the men's arms. He's staring like a fool, just like the rest of them.
I want Eevee back. He's ok with that, and so he wiggles out from the man's arms and runs over to me. But there's something else wrong. When was Eevee this big? Before, he couldn't reach my knee. But now he was almost to my hip.
"What happened to you?" I wondered aloud.
The feeling I get back is something like, 'What do you mean me? You're the one who changed!'
Shieb: Alright, so Sondra gets her first battle, finally gets to the machine and... Oh my, what's happened? You'll have to figure out in the next chapter, if you haven't already. :P Either way, it's sure to be a game-changer.
On another note, I'd like people to let me know when there are dire problems in my writing- I'm always looking to better myself. You'll notice that the tenses will change now and again- from present to past- but the document is so big, I didn't bother fixing it. If it really bothers you, I will stick to one or the other in future chapters. Otherwise, let me know what else you like or dislike. :)
