The warm breeze blew gently through the emerald-green forest. All was quiet. Even the trainers that usually passed through didn't come and battle for the Pokémon that they desired.

Eevee sat in a grove clothed in flowers and sighed. I should be going on a journey right now… she thought to herself …but maybe I should wait and follow a trainer who's going up the mountain. I could eat their food and they probably wouldn't notice! She wasn't really the type to find food and stuff her face full of it but if it was just there in front of her, she would have taken it all.

Timothy let out a sigh of relief as he entered the calm forest. He'd finally got away from the stressful life with his parents and had successfully made a strong, unbreakable bond with his partner, Chilli the Flareon. The mountains were almost too close and it seemed unreal.

As he walked along the path, he heard light paw steps behind him and he turned around. Eevee scrambled into a bush just in time as the trainer did so. Her heart pounded in her chest. I shouldn't be scared, it's just a boy! Maybe he has food…? The boy however, was intent on finding what had been following him and started looking in the bushes just about a metre away from where she sat.

To her greatest relief, the boy stopped looking and he turned back to the path where he continued walking. The little Pokémon saw his embarrassed face and felt quite guilty. He just looked like an idiot because of me. I should've jumped out and had a battle like all the brave Eevees!

Chilli wasn't satisfied with her behaviour and started trying to get Timothy to look again. His trainer, however, shrugged and walked away. By nightfall, they were only a mile or two into the forest but camped out rather than kept going. This time, Chilli was determined to find what had been out there earlier in the day. When Tim gave him a Poképuff, rather than eating it, he carried it outside in his mouth and put it down. If that Pokémon is greedy or hungry it'll come out as soon as I have my back turned!

Tim wondered what was wrong with the Flareon since it had been fidgety and kept an eye open all night long. "Chilli? Are you okay?" It was a simple question but he wanted to keep it that way just in case there was something wrong. Chilli's ear twitched and he nodded. "Why didn't you eat your Poképuff then?" Tim questioned, almost to himself. The Pokémon looked away again and then sprang up.

It's gone! The Poképuff is gone! I knew it! Charging out into the open, he sniffed around and scented a female Eevee. He spotted it and it darted off into the bushes. Weird… usually they like challenging other Pokémon especially if the other Pokémon belongs to a trainer.

"Leave me alone!" Came the petrified voice from the bush.

"Not until you tell me why you were following me and my trainer earlier," Chilli called out, his voice silky but still challenging. He stood back up again with a paw stretched out as the Eevee bolted into the thick undergrowth.

The trainer clothed in red simply blinked and thought there was something extremely wrong with his friend. "Hey Chilli… there's a Pokémon centre up ahead and I think we might be stopping there for a bit to be honest," murmured the concerned boy.

Chilli turned and realised how strange he must look. There was nothing wrong with him but he didn't object. The two friends walked along the path to the nearest Pokémon centre, Tim looking at Chilli with concerned glances every now and then to check that he was okay. A little brown creature followed in silence with ears and tail drooping.

By evening the three travellers had made it to the Pokémon centre. The boy and his Flareon entered first and then Eevee. She looked around worrying that an experienced trainer would see that she was wild and try to catch her or that another Pokémon would try to attack her.

"Hey Nurse Joy, I came here because Chilli," Tim pointed at the Flareon by his side, "was acting really, really strange last night. He picked up his Poképuff and left it out and then he tried to attack another Pokémon who'd taken it. Is there something wrong?"

"You must be Paul's son! Here's your Pokédex," she handed him the small machine, "oh, and there's probably nothing wrong with Chilli. He probably saw another Pokémon, like that Eevee over there, in the forest and wondered if he could keep it around for you."

Chilli watched as his trainer thought for a minute and then spun around to see the same Eevee as before staring at him. Tim patted the Flareon on the head where he liked it and then turned to see what was there.

Nurse Joy looked up again, "Now that I look at it, that Eevee is wild and has probably been following you. Chilli might have been trying to ask it why it was doing that."

"Yeah. Hey Eevee, want another Poképuff?" Tim's eyes lit up when the Eevee came bounding forward and ate out of his hand.

"Where are you heading off to then, Tim? You're dad said it was something to do with Articuno but I couldn't make out most of it because of his accent and the phone line was jamming up."

"Articuno came over here a couple of days ago. I wanted to meet it – possibly catch it – and become a really famous trainer," he explained in an excited manner.

"That's a big dream but it could come true!" she looked sad, happy and as if she were remembering someone all at once, "You look a lot like a trainer I used to know from the Kanto region. His name was Red, heard of him at all?"

"Didn't he catch Mewtwo and Articuno? Oh! Didn't he do the first mega evolution on his Charizard?" the boy said, suddenly full of questions.

"Yes, to all of those!" Joy smiled at Eevee as she started licking the crumbs off of Tim's now-empty hands, "She seemed to enjoy that. I wonder if she wants to join your team or follow you for a bit more."

Eevee suddenly realised how much trust she put into this boy called Tim. "I'm going to the mountain first and I'm going to meet Articuno as well! Then maybe I'll consider joining his group," she cried out. To her surprise Nurse Joy's smile widened and she nodded at her. She understood me?

"Nurse Joy, what did she say? How did you know what she said anyway?"

"As you grow in experience you'll be able to understand what any Pokémon says easily. She said that she would go to the mountain and meet Articuno. After that she might become part of your team."

"Alright!" he scanned the Eevee with his Pokédex and read what it said, "Cool! Eevee can evolve into a load of different Pokémon so that it can survive. That means that it can evolve into a Glaceon and that Flareon evolved from one."

"Yes, that's all true. You pick up things fast don't you?" grinned the nurse.

Tim looked embarrassed and quite flattered, "I guess."

"I'm guessing that you'll be on your way now, Tim. Take good care of Eevee."

"I will! Seeya!" called the twelve year-old, already out of the door. Chilli rolled his eyes at the trainer and then loyally bounded after him.

Eevee sniffed around and then realised that they'd already left her. Oh Arceus, stupid boys! She scolded herself and then padded along after them. Although she trusted Tim and his Flareon, she thought it was best to stay behind them just in case anything bad did happen.

The rest of the journey through the forest was easy and relaxed. It took almost two weeks and during that time the group ate most of the food they had - without even realising it. If they ended up in the mountains with no food what would happen? The answer is pretty obvious. The situation would just slowly melt into a disaster.