A/N: Wow, I didn't expect to see so many readers so soon. Thank you everyone who has read and reviewed so far. I've been quite busy recently with the opening of my high school's production of Fools, so I haven't been writing as much as I hoped. But I have indeed finished Chapter 1. Please read and review.
For those of you who inquired about OC's, I haven't yet decided on whether or not I will accept any. Truth be told, that's been the last thing on my mind recently, with Drama, AP Calc, and other school stuff taking precident. I will have made my decision by the time I post the next chapter. So keep your ideas handy.
So, without further ado...
Chapter 1: Never Say Never
"Oh…"
The pangs of hunger in my stomach greeted me the next morning. I could never recall a moment in my life where I felt that hungry. Slowly, I opened my eyes. The box that I slept in that night was beginning to sag noticeably under the weight of last night's rain. Carefully, hoping to avoid causing further damage to my shelter, I crawled out into the deserted alleyway.
Of course, as soon as I had exited the cardboard box, it collapsed under the weight of the water on the roof. Great, I thought to myself, I'll have to find another place to sleep tonight. However, shelter was not on the top of my list of priorities, as my stomach reminded me in no uncertain terms.
My new sensitive nose picked up on a rancid odor, which I could only conclude to be one thing. I looked over toward the trashcan sitting where the cardboard box once stood. Yep, that's it. There's no mistaking the odor of rotten garbage. My nose scrunched up in disgust. Gross.
Just then, a strange idea came to head, which I immediately attempted to push away. "No," I told myself, turning away from my temptation. "No way am I going to—"
My stomach growled angrily in protest. I looked back at the trashcan. The more I thought about it, the more the idea sickened me. But the more I looked at it, the more tantalizing the option became. Heck, the odor didn't seem to bother me any longer. Compared to everything else I'd been through over the past twenty-four hours, what was a little garbage?
I shook my head and sighed. "I am going to regret this," I muttered under my breath. Giving myself a good lead, I ran at the trashcan, slamming into it with authority. However, it didn't even tip over. Angrily, I lined myself up again, when suddenly…
"Hey, what's the big idea?"
I was so shocked that I fell over backward. D-d-did that trashcan just talk? I quickly disregarded that thought. Even if I was a Pokemon, there was no way that an inanimate object could talk. Could it?
As if to confirm my sentiment, a head popped up above the rim of the can. He bared a striking semblance to a bulldog with two fangs protruding out from underneath the lower lip. Crap, a Snubbull. I remembered how my old neighbor once had one. It was a nasty little thing, always digging holes and snapping at my Skitty. I was gratefully when the man moved away.
This Snubbull looked around the alleyway angrily, trying to find the intruder who had disturbed his slumber. Then, of course, he spotted me. For a moment, he just stared at me angrily, trying to intimidate me. However, I stood my ground firmly, not letting fear get the better of me.
Finally, he spoke to me. "What's the big idea? Why did you wake me up?" he asked me bitterly.
"Hello, there…" I began, trying to be friendly. "I was wondering, it wasn't a problem with you, if I could…"
He didn't even let me finish. "No." And with that, he pulled his head back into his can, no longer wishing to talk to me.
I sighed and walked away. Well, it was worth a try, I figured. However, my stomach disagreed with me. My hunger pains were growing progressively worse. Then, of course, there was my injured leg. I still couldn't put my full weight on my back leg. Gingerly, I limped out of the alley and onto the streets of the city.
I figured that being a Pokemon would earn me some sort of sympathy from people. However, that wasn't the case. Most people didn't seem to take any notice of me. They were too preoccupied with their own trivial matters, talking on their cellphones or walking to their jobs. No one seemed to care for a poor, starving Eevee.
Just then, my nose picked up on a scent. Not just any scent though. Food. I didn't even notice that I had begun to drool in anticipation. I hurried as fast my short legs could carry me, following my nose through the throngs of people until…yes, I found it!
A man in a business suit was sitting on a bench reading a newspaper, apparently waiting for the bus. A briefcase sat on the ground next to his feet. But that's not I was focused on. Sitting next to him was a brown paper bag. And the best part: he wasn't paying any attention to it whatsoever! Looking around to make sure no one spotted me, I slowly snuck toward the bench. I could already taste the wonderful food that attracted me to that very spot. Just when I reached out to snatch the bag…
"Mommy! Look at that Eevee."
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a little girl walking past with her mother, trying to point me out to her preoccupied mother. Desperately, I drew my front paw across my throat, trying to tell her to be quiet. However, this only seemed to further enthrall her.
"Mommy, that Eevee is funny!" she exclaimed cheerfully, tugging at her mom's dress in an attempt to garner her attention. "You're not even looking!"
"Yes, yes. I see," the mom responded, not even bothering to lift her eyes toward me. "Come on, Kayla. We need to get you to school." With that, the mom took the now sulking little girl by the hand and led her away.
I let out a sigh of relief. That was too close. Quickly, I turned back to the bench and tried to collect my prize. My paw just touched the bag when the man put down his newspaper and turned to grab his lunch, spotting me in the process. "Damn it," I cursed under my breath. Quickly, I withdrew my paw from his bag.
The man looked over me for a moment. He wasn't that old, probably not even thirty yet. He had a short, well-trimmed goatee, counterintuitive to his long, messy black hair. I couldn't tell if he was mad at me, or just surprised to find me pawing at his lunch. His face refused to yield any emotion toward me. I solemnly turned away from him, not wanting to cause him any trouble. Thoughts ran through my head, not about where I could find food, but if I could find food.
But then, much to my surprise, I felt a tap on the back of my neck. I turned around to find the man reaching into his brown paper bag. No way, I thought to myself. He pulled out a small parcel wrapped in rice paper. As he unwrapped it, I could smell that heavenly aroma that could only be associated with good food. I closed my eyes, letting the aromas further entice me. It smelt so good. And it seemed so close. I opened my eyes…
There before me was the man, whom just moments before I had nearly stolen from, offering me half of a sandwich. I looked at the sandwich, then at the man. He just smiled at me, giving me the impression that he was being sincere in his action. He wasn't mad at me.
Gratefully, I took the sandwich from his hand and wolfed it down in only a few bites. I ate it so fast that I didn't get a particular idea what it actually consisted of. But never had such a small amount of food been so gratifying. My body wanted more, but I had to suppress myself. This man had done a great service to me, giving up part of his own lunch to satisfy my own need. The last thing I needed was to let my greed get the better of me. "Thank you," I said to him. I knew that he couldn't understand what I said, but I felt that it would be rude not to thank him.
The man reached out and scratched behind me ears. I flinched at first, because it was so unexpected. But that was quickly replaced by a feeling of bliss. My legs nearly gave way under me. I let out a content sigh. Now I knew why Pokemon were so happy to have to ears scratched. It just felt so good. I looked up at him. He just smiled back at me, happy to see that I was enjoying it.
A loud groan of gears filled my ears. I turned around and saw that a bus had pulled up in front of our bench. I realized that this was reason he was sitting there in the first place. The man looked down at me and shook his head. I could tell that he really didn't wish to leave either. He reached down and picked up his briefcase and lunch.
Before boarding, he bent down one last time and petted me on my head. "Take care little one," I heard him whisper to me before he stood up and got onto the bus. I tried to follow, but the doors slammed shut in my face. The bus driver hadn't taken notice of me. Not like I expected him to, but still. The bus shifted gears and I watched sadly as it drove away.
********
I sat in the shade of a large oak tree in the park. For past few hours, I made my way through the streets of the city. I searched for someone to keep me company in some way. However, not one person showed me the same kindness that one man had. By the afternoon, I solemnly made my way into the park.
As with most parks in cities, the park is quite large. There are numerous playing fields, often in use for some sort of competition whether friendly or competitive. The park's many trails were always occupied by jogging aficionados, cyclists, and people on roller blades. Trees are plentiful and serve to provide shade to the park's occupants, as well as shelter a plethora of tree-based Pokemon.
I observed a young boy throwing a Frisbee around with his pet Zigzagoon, a brown-and-white striped raccoon which had a tendency to run in (surprise, surprise) zigzags. The boy would toss the flying disk a fair distance, so far ahead of Zigzagoon that I always thought that it wouldn't be able to catch up with it. But every single time, the spunky creature was able to catch up with it and either pull off a spectacular catch, or a just as spectacular duff. There was one that I particularly enjoyed when it jumped up, only to be clunked in the head by the Frisbee. But both boy and Pokemon took the miscue in stride though, and they went on playing for what seemed like hours.
By the time the twosome left, it had gotten fairly late. The sun began to sink behind the skyscrapers nearby. My focus returned to my own issues. There was, after all, the new challenge of finding shelter. I considered staying in the park for the night. But the thought of all the nighttime activities that I knew took place quickly drove me away. I gingerly made my way out of the park, cursing angrily under my breath with each step.
Not far from the park, I found a large, unoccupied cardboard box sitting in an alley. As I settled down, I thought about what I should do next. Finding a permanent shelter was tops on my list. I couldn't just spend my days going between every cardboard box within a five-mile radius. No, what I needed was an actual building. Four walls, a floor, and a roof. Of course, there were other comforts that would certainly be appreciated, but just to have the basic structure would be enough. I laid my head down as I drifted into a fantasy world, leaving my troubles behind…
"We're getting close. Her scent's stronger than ever."
This quickly snapped me out of my fantasy. Her? Praying that they weren't talking about me, I withdrew further back into my cardboard box, hoping to stay out of sight of whoever was out there.
"You sure, boss? I can't smell anything…"
"Trust me. When you've done this for as long as I have, you know when you're close."
I listened as the voices drew nearer and nearer to my box. The closer they got, the more scared I became. Two sets of legs came into view outside of the box. But they weren't human legs; they were long, black canine legs. I began to shiver in fear of what would happen if they found me.
"Hey, what's that?"
"What?"
"That box. It's shaking."
Oh no! I was shaking too much! I watched helplessly as one of the sets of legs came slinking over toward the box. Desperately, I tried to think about what I could do. The back of the box! The legs stopped at the entrance of my box. Slowly, a head came into view. First, a gray, drool-soaked muzzle sniffed around my box. Then, a pair of yellow-and-red eyes peered inside. A sinister scar ran down the right side of his face. I was now staring into the face of a large, fierce-looking Mightyena.
A smile came across the canine's face. "Hello, poppet," he sneered. He licked his chops in anticipation of whatever he had planned next.
Of course, I didn't plan on sticking around to find out what that was. I broke through the back of the box, out in the alley once again. Without looking back, I ran as fast as I could away from the Mightyena. Suddenly, something smashed into the back of my head. I let out a cry of pain as I was sent sprawling across the ground. They had obviously hit me with some sort of attack. Whatever it was, it was strong. My head felt as though it was about to crack open.
As I tried to stand, a second Mightyena leapt over me and blocked my path. I glanced back toward the way I came. The Mightyena who had entered my box was now out and stood between the streets and myself. I was trapped.
"Heh-heh-heh," the Mightyena with a scar chuckled. "You've got nowhere to go do you?" He began to draw closer to where I stood.
"What do you want?" I demanded, constantly looking between the two Mightyena. The pain in my head was getting worse.
He grinned menacingly. "We're just looking for a little…fun," he said in a mocking kind voice. Both he and his partner sneered and stalked closer and closer to where I stood.
The pain in my head was unbearable and a wave of panic surged through my body. I shut my eyes and cried, just wishing for it to end. "HELP!"
Suddenly, there was a rush of wind and a yelp of pain, followed by the crash of a body into metal. I opened my eyes. At the end of the alley, a new large creature stood tall, enshrouded in the darkness. He had taken the place of the scarred Mightyena. He sent the Dark-type crashing into the trashcans by the box I'd been in only moments before.
The Mightyena dragged himself to his feet and growled angrily at the intruder. "You," he snapped bitterly. "What do you want?" His protégé joined him to provide support.
The newcomer said nothing, drawing closer to the Mightyena. Neither one of them looked like they wanted to stand up to him. At last, they conceded defeat and meekly made their way out to the streets. The creature watched them carefully as they made their way out of the alley.
All of a sudden, my vision started to get blurry, and I couldn't keep steady on my feet. I felt my legs give way. Then, everything went black.
