A/N: Well, here we go again! Chapter 3 is up, and with it comes the first Pokemon appearance! And before you send evil comments about my choice, just remember: I didn't choose to use him in the last story I wrote, that was Terminatress's decision. And there is a reason: I'm trying to give my character access to the Pokemon that I use on my Diamond game. You already know Gallade, a shiny Gliscor, and a Scyther are going to be in here, but what will the fourth be? BTW, he'll probably only have four total. Anyway, enjoy, and no flames on my Pokemon choice!

Also, thank you PKMN- Breeder Melody.K., TJay-Drag-Latios'of'the'Cookie, ReLeeS, and Nanashi Chimera for your reviews!

Chapter Three – The Clearing

The rest of the school day passed without much more anomalies. The only thing that was different was that people were actually paying attention to me.

Of course, it wasn't in the good way. No, far from it.

Let me explain. In our school, rumors spread like wildfire. Whenever something big happens during class, most of the school knows it by two hours later. And since what happened in my World History class was during fifth hour, seventh hour was when everyone knew about it.

Thankfully, nobody asked me any questions. They all preferred to just stand back and look at me while talking with their friends about how crazy I was or why I did what I did.

And it annoyed me to no end.

I hated when I knew people were gossiping about me. I knew that I couldn't do anything, and that bugged me even more. If I went up and confronted them, they'd either ignore me or laugh at me. If I physically attacked them, then to the principal's office I go.

The only option that ended well was to ignore them. And that was extremely hard to do. Especially when the teachers were pulling the same thing as the students.

Isn't my school just the best at making people feel good?

But I personally thanked Mew when the final bell rang. (I think that it's a much better god/goddess figure than Arceus. I wonder if any of those legendary Pokemon still exist…) I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

I half walked half ran out of the school's back door and noticed that it still wasn't snowing. Still no personal loss for me. I truthfully didn't like snow too much. I didn't hate it, but nor did I like it. Why? I had a bad experience with snow when I was about nine. As for what happened, let's just say that a snowdrift, a joking uncle, and going shirtless don't go together too well.

I actually felt happier to be out of there and in the woods. You see, my house is pretty close to the back of the high school, and since the only thing separating them are the woods, I made a trail and I walk to and from school.

And the best part of this trail is the little clearing that branches off of the path. I usually stop by here after school and clear my head. Then, if the weather is alright, I do my homework there. My granddad doesn't mind, he knows where to find me.

I should elaborate on why I live with my granddad. I should go into an in depth story on the events that led to this. But I really don't want to remember said events. They still haunted me sometimes.

I hustled down the path that I had made, not taking the time to enjoy the nature around me. I was in too much of a hurry to get away from the school to care much for the nature.

Upon arriving at the branch in the trail where one path led home and the other led to the clearing, I took the latter path and followed it for the short distance it covered. I walked slower this time, seeing as I was a fair amount of distance from the school. I doubted that anyone would follow me this far.

The clearing revealed itself and I took a second to scan it to see if anything was moved or changed. There was the fallen tree that I used as a bench. The stump that I used for a desk sat in front of it, the sides covered with moss. The trees created a thick circle around the clearing, making it hard to see from a distance. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was a small pile of twigs, grass, and other assorted natural items loosely collected in the hollow end of the fallen tree.

I assumed that the wind had just blown the things into the tree, and sat down, glad that nothing of importance had been removed. I calmly surveyed the surroundings, allowing myself to relax and calm down. That was the main thing that I liked about this clearing: it let me regroup after a day of being ignored by everyone but Lizzy.

I sat there for a few minutes, thinking and relaxing, completely ignoring the obvious chill in the air. It was a great feeling, just being outdoors and surrounded by nature. So much better than the huge, bustling Calbri City, which was the closest city.

I was so captured by the way I felt that I longed to remain here for much longer. But I knew that doing nothing was a huge waste, so I decided to start that math homework that I couldn't concentrate on earlier. Before that whole huge, ugly mess that occurred in World History.

As I set my backpack onto the ground, I heard a quiet rustling sound. I couldn't tell where it came from, so I just ignored it. However, it became impossible to ignore when I heard it a second time as I unzipped my bag.

I looked up and scanned the area. There was nothing out of the ordinary in the clearing, so I scanned the trees. Another short sound, this time it was more like a twig snapping. This time, I was able to tell where it was coming from, and it happened to be from behind me.

I whirled around and saw… nothing. But I did see a bush shake, if only briefly. I quietly walked over to it, and with each step, a new picture of what was behind it jumped into my mind. First, there was the image of some kid from school, spying on me. Then, the thought of a stranger who was stalking me.

As I got to be only a few steps from the bush, I imagined a killer hiding behind it with a rusty knife or a shotgun, waiting to kill me. I quickly shook the image from my mind, reassuring myself that it was just my overactive imagination. Still, I felt slightly fearful in spite of myself as I pushed aside the top of the bush, revealing the perpetrator.

There wasn't a kid from school, nor a stalker or killer hiding behind the bush. In fact, the creature wasn't even a human. Nor was it an animal. It looked like a small, brown fox in every way. A large, bushy brown tail with a white tip, four legged stance, large ears, and a little muzzle. The only feature that distinguished it to be different was the collar of white fur that surrounded its neck. It was obviously malnourished, seeing as its ribs were visible, and it looked extremely frightened. And it had good reason to be, since I was a human, and humans these days treated creatures like these so badly.

If you haven't figured out by now, the creature that I am describing is a Pokemon. An Eevee, to be specific.

I kneeled down and reached out a hand to the scared Pokemon, and it tensed up. For a moment, I though of Fielder and the Glaceon that had bitten his hand. I wondered if the Eevee might do the same, so I stopped my hand from moving any further. I watched the Eevee, but it made no signs of attack. So I reached out all of the way, touching the Eevee on its head. I softly ran my hand down its neck, through the puffs of fur on its neck, and over its back.

It loosened its muscles and looked up at me. I smiled a careful smile, trying to make it look cheerful and reassuring at the same time. The Eevee looked thoughtful for a second, and I stroked its fur again. It edged closer to me. Another stroke of its fur, and another step it took closer to me. Soon, it- no, he, I'm pretty sure that it's a he- was right up next to me.

I quickly put my hands around him, picking him up. He looked frightened at the sudden movement, but when I carefully held him in my arms, he calmed right down. He might have also been scared of how fast I lifted him. He was much less heavy than I expected. I figured that it was because of how thin he was.

I carried him back to the log and sat down on it, still cradling him. When I sat, I put him down on my lap. He readjusted himself, and sat facing me. Our eyes met, and I saw for a brief second all of the fear that he had lived with, not knowing if he would live to see another day. The moment passed, and I immediately felt horrible. I thought that I had a bad life since I had no friends besides Lizzy, but this little Eevee here had little to no food, barely any shelter, and was hated by pretty much everyone.

"Don't worry, Eevee, I'll make sure that you stay safe and sound," I said, stroking Eevee's shaking body, more to confirm my actions to me than to comfort him.

"Vee," he said weakly. I looked back at him and remembered how thin he was.

"Starting with food," I said. His ears perked right up at the mention of food.

I truthfully had no idea in the world about what an Eevee normally eats. But I did know that I had an apple in my backpack, leftover from lunch. I hoped that he would like it, but then I thought, 'He'd probably eat leaves right now if he had to."

So I removed the apple from my bag, and held it up to Eevee. Absolute joy spread across his face, and he immediately jumped forward and took a large bite out of it.

Unfortunately, he forgot about chewing it and tried to swallow it whole. Which resulted in him choking. He started to hack and cough uncontrollably, and I sprang into action. I tried to remember what the animal care class that I took said to do in this situation. Don't ask me why I took it, it wasn't my idea.

Then I remembered that it said to try to pull the object out of the animal's mouth using tweezers or your hand. And since there were no tweezers in sight, I was going to have to use my hand.

Of course, there was the fact that this was how to save a choking dog, not a choking Eevee. But since there was no other option, I pulled open his mouth and looked in.

Luckily, I could see the apple chunk, and it wasn't too far back in Eevee's mouth. I stuck my finger in, managing to just barely hook around the apple. I carefully maneuvered my finger in such a way as to pull the apple chunk out but not push it any farther in.

Thankfully, I was able to successfully remove the piece of apple without needing to use the Heimlich Maneuver. I was extremely glad for that, since I was never any good at performing it.

As it turns out, Eevee was glad that I removed it as well. Probably because of the fact that he could breathe again. That tends to cheer anyone up.

I looked at him, the piece of apple still in my hand, and said, "How ironic would that have been? The time you finally get food after so long of living without it, you choke to death because you tried to eat it too fast!"

Eevee laughed at this, knowing that I was just joking around with him. He looked genuinely happy, not a fake happiness that he put on whenever he was around humans. Then I thought, 'Hey, maybe I can actually show proof that Pokemon aren't evil using this Eevee.' It was an exciting thought, travelling around, showing people how Pokemon really acted. 'It might be kind of like I'm pioneering the first trainer adventure since the start of the Grand Revolution,' I thought.

Eevee had stopped laughing and I held the apple chunk up to his mouth. "This time, remember to chew it," I said, and Eevee nodded, scooping up the apple piece in his mouth, slowly chewing it. He finished that bite, and then he began to devour the rest of the apple that was sitting in my lap. In my rush to save Eevee, I must have accidentally dropped it.

Soon, the only part left of the apple was the seeds and the stem, which Eevee made sure not to eat. I saved the seeds, hoping that I might be able to plant an apple tree in the clearing. I threw the stem into the trees, and I returned to focusing my attention on Eevee. He had jumped down off of my lap and was standing next to the hollow end of the log where the twigs and grass were.

"Oh, so you brought those things here," I said, and Eevee nodded. But he didn't look very happy anymore, choosing to wear a face of concern. Seeing that, I became concerned. I walked down to the end of the log and looked in.

The first thing that I noticed was the fact that there wasn't much space. On the bottom of the hollow space, the assortment of twigs and grass covered up the entire area. Overall, it didn't look too comfortable or warm, even for a foot tall, fur covered Pokemon. Eevee looked up at me, as if to exaggerate the fact that he hated the space.

I thought briefly of taking him home, but I wasn't sure how that would end up. My granddad loves Pokemon, but what if someone found out about Eevee? They'd probably arrest Granddad and me, and he probably wouldn't want to risk that. I could run to my house and grab something to increase the space in the log as well as something soft and warm to put in it. But what if Granddad did let me keep Eevee in the house?

I decided that I should take Eevee with me back to the house and ask Granddad what he wanted to do. That way, if he would let Eevee stay, I could bring him into the house, and if he wouldn't let Eevee stay, I could just grab a shovel or something that could be used to hollow out the log further and a blanket for Eevee to sleep on.

So I reached down and picked Eevee up and said, "Well, maybe I can get my Granddad to let me keep you in my house, but if not, I'll grab a shovel and hollow out the log further, and put a nice warm blanket in there for you to sleep on. How's that sound?"

"Eevee!" he said excitedly. I couldn't blame him, since there was the chance of living in a nice warm house.

"Then it's settled," I said, nodding. "To my house we go!"

I walked back to my bag and slung it onto my back, all the while carrying Eevee. I began to walk out of the clearing, when I felt something hit my nose. It was wet and cold, but it wasn't rain, since it landed softly on my nose.

I looked up and saw that the clouds looked exceptionally grayer than when I left school. Then I looked back down and scanned around the area. I saw small white dots floating slowly down and realized that it was snowing, if only ever so lightly. I guess that the weather forecaster was right after all.

Then I turned to Eevee who was looking at the snow float down, mystified by it. Out of nowhere, I began to wonder about whether I owned him or not. Technically, I was going to be caring for him and feeding hem from now on, and I figured that made me his owner. And that meant he needed a name.

"Well, Eevee," I said, regaining his attention, "I guess that I am your new owner, and that means that you'll be needing a name."

He didn't disagree with the concept of a name, and so I continued. "Well, seeing as you are so captured by snow, I'll name you Koyuki."

He looked at me with a questioning look. He probably had no idea what it meant. "It means light snow in some foreign language, but I can't remember which," I explained. "Seeing as you are fascinated by snow, I think it fits pretty well. How do you like it?"

Eevee's look of confusion changed to one of understanding and agreement. I figured that he liked it pretty well.

"Then from this point on, thou shalt be known as Koyuki," I said, using a mock Middle Ages accent. "May thy name servest thou well."

Koyuki tried to suppress his laughter, but it proved too much for him as a few chuckles broke free, and then he began laughing out loud.

"Hey, that's not nice!" I said, this time faking an insulted tone. "Don't laugh at others because of how they talk!"

He fell silent, and then we both began laughing. Our laughter lasted for about a minute or so, and we looked at each other. I looked into Koyuki's eyes again, and the fear and worry was long gone, replaced with happiness. I was glad that he felt better, and even happier that I had caused him to feel better.

I exited the clearing, Koyuki still in my arms, felling much better than how I felt upon entering it. I traveled down the makeshift trail, and the snow began to come down faster, but not harder. Soon the air was fluttering with the white flakes, and for the first time since that day when I was thrown into a snow bank without a shirt, the snow brought happiness with it.

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