Chapter 3
Sparks
Abbie woke up as the sun was setting, and checked the stone to make sure it was forming. After spending the rest of the evening half the night searching for food, Abbie only came out with an herb. She went to sleep hungry, like almost any other night, and woke up in the morning stiff and in a dim light. She stretched her legs, yawned, and got up lazily to check on the evolution stone. Unwrapping the sticky leaves, she saw the Thunderstone completely finished. It didn't have the lightning bolt inside or the perfect shape of a normally seen Thunderstone, but it would do.
Abbie pulled the red bandana off her neck and wrapped it around the finished stone, making sure she didn't touch it because if she did, she would evolve in the wrong place. The Eevee wanted to evolve in a special place: Whispering Waterfall, where the water cascading down the waterfall into the pond below made only a slight noise. Abbie wanted the biggest moment of her life to be right there, atop the small waterfall. She was very excited to evolve, so much that she was walking straight through town in broad daylight instead of hiding in the shadows or taking back roads.
The Eevee casually walked into the village, carrying the bandana proudly in her teeth. She strode through the town like she was a normal, everyday pokemon, yet she took notice of how few pokemon there were at their shops. It was almost as if she was being asked to steal.
There was one pokemon in town who knew Abbie. She was an Azumarill who sold mostly brushes and decorations, so getting food from her wasn't an option. But, whenever she could, the Azumarill managed to get some food from some of her friends in the square and leave them in a package for Abbie.
The Eevee trotted up to the Azumarill and set the bandana down at her paws. "Hello Miss Priscilla."
The water type turned around and smiled. "Hi Abbie. How have you been doing with your evolution stones lately?"
Abbie smiled and put her bandana covered stone on the counter. "I've got a Thunderstone and I'm heading over to Whispering Waterfall to evolve now."
"Oh, a Jolteon, eh?" Priscilla chuckled. "I can imagine you as an electric type, but you shouldn't go over there now. There's…"
"Why? What happened?" Abbie interrupted. She folded her ears back, realizing what she did, and smiled apologetically. "Sorry."
Priscilla let it slid and continued talking as she stocked the shelves behind her. "There's an incident going on with a Pikachu and an Eelektrik. The police are there and everything."
"Wait. What's exactly going on?"
"The Eelektrik is dangling the Pikachu over the waterfall and threatening to drop him. It's just…"
Priscilla turned around to find Abbie was gone, and she had taken her Thunderstone with her.
"...awful."
…
Abbie arrived at Whispering Waterfall to find some Growlithe, Arcanine, Sawk, and Manectric all dressed in police suits. Pokemon from the town gathered at the foot of the waterfall, watching with distress. The water seemed to be screaming rather than whispering, probably because of all the panic and commotion. Abbie looked up, and at the top of the waterfall about fifty feet above her, a Pikachu was dangling over the edge, all four paws being hit by the water. An Eelektrik had the edge of its tail wrapped around the Pikachu's, but he clearly didn't care if the small pokemon fell or not.
She couldn't just stand there and do nothing. Not when someone was in danger. Abbie hid her Thunderstone in the forest and ran to whom she thought was in charge: an Arcanine and Sawk standing off to the side talking with a Pidgeotto. Other pokemon on the police force were negotiating with the Eelektrik or trying to figure out a way to catch the Pikachu if he was dropped.
"What's the situation?" Abbie asked professionally. She looked between the Sawk and the Arcanine with serious eyes. "Well?"
Clearly, the Arcanine was not in charge, since he wouldn't be answering to her if he was. He cleared his throat and spoke, "Uh, right. The Eelektrik said that the Pikachu owed him a Thunderstone but hasn't given it to him. He's threatening to throw the Pikachu off unless he receives what he wants."
"And what are you doing to save the Pikachu?"
The Sawk with the chief badge on his shoulder clearly showed that he was in charge just by the way he talked. "Don't worry. We've just sent one of our messengers to the castle to see if they can send us a Thunderstone or send one of the Gemini to come help. We also have some of our men trying to negotiate with the Eelektrik."
Abbie didn't speak for a moment, waiting to hear what they were actually doing to solve the problem. "Is that it?"
The Sawk put his hands on his hips. "Listen, young lady. We're doing everything we can at the moment so..."
Abbie scoffed. "It takes just under two hours for a pokemon to fly to the castle from here, and that Eelektrik wants a Thunderstone in one hour." She thought of her evolution stone hiding in the bush, and she thought of giving it to him. "And even if you can get him to delay throwing the Pikachu over, he doesn't deserve that Thunderstone."
"Please just let us do our job."
The Eevee growled to herself and walked away, taking matters into her own paws. She looked around, seeing that the police had blocked off the stairs to the top. However, she knew of another entrance on the other side, though it wasn't so much of an entrance as it was a cliff. Abbie made sure no one was watching, then she quickly jumped into the water. She stayed underwater for almost four minutes without even running out of breath, but that was only because she was calm and knew how to save her oxygen when moving.
When she resurfaced, she took a deep breath. No one could see her on the other side, so the police couldn't stop her from doing something. Abbie wadded toward the rock wall and unsheathed her claws. She hooked them onto the stray roots and plants or dug them in the dirt between, and used her back paws to push herself up the cliff.
Suddenly, there was a cry from the crowd of pokemon and the alarmed voices of the police. Her ears pricked at the sound of the Pikachu shouting for help, and she folded her ears back in anger and grit her teeth. Abbie continued climbing. She was not letting that Pikachu get hurt.
The Eelektrik yawned and loosened his tail. "I'm tired of waiting! Where's my Thunderstone?!"
"We've just sent someone to retrieve it," a Manectric said through a megaphone. "Please put the Pikachu down."
"If I don't get my Thunderstone now, I drop him!"
Pokemon down below gasped, and few cried out and yelled. The police did almost nothing but try to persuade the eel pokemon to not drop the Pikachu. With no Thunderstone to give him, he simply let go and the pokemon below cried out.
Suddenly, a brown blur rushed from the other side of the waterfall and tackled the Eelektrik clear across the ground, almost sending him tumbling down the stairs. When everyone focused on the Eevee, they saw her holding onto the Pikachu's tail by her teeth. Her subconscious took over after her heart felt the electricity charging, and she flicked her tail. It coated itself in iron and became a rod for electricity when the Eelektrik released his charge beam. In one swift motion, Abbie planter her tail in the ground, and all of the electricity gave no damage to her or the Pikachu as she pulled the mouse pokemon up. He immediately collapsed to the ground, and she turned to face the Eelektrik.
"I hope you have a Thunderstone for me," he growled, "because I'd hate to have to hurt you."
Abbie chuckled at him. "Oh don't worry, you won't."
He quickly charged up another beam of electricity and shot it at the normal type. She dodged effortlessly, laughing and criticizing his attacks. Again, the Eelektrik shot electricity, and again Abbie dodged them, using more insults to make him angry. The Eevee wasn't worrying about attacking right now, she was having too much fun watching him get frustrated.
The opposing pokemon switched moves, pulling a dangerous liquid from the life source in his chest. Abbie sensed him charging up a powerful Acid attack and formed an idea in her head. She got in a perfect attacking stance and drew out the dark energy in her life source, forming the perfect sphere in front of her. Just as he sent the Acid attack spraying from his mouth, Abbie released Shadow Ball which successfully blocked the poisonous attack and created a wall of smoke.
The Eevee prepared her next attack, digging five feet into the ground within ten seconds. She could feel the slither of her opponent trying to confuse her by moving around. However, she could feel where he was, and burst through the ground, unsheathing her claws and clawing furiously right at the pokemon's face. The Eelektrik screamed in pain but fought back after a few scratches. He twisted his body around Abbie's, pinning her legs to her side.
Abbie felt her tail free from Bind's grip. She chuckled and said, "You should really learn how to properly use your moves."
She quickly coated her tail in iron, smacking the eel's body. The electric type hissed and slipped off the Eevee, giving her a chance to breathe and form a Shadow Ball. Just when the normal type released it, she made sure to kick some dirt into the air so that he couldn't see it coming. Once the smoke cleared, the Eelektrik lay unconscious on the ground.
Abbie slipped under the small Pikachu, hearing him mutter a small "thank you", and lifted him up, carrying him down the stairs where a herd of officers were waiting. They rushed past her while an Audino came up to her, and she put the Pikachu back on the ground, waiting patiently while he was examined for any injuries. All of the other pokemon were told to wait further away, but the Eevee was allowed to be by his side.
She could feel everyone's opinion of her start to change. First, she was known as a thief, but now she was a hero. Whenever she looked over to the crowd, someone was smiling and nodding toward her. Abbie would nod respectfully back and then look back at the Pikachu.
"He seems to be unharmed," the Audino concluded.
As soon as the Audino walked away, everyone flooded in and Abbie stepped back. She smiled and walked back to the bush where she hid her Thunderstone. Suddenly, it didn't seem so important that she evolved, because everyone seemed to change who they saw her as. The Pikachu, small and weak, looked like he could use all the strength he could get.
Abbie waited all morning by the entrance to Whisper Waterfall, taking compliments and appreciations from everyone who passed by. She sat straight up, smiled at everyone, and acted like a lady, which she was sure surprised everyone. With no family to teach her that, she made it important to try to look nice and act polite to everyone. Plus, she wasn't going to hold onto every little thing everyone did.
Finally, the police had taken down everything, arrested the Eelektrik, talked with the Pikachu, and left. It was just him, his sister, and her left at the waterfall. Abbie picked up her bandana and walked casually over to the Pikachu and the Raichu.
"Thank you for saving my brother," the Raichu said, hugging the Eevee's collar in appreciation.
"Thank you," the Pikachu said shyly, smiling halfway.
"No problem. I just wanted to make sure you were safe." Abbie placed her bandana wrapped Thunderstone down. "Did you really owe that Eelektrik a Thunderstone?"
He shook his head. "No. That was a pokemon from my school who's always picking on me."
"Again?" His sister asked. "You've gotta do something about this."
"I know," the Pikachu sighed.
Abbie pulled one end of the bandana up, letting the Thunderstone roll out and toward the two electric types. "You can have it. You need it more than I do."
"Huh?" The Pikachu looked closely at the rock and saw that it was a Thunderstone. "Wait, no. I can't just take this from you."
"I'm giving it to you."
"You've already done so much for me."
Abbie tied her bandana around her neck. "Then take it, and you'll owe me a favor in the future." She stood up and began walking back home. "Does that sound good? Because I'm not taking the Thunderstone back."
The Pikachu thought about it for a minute, and then gave up. "Okay. Thank you." Before she had a chance to leave, he ran up and hugged Abbie. "My name is Colt."
Abbie hugged him back, getting this warm feeling in her heart. She was happy. "My name is Abbie."
When the Pikachu let go, Abbie said goodbye and started running off to the forest.
…
As soon as she stepped in, it felt her presence. She sniffed the air, finding the strong scent of another pokemon nearby. It smelled a bit like a grass type, but mostly fairy type. The orb in her chest lit up, pushing her forward, telling her to follow the scent, and she did. It led her in front of her home, then made her suddenly turn east. She followed the scent along the river, the scent getting stronger with each step, and walked along the side of the river until she reached the same spot she had yesterday, right by a burrow under a tree that was lined with tree leaves.
She began digging, the orb in her chest making her heart beat fast. Something was leading her here to find whatever was under the dirt. Abbie's claw slid against something hard, making an eerie sound. She retracted her claws and pawed at the dirt until her paw touched a white gem. An energy wave traveled through her veins, supplying her muscles with it, and giving her life source ample amounts of power.
She pulled away, surprised at what she felt, but her heart screamed for more. So, she pushed away more dirt until she felt something attached to the gem. It was a brown band, and she gripped her teeth on it carefully so it wouldn't rip, and she gently pulled. Abbie stepped back, feeling the dirt's grip on the band slip away, and within ten seconds it was out of the ground.
She marveled at the beauty of it, despite the dirt and grime stuck on it. Abbie picked it up and brought it to the side of the river. She washed it, scrubbing until it shined, and put it on. The brown band fit perfectly on her puffy cream collar, and the white, four-pointed star fell over her heart, glowing brightly. It hugged her life source, loving who it was with as if it was meant to be. Abbie felt a wonderful power flow through her veins, and, unbeknownst to her, her senses were enhanced.
The Eevee's ears sprung up as soon as she heard a pawstep. A pokemon sprawled across a distance of fifteen feet in two seconds. Abbie aimed Iron Tail to her right, slamming it straight into a pokemon's side, and the Umbreon attacking was flung into the water. A Swellow emerged from the brushes, fast as lightning, and grabbed the brown band around her neck with his talons. He lifted her up in the air, but she unsheathed her claws and scratched his legs. Swipe let go and retreated to the air, not wanting to hurt the Eevee. She felt the air heat up to her left, turned her tail to iron, and quickly blocked Zodia's Flamethrower and let out a fearsome snarl with it. Abbie jumped out of the way of Kila's Psycho Cut and prepared to claw at the approaching dark type, but gave it a second thought when she saw his speed. While she was distracted with him, Luca threw a small Aura Sphere at Abbie, throwing her at the trunk of a tree. She winced at the pain, but easily recovered, landing on her paws. She found herself surrounded by the Gemini and facing Zen. He stopped attacking, and signaled them to do the same.
Somehow, this Eevee was able to fight the five of them off, and they all saw that.
Abbie chuckled tauntingly at the Umbreon. "What? You couldn't handle losing to me so you brought back up?"
"You have something that doesn't belong to you." Zen growled. He carefully stepped closer to her. "And we need it."
Abbie shook her head. "You tell me not to steal, but right now you're trying to steal from me. Way to set an example."
"I tell you not to steal, yet you do it anyway!" The Umbreon was losing patience. His eyes stayed on the Wild One Crysti on the runt's neck.
Zodia stepped between the the snarling Zen and the Eevee. "What you have right there," she gestured to the crystal on Abbie's neck, "is the Wild One Crysti from the legend."
"The Legend of the Wild One?" Abbie questioned, perking her ears up. She was always interested in legends. "I've heard of it, but I only know the Tale of Life and Death. The one with the Gemini."
"Well, the Legend of the Wild One is merely just an extension to that," Kila said, seeing that they were reasoning with the Eevee, "but it says that the Wild One is even more powerful than the four of us. And our Crysti led us to that white gem on your neck. It belongs to the Wild One, the one who was meant to protect life."
Abbie looked down at the white, glowing gem. It hugged tighter on to her life source, as if wanted to stay with her, but she took it off without even noticing. She let the brown band slip over her head, and picked it up, seeing the faint glow die. The Eevee walked to Zodia and gave the Crysti to her, looking Zen dead in the eye. It wasn't the Gemini who had chosen to attack her. They were just listening to their teacher.
"All you had to do...was ask." Abbie nodded in appreciation when the four Gemini gave their thanks and began to walk away. Zen glared at her as he turned, which made her ask, "Zen, do you even know my name?"
"Why would I want to know a thief's name?" He told his student to leave, but they all silently apologized with one look before they did.
"It's Abbie."
He growled, and left as well.
A few days later, Abbie wasn't as hungry as she was before she had saved the Pikachu. Pokemon were now treating her with respect and gathered any extra food they could and gave it to her. Of course, she thanked them by doing any favors she could like delivering items or picking up packages from the mail service. It was sort of like a job, but she was getting food instead of money.
Abbie passed by a wooden post with a sign on it. She noticed the color of the poster, but didn't think much until she read the words. The Wild One Crysti has been found and a tournament will be held to find out who it was meant for. Training will be held every day for two weeks until the tournament, and all entrees will be staying in the castle during that time. During this time, evolution will be available without restrictions. Anyone who wishes to enter must go to the nearest postal service, fill out an entrance form, and mail it to the castle.
Abbie's heart skipped a beat at seeing the word 'evolution'. Even though she didn't need the evolution, she still wondered what it was like. She knew that Eevee were a special symbol of the kingdom, and that they evolved in a special way, but she wasn't sure what it was. Still, she was curious, and she was eager to show her strength in the tournament.