Next chapter up x_x I think I finally have a plot, thanks to my awesome friend Misty 8"D Anyways, uh, yeah. Starly does come back later, so don't worry about that |"D Hope you enjoy, as always!
Penny-girl was here... was here... track Penny-girl! Very, very close! Footprints here... Starly here... treats here...
Penny didn't realize she had fallen asleep until the absence of sound wakes her. Her eyes open to the raucous sounds of the forest after rain. She gets up, a soggy bundle of feathers falling off of her. That was the Starly, she realizes. Brushing a few damp spots off of her hoodie, she peeks outside the cave opening. The sun wriggles its tendrils of light through the mesh of leaves above, making them look like vibrant, verdant stained-glass. It splatters on the ground like a child's first painting, streaks and daubs of glowing gold dappling the forest floor. Penny's never realized how beautiful the forest looks after a storm- until now.
The Starly seems equally entranced. For once, she isn't endlessly repeating her loud, high-pitched chirping sound. Penny breaks her gaze away from the solar portrait before her and picks the little Bird Pokémon up. She stands up and walks out of the cave, her knapsack slung around her shoulder.
The sun is less enchanting outside of the shelter. It flashes into her eyes at intervals like strobe lights, causing her to shade her face with her hand. If she listens carefully, she feels like she can sense the whole forest dripping with fresh dew. Her glasses slip down her face a little, but she pushes them up resolutely. Now the two have arrived at a clearing she used to like going to, back before Cyndaquil.
She can think of his name now without cringing, but he reminds her of what she left behind at her not-anymore-home. So she pushes him out of her mind as she sits down on an old log. She'd better get rid of the Starly now, she thinks, before the little Pokémon grows to think of her as a food source. She takes out the bag of Pokémon treats, the rustle of the plastic familiar now. The small gray Pokémon perks its head up, staring intently first at Penny, then at the treat bag, and then Penny again. Penny pulls a kibble out of the bag and holds it up.
"You want it?" she asks in a falsely perky manner, her voice slightly rusty from disuse. The Starly lets out a single cheep. Penny takes the bit of food and hurls it as hard as she can into the undergrowth. It strikes a tree trunk and bounces back into her face. Spluttering, she scrabbles around for the morsel, only to find that the Starly has already eaten it. Gritting her teeth, the girl reaches into her bag for another tidbit.
The second treat is snatched by a Rattata, and the third disappears deep into an old and very nasty Noctowl hole that neither the Starly nor Penny wants to delve into. Penny is running out of treats. She doesn't know any other way to get rid of the little Flying-type- if anything, the small bird seems even more attached to her now than she was before. Penny sighs and lobs another treat into the bushes. As the Starly hurtles after it, she hastily gets up. After watching the bush for a long moment, she begins, very slowly, to back away.
When she is sure that the Starly is occupied safely, Penny begins to walk through the forest again. Not back to the cave, because she's pretty sure that the Starly will be able to find her there. She hopes that the little Pokémon has a good life in the wild. As she's thinking about this, her thoughts are suddenly interrupted by a little brown Pokémon running into her path. Eevee!
His long, floppy ears trailing behind him, the Eevee dashes by Penny, who takes a couple of steps backwards in shock. Yikes. Just as the furry Evolution Pokémon was leaping past her, he begins to glow. Penny could have sworn that she has never seen an expression on a Pokémon's face that is even remotely like the one on this Eevee's.
Penny simply stands there in shock as little beams of pure white light began to shine from beneath the Eevee's fluffy coat. A boy, maybe one or two years younger than her, dashes into the clearing, stopping when he saw the little Pokémon.
"V-v-vee?" he stammers, catching sight of what appears to be his Pokémon. A red-and-white Poké Ball, half-open, is clutched tightly in his hand. As he turned to Penny in astonishment, the Eevee's light blinds her, reaching a maximum. It was the purest light she had ever seen. Evolution, she thinks, confusedly, because she knows that Eevee can only evolve with Stones or Friendship. Espeon? But as the light fades, she sees a fluffy Pokémon with bushy red-and-cream fur where the Eevee had been, looking around in befuddlement.
That's a Flareon, she thinks. One look at the boy's face told her that he, too, has had nothing to do with this.
"Vee!" he yells again, dashing towards his Pokémon. With both arms around the fluffy creature, he examines the Flareon closely. "What happened?!" The Flareon churrs softly, looking bemused but happy to still be with his owner. The boy looks up and sees Penny.
"What did you do to Vee?!" he shouts protectively, glaring at her. "Why'd you give him a Fire Stone?" Penny blinks, stung.
"I didn't do anything," she snaps. "I just happened to be here, when your Eevee leapt into my path and just started...", she makes frantic motions with her hands, "evolving!" Hurt and irritated that the boy had blamed her, she turns on her heel. "I'm leaving now, unless there's anything else you want to accuse me of!" As the boy stares after her, gaping, Penny storms from the clearing. She wonders why she had gotten so mad all of a sudden. That was stupid of me. I just got so mad... Unhappily, she stamps away.
Although she keeps a close watch for the rest of the trip out of the forest, she sees no more Trainers and very few Pokémon. Although this part of the forest is usually swarming with Grass-types, she sees next to none today. This doesn't bother her much, as she's trying to focus on escaping from the forest. She does see a Chimchar, which snapps her out of her reverie for a moment. The only Chimchar around should be with the Professor, she thinks confusedly, but puts the matter out of her mind for a moment.
She hungrily snatches a few bites to eat from a market stall at Sandgem Town, and then quickly sets off along the path to Jubilife City. Having no interest in meeting any fellow human beings, she skirts the routes dotted with eager Trainers, and ducks off of the beaten path into the scrub. From Penny's perspective, Jubilife City is simply bustling with people. It was nothing like tiny Twinleaf Town, which has about four houses in total. Penny suddenly has a strange and painful longing to go back home and bury herself under the covers of her cozy bed and snuggle with Cyndaquil for at least an hour. This was impossible in every way, of course. But that doesn't stop Penny from wishing for it.