Shout Outs...

Infinite Freedom: You're learning.

Secret Weapon Unit 06: It's a pokémon egg. It'll hatch. Sometime...

X00001: Just have to wait and see.

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"I hope my campfire cooking is up to par..." Jay began as his porta-storage materialized the container. It was pretty large, four feet long, five feet wide and three feet high. Opening the top he pulled out some firewood he gathered from the forest, passing them to Ursa Major who in turn began to set it up. Next he pulled out a small folding table and chair, setting them up nearby. Food was pulled out of the fridge compartment, a two foot by two foot division in the storage before pulling out the pot he'd need.

"I wonder what Dawn's up too?" He mused idly as he grabbed a lighter from the storage. "Probably has a full team of pokémon by now."

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"Okay Piplup, we need to catch a full team of pokémon." Dawn began as Piplup nodded once. "Remember, we'll need the best team we can get for contests! And besides, I have to impress Jay!" She added as Piplup tilted its head. "Come on Piplup, think about it! He's probably still back at the lab working with the pokémon. He's going to want to hear how many pokémon I caught and how well I did."

"Pip?" Piplup let out, tilting its head.

"And besides, he complemented my mom on her looks, but didn't say anything about mine!" She added, crossing her arms. "A girl wants to feel desirable you know?"

"Lup?" The tiny penguin added, raising an eyebrow.

"I want boys to notice me!" She added, setting her hands on her hips. "You think I do my hair up like this for nothing? I mean it's not like I'm trying to get a boyfriend right this moment, but I want boys to look at me and go 'wow, what a pretty girl' and Jay doesn't say nothing about me, but says my mom could win a bikini contest. Like, hello! I'm right here!"

"Pi?" Piplup let out, turning its head. "Pi! Pip, Piplup, Pi!" It cried out, pointing with a flipper off to the side.

"That's why I have to do well! If I get a guy like Jay to notice me then any boy can notice me! And I'll wow them all in the contests!"

"Pip! Pip! Pip! Pip!"

"Maybe I could end with a bunch of boys waiting on me hand and foot... Ooh, that'd be nice..."

"Pip! Pip! Pip! Pip! Pip! Pip! Pip! Pip! Pip!"

"Don't you think?" She asked before noticing the pokémon's rapid pointed. "Huh? Whoa!" Dawn cried out, seeing what Piplup was so riled up about. "Wow... A Buneary!" She said, watching the Buneary hop over to a flower, some twenty feet away. It was a brown, foot tall rabbit like pokémon with one ear curled in, it's lower body covered in cream coloured fur. She squealed slightly as it began to sniff at the flower. "Oh, I always wanted to catch a Buneary, it's so cute! This is it Piplup!" She added one hand on her hip, the other pumping once in the air. "We are going to catch that Buneary!"

"Piplup!" Her pokémon cried out, mimicking its trainer.

"We'll catch it, add it to our team and make mom proud in the contest! We will be able to show everyone what a great team we are!"

"Pip! Pip! Pip!"

"And I'll get to show everyone what a great trainer and coordinator I am!" She added before turning back to the rabbit like pokémon.

Which was hopping away. "WHA! It's leaving! Oh, damn it! I need to pay more attention! Piplup! Bubblebeam!" Dawn cried out, her Piplup firing off a stream of bubbles at the rabbit.

"Buneary?" The rabbit let out as it turned to see a stream of bubbles rush to it. "Buneary!" It cried out, jumping over the attack and towards its attacker.

"Whoa, look at it jump! Bubblebeam!" Dawn cried out as Piplup fired off a Bubblebeam at the rabbit, only to watch it twist in midair, avoiding the attack narrowly before landing lightly on the ground and rushing at her pokémon, the curled ear shooting out to slam into Piplup, knocking it into a rock. "PIPLUP!"

"Pip..." Piplup said in a daze as the rabbit landed on it's head before bouncing off and away. "Lup..."

"We can't let it get away!" Dawn cried out, grabbing her pokémon and carrying it as she gave chase.

"Piiiipppp..."

0-0

The pair had tracked the retreating Buneary to a stream as it began to drink from the water, leaning over slightly. "Oh, this is great..."

"Pip?"

"You're a water pokémon!" Dawn said, pointing at it. "If you can knock it into the water you fight it on your turf."

"Piplup!" Piplup said with a nod.

"Now, tackle it into the water!" She called out as her penguin-like pokémon charged out, the rabbit like pokémon turning around too late and being tackled into the water as Dawn rushed to the streams edge. "YES! Now give it a Peck!" She cried out, as water splashed about as the two pokémon fought and wrestled in the water. "Come on Piplup, fight! Fight!" She cried out, the splashing water blocking her view.

The water continued to splash about, the two pokémon thrashing in the water. Soon the water calmed as Dawn let off a squeal. "Oh yes! All I need to do is pokéball it!" She added just before a limp Piplup floated to the surface. "Wha?" She let out before the rabbit-like pokémon flew out of the water, landed upon her head before leaping off, the force shoving her into the water.

SPLASH!

Spiting out water Dawn turned about, now sitting in the water as the Buneary bounced away. "This isn't my day..."

"Piiiippppp..." The dazed Piplup let off.

0-0

"Okay, so that Buneary is stronger than we thought..." Dawn began, knelling as she sprayed some potion onto her sitting Piplup. "But that doesn't mean we should give up, right?"

"Pip!" Piplup let off, hopping to its feet. "Piplup, Pip!"

"That's right!" Dawn said, standing up, pumping her arm. "We'll catch that pokémon come hell or high water!" As added and Piplup mimicked her.

"Piplup!"

"We are going to pokéball it, catch it and train it!"

"Piplup!"

"And nothing and no one will be able to stop us from beating it!"

"Buneary!"

"You bet ya! HUH!?" Dawn cried out, turning in time to see Buneary bounce off Piplup's head to her head before bouncing off to a nearby rock.

"AGHH! Piplup use Bubblebeam!" She cried out, her pokémon firing at the troublesome Buneary which bounced away. "Keep it up!" Streams of bubbles fired off at the rabbit pokémon who bounced around before its mouth glowed blue. "What's it doing?" She asked before it fired off a beam of deep freezing cold through the bubbles, turning them to ice, the attack falling to the ground and shattering. "Was that an Ice Beam?" She cried out.

"Piplup!"

"I didn't know wild Buneary could learn moves like that!" Dawn exclaimed as the rabbit pokémon charged its attack again. "Uh oh..."

Piplup dodged the attack, honestly surprised by how wide the attack was. Still it was more than ready to make it pay for the mistake, charging at it as the Buneary began to hop away. "Pip, Piplup, Lup!" It cried out to its trainer, wondering why she wasn't giving it commands. Turning around it got its answer, seeing Dawn frozen in a big block of ice. "...lup..."

0-0

"Th-th-th-that's c-c-c-cold..." Dawn let off, shivering hard as she hugged her body, most of her body freed from the ice as Piplup used Peck on the ice that still held her from the knees down. "I t-th-t-think we need a n-n-n-new plan..."

"Lup..." Piplup added as it kept working to free Dawn from the cold ice.

0-0

"Okay, this Buneary is a lot more trouble than I thought it would be..." Dawn said pacing as Piplup paced with her. "But we won't give up! Mom never won a contest giving up!"

"Piplup!"

"We will not give up!"

"Piplup!"

"That Buneary will be ours!"

"Piplup!"

GROWL!

"...After we stop for lunch..."

"Lup..."

"Bun..."

"Wha!?" Dawn let off as she and Piplup turned to see the Buneary there, its mouth glowing blue before firing an Ice Beam at the ground, freezing it.

"Piplup!" Piplup cried out, firing a Bubblebeam at the rabbit who began to bounce away. "Pip! Piplup, Pip!" It cried out, pointing at the Buneary as it hopped away again. "Pip, Piplup!" It added before turning to its trainer. "...pip..."

"Whoa, whoa!" Dawn cried out, her feet slipping on the ice as she tried to stay standing. "I think it's just picking on us now Piplup!" She called out before her feet shot out from under her. "AAAHHHH!" She let off before landing on her rear. "OOWWW!"

"Lup..." Piplup sighed, covering its face with a flipper.

0-0

"This is not going well..." Dawn moaned out walking with Piplup, rubbing her sore butt with a sigh. "Man, no one could have this much trouble catching a pokémon..."

0-0

"No Omni, we are not going to try and catch a Starly." Jay chided as he checked the food he was cooking. "Remember how that went LAST time?"

"Vee..." Omni let out with a sigh. How could he forget? It took an hour to get all the mud and dirt from his fur after being dropped into a mud puddle.

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"Still, we cannot give up!" Dawn said, pumping her arm. "We can never give up! No one did anything by giving up!"

"Pip, Piplup!" Piplup added, pumping a flipper.

"That Buneary will by ours!"

"Buneary!" She heard, turning to see the pokémon on a rock.

"AFTER IT!" She cried out, chasing after the rabbit pokémon, Piplup right behind her.

"Pip, Pip, Piplup, Lup!" Piplup cried out as it ran along behind her. Oh, did it have a score to settle now!

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"Buneary!" The Buneary let off as she hopped away while looking back, fast enough to stay ahead of the trainer and slow enough to make sure not to lose her. She had thought the trainer would have figured out that her Piplup wasn't fast enough to keep up with her, but figured she was just too stubborn too give up. She'd be a good trainer, but not for this Buneary. Oh no sir, it wasn't going to be caught just like that by an amateur.

Once the trainer was led into the forest she could turn around and let her get lost. That would teach her.

"The hell is that?" She heard, turning her head to look forwards again to see where it was going, grinding to a stop to see a human male. Three bowls of food were being filled from a pot of food by the human male that spoke, using a free hand to dig in a pocket. Nearby a Teddiursa stopped polishing an egg with a cloth to look at her, a red object being pointed at her.

[Buneary, the rabbit pokémon. It slams foes by sharply uncoiling its rolled ears. It stings enough to make a grown-up cry in pain. On cold nights, it sleeps with its head tucked into its fur.]

This was a pokémon trainer. She didn't know how competent compared to the girl, but it didn't want to take a chance. Wait, he laid out three bowls and it only saw the Teddiursa. So where was the other pokémon the third bowl was for?

"Eevee?" She heard as something jumped onto the shoulder of the male. It was...

The most handsome pokémon she's ever seen... An Eevee... With big, bright eyes... A tiny little adorable nose... And that silver fur... Oh that silver fur looked so gorgeous, it could faint right there! Oh, how she wished she could run her paws through that fur... Ohh...

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"What is it doing?" Jay asked as the pokémon pulled its fur up to cover it's face, lowering to take a peek at something before covering its face again. "...I'd catch it, but I'm not sure I want something that's acting like... However it's acting..."

"Vee..." Omni said, tilting its head before hopping down and walking over to the rabbit. "Vee. Eevee." It said poking the Buneary with a paw as it lowered its fur to look.

"BUNEARY!" It shrieked out, holding its fur up as it bounded away.

"...okay..." Jay let off, his eyebrow twitching. Could this get any weirder?

"Piplup! Bubblebeam!" He heard as he saw Dawn and Piplup rush over, idly wonder if either noticed him.

0-0

Buneary lowered it's fur just in time to have a barrage of bubbles slam into it, causing it to cry out and slam into the ground. Shaking its head in struggled to its feet.

"Now use Peck!" Dawn continued as her Piplup rushed at the rabbit-pokémon at full speed, beak glowing before slamming into the rabbit, stabbing it twice and making the Buneary reassess the Piplup; it was too slow to catch it, but strong! It was slammed into the ground as Dawn expanded a pokéball in her hand. "Now pokéball, GO!"

Jay watched as the thrown pokéball hit the dazed creature in the head, bouncing off before opening and sucking the creature into it, turning it to some form of energy. Landing on the ground and closing it began to rock, the light flashing before a ping sounded a few seconds later. "YEEESSS!" Dawn cried out, rushing over and picking it up, holding it in the air. "I caught... A BUNEARY!"

"Piplup, Pip!" Piplup added, holding up a flipper, the lack of fingers the only thing preventing it from making a peace sign.

"We caught it, we caught it, we really, really caught it!" Dawn chanted out, dancing playfully, clutching the ball to her chest. "We now have a brand new friend..."

'Only in a world of crazy creatures can you beat the crap out of someone, shove them into a baseball and call them your friend...' Jay thought as he watched Dawn do her victory dance.

"Yeah, the first pokémon we ever caught, right here!" Dawn shouted out, holding the ball up in the air with a grin. THIS was what training was supposed to be about! The thrill of battle! Pushing though defeat and failure until finally, FINALLY you succeeded and could hold your head up high to the applause behind you! Then she stiffened.

Wait? Applause? Weren't she and Piplup alone out here save the Buneary now safely tucked into its pokéball? Slowly she and Piplup turned around.

There was Jay. Sitting at a table with three bowls of stew before him, a Teddiursa tending to an egg in a basket and the silver hued Eevee sitting at Jay's feet as he clapped slowly. "Bravo! Encore!" He let off playfully with a smile.

"WHA!?" Dawn cried out as she and Piplup fell to the ground. Scrambling to her feet she pointed at the boy. "Jay!? What are you doing out here?"

"Setting up lunch." He replied simply as Dawn introduced her palm to her face.

"I mean why are you all the way out here?" She said before pointing at him, Piplup mimicking her. "I though you were with Professor Rowan, helping out at the lab!"

"Well he kinda talked me into becoming a trainer." Jay replied rubbing his head. "So, yeah... Anyway, that Buneary's your first catch huh?" He asked, smiling with his eyes closed, missing Dawn flinch. "Must have been too focused on training ole' Piplup, huh?"

"Wha, oh yeah!" Dawn said chuckling as she and Piplup rubbed their heads in unison. "You know it's good to have lots of pokémon, but it doesn't help if you don't train them." She added with a nervous smile.

"Pip, Piplup!" Piplup added with a matching smile.

"So you took Eevee with you huh?" Dawn asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, but I named him Omni now." Jay said as the Eevee smiled. "And that's my first catch, Ursa Major."

"Well, isn't he cute?" Dawn said with a smile.

GROWL!

"...Want some stew?"

"Please."