After a dramatic forest adventure, Ash had to stay in the hospital for a few days until doctors decided he could be let back home. However, they vowed to keep his shoulder at rest, not moving and not getting wet, and forbade Ash to battle or train for a few days to avoid extra strain. It got Ash upset a little ( "little" was an understatement - "very much" was a much more fitting phrase) and Serena promised to take care of that the instructions also instructed.
Her own hand was also stitched and tied, but the wound was not as bad as Ash's. However, the doctors also urged her to keep her hand at rest until the stitches could be removed. Serena had nodded and promised to follow the instructions.
However, they had been allowed to go to school, albeit on the condition that they would not overburden themselves. In Ash's case, it had meant a temporary exemption from the battles, and he hadn't liked it very much. When there had been battling at school, Ash had had to watch it from the side and it had made him sad. However, Serena had comforted him and said that soon his shoulder would be healthy again and then he would be able to battle as much as he could. It had made Ash pick up a little.
But there was one thing that interested them all very much. The Pokemon egg found by Serena had made the class enthusiastically interested in it and together they had tried to figure out which Pokemon's egg it was. Professor Kukui had offered to clarify that, but Serena had refused. She wanted it to be a surprise and only be revealed when the egg would someday hatch.
Yet it had not shown any signs of it. Nurse Joy, who had examined the egg at the time, had given her an incubator for it, but Serena preferred to keep the egg in a small, pink bag resembling Bonnie's yellow bag, which she had sewn specifically for it. Ash had wondered about it at first, but Serena had explained to him that she wanted to keep the egg as close to herself as possible. Besides, the bag tactic made her see the egg all the time and make sure it was safe.
After a moment of wonder, Ash had found the tactic to be very effective, and stated that if Serena needed a break about carrying the egg, he could very well replace her. This had made Serena blush a little, for she couldn't help, but think of her and Ash as parents of an egg and an unborn Pokemon. However, she had nodded and Ash had seemed excited.
Not only people were interested in the egg. Braixen, who had recovered completely healthy, thanks to Nurse Joy's good care, also used to take care of the egg when Serena or Ash couldn't do it. She used to put an egg on her bushy tail while sitting on a couch, for example, and when Serena had come out of the shower one evening, she had found Braixen humming a lullaby song for an egg she had necessarily wanted to take care of when Serena was on the shower.
Serena had also noticed that Braixen used to look at the egg and then Greninja, who used to blush deeply from these gazes, with a significant gaze, and it made Serena wonder if there was more to it than just Braixen's urge to take care of the egg.
Clemont, and Bonnie especially, had also been very interested in the egg. They had been with Serena and Ash long after hearing about the accident and coming to the hospital to see them. Bonnie was very worried and asked with her eyes wide open if Ash could throw a Pokeball after this. Ash had chuckled and said of course he could. Bonnie had calmed down after hearing this and was then interested in the egg Serena had found.
She had tried to guess which Pokemon's egg it was and stroked its smooth surface with admiration. She had wondered how warm it was, and then asked when it might hatch. However, no one could say anything about it, so Clemont said they should just be patient and let nature do its job.
But it happened before. Now we jump to Saturday because something big is happening today.
****
"Aww man, I wanted to go to the beach so much!" pouted Bonnie as she watched from the window as it rained outside and water flowed down the window glass. "Dedenne would have liked to go too, right, Dedenne?"
"Nenenee!" said Bonnie's yellow, mouse-like Pokemon looking through a window, striped by rain. It sat on the windowsill, and next to it was a green lump, also called Squishy. It also looked out and shivered a little. Squishy was not a friend of the rain.
It was Saturday and Ash and Serena were both at Alola's home. Professor Kukui had stated that he had something very important to do and would not return until the evening. Professor Burnet, on the other hand, had been invited to an urgent meeting for the Aether Foundation, so Ash and Serena had been left in the house for two.
Still, they weren't completely two of them. They had Pokemon with them, as well as Clemont and Bonnie, who would go back to Kalos on Monday and wanted to spend last weekend with Ash and Serena.
They had planned to spend the day on the beach, but the sudden onset of rain had ruined that plan. Instead of going to the beach, they had stayed at the Ash and Serena's Alola home, and were now wondering what they would start doing.
"There's really nothing to do with it now, Bonnie," Clemont said, raising his glasses. He sat on the couch, tinkering of something new invention that no one had any idea what it was going to be. "We just have to try to come up with something to do inside here. Unless you want to go out and catch a cold."
"Clemont is right," Serena said as she walked over to the couches. She carried a small tray on the coffee table, full of macarons of different colors. "It wouldn't be very nice if you got the flu on your last day at Alola"
"Yeah, I agree with Serena," said Ash, and took a few macarons from the tray and put them in his mouth. He sat on the couch with the egg Serena had found in his lap, and the Braixen next to him was watching the egg all the time as well. "Besides, I couldn't even go out; the doctor forbid me to water the shoulder, and the water waters."
Ash still had a bandage around his shoulder, but it was no longer as thick as before, and he was already allowed to move his shoulder almost normally. Hearing it had cheered Ash up immensely, and he was now waiting for the moment when even the last bandages would be removed.
Serena rolled her eyes at Ash's witty remark, and sat down next to him on the couch. She stroked the egg in Ash's lap and Bonnie muttered, "Fine," and slumped into the couch next to Serena. She took the remote control in her hand and put the TV on.
"Alola everyone and welcome to Battle Royale! Today we have four tough competitors, but only one of them will win!" the commentator's voice was heard, and a picture of wrestling or boxing-like ring with one person with their Pokemon at each corner was seen on television.
Bonnie seemed to instantly forget her pout about rain, and be interested in the program in front of her.
"What is Battle Royale?" she asked as the commentator introduced the people standing in the ring and their Pokemon and Ash grinned and said, "It's an Alolan tradition where four Pokemon fight each other. If I remember right, there was one guy... Aha! That's he!"
At the time of Ash's exclamation, the camera had moved to a man with some sort of mask on his head, and in front of him was standing Pokemon, resembling a big, red-black, two-legged tiger. Bonnie leaned closer to the television when the commentator announced:
"And now, may I introduce, pre-favorites Masked Royal and Incineroar! Will they be able to keep their winning streak unbroken, or will someone else reach the victory today!?"
The audience cheered wildly and the camera moved to film the Incineroar, who was roaring and doing poses presenting his muscles. Bonnie stared at this with her eyes wide and said, "He looks strong." Then she glanced beside her and said, "And Litten seems to agree!"
True. Ash's little feline Pokemon had just recently slept in a ball next to Bonnie, but when he heard the Incineroar, he had woken up and got up to sit and stare with interest at the Incineroar seen on TV. Its yellow eyes seemed to follow the movements of the tiger-like Pokemon accurately and at times it hissed.
"Yeah, you're right," said Ash and Serena searched Incineroar from her Pokedex:
"Incineroar, Heel Pokemon and Litten's final evolution form. Fire and Dark type. When its fighting spirit is set alight, the flames around its waist become especially intense."
"Well, that explains something," Clemont said, raising his glasses again. He stared closely at Masked Royal and then began slowly, "Guys, by the way, did you notice that Masked Royal looks very familiar? He looks a lot like..."
"Shut up Clemont, they're starting now!" Bonnie interrupted her big brother and Clemont closed his mouth looking offended. He muttered something vague, but the others didn't pay much attention to him as the match was just beginning.
They heard the bell ringing to signal the start of the match and the commentator exclaimed, "And there it is! The match has begun and our competitors are ready for battle!"
"Yeah!" exclaimed Bonnie enthusiastically and Ash and Litten and other Pokemons looked also very interested. Serena instead took one macaron from the tray and smiled at both enthusiastic and then focused again on the match that was just starting.
"Machamp!" exclaimed Machamp and set off to run towards Incineroar. So did the other two Pokemon, and the commentator shouted, "And Machamp makes the first move and Primarina and Decidueye follow it! Looks like they're all going to hit the Incineroar!"
"Primarina? Decidueye?" said Bonnie and Serena searched from her Pokedex both Pokemon mentioned by the commentator:
"Primarina, Soloist Pokemon and Popplio's final evolved form. Water and Fairy type. To Primarina, every battle is a stage. It takes down its prey with beautiful singing and dancing"
"Decidueye, Arrow Quil Pokemon and Rowlet's final evolved form. Grass and Ghost-type. It nocks its arrow quills and shoots them at opponents. When it simply can't afford to miss, it tugs vine on its head to improve its focus"
"Oh, so that kind of Pokemon then," Bonnie said, focusing again on the match on TV.
"Machamp, use Bullet Punch!" shouted Machamp's trainer and Machamp punched Incineroar directly in the chest with all four hands. However, the attacks made no damage to it and Incineroar just grinned and chuckled smugly.
Machamp jumped farther and then Primarina's trainer exclaimed, "Primarina, use Sparkling Aria!" Primarina jumped into the air, sang in its beautiful voice, and at the same time formed a large water ball with its forelegs and threw it towards the Incineroar.
"Decidueye, Spirit Shackle!" exclaimed in turn Decidueye's trainer and Decidueye formed an arrow quill from its wing, draw it tight and then shot an arrow towards the Incineroar.
Both moves hit Incineroar but did no damage to it. "Incineroar is very tough, it survived completely untouched by all opponents' attacks!" shouted the commentator and all opponents looked very shocked.
"It's so strong!" said Bonnie in astonishment and Litten jumped from the couch to the coffee table to see better what was happening on TV.
"Yeah, that's right," Ash said with a grin, stroking the egg in his lap and could have sworn it moved a little. However, it only took a hundredth of a second, so he shrugged and thought he had imagined everything.
"Incineroar, it's our turn!" exclaimed Masked Royal and crossed his arms over his head in the X-position. The incineroar roared and on the couch Bonnie exclaimed, "They're making a Z-move!"
"Incineroar, here we go... Get the fired up! And incinerate the ring with flames!" shouted Masked Royal and while he said it, a golden symbol flashed above the Incineroar and its body was covered in flames.
"Now, use Malicious Moonsault!" Masked Royal shouted and Incineroar jumped high into the air, its body completely covered in flames and it crashed towards its three opponents, hitting them and causing a huge fire...
And then there was a click, the rumble of thunder and the television, as well as the whole house, went completely dark.
****
"Hey! What happened!?" exclaimed Ash and stood up to stand with the egg still in his arms. Pikachu next to him instead said, "Pika!" and his cheeks sparkled in darkness and created light in a dark room.
"Aww! I would have want to watch it to the end!" exclaimed Bonnie, disappointed by the sudden break, trying to see in front of her at the same time. However, the house was completely dark and her eyes were not yet accustomed to the darkness, so the result was not very awesome.
"The thunder seems to have cut off the electricity. Does anyone have anything..." Clemont began, raising his glasses, but his sentence was interrupted, for then the room caught fire and they saw Braixen lighting her stick as a torch and illuminating the room with it.
"Brai braixen," she said, waving her torch in a wide arc so that the room illuminated for a moment. "Thank you Braixen, now we're seeing something again," Serena said gladly of light and Braixen looked pleased with herself.
"Clemont, would it be possible to get the electricity back?" Serena then asked and tried to speak in the direction where she assumed he was. Clemont nodded, though no one could see it properly, and said, rubbing his chin, "Well, it's possible, but I need the help of Pikachu, Dedenne, and Luxray. Ash, could you show me where the power center for this house is located?"
"Sure," Ash said, nodding. "It must be in the basement, if I remember correctly. I can show you."
"I'll come along, I don't want to be left here alone," Serena said immediately, she wasn't the biggest friend of darkness and thunder wasn't a very nice thing too. "And Bonnie comes too, right?"
"Of course, there are always the best ghosts in the basements," Bonnie said, her eyes gleaming with enthusiasm so much that they almost lit up the whole room. Serena began to wonder if staying in the living room would be a better solution anyway, but didn't have time to say anything, because then Ash spoke again.
"I'm afraid there are no ghosts in Professor Kukui's basement," he said, chuckling, and Bonnie looked a little disappointed. "Shame," she muttered, and Clemont said quietly, "And that's good."
"What are we still waiting for here?" Ash then asked, then pointed to the darkness with one hand, still holding the egg with the other. "Let's go to the basement! Braixen, show the way!"
"Brai braixen," said Braixen, and then set out to lead the crowd toward the basement, while illuminating the road with her torch.
****
Guided by Braixen, they found their way to a basement that was just as dark as the other rooms, and Ash showed Clemont the power center. Seeing it, Clemont nodded, asked Pikachu, Dedenne and Luxray to help, and then began to do something for it in the light of the Braixen torch.
After about ten minutes, Bonnie, who was lying on the couch next to the wall and drawing patterns in the air with her finger, asked in boredom, "How long will it take?"
"I don't know, Clemont, will it be ready soon?" asked Serena, who was sitting on the cold floor and stroking Litten in her arms, her inventor friend, but this one shook his head and said, "I'm not sure, maybe.."
But his sentence was broken, for then there was a click and the lights in the basement came on again.
Bonnie got up to sit on the couch and exclaimed excitedly, turning to Clemont at the same time, "You did it, big brother! You brought the electricity back here!"
"Yeah, thanks Clemont!" said Ash excitedly as he sat on the floor next to Serena with the egg in his lap, and therefore did not notice how the egg clearly moved in his lap this time.
Clemont seemed to blush with praise and said modestly, "I didn't even do much, the biggest work here was done by the Pokemon, not me..."
"Why are you always so modest, big brother?" interrupted Bonnie Clemont's speech and looked a little bored. "Receive praise for once and enjoy your popularity"
Clemont seemed irritated by this and opened his mouth to say something back. However, Serena noticed the dispute starting and decided to end it before it even started.
"Don't bother fighting," she said reassuringly, stepping between Clemont and Bonnie. "What if we went back up and came up with something to do now that the electricity is back on?"
"Yeah, good idea!" said Bonnie, forgetting to start her argument with Clemont immediately, and jumped off the couch. She jumped to the stairs leading upstairs and exclaimed, "Come on, big brother, let's go back up!"
"Okay, Bonnie, but slow a little, I'm not that fast," Clemont said with a sigh, packed his tools, and then set off after Bonnie. Ash and Serena looked at each other and then left, giggling, after the siblings as the Pokemon followed them.
****
They got back upstairs where the lights were on again and Bonnie happily jumped on the couches. "Now I can watch at the end of that program!" she exclaimed, took the remote control in her hand and turned on the TV again.
"Good afternoon from Alola's news. Today's storm has cut off electricity from many families after trees fell on power lines. The matter is currently being fixed and.."
"No way! That program was already over!" Bonnie exclaimed in disappointment when the afternoon news came out on TV instead of Battle Royale. She slumped down on the couch and her Pokemon watched her from the coffee table.
"What am I doing now?" Bonnie muttered and watched as Dedenne took one of the macarons from the tray and then jumped into Bonnie's arms, offering her a sweet treat.
"Nene!" it said and handed the macaron to Bonnie. Bonnie smiled and accepted it. "Thank you, Dedenne," she said and the little mouse-like Pokemon smiled happily. Bonnie put the macarons in her mouth and thought aloud, "When will that storm end?"
"I don't know, but hopefully soon," Ash said and came to the couch next to Bonnie. He put the egg in his lap on the coffee table on the pillow and Bonnie's interest immediately shifted to it.
"When will it hatch?" she thought and leaned closer to the egg on the pillow. She stroked its smooth surface and then said, "It's at least certain that.. hey! It moved!"
Bonnie had clearly felt the egg move, and her exclamation made Serena, who had brushed Braixen's fur, and Ash excited.
"And now it did it again!" exclaimed Bonnie and Ash and Serena moved closer to the egg. Ash gently moved it to the floor so that it was still on the pillow, however, and they all gathered in excitement around the egg.
The egg swayed again and then again. Ash and Serena looked at each other in excitement. What Pokemon would hatch from an egg?
The egg moved again and then it began to shine brightly. It shone for a moment until the shine began to fade and then it ran out completely and in front of them sat the newly hatched Eevee on top of the pillow.
"It's Eevee!" exclaimed Bonnie excited to see the Pokemon. "And it's really cute! Can I take it in my arms, please?"
"Bonnie, Eevee has just hatched, let it get to know the environment first," Clemont sighed and Bonnie muttered, "Fine," and put her hand in the gust.
Eevee, on the other hand, opened his eyes and looked around confused. It noticed Ash and Serena sitting in front of it and its expression brightened. It wasn't sure how, but somehow it recognized those people as the ones who had taken care of it while it was in the egg.
"Evoi!" it exclaimed and rose up happily to go to those people. However, it managed to stumble its own tail and instead of walking, spun directly in front of them.
"Hi Eevee," said Serena, lifting a little unfortunate Eevee into her arms, and Eevee looked in amazement at the human girl whose arms he had ended up "Evoi?" it said again and Serena smiled at that, and said: "I am Serena, and this is Ash. Nice to meet you"
"Hi," Ash said with a grin and Eevee shifted his gaze to him. "Voi!" he said, waving his thick and bushy tail, and then it jumped into Ash's arms.
Ash chuckled as Eevee spun in his lap and then sat down on it. However, it was not completely satisfied, as it also wanted to be in that girl's lap and then it suddenly came up with a good solution.
It stood back and Ash asked, "Hey, what now?" However, Eevee did not answer, but jumped on the adjacent legs of Ash and Serena and sat down on it, saying contentedly, "Eevee!"
Ash and Serena looked at little Eevee in wonder, and Clemont said in wonder, "Why did it do that?"
"Isn't that obvious!?" exclaimed Bonnie and everyone looked at her in wonder. "It thinks of Ash and Serena as its parents and wants to be in their both lap. And since it can't, it came up with that compromise!"
"Oh, yes, it could be a reasonable explanation," said Clemont rubbing his chin and Bonnie snorted and said: "Of course it is! I am always right, know it!"
"You certainly aren't!" exclaimed Clemont, but before they had time to start the argue again, Serena, who had blushed at the thought of her and Ash as parents, said, "Guys, don't start again. We have other things to resolve."
"Yeah, like, when are you going to get married and where do I find a girlfriend to Clemont!" yelled Bonnie and Clemont exclaimed blushing, "Bonnie!" and Bonnie said, "What?"
"I didn't mean that," Serena said, blushing at the thought of her and Ash getting married, and Ash said, "Yeah, Serena seems to mean who of us caught Eevee."
Serena looked at Ash gratefully and Clemont said, "Yeah, obviously it's one of you. Which one, you have..."
However, his sentence was broken, for then there was a rumble of loud thunder and click again, and the whole house went dark again.
"Clemont! I thought you got the electricity fixed!" Bonnie exclaimed angrily again during the darkness. She tried to see in front of her at the same time, but the room was so dark again that it didn't work out very well.
"I did, but the thunder apparently cut them off again," Clemont replied irritably that his work had been completely useless. "Serena, is Braixen still here somewhere? I need the light from her torch to be able to go down to the basement again."
"Sure," was Serena's voice. Clemont didn't see her, but turned his head in the right direction with her voice. "Braixen, could you..?"
But she did not have to continue, for Braixen had already lit her torch. "Braixen brai," she said as she stood beside Serena, sitting on the floor, holding her stick, which she had turned into a torch again, in her right paw,
"Thank you, Braixen," Clemont said to the fox-like Pokemon and this one nodded. "And now, let's go again.." But his sentence was broken, for he saw in the light of Braixen's torch how just then Serena suddenly stood up and looked alarmed.
"Serena, what now?" asked Ash as he stood up as well, and looked worriedly at Serena, who seemed to be looking for something with her gaze, and was becoming more and more alarmed all the time. "You look like you've lost something important"
"I don't see Eevee anywhere," Serena said and began circling the living room around in the light of the Braixen's torch. "It was next to me a moment ago, but now it's gone, and I don't see it anywhere."
"It must have been frightened by the thunder and went into hiding somewhere," Clemont reasoned and got up as well. "It can't be far."
"Agree," Bonnie also stated, putting her hands on her hips. "Come on, let's find that little Eevee!"
"Right!" others said and then they began to search Eevee.
They searched and searched everywhere in the house, but Eevee was not visible. The task was not made easier by the fact that the house was dark and the only light they had was a Braixen torch, a few candles that Serena found in a closet, and one flashlight. With these, they tried to see in front of them and look for little Eevee in a house that was nothing small.
The longer they searched, the more desperate Serena became. She had looked under the couches, not Eevee, the kitchen, not Eevee there, from the bedrooms, no sign of Eevee, and the bathroom, but had not found Eevee in any of them. And that didn't ease Serena's worries.
Eevee was also not in the basement, in the loft of Ash and Serena, nor under the sofa cushions. In the end, they had to admit that Eevee had disappeared like ashes into the air and it made them all very worried.
"No sign of Eevee," said Ash, coming from the restroom he had inspected, and joined the others into the living room, which was lit by Braixen's torch and those few candles. Bonnie sat on the couch, squeezing Dedenne in her arms, and Serena walked around the coffee table and tried to think of another possible hiding place for Eevee. She didn't come up it and she huffed in frustration.
"Eevee has to be somewhere!" she exclaimed and made another round around the table. Braixen had to make a sudden move as Serena's hair swung dangerously close to her torch and was close to burning. "It couldn't have just disappeared!"
"Yeah, but we're already exploring the whole house," Ash said, sitting down next to Bonnie on the couch. Pikachu jumped on his shoulder and Ash scratched it a little distracted behind his ear. "And Eevee was nowhere. I don't understand where it could have disappeared."
"I hope Eevee is okay," Bonnie said, squeezing Dedenne and the cushion against herself. "It's just a baby. It probably doesn't even know what rain or thunder is."
"Exactly. And that makes..," Ash said, but Serena didn't listen any more. She had suddenly stopped in the middle of her round and was left staring at the front door of the house.
Could it be..? Eevee wasn't inside the house, or at least they hadn't found it anywhere. And Eevees couldn't just evaporate into the air. Or absorb into the ground. Or disappear into the shadows. Or fly away. Or do any other weird trick of disappearing. So if Eevee wasn't inside...
"..It has to be outside!" Serena finished her sentence aloud and the others turned to look at her in wonder. "What did you say?" Ash asked and Serena turned to look at them.
"Eevee's not in the house, that's what we've already notice, right?" she said and the others nodded, wondering what Serena was chasing. "And it can't just disappear into the air. So, it must have gone out!"
"How? The door has been closed all along" Clemont said, scratching his head, but Serena had the answer ready.
"Ash, do you remember how Professor Kukui installed that cat flap on Lycanroc when it was still Rockruff because it always used to get lost somewhere in the evenings?" she asked and Ash nodded.
"Yeah, I remember," Ash said, but looked a little confused. "And it was never dismantled. But how does it relate to this?"
"In the way that Eevee has probably gone out through it," Serena said and Ash said, "Oh. OH."
Then he suddenly got up and walked to the front door. Serena, Bonnie, Clemont, and the Pokemon followed him with their gazes and watched as Ash squatted to the hatch and pushed it with his hand to try how it worked.
The hatch worked as it should and soon Ash got up and wiped his hand, which had been soaked in the rain, on his pants and said, "Serena, I think your theory is true. Eevee has definitely gone out. And by the way it's still raining there"
"That's horrible. That poor little Eevee is all alone out there in the rain, it's definitely scared," Bonnie said, squeezing the pillow and Dedenne stronger against herself. To Dedenne, it soon seemed too much. "We have to go look for it right away!"
"Yeah, and Lycanroc gets to help with that," Ash stated, picking up one of his Pokeballs. He pointed in front of him and soon an orange, wolf-like Pokemon appeared in front of him. It barked and Ash explained his idea to it, "Lycanroc, we need your help to find Eevee. It's just a baby and it's all alone out there. We have to find it and we need your help with that. Is that okay?"
"Roc!" Lycanroc barked and Ash nodded in satisfaction. He then retrieved the pillow on which Eevee had hatched and gave it to Lycanroc for sniffing. "Here. This pillow probably has the scent of Eevee. Smell it."
Lycanroc sniffed the pillow and barked. Then it sniffed the air, seemed to get a scent, and stepped quickly to the door.
"He get a scent," Ash said, and pointed others to follow. "Come on, let's go find Eevee!"
"Yeah, but you need this first," Serena said, handing Ash a blue raincoat. She herself was already wearing a pink one and Bonnie and Clemont had yellow ones. Pikachu was also wearing a small yellow raincoat and he looked very cute in it. "I don't want you to wet yourself so you get a cold again. And your shoulder shouldn't get wet either, remember?"
"Yeah, thanks Serena," Ash said, a little embarrassed, and took the raincoat in his hand. He put it on, and when he had done so, he said, "And now let's go find Eevee!"
"Right!" others said in unison and Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder. Serena returned Braixen back to its ball and darkness fell into the house again. Ash did the same to Litten and then they all stepped into the pouring rain and set out in search of Eevee.
Eevee wandered along the muddy forest path and its small paws left traces of mud that the rain soon washed away. Its fur was draining of water and it was soaking wet. It was scared and it wanted back to those nice people.
After the thunder had cut off the electricity again, Eevee was startled and almost jumped into the air. It was again tangled in its tail and curled across the floor to the cat flap. It had risen dazed, swayed, and fell straight out of that cat flap. Eevee had rolled down the stairs and was eventually left lying on the wet sand.
It was again triggered by another, this time slightly smaller, thunderstorm. It had popped up like an electric shock and ran quickly to the road leading to the beach, where it had stumbled its tail again and rolled all the way down to the beach.
It had rolled almost to the water's edge and eventually remained lying on it. Its fur had been wet and sandy and messy at this point and it had been dizzy.
Eevee had stood up on a shaky foot and set off to move forward. It didn't know where it was and everywhere there were things completely foreign to it. It had soon gotten wet due to rain and even drops of water had dripped from the end of its muzzle. The wet fur had made it shiver in the cold and sneeze. It really didn't like this wet substance and it wondered where were the nice people with whom it had hatched.
Eevee had walked along the wet sandy beach right next to the water's edge and had seen how stormy the sea had been. Sometimes the waves had come all the way to the shore and by then Eevee had jumped in frightened farther and was about to stumble into his own limbs again. The water had run down its forehead into the eyes and obstructed its vision. That good side of the rain though had been that it had washed the sand out of its fur.
Eevee had wandered along the shore and its paws had left behind small paw marks that had been quickly wiped away by the wave that hit the land. Eevee had eventually come to a small path that had led off the beach and into town and Eevee had curiously set out to follow it.
Instead of sand, it had soon run along a paved street. It had paddled along the quiet streets of Melemele Island, from which the rain had driven people and Pokemon away, and marveled at all the large buildings that stood along the streets. The occasional thunderstorm had made it startle, and one very hard thunder had finally driven it onto the forest path it now walked along.
Eevee stopped abruptly. In front of it spread a large puddle, on the surface of which raindrops made ripples and Eevee looked curiously at it. It saw its own, slightly rippling face in front of it and a drop of water dripping from the end of its muzzle finally broke the image and made muddy water splash on its face.
Eevee shook his head and retreated a little further from the puddle. It rubbed its wet face with its paw and tried to make it dry. It didn't really work out and annoyed Eevee.
Suddenly there was a rattle from the bush next to it and Eevee looked frightened in the direction of the bush. It wondered in horror what beast would come from there and its body tensed and prepared to flee for the slightest reason.
The bush crumbled for a moment more and then Alolan Persian appeared behind it. Usually the Persians did not move very often in the rain, but this individual had not found shelter for himself. It didn't like it because its fur was now wet and it was freezing. And in addition to these, wandering in the woods had made it hungry. So, when little Eevee happened to be in front of it, its mouth spread into a vicious grin.
Eevee looked at this in horror and saw how the Persian's grin revealed a row of sharp, white teeth. Eevee's knees began to shake and as Persian slowly stepped closer, his body gave a very clear command: Run. And fast. And Eevee obeyed.
It rushed away like a rocket and ran straight through the muddy puddle. Persian left annoyed to watch after it, but did not go after it; it had now no amusement to start running along the woods. So instead of that it would have gone after Eevee, it crossed the path and disappeared into the other side of the bushes and went looking for some slower prey. And shelter, of course.
Eevee ran along the muddy path without looking behind him. It was quite sure that that vicious Persian had left to follow it and if it didn't run as fast as it could, it would soon become a Persian's dinner.
But little by little it began to get tired and was forced to slow down. That's when it happened to glance behind it, noticing that Persian didn't even follow it and it felt relieved in an instant. It was sure it had managed to shed that disgusting Persian away and it jumped excitedly.
But it didn't remember looking at where it jumped. Its small paws managed to become entangled in the root of a tree that had spread across the path, and it faltered and fell.
But Eevee just didn't fall. As the path began to descend downhill at that point, it once again began to spin like a ball down it and was finally thrown down from the cliff into which the forest and path also ended.
Eevee felt himself dripping and opened his eyes, which he had instinctively closed, to crack and saw him fall towards the stormy sea. It exclaimed in horror, trying to flutter its legs like a Flying-type Pokemon, but of course it was of no help. It realized that nothing could be done, so it closed its eyes and prepared to face the stormy sea.
Eevee splashed into the water and sank under the surface. It immediately began to instinctively rise to the surface and eventually its small head rose out of the water. It drew oxygen into its lungs, desperately trying to stay on the surface of a very long wave. However, its small legs were quite tired from running, so its forces began to run out.
But then it spotted a small, small island a short distance away and went desperately to swim towards it. Eventually, it managed to get to an island that was actually just a sand hump in the middle of the sea that hadn't been covered with water yet.
Eevee dragged himself onto the "island" and lay down on it. He was deeply exhausted and wet and cold and hungry. Its fur was covered with sand, mud, and salt from seawater, and its small paws were so tired. But it was still alive and that was enough.
How long, that would be another thing.
"Eevee!"
"Eevee, where are you?!"
"Eevee, come out!"
"Eevee!"
Ash, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, and the Pokemon had been searching for Eevee in the downpour for nearly an hour. They had not found a trace of it and even the Lycanroc's scent had vanished. They were touring the center of Melemele Island at the moment and they were all starting to be pretty desperate.
"Where could it have disappeared?" Ash thought and put his blue raincoat hood in a better position. The water flowed in creeks along its slippery surface and fell in drops into the ground, which was flooding from the water. "We've searched everywhere, but Eevee is nowhere to be found."
"Eevee! We must not give up yet, Eevee must be found!" said Serena in a desperate, slightly hoarse voice. She had shouted at Eevee since they had stepped down the stairs of Professor Kukui's house and that and the cool air did no good to her voice. "It's just a baby! It won't survive here alone!"
"How do we even know if it's alive anymore?" Bonnie pointed out suddenly. "What if some big Pokemon has eaten it in its mouth? Or it has dropped from some cliff and died."
"Bonnie!" Clemont exclaimed angrily to his little sister as Serena's face turned pale and her expression became horrified as she thought of it. "You can't just blurt out things like that out loud! You scare someone to death!"
"I just made a possible hypothesis," Bonnie said cheekily, using words that surely annoyed Clemont. "You always say you have to take all the facts into account and I do," She flashed a cheeky smile to Clemont.
"You..." Clemont began, but Ash interrupted the starting dispute by saying, "Guys? I feel like someone's coming from there."
He pointed in front of him and the others turned to look in the direction he was pointing. Someone really walked towards them with a blue and white umbrella defying the rain and they wondered who was crazy enough to go out in such weather.
"Hey! Let's ask if that comer would have seen Eevee!" Bonnie suddenly exclaimed and the others nodded. "Good idea," Clemont said and then they set out to go against the newcomer.
As they got closer, they realized who the person walking against them really was. "Lana? Is that you?" Ash asked in amazement when he saw his familiar blue-haired friend walking towards them with her umbrella and some sort of piece of paper in her hand, which was not surprisingly, got wet yet.
"Ash? Serena? Clemont and Bonnie? What are you guys doing here?" Lana asked in amazement, stopping in front of them and Bonnie announced, "We're looking for Eevee! It's gone! Like, puff!"
"Eevee? Puff?" said Lana, puzzled by Bonnie's explanation, and Serena explained in more detail, "Do you remember the little brown egg I found there in the woods? It hatched today and was revealed to Eevee's egg. But then happened.. um.. a few things and Eevee disappeared somewhere."
"Like, puff," Ash said in between and Serena nodded. "Yeah. And now, we can't find it anywhere. We've been looking everywhere, in the house, here, under the couch pillows, but Eevee isn't found. It's gone."
"Like, puff!" said Bonnie, ending Serena's explanation and Lana now seemed to understand much more.
"Oh, I see," she said, scratching her head with her piece of paper, and Bonnie asked curiously, "What's that note?"
"This? This is a shopping list," Lana said, glancing at her piece of paper. "Mallow sent me to pick up groceries for the restaurant. I don't understand where she's going to get them in this weather, there are quite a few fresh berries, but..."
"Oh," Bonnie interrupted, and Ash asked, "Lana, have you happened to see a small, brown Eevee here? Ordinary looking. Bushy tail, long ears, you know."
Lana shook her head and looked apologetic. "No. But I know a place to look at."
"What is it?" Serena asked and Lana pointed behind her, and they saw through the rain the sea. "The beach. All roads always lead to the beach. I can come along, Mallow can find her berries herself."
The others nodded and so they left, guided by Lana and full of new hope, towards the beach, where they hoped to find Eevee.
They reached a beach that was as wet as any other place and everyone's eyes immediately began to look for Eevee. However, they saw nothing but sand and a stormy sea and at least it didn't spark their enthusiasm.
"Eevee!" shouted Serena, calling the little Pokemon, and stepped closer to the water's edge. She tried to see if anything like Eevee could be seen in the ocean, but saw no sign of it. "Eevee, where are you?!"
"This is hopeless," Clemont sighed and sat down on a large, gray and wet rock. "We've wandered here you know how long, and we haven't seen a glimpse of Eevee. It's not even sure if it's still alive. What if it's drowned in that sea? That would be very possible."
"Hey! Who's talking about a forbidden topic now!?" exclaimed Bonnie irritably as she heard Clemont's words. "You just forbade me to talk about that topic and now you're grinding it yourself!"
"I'm not grinding of it! I just stated it!" Clemont defended and Bonnie opened her mouth to argue against it.
When the siblings staying to fight, Ash walked quietly beside Serena and said, "Stormy sea, huh? It wouldn't be nice to be at sea now."
"No," Serena said, a little distracted without turning her gaze away from the sea. Her right hand had risen to the point next to her where her blue ribbon usually was and she looked worried. "I hope Eevee hasn't gotten there. Then it would be even more impossible to find."
Ash noticed how worried Serena looked and he took the girl by the hand and squeezed it soothingly. Serena turned to look at him and Ash smiled at her. "Serena, I'm sure, that we found Eevee. I promise"
"Thank you, Ash," Serena said, smiling slightly and moving one wet curl of hair off of her face. "I just hope you can keep that promise too"
Ash was replying to something when suddenly Pikachu on his shoulder said "Pika" and turned his ear to the left. "What now, buddy?" Ash asked and Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and pointed to the left. It had clearly heard something and wanted them to go in that direction.
"Ash, Pikachu seems to hear something. I think it wants us to follow it," Serena said and Ash nodded. "All right, buddy. Show us the way!" he said and Pikachu nodded and set out to lead them in the direction he pointed.
"Hey, wait for us!" exclaimed Bonnie noticing the departure of the duo and then she and Clemont followed as well, with Lana coming behind the others
Eeve didn't do well. The island on which it stood shrank all the time as the water rose and soon it would be completely under water. Eevee swallowed. If it didn't get out of there soon, it would have wet times.
Eevee watched as the island shrank in front of its eyes at a rapid pace and it whimpered quietly, "Evoi" What would it do? It didn't want to test how long it could swim in that stormy ocean, but it also didn't want to sink with the island. So what could it do?
At the same time, the solution popped into its mind like the kind of bubble that was visible in the wave. Of course! Why hadn't it been to come up it right away?! Namely, the good old way, the cry for help.
Eevee took a deep breath and then it shouted as loud as he could, "EVOII!" It then heard whether someone might have heard its cry for help, but, to its disappointment, had seen or heard nothing but its dwindling island, the stormy sea, and the ever-rain.
However, Eevee did not give up. It kept shouting, but as its voice began to end, so did its hope that someone would come and save it. Eevee swallowed again. That's it then, goodbye dry land, welcome stormy sea.
But just as Eevee was giving up even the last hint of hope, it heard something. Sounds. Speech. Shouts. And especially the shouts that shouted it.
Eevee turned and tried to find the source of the sounds. At first it saw nothing, but then it saw people on a distant beach and a wave of relief flowed over it. Help had come and soon it would be safe!
But then hope began to fade away again, for Eevee saw that other people had not noticed it. Didn't they see him? Eevee huffed. And he wouldn't drown because the help didn't see it!
It took another breath and shouted again as loud as he could. Those on the beach seemed to hear it, because that's when they started pointing in that direction and one of the people threw a Pokeball into the air and some blue Pokemon seemed to dive into the wave and go swimming to Eevee. Eevee smiled. Well, now things went the way they wanted!
Once Ash, Serena, and the rest of the gang had gotten to that point, they had not first seen Eevee on that small sandy island. But then they had heard it scream and then they had realized they had finally found Eevee.
"It's Eevee! Finally!" Ash exclaimed in relief, but Serena said, "How do we get it out of there? At least I don't want to go to swim there."
"That way," Lana said, picking up one Pokeball and throwing it in the air, exclaiming, "Popplio, help us!"
A blue seal-like Pokemon appeared in front of her and dived into the water. It surfaced and Lana said to it, "Popplio, please bring that little Eevee back here. And quickly, I feel like its island will soon sink into the sea!"
"Pop!" said Popplio nodding and set out to swim quickly toward Eevee and its island. Those on the beach stayed to look after it and Serena said worriedly, "I hope it gets to Eevee in time."
"Don't worry, Popplio is a fast swimmer, I'm sure it gets," said Lana proudly about her Pokémon, but still a little worried about it, too.
Popplio swam through the stormy sea and towards Eevee's island, which had shrunk again. Very small. Actually, Eevee now stood only at the top of the island and it was only a matter of time before that too would be covered in water.
Popplio accelerated. It didn't have time to slow down. It swam quickly through the waves and soon it was already at the island of Eevee.
"Pop pop!" Popplio said, telling Eevee to jump. Eevee nodded, albeit a little insecure, and then it tensed his tired legs and jumped.
And not a moment too early. Just as Eevee's feet came loose from the sand, the island sank completely into the water, leaving only a bubbling patch. Eevee, instead, landed, slamming onto Popplio's back, and then a small, but powerful, seal Pokemon set out to carry it on his back toward the shore. And poor little Eevee would finally get back to his people.
When Eevee and Popplio finally got to the beach, Serena immediately ran up to them. She took a little tired, sandy, muddy, wet and hungry Eevee in her arms and hugged it for a long time.
"Oh Eevee, what you've had to experience today," she whispered to it and Eevee said weakly, "Evoii" It was terribly tired and wanted to sleep.
"Hey! The rain stopped, good thing or what!?" exclaimed Bonnie suddenly and took her raincoat's hood off her head. Serena also looked up and true. Although the sky was still covered in gray clouds, the rain had stopped and the storm was finally beginning to pass.
"Yeah!" said Ash and then his stomach growled and loud. The others looked at him laughing and Ash scratched his neck a little embarrassed. "Sorry, I guess I'm a little hungry," he laughed and Eevee also said, "Eevee!" being exactly in agreement with Ash.
"What if we went back to the house? I can make us something to eat," Clemont and the others nodded. "Good idea and at the same time you can fix the electricity again," Serena said with a grin and Clemont laughed.
They were already leaving when Bonnie suddenly exclaimed, "Hey! Which one of you is caught Eevee now?" She looked at Ash and Serena and these glanced at each other.
Ash knew the right answer right away. "Serena, you can do it," he said and Serena looked amazed. "Me? But you're its parent too.."
However, Ash was determined. "Serena, you cared most about Eevee during this quest. You were the one who made us go here. And besides, you were the one who found the egg. So, I think you should catch it."
Serena was silent for a moment and thought. Ash seems to be right. Then she nodded and said, "All right, I'll do it."
She put Eevee on the wet sand, where it remained confused to sit. "Eevei?" it said in wonder when Serena picked up an empty Pokeball and then turned to look at Eevee.
"Eevee, would you like to be my Pokemon?" Serena asked and Eevee blinked a few times. Then it seemed to realize what Serena meant and its mouth turned into a wide smile and it exclaimed happily, "Evee!"
"All right," Serena said with a smile and then pressed the Pokeball against Eevee's forehead. Eevee disappeared inside it and then the ball swung three times in Serena's hand until it stopped clicking and announced that Eevee had been successfully caught.
Serena smiled broadly and lifted the ball into the air. "I just caught Eevee!" she exclaimed and then she let Eevee back out. It appeared in front of her and exclaimed happily, "Evoii!"
"Right! And now, food!" said Ash and then they all laughed and set off laughing towards Professor Kukui's house, Eevee safely in Serena's arms.