Anomaly

The anomaly is not an advantage; it simply makes the Contest more interesting.

It takes root in one that is normally very weak, but the anomaly makes it so that they can become one of the strongest.

But, this is only if they learn to use the anomaly's power and exploit it to their benefit.

I am curious to see how this turns out.

Leaves crunched under Kyle's Nike shoes as he darted around the trees of the woods. Navigating Sale Woods at this speed required agility, precision, and balance. One misstep and Kyle could find himself slamming into the firm wood of a tree. Leaves could slip out from under him and he'd hit the ground. Kyle was proud to think about how good he was at staying on his feet while running here, even with a backpack constantly trying to throw him off balance.

Kyle usually didn't have to run through the woods to get home. In fact, he was currently moving away from his house. Kyle was traveling towards the location in which he had seen the other Arceus that had come down only a few minutes earlier; it had seemed that it would take only about five or ten minutes to get there if he ran.

I actually wished I missed my stop, Kyle thought as he jumped over a large tree root. I would've gotten there faster.

These woods were the reason for the name "Sale Woods." There were many smaller areas of trees, but the area Kyle was in was the biggest mass of trees in the neighborhood.

Come to think of it, Kyle thought, This would be a good place for Pichu to be. I should keep an eye out for it.

Kyle continued in a jog for the next few minutes; the long period of sprinting had tired him out. He slowed to a walk when he began to hear voices. He continued to make his way towards his destination; the voices grew louder as he did so. Kyle was soon able to make out what they were saying, and he could see four figures walking towards the location the Arceus had been in. They had the same goal as Kyle.

He tried to make out their faces but the trees, bushes, and branches blocked his view. Kyle could tell at least that they seemed to be teenagers like him. They were all wearing jeans and t-shirts, save for one who wore a black jacket.

"I think it was just right over here," one of them said.

"Really? I thought we still had a few more minutes of walking," another said.

Kyle didn't recognize any of these voices. He opened his mouth and was about to run over and greet the strangers when he heard one more voice.

"You all know that whatever we find is mine, right?"

Kyle tensed. That voice belonged to Jordan. He shut his mouth and quickly darted out of view, but in his haste, he tripped over a root and fell. Kyle's body made the leaves, crunch audibly. His knee hit a stone in the ground, and Kyle gritted his teeth and tried not to make any more noise than he already had.

"What was that?" One of Jordan's companions asked. Kyle crawled behind a tree and leaned up against it, pressing his back into the bark. He waited there, holding his breath. He couldn't see any of them now.

Please just move on. Just think it was some animal.

"Probably just a squirrel or something," Jordan said.

"I don't think squirrels can be that loud," came the response.

"What if it's a Pokemon?" Another voice said excitedly.

"I don't care what it is," Jordan said in an irritated tone. "There's no way I can get a better Pokemon than a Chimchar, and if we wait any longer, we might not get there first."

"But didn't you tell Adrien you'd catch a Pokemon for him?"

Jordan scowled. "Ugh, right." He paused for a moment. "Fine then. I'll keep walking and you guys can go check and look for it. It's probably gone by now anyway, but you guys can search all you want. Go ahead.

"Nah, it's fine," a fourth voice that had yet to speak until now said. "I'll check myself. If it's nothing, we can just keep going."

Kyle heard the sound of jogging and froze. He was on the brink of being discovered. He could make a break for it now, but then Jordan would know it had been him. He also wouldn't be able to find anything out about the light had appeared. His best option was to stay put and hope he could silently convince whoever it was coming to look not to say anything.

The tempo of the steps decreased to that of a walk as someone rounded the tree. He stopped when he found Kyle, who looked up at him from a seated position. Kyle's fear was replaced by surprise. The one who faced him had blue eyes and short dark brown hair that stuck up in the front. He was the one in the group that wore the black jacket. Kyle recognized him from school. He was the one who had borrowed a Starly and beaten everyone but Jordan. Kyle didn't know his name. He never really bothered to learn anyone's name unless he knew them well.

Kyle's surprise was fueled by the fact that he had never seen this boy hanging out with Jordan. He had always seemed like more of a loner who wasn't really acquainted with anybody. Kyle usually found him sitting by himself at lunch and preferring to work by himself in group projects. Kyle assumed that he was with Jordan because of his performance in Pokemon battles today.

Kyle remembered his situation and put a finger to his lips, silently pleading. The prospecting trainer - Kyle could tell that this boy had to be one - regarded Kyle with the same silence. Whatever shock Kyle had felt at seeing this boy, it seemed that it had taken him as well. He narrowed his eyes and gently closed the fists at his sides.

"Anything, Adrien?" One of Jordan's friends asked.

Adrien opened his mouth. "Nothing," he said. "Probably just a squirrel, like Jordan said."

Jordan groaned. "Come on," he said. "We've wasted too much damned time already."

Adrien - Kyle would remember that name - turned away to rejoin Jordan's group. Kyle waited until the sounds of their footsteps grew distant. He rubbed his knee. What had he bumped it against, anyway? Kyle searched the ground area next to himself until he found what he was looking for. He grabbed it and held it up.

It was shaped like an ordinary stone, except it had some differences. Its color was a cross between brown and green, and it held an imprint of a leaf on it. It looked familiar to Kyle, but he couldn't place where he might've seen it before. He thought the stone looked interesting at least, so he stuck it in his backpack to take home.

Kyle stood and peeked his head out from behind the tree. He couldn't hear the sound of leaves crunching anymore, and he couldn't see anyone else either. He stepped out and started making his way through the woods once again.

Kyle stopped when he heard a shout. He didn't move any further. Once again, he had to consider his options. The shout seemed to be fueled by surprise based on how it had sounded. It could be a danger, in which case he should run away. It could be something made by the Arceus, in which case he would want to see it.

While Kyle was thinking, he caught a glimpse of a flame in the distance accompanied by more shouting. It could only be Jordan's Chimchar unless one of his other friends also had a fire type with them.

Idiots! Kyle thought. He started running towards the commotion.

Jordan could be setting trees on fire trying to defend himself or even worse, he could be doing it because he found a Pokemon and was trying to catch it. The latter would be way more stupid of him to do. Kyle could understand accidentally causing a fire in self-defense, but doing to try and weaken a Pokemon?

Use Scratch instead, dumbass! Kyle thought.

Kyle got close enough to see what was happening. Jordan stood off to the right with his friends. None of them looked frightened; in fact, all of them but Adrien had sneers painted across their faces. Only Adrien didn't have out a Pokemon. Jordan's Chimchar was spewing fire from its mouth, and a male Nidoran and a Maril stood by. Kyle guessed that they belonged to Jordan's other two friends.

"I don't need your guys' help! This one's mine!" Jordan was saying.

Kyle turned to the right. There, he saw a Pokemon trying to dart away from Jordan and his Chimchar, doing its best to dodge the Ember attacks that were setting the leaves on fire.

"Hey, careful Jordan!" One of his friends said. He ordered his Maril to put out the fires. "You'll burn the whole forest down!"

Kyle was trying to get a good look at the Pokemon. It looked like a small dog, with brown fur and a tuft of white fur around its neck, complimenting the small patch of white fur at the end of its bushy tail. Its tall ears stuck up above its head.

An Eevee? Kyle thought. Oh, wait!

These woods were directly connected to Maiden Hills, where an Eevee had been sighted earlier today. It must have traveled to the woods from there.

The Eevee wasn't in good shape. It seemed to have been hit by multiple Ember attacks from Chimchar already. It was running slower than it should've been, and didn't look like it could take much more. Kyle watched as Chimchar spat out an Ember that hit the Eevee directly, making it fall to the ground. It tried to get back up but was unable to. Jordan let out a laugh of triumph.

Kyle let his instinct take over. He immediately ran towards where the Eevee had fallen and scooped it up in his arms. Jordan pointed and shouted "Hey!" as Kyle kept up his speed and jumped over a large log to take cover behind it. He landed just as an Ember passed overhead.

"What are you doing, Kyle!?" Jordan shouted. "That thing is mine! You can't steal it from me!"

"I'm not trying to!" Kyle shouted back, allowing himself to glance over the log at Jordan. "This Eevee's just trying to escape! Why won't you let it? You already have a Pokemon!"

"Don't you get it?" Jordan asked. "That Eevee was running away from where that glowing thing appeared! It probably has abilities that no other Pokemon has!"

"Wait, you want it for yourself?" Nidoran's owner asked. "What about Adrien?"

"Eh, what about him? I can give him Fireball since I guess since it'll be useless to me once I manage to catch this Eevee."

Fireball was not at all pleased with this. In an instant, the Chimchar turned on its master and jumped at him, waving its sharp claws. Jordan yelped and fell to the ground. Kyle took the opportunity to dash away from the scene, bringing the injured Eevee with him. He looked back and saw Jordan's Chimchar on top of him, using Scratch over and over again. Jordan's friends were laughing whilr Adrien calmly stood by, watching Kyle as he ran away. Kyle turned back around and headed in the direction of his house.

Kyle exited the woods and vaulted over the oak fence surrounding his backyard. It had taken him a while to orientate himself and find where his house was, but he eventually found the familiar and huge oak tree near his street, so he went from there to his house.

Kyle opened the back door and stepped into the house. His shoes and clothes were a mess, but he needed to focus on helping the Eevee before he could take care of that. He carried the Pokemon through the house into the kitchen, where he set out a small towel on the counter and laid the Eevee down on top of it.

Kyle needed something to heal the Eevee. But what? He didn't have any supplies for treating Pokemon. Then he saw it. There was a bag on the dining table with a few nozzles poking through the top. Kyle went over to the bag and revealed the contents to himself.

Inside were small spray bottles of various colors. Most were purple, though there were also yellow ones and cream ones. Pokemon medicine. Kyle couldn't believe his luck. Chelsey must have bought them and brought them home before heading off to work. The potions must have been for Munchlax.

Kyle recalled that purple-colored bottles were for healing basic wounds. He grabbed one of them and took it over to Eevee. He stopped just as he was about to administer the medicine.

This Eevee is really weak right now, Kyle considered. My Poke ball is just upstairs. I could run up there, grab it, come back down, and make Eevee my partner. Kyle found himself relishing in the thought. Perhaps that was why he had brought Eevee back in the first place? Could he have wanted to steal from Jordan to get a Pokemon, after all? Kyle lowered the potion.

No! A stronger voice inside Kyle said. I saved it because Jordan had badly injured it, and it had just wanted to get away. I'm going to heal it, and then I'll set it free back in the woods. Even if someone else catches it, it won't be because some idiot like me decided to take advantage of it.

Kyle gritted his teeth as he applied the potion. He knew he was passing by the perfect opportunity to become a trainer, but this felt right. This was right. When he finished, there were still some burns on the Eevee, so Kyle had to grab some of the green-colored bottles to treat those. Soon, Eevee's health was back to its prime.

Kyle let himself relax and sat down on the counter next to Eevee. He looked upon it with longing, but he knew that it was best to let it do as it wished. As Kyle watched, the Eevee opened its eyes and sat up, looking at Kyle, who smiled kindly.

The Eevee immediately panicked and began darting all around in a frenzy of motions. Kyle yelped as it knocked over glasses and plates.

"Wait!" Kyle pleaded. "I'm not trying to hurt you!"

The Eevee stopped moving. It stood its ground a few feet from where Kyle stood and leaned away from him, ready to start running whenever it felt that it was necessary. Its face held fear, but also curiosity.

Kyle waited until enough time had passed with nothing happening before speaking. "You were badly injured in the woods. I saved you from that trainer and his Chimchar before bringing you back here to nurture you back to health. I can take you back whenever you'd like. I'm here to help."

The Eevee looked like it was considering Kyle's words. It had been found by the CPP that while Pokemon could not speak, the Arceus had given them the ability to understand vocal language. They had not yet figured out how. Then again, they hadn't figured many things out about the Arceus.

The Eevee was now visibly calming down, of which Kyle was glad. Pieces of broken plates and glasses littered the wooden kitchen floor. Kyle didn't need anything else wrecked or broken.

Kyle walked toward the back door and pushed it open. He looked out beyond the fence to the woods behind his house. The brown leaves swayed a little in the light breeze, some of them falling to the ground. Kyle turned back to where the Eevee had been and found nothing.

"What the-"

He found it curled up on the couch, dirt all over the cushions. It seemed very comfortable, but Kyle was very uncomfortable with the situation.

"Crap!" Kyle rushed over to the Eevee and picked it up and off the couch. These sudden movements seemed too much for it; the Pokemon kicked and made sounds the whole time, trying to escape Kyle's.

"Hey, quit it!" Kyle said. "You're getting dirt all over Mom's couch! At least let me clean you up first."

Eevee obliged to having Kyle bathe and clean it. It seemed to enjoy being clean very much since it was smiling the whole time. It was very patient with Kyle's scrubbing and cleaning. Once there was no dirt left in its coat any longer, the Eevee was ready to settle back down on the couch.

"Wait, hold on," Kyle said. "I have to clean the couch first so you don't get dirty again."

It took about an hour. Cleaning the dirt off the cushions and drying them took longer than Kyle had expected, mostly because he was terrible at it. It was worth it, though. Now his mom and his sister wouldn't scream at him for the couch. They'd only scream at him for the broken dishes.

When he was done, Kyle called out to Eevee, saying that the couch was clean. There was no response. Kyle searched the house and found Eevee sound asleep, resting on Kyle's bed. He smiled at the sight. Then he was pained at the thought of it leaving him, which he knew it would. The Poke ball was only a few steps away. He could still-

No, he couldn't. Kyle brought his backpack upstairs to work on homework next to the Eevee while it slept. While he was working, the Pokemon got up and began to look around the room. Kyle stopped working when it found the Poke ball.

It was still in the box, where Kyle had left it. He went over to where Eevee was and picked up the device. Eevee cocked its head.

"It's a Poke ball," Kyle explained. "It's used to capture Pokemon. Not as slaves, but as friends to travel and train with. It's used so that people can't steal your Pokemon. Only the registered trainer can open it and release the Pokemon inside."

Eevee nudged the hand Kyle held the Poke ball with.

"What?" Kyle asked.

Eevee nudged the hand again with more force. Kyle felt a surge of hope. He wasn't quite sure what the Eevee was trying to communicate, so he would have to try and guess. He started by asking what he desired most.

"You want me to be your trainer?" He asked carefully.

Kyle expected Eevee to run away or at least shake its head no. Instead, it smiled, nodded, shook its tail around, and bumped Kyle's hand again.

"Are you sure?"

Eevee nodded once again and closed its eyes, sitting down and stilling itself. It was waiting patiently.

Happier than he had ever been in his entire life, Kyle tapped the Poke ball once on Eevee's head.