It Belongs To Me!

I did not have much variation in the options at my disposal when I gifted new abilities.

I simply gave it a small fragment of my own power.

I wonder what else it can do, for I do not even know myself.

Kyle walked into class the next morning, feeling much better than he had yesterday. It had been difficult for him to see everyone else happy about their Pokemon. But today was different; now he had a Pokemon of his own.

His Eevee was in higher spirits as well. Kyle had healed it after the battle the day before. It then had the opportunity to rest and regain PP before the sun came up. It waited in its Poke ball, brimming with anticipation. Kyle had told it that it would have the opportunity to battle today. Eevee had loved its first battle so much that it could hardly wait for another opportunity. Kyle was eager to give it what it wanted.

The classroom Kyle stepped into was different than yesterday. His classes rotated every day. On certain days, he had four classes. Every other day, he had four different classes. So, Jordan wouldn't be in this classroom since he and Kyle didn't have this class together. Kyle was grateful for that, at least. He wouldn't have to deal with Jordan's crap.

Kyle slid into his seat and waited for the bell to ring and class to start. He would then continue to wait until the period ended, then the next, and the next, until it was time for lunch. He went through that whole time without talking to a single person. That was how the day usually went, until he met up with Carol, anyways.

During lunch, students had free reign of the school building for about an hour. They could talk, eat, play games, and - only in the gymnasium - bring out Pokemon for display and battle. Kyle would head there in a few minutes. He was excited to finally battle a trainer at school, but he wanted to talk to Carol first. He was on his way to the spot they usually went during lunch when his phone buzzed. He removed it from the pocket in his jeans and examined it.

Come to the gymnasium today! Carol texted. Kyle sent an acknowledgment and changed his course, surprised that she had gone there, but glad all the same.

The gym? Kyle thought. She must want to watch Pokemon battles. Or maybe partake in them?

As Kyle was rounding one of the corners in the school hallways, he came face-to-face with Jordan, who was talking to his friends as they were walking. Kyle recognized them as the ones he had seen in the woods. Kyle almost bumped into Jordan but was able to stop just in time before they collided. Jordan's eyes fell on Kyle, and his smile turned into a growl.

Adrien was there too, lagging behind the rest of the group, hunched over, and with his hands in the pockets of his black jacket. He didn't seem too excited to be with Jordan's group. Kyle didn't blame him.

"Oh, it's you," Jordan snarled.

Kyle gritted his teeth. he should've known it would be foolish of him to think he could avoid Jordan all day. He needed to get past him without causing too much trouble.

"I think you have something for me," Jordan said. "Something you stole."

Kyle narrowed his eyes. "I didn't steal it. I saved it from the hell of being owned by you."

"Shut up!" Jordan said. Shooting his arm toward Kyle's chest, pushing him away. Kyle retreated a few steps, but only a few. Other students in the hall were stopping and turning their heads towards the commotion. Their interaction was drawing attention. Kyle wasn't too fond of that.

"Tell me where you put the Eevee!" Jordan demanded. "It belongs to me! I found it first!"

Kyle scowled in annoyance. "It belongs," he said, "to whoever it chooses to belong to! That's me!" He took the Poke ball holding Eevee out of his bag and held it up for the rest to gaze upon. Jordan's eyes widened.

"Stop lying. There's no way it would choose to be with you. You stole it! I had it, and you took it from me!" Jordan stepped up to Kyle and snatched his shirt collar.

One of Jordan's other friends stepped in. "Hey man, maybe we should just let him keep it," he suggested.

Jordan turned back in anger to face his friend as the other one provided his suggestion as well.

"Yeah, come on, Jordan," He said. It's not worth starting a fight and getting suspended. You don't even know if he'll give it to you after you end up beating him to a pulp."

"Oh, he will," Jordan said.

Both of his friends sighed, and one of them gave an apologetic glance to Kyle as if to say, "I tried." Both of them backed off and turned their heads around as if they were going to leave the scene before things became rough.

Was Jordan really about to start a fight in the middle of the hallway? There weren't any teachers or staff around at the moment, but the fight would certainly attract them. Kyle didn't want his mother to have to deal with the trouble it would cause.

People were pulling out their phones to record Jordan and Kyle, which made Kyle anxious. He hated being on camera. It was one of the reasons he'd never downloaded some social media apps onto his phone. He needed to get away, now, and fast.

Just as Kyle was about to free his shirt from Jordan's grasp and bolt, Adrien stepped around Jordan and placed himself in the middle. Jordan raised his eyebrows, and Adrien used his opportunity to push Jordan away. Jordan's surprise had caused his grip on Kyle's shirt to loosen, and Adrien's push made him let go. Adrien now calmly stood in between Kyle, who was ready to run at a moment's notice, and Jordan, who was ready to pounce just as quickly.

"There's a better way you can both settle this," Adrien said, not looking at Kyle nor Jordan but still addressing both of them.

"Out of my way, Adrien," Jordan said. "This guy needs to pay up."

"And he can," Adrien said. "But not like this. Have a Pokemon battle. Whoever wins keeps the Eevee. Deal?"

Jordan clenched his fist. "There's no need for a deal. This guy stole from me."

Adrien turned to face Jordan. His back was now facing Kyle. Kyle couldn't see Adrien's expression, but he watched as Jordan's expression flickered for a moment. It was difficult to notice; he mostly held it back. But it was there, of that Kyle was sure.

Jordan straightened a little and averted his eyes from Adrien's face. "Fine. I'll be in the gym in about twenty minutes." He looked up at Kyle, who was still standing behind Adrien. "It shouldn't be too hard to crush them, anyway." With that, he bumped past Adrien and Kyle, his other friends following.

Adrien and Kyle held their place as the people around them put away their phones and started moving again. Most of them were heading to the gymnasium. They were most likely going to wait for the battle that would be taking place.

Adrien turned towards Kyle. Kyle was shocked to see the sweat on Adrien's face. Was he sensitive to heat? Kyle also found by looking closely enough that Adrien's legs were shaking a little beneath his jeans.

"Hey, you alright, man?" Kyle asked, holding out his arm as if Adrien were about to fall.

Adrien nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I just get a little anxious sometimes with all these people recording me."

Tell me about it, Kyle thought. "Hey, what was that anyway? I've never seen anyone able to influence Jordan."

Adrien looked at Kyle and said with complete and utter sincerity, "I don't know. In the few times I've had an opinion or a request, Jordan's always seemed to listen to it. I'm not going to complain, though."

I wouldn't either. "Also," Kyle said, "If doing stuff like that gives you anxiety, why'd you do it? You could've just left. It probably would've been a lot easier."

Adrien shrugged. "I could tell you weren't going to give up that Eevee, not in years. Jordan would've beaten the Hell out of you, and you wouldn't have given in, not after you had worked so hard to save it. I doubt you would've even fought back. Jordan would just keep swinging, which would get him expelled. That sounds like a lot of trouble if you ask me, so I was trying to help him out."

"So it wasn't for me, then?" Kyle asked.

"I wouldn't say that," Adrien responded. "It probably would hurt to get your ass kicked that hard."

Kyle huffed. "Thanks, I guess. But still, why would you even put yourself in a situation you hate so much just for the two of us? Jordan's a dick, and you barely even know me."

"Jordan's not as bad as you think," Adrien said. "You were just unlucky enough to get on his bad side. Besides, I owe him for helping me get a Pokemon."

Kyle raised an eyebrow. "He did what, now?"

Adrien fished in his bag before bringing out a Poke ball. Seeing it reminded Kyle to put his own back in his backpack.

"Why did he help you?" Kyle asked. "Another benefit of being on his good side?"

"I don't think so," Adrien said. "He said he was impressed by my battling skills and wanted to get me my own Pokemon so he'd have a 'worthy opponent.'"

Oh, yeah, Kyle thought. They were saying something about getting Adrien a Pokemon while they were in the woods.

"Yeah, you were impressive," Kyle said. "Which one did you get?"

"Pichu," Adrien said. "We found it in the woods soon after you ran off. Jordan weakened it for me, and I caught it."

Pichu, Kyle thought. Who would've thought he'd be the one to get it?

"So that's why you helped him out," Kyle said. "But why me?"

Adrien put his Poke ball back. "There's a reason it's beneficial to be on Jordan's good side. I can save others from his wrath. You seem like a nice guy. You were willing to jump in between Jordan and that Eevee to try and save it from harm."

Kyle's face turned a bit red at the direct compliment. That must be why he didn't sell me out back in the woods, Kyle thought.

"Anyway," Kyle said. "Thanks for the help. I'll have to battle you some time. Unfortunately, you just filled up my schedule for today."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Adrien said. "I hope you win. Like I said, I doubt you'd give Eevee up, even if you lost, but it might be better for you if you could keep your honesty. You'd better not lose."

Kyle spotted Carol sitting a few rows from the ground on the silver-colored bleachers in the gymnasium. She wore her usual pair of jeans and a green sweatshirt. She waved to Kyle as they made eye contact, and Kyle approached her, sliding his backpack off of his shoulders and setting it beside her.

Adrien had given his farewell before leaving to catch up with Jordan, but promising that he would be there for the battle. Kyle had been worried that Jordan would be upset with Adrien, but he had claimed that he would be fine.

"He doesn't usually stay openly frustrated at me for long," Adrien had said.

To which Kyle had responded, "Seems like a bold statement to make when you've only been friends for around a day, don't you think?" Adrien had shrugged before disappearing from Kyle's view, and that had been it.

"What took you so long?" Carol asked.

"I ran into Jordan into the hallway," Kyle explained. "He was not happy."

Carol cringed. "Oh, man. What happened."

"I'm supposed to challenge him in a few minutes to a battle that will decide who'll own this Eevee."

Carol straightened. "That's it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I was expecting him to just beat it off of you."

"To be honest, he was about to," Kyle said. "One of his friends stepped in and stopped him. He arranged the battle, and it was settled."

"I've never heard of someone being able to convince Jordan like that before," Carol remarked.

"Neither had I."

A few moments passed as both turned to watch the ongoing battles. During lunch, Pokemon battles were being held freely in the gym. PE teachers were acting as referees. The gym had been split evenly into four different sections, each one for a battle. There were currently three battles going on. A Murkrow against a Magnetite, a Growlithe against a Geodude, and a Magikarp against a Shuckle. The first two were attracting a lot of attention, and Kyle could see some interesting things. The third battle, not so much.

"Oh!" Carol exclaimed. Kyle turned back to face her. "You said there was something you wanted to tell me about."

"Right!" Kyle said, remembering. "But first, there was something else I wanted to show you." He reached into his bag to pull out the stone he had found. The instant it was outside of his bag, Carol pointed at it as Kyle was opening his mouth.

"Wow!" Carol said, face lighting up. "You found a Leaf Stone?"

Kyle stared, mouth still open. Of course. He had spent so much time looking at regular rocks that he hadn't thought to look in the Pokemon databases. That was why it had looked familiar!

One second. Kyle thought shamefully. She recognized it in one second.

Carol's expression dimmed for a moment. "Hey, is something wrong?"

Kyle fixed his expression and shook his head. "No, I'm fine. But yeah, I found it in the woods near where I found Eevee. It left a pretty good mark on my leg."

Carol held out her hand, and Kyle placed the stone in her palm. She turned it over, investigating every square inch.

"You're pretty lucky," she said.

"Why's that?" Kyle asked.

It was Carol's turn to stare at Kyle. "Haven't you read anything about these stones?" She asked.

"Not really," Kyle said. "I only read about the Pokemon themselves." Kyle chuckled, and Carol sighed.

"Well, they're used to evolve certain Pokemon," Carol explained. "For instance, they evolve Eevee into Leafeon."

Kyle paused. Wow, I am lucky, He thought. "I'm guessing it's probably best to wait, though, right? I think I remember seeing somewhere that you should train your Pokemon a lot before you use a stone to evolve it."

"Right," Carol said. "So you won't be needing this for a while." She handed it back to Kyle, who placed it back in his backpack. "So, what else did you want to tell me about."

"It's about the last Arceus," Kyle began. "When it came down and washed over me, it wasn't much different from the first time it happened. I mean, you remember." Carol nodded and Kyle continued. "But this time was different. I saw something. I have no idea what it was. It sort of looked like a horse, but it had spikes protruding around its waist. It was silhouetted, so I couldn't make out any details."

"Could it have been some kind of Pokemon?" Carol asked.

"I thought about that too," Kyle said. "But if it is, I've never seen it before. It might even be a species no one's seen before." Carol gaped in awe. "But that's not all. When it was next to me, I could feel its presence. I couldn't describe it then, but I think I can now. It was powerful, and it felt like it was judging every aspect there was about me. Then the light faded, and the creature went with it. There was no trace that it had been there at all. Except for that feeling of judgment it had placed on me."

"Weird," Carol breathed.

"Yeah," Kyle said. They sat in silence for a few more moments. Before Kyle asked, "Have you been in any Pokemon battles? With your brother, maybe?"

Carol shook her head. "No, not yet," She said. Then she smirked. "You'll be my first battle and my first victory."

Kyle smirked back. "Confident, are we?"

Carol laughed. "Anyway, what about you? Did you battle with your sister?"

"Yeah." Kyle then remembered the beams of light. "That reminds me. I need to ask you about a move."

"Okay, go ahead."

"The Trainer Tracker doesn't recognize it. It brings up an error code in its place."

Carol frowned. "That's strange. What does the move look like?"

"Like beams of light. Based on what it did to Chelsey's Munchlax, I'd also say it's pretty powerful."

"Wait, your Eevee used it?" Carol asked.

"Yeah, which confused me even more," Kyle said. "My Eevee isn't very high-leveled, yet it was able to learn that move mid-battle. I did my research, and I found that Eevee learns no move with that has a fitting description."

Carol grinned. "See? I told you your Eevee was special!"

Kyle chuckled. "I guess so. Still, I sent a message to the CPP. So, hopefully, they'll contact me and we can get it all sorted-"

"Hey, Kyle!" A voice called out.

The duo turned to where the voice had come from. Jordan was standing with his arms crossed, face full of anger and determination. He had come ready for battle. His two friends stood beside him with solemn expressions.

Adrien, as always, had his hands in his pockets and was standing a few feet behind Jordan. However, he seemed a bit more nervous than usual. His head was down and turned to the side slightly. Kyle wondered why that was, but he didn't have time to think about it.

"Ready?" Jordan asked.

Kyle put on his own face of determination. He didn't have to try very hard.

"Bring it on."

Disclaimer: I'm aware you can't use a leaf stone to evolve Eevee in the Pokemon games.