The world was a bit emptier.
It's strange, really. If I'd remained a wild Pokémon, I'd never have met Abby and Jay, and I'd never have lost them. Would I have known about this big hole in reality? Would I have seen this gaping wound in the universe? Because as things were, I saw it clear as day.
We all felt it. Even Digrat remained silent as we walked around Saffron City. We had no destination. No goal. How could we think of one, with this hole in our hearts?
The world was incomplete. Nonsensical. Like a puzzle with missing pieces.
~·~
Start Time: 4d 9h 24m
~·~
Pidgeot stood on the guard tower, watching the sunrise.
Below, the team continued its aimless funereal march. Around them, Saffron City slowly crept to life. Wild Pidgey chirped. People and Pokémon left home, headed for work; Team Rocket grunts watched closely, clutching their Poké Balls.
"Hello, Pidgeot," said Eevee.
Pidgeot saw her in the corner of his eye. She'd apparently climbed up a tree to get here, and now stood next to him.
"I wanted… to offer my condolences," said Eevee. "I know how much Abby and Jay meant to you. I really am sorry about what happened."
Pidgeot said nothing. Eevee stared at him. Pidgeot stared at the golden buildings, glimmering in the morning light.
"Also," said Eevee, "I wanted to talk to you… about what Drowzee said."
"I apologize on Drowzee's behalf," said Pidgeot. "He was enraged by grief, not by you."
Eevee turned, facing the glimmering city.
"Maybe so," she said. "But… Drowzee was telling the truth."
They stood side by side, casting long shadows on the roof behind them.
"I didn't mean… for anything bad to happen," said Eevee. "I wanted to be a part of this team. I really did. But I just… I don't understand it. I don't understand Red, and his… his unhinged behavior. I don't understand why you tolerate it, and even celebrate it. It's not right. It was bound to cause a disaster. I knew it would. And so, when Abby and Jay were released, I'm ashamed to admit it, but a part of me felt… relieved. I thought, maybe now they'll see Red the way I see him. Maybe now they'll understand." She turned, facing Pidgeot once more. "I didn't want it to happen. Not consciously. But I keep wondering… if I'm the one to blame. I know that Red responds to our subconscious impulses. When Abby and Jay were in the PC, I think… deep down… a part of me thought, 'it would serve him right.' I wanted Red to see… that the way he's acting isn't—isn't normal. And if he lost two Pokémon, he would realize that he can't continue in this state. But I never meant for something like this. I swear I didn't mean it."
For a moment, they were silent.
"Why are you telling me this?" Pidgeot asked.
"I hoped you could forgive me," said Eevee. "I don't know if—if I'm the reason Abby and Jay are gone. But I might be, and that fact—it's eating me up inside. I needed to tell someone. And I need to know that even if it's true, that you… you can still accept me."
Silence.
"Do you forgive me?" she asked.
More silence.
Then Pidgeot turned his back to Eevee.
"Red may yet obtain a Water Stone," he said. "It is unlikely, but it is possible. Should you evolve into Vaporeon… then perhaps you will be redeemed."
"Oh," Eevee whispered. "I see." Her ears were drooped; her head was bowed.
~·~
"OH MY GODDISH IT'S AN ODDISH!" said Red. "CATCH IT!"
Our aimless wandering had taken us to Route 7, where I now faced a wild Oddish. Earlier, while wandering Saffron, Red had bought three Great Balls for no apparent reason.
"Catch Oddish?" said Dux. "Seems like kind of a waste."
"It's more than just a waste," said Eevee. "It's absurd. Our final slot is being saved for Lapras. If we waste it now, Abby and Jay's sacrifice would be in vain."
"Relax," I said. "We're not catching Oddish."
Red threw a Great Ball at the Oddish.
"Huh," I said.
The Great Ball shook, then the Oddish broke free. "Wee!" it said. "That was fun!"
"Catch it!" Digrat shouted.
"What?" Eevee stared at him, appalled. "Why?"
"I just want something interesting to happen."
Red threw another Great Ball. It shook. The Oddish broke free. "Nope!" it said. "You'll have to try harder than that!"
Eevee, her eyes wide, looked at Pidgeot. "Why is this happening?" she asked. "Why is no one else trying to stop it?"
Pidgeot didn't meet her gaze.
Soon, I felt Red calling me back, and I retreated. Eevee jumped out to replace me.
"BOO FALSE PROPHET!" said Red. "RELEASE EEVEE!"
The Oddish attacked. Eevee just stood there.
"Gotta catch Oddish," Red muttered, reaching for his final Great Ball. "Gotta catch it."
"I don't understand," Eevee said, her eyes watering. "I don't understand this team at all!"
She ran away, crying.
[Got away safely!]
Eevee stopped, then turned around. None of us looked at her, or at each other.
~·~
"OH MY GODDISH IT'S AN ODDISH!" said Red. "CATCH IT!"
Our aimless wandering had—once again—taken us to Route 7, where I—once again—now faced a wild Oddish. We had just spent 1.5 hours wandering Celadon City, accomplishing absolutely nothing.
"Hi!" said the Oddish.
I responded with Pound. "Sorry," I said, "but I'm not in a talking mood."
"Aw, that's too bad," she said. "Hey, is that the wacky trainer my sister was telling me about?"
Red rubbed the Helix Fossil on my head. "USE HELIX!"
"Wow, it is him!" said the Oddish. "He's just as funny as she said!"
I tried to attack; unfortunately, I was paralyzed from a previous encounter. On top of that, my health was low.
Red tossed me a fresh water. "GET DROWZEE DRUNK!"
"Holy crap," said Dux. "Did we just successfully use a healing item?"
"Good job, Drowzee," Pidgeot said, smiling slightly.
"Hooray!" said Digrat. "Something happened!"
I finished drinking. Oddish was giggling. "You're all so excited about a water bottle," she said. "I love it! I want to join!"
This took me by surprise. "You what?"
"I came out to find the funny trainer my sister told me about. I thought being a part of his team might be fun. And now that I've seen him, I know for sure that I'm right!"
"Trust me," I said, "this team isn't as fun as it looks. It's rough, and not everyone can handle it. Besides, we don't have room for…"
Red tossed a Great Ball.
It shook. And shook. And shook again.
Click.
[All right! ODDISH was caught!]
"Hooray, I guess," said Dux.
"Yay!" said Digrat. "Something happened!"
"Well, that was stupid," I said. "After all that drama, we just waste our final slot on some rando."
"Eh, whatever," said Dux. "It was gonna happen eventually, let's face it."
"Dux is right," said Pidgeot. "Red has a hole in his heart. His desire to fill it is overwhelming. That is why he bought those Great Balls, and used them so quickly. He is desperate to find a new friend."
Meanwhile, Digrat went up to the Great Ball and opened it, releasing Oddish.
"Hi!" said Digrat. "I'm Rat Jesus, and these are my friends: Sleepy, Digbird, and Quax!"
"None of that is true," said Dux. "Name's Dux, by the way. Slayer of Trees. You might've heard of me—I'm kind of a big deal."
"BASED GODDISH!" said Red. "ODDISH SOLO RUN LET'S GO!"
Oddish laughed. "It's so nice to meet you all," she said. "This is going to be fun!"
Dux and Pidgeot approached her. Eevee, meanwhile, was still watching from afar. I walked up to her. We stood side by side, watching Oddish meet our team.
"I know what you're thinking," I told her. "You fill our final slot, and you're a false prophet. Oddish does the exact same thing, and she's 'based Goddish.' And, frankly, you're right. This is weird, and I'm sort of as lost as you are."
Eevee didn't respond.
Oddish chatted with Dux, Digrat, and Pidgeot; I went up to her, and introduced myself.
Finally, Oddish walked up to Eevee. Eevee retreated a few steps, her tail between her legs.
"Hi!" said Oddish. "I haven't met you yet!"
"Um, hello," said Eevee. "I'm Eevee. I'm new… well, relatively new."
"That's great!" Oddish said "That means we'll both be new. Together!"
"Yes… true."
"I can't wait! I think we're going to be very good friends, Eevee!"
~·~
The wild Mankey chopped me in the head, knocking me to the ground.
[DROWZEE fainted!]
"Oh, I think I'm up next!" said Oddish.
"Go," said Pidgeot. "Do not be alarmed. It will take some… adjustment."
Oddish walked toward Mankey. "Wow!" she said. "This does feel weird!"
"SPANK THE MONKEY!" said Red.
Oddish breathed in—a long, continuous inhale. A beam of green energy left Mankey's body; Oddish tugged it toward her.
[ODDISH used ABSORB!]
[Critical hit!]
[Enemy MANKEY fainted!]
"YES!" said Red. "BASED GODDISH!"
"Impressive," I said, walking up to Oddish.
"Impressive?" Dux said, joining us. "That wasn't impressive. It was amazing! You got a crit on your very first battle!"
"Aw, it was nothing," said Oddish.
"It was not," said Pidgeot. "You felt Red's Twitch, yet did not flinch. Few Pokémon could show such self-control."
We continued chatting and joking for a while. The mood had lightened considerably compared to just an hour ago.
"You know what?" said Dux. "I gotta admit, I wasn't sure at first, but now I think this Oddish is exactly what our team needed."
"Indeed," said Pidgeot. "In the fertile soil of despair, a Seed of Hope now grows."
"Aw, you guys are too nice," said Oddish.
Eevee was watching from afar. I looked at her, unable to sense her thoughts or emotions.
~·~
"So, um, where are we going?" Oddish asked.
"Yeah," said Dux, "you're going to be asking that a lot."
We were wandering through Celadon City. Red kept approaching the Department Store, then running away.
"He wants a Water Stone," I said. "But he can't stand the idea of entering the Department Store again. I don't think he'll do it."
"Ugh, this is so boring," said Digrat. "Something happen, already!"
"Our next goal is to get the Silph Scope, right?" said Dux. "Maybe we should head for the Game Corner."
Red approached the Game Corner, then ran away.
I sighed. "This is going to take a while."
"I don't mind," said Oddish. "Anything's an adventure with you guys!"
"Exactly," Pidgeot said, smiling. I could tell that he, more than any of us, was still devastated by our loss. But he was trying to put a happy face on, and allow us to move forward.
"I think we're ready to face Team Rocket," I said. "We have some type variety, now, thanks to Oddish."
"Indeed," said Pidgeot. "Absorb will be very useful. It…"
At that moment, Red took out HM01 and pressed it against Oddish's head.
[1, 2 and… Poof!]
[ODDISH forgot ABSORB!]
[And…]
[ODDISH learned CUT!]
We all stared, dumbstruck.
"Um, oops," said Oddish.
"DIDN'T NEED ABSORB ANYWAY," said Red. "CUT OP!"
To my surprise, Oddish started laughing. It was infectious. Soon I was laughing, and so was Dux, and Digrat, and even Pidgeot.
"Oh well," Oddish said, smiling.
"Aren't you annoyed?" said Eevee.
For once, I could read her quite clearly. She was angry. Irritated.
"You just lost your best move," she continued. "Your only attack move. You lost it to a useless normal-type move, thanks to Red's incompetence. Does that not bother you at all?"
"Hm," said Oddish. "I guess it does bother me a little. But it's fine. I can work with it!"
"This is what the Helix wills," said Pidgeot.
"Yeah," said Dux, "plus, it's nice to have a backup Tree Slayer around, y'know, since we lost our previous backup."
"ALL HAIL THE SEED OF HOPE!" Red cheered.
Eevee sat still, eyes shifting between us. Her anger never abated.
~·~
Red wandered Celadon for hours.
We napped. We ate. We told Oddish of our adventures. Pidgeot flew off; he still needed time to mourn.
Dux and I were napping. Digrat had gone off—who knows where. Eevee and Oddish stood alone, watching Red in the distance as he walked back and forth.
"I've been meaning to talk to you," said Eevee.
"I wanted to talk to you, too," said Oddish. "You're hard to reach, though. You always distance yourself from the others."
"They hate me," said Eevee.
Oddish's face fell. "What makes you say that?"
"It's true. Red calls me 'False Prophet.' He says it because his Pokémon are thinking it. He is the unfiltered expression of how they really feel."
"You can't blame yourself," Oddish said softly. "They just lost two friends. They're still very sad. And you happened to be there at the worst possible moment. It's not your fault. When their sadness goes away, they'll see that, and they'll like you."
They watched Red. People walked past him, pretending not to notice.
"They like you," said Eevee. "You're their Seed of Hope."
"Oh, they're just saying that to be nice," said Oddish.
"No, it's true. Their spirits were lifted by your arrival. Whereas their spirits were only dampened by my arrival."
Oddish was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry you feel that way," she said, almost whispering.
"I don't blame you," said Eevee. "I don't blame anyone. I just want to know how you did it." She looked at Oddish. "How do I get Red to like me?"
Oddish met her gaze and smiled. "I don't know if there's any trick to it. I just had to… be myself."
Eevee looked away. "That's easy for you to say."
"No, you don't understand," Oddish said, still looking at Eevee. "The thing about Red is…" She paused, thinking. "Most trainers tell their Pokémon what to do, and get angry if their Pokémon disobey. But Red isn't like that. I don't know him very well, but from what I've seen, I think freedom is something he values a lot. That means he wants Pokémon to act… the way they want to act. He loves being surprised. I've never seen that in a trainer before. But that means that if you try to please him, and think you have to obey him, then you're actually not doing what he wants."
Eevee thought about this. "I see."
Oddish's smile widened. "Just be yourself, Eevee. I know that if you do, everything will work out fine."
~·~
We entered the Rocket Game Corner.
"Ooh, a new place!" said Digrat.
"About damn time," Dux muttered. "How frickin' long were we just strutting around Celadon for?"
"Too long," I groaned.
We passed aisle after aisle of slot machines. People sat there, pulling levers, glued to the screen. "How ridiculous," I said. "These people are just giving Team Rocket free money. Don't they realize how these places make a profit? The house always wins."
"These are weak people," said Eevee. "They are easily manipulated by the strong."
I sensed that Eevee was deeply contemplating something. She had been for some time.
"That must be the poster," said Pidgeot.
Indeed, there was a giant Team Rocket poster on the back wall—and a Rocket grunt standing next to it. Red ran up to him.
"ONE SILPH SCOPE, PLEASE!" said Red.
"What are you talking about?" said the Rocket. "There's no Silph Scope here. Certainly not in the secret basement, which is certainly not unlocked with a secret switch, which is certainly not hidden behind this poster. Now scram!"
Minutes later, Pidgeot had defeated his Raticate and Zubat.
"Now I scram!" said the Rocket. He scrammed.
"BIRD JESUS WINS!" Red cheered. In celebration, he tore the poster off the wall. There was, indeed, a switch behind it. Red pressed everywhere except the switch; then, finally, he pressed the switch.
In the corner of the room, a trapdoor opened, revealing a staircase.
"There it is," I said. "Team Rocket's secret hideout."
"So we've finally arrived," said Pidgeot.
Red walked in circles, rubbing HM01 on his face.
"Well," said Dux, "we'll eventually finally arrive."
Red took out his Fire Stone, and rubbed that on his face instead.
"That damned Fire Stone," Dux hissed.
"Maybe he's about to toss it," I said.
"We can only hope," said Pidgeot.
Then Eevee jumped—and snatched the Fire Stone from Red's hand, grabbing it in her jaw. It glowed white, then evaporated.
"What are you doing?" Pidgeot said, his eyes wide. "I told you to wait for a Water Stone."
"I don't care," said Eevee. She was glowing white now.
[What? EEVEE is evolving!]
"Call me whatever you want. Call me a False Prophet. I don't care anymore. I shouldn't have ever cared. From now on, I will make my own decisions. I will choose my own fate. If that conflicts with what you want, if that conflicts with what Red wants, then so be it."
As she spoke, she grew. From a foot tall, she grew to nearly three feet. Her collar and tail expanded. A tuft of fur appeared on her head.
Then the glow faded. Her brown fur had turned reddish-orange. Her white, fluffy collar had turned yellow; her tail was yellow, too, as was the tuft of fur on her head. Her eyes were large and black, and spoke of a fierce determination.
[EEVEE evolved into FLAREON!]
"Hooray!" said Digrat. "Something happened!"
"YES!" said Red. "NO! GOOD! BAD! FALSE PROPHET! Wow we actually evolved Eevee holy crap hahaha."
"Huh," said Dux.
"Well," I sighed, "what's done is done."
"I'm happy for you, Eevee!" Oddish said, smiling, walking up to her. "I mean, Flareon!"
"Thank you," said Flareon.
"So this is the path you've chosen," Pidgeot said darkly. It was just a whisper; I was the only one who heard him.
Flareon was sitting still. She wasn't smiling or celebrating. I tried to read her, but it was difficult. More difficult than usual. She was different, somehow. Like a switch had flipped. Her anxiety had disappeared. All of her movements seemed deliberate. I sensed something strong within her—a great power. Something new. But I couldn't tell what.
"Let's go," she said. "We have a criminal organization to defeat."
Almost immediately, Red reached the staircase, and started walking down. We followed. As I descended, I was hit by a powerful dread. As if I somehow knew what horrors awaited us.
~·~
End Time: 4d 14h 22m
~·~
Current team:
PIDGEOT, lv.44
• Pidgeot (Normal/Flying)
• Gust, Sand-Attack, Quick Attack, Whirlwind
···
DUX, lv.18
• Farfetch'd (Normal/Flying)
• Cut, Sand-Attack, Leer, Fury Attack
···
FLAREON, lv.25
• Flareon (Fire)
• Tackle, Sand-Attack
···
RATTATA, lv.14
• Rattata (Normal)
• Thunderbolt, Body Slam, Quick Attack, Dig
···
DROWZEE, lv.17
• Drowzee (Psychic)
• Pound, Hypnosis, Disable, Confusion
···
ODDISH, lv.22
• Oddish (Grass/Poison)
• Cut, PoisonPowder, Stun Spore, Sleep Powder