A Pallet Pair #10:
The Greenest Eevee
Haven Town is a bit of an oddity, as far as towns go. Part of its oddity comes from its history.
Once, long ago, it had been a poor outpost, a place in between the then Fort Viridian and Celadon Plantation. Its one noteworthy structure was a four-story stone tower that stood on the road just before it. The outpost acted as a hospital for humans and Pokémon injured in a war going on at that time. Because they never asked which side their patients fought for, and because they always returned their patients, both armies decided to build a protective wall around the outpost at nearly the same time (though on opposite sides). A huge battle broke out when the two opponents discovered one another, and, in the process, destroyed their walls and most of the outpost. The battle fell apart when a third army intervened - a Pokémon army, led by the Pokémon who lived with the keeper of the tower, which housed the Pokémon hospital. (This was of an in-between time, before Pokécenters existed, when Pokémon towers housed breeders and herbalists rather than volunteers and machines, but long after their original, unknown purpose had since ceased. Currently, very few of these towers still exist, as most were torn down in order to build Pokécenters in their places. The best known one, of those that remain, is that of Lavender Town; there is also the one of Haven Town, as well as Opalian City. The ruins of Viridian's Pokémon Tower can be found, with much searching, in Viridian Forest.) No one can agree as to what that brave Pokémon was - some say an Arcanine; some say a Moltres, or an Articuno… some say it was a mere Pidgey or Rattata. Whatever it was, it led the injured, healing Pokémon onto the battlefield. For the first time in recorded history, an organized army of Pokémon took on an army of humans… and, in that first time, they won. The Brave Pokémon is said to have fallen in the last shot fired, to die three days later. The master of the Pokémon Tower was chosen to pass judgement over the prisoners. The master of the Tower made simple rules: the prisoners were to be tended, their wounds allowed to heal, and then they would rebuild what they had destroyed as well as rebuild, and finish, the walls they had started. Once these things were done, they were free to go. A year later, Fort Haven was completed, but not one soldier left. When the war was over, the soldiers at Fort Haven sent for their families, and Fort Haven became Haven Town.
In the last century, however, Haven Town has started to decline. The growth of Viridian City so nearby has weakened the little, walled town, whose famous walls keep it from growing any larger than it is. People have started moving out, to move into Viridian, increasing the town's peril. With the building of Viridian's state-of-the-art Pokécenter, Haven Town's historic Pokémon Tower was forced to close its doors. The Tower stood, abandoned, for almost ten years, until a strange, secretive man named Simon Ko moved into it. For fifteen years, he has holed away in the Tower. No one is quite certain what he does in there…
*
The three of them were jammed into the cab, but somehow, it didn't seem that bad.
Possibly because they knew Manx was stuck in the truck bed, being rained on.
Ivonar stared out the window of the truck, noting the fourth REWARD flyer she'd seen in the last ten minutes. "Guess he really misses you, Q," she said, running her hand down the strange Pokémon's ridged back.
"Q…" the Pokémon replied tonelessly. It bowed its head a bit. The pot on its head slid forward, halfway covering its eyes.
Remmy looked at them. As the smallest, he was stuck being squashed in the middle. "Is it okay?" he asked. "It's been acting a lot like Nuisance was."
"That flyer said that it and the Eevee thing would probably be found together," Zan spoke up. The damp weather made his usually somewhat upright hair slick almost straight back; with his pronounced widow's peak, he looked eerily vampiric. "Maybe it misses its friend."
"Kyuuu…" Q pushed the pot back against its horns, then peered out the window dully.
"A Green Eevee." Ivonar unfolded the flyer Zan had brought with him. "It's kind of cute… though kinda weird, too."
Remmy looked too. "Looks like a furry Bulbasaur."
"Or an Eevee with a bulb on its back."
"Since Q's a resurrected Pokémon, maybe the Green Eevee is some sort of common ancestor," Zan suggested.
"Maybe."
Remmy chuckled, rubbing the fur between Cole's ears. "It'd fit right in."
"Huh?" Sweetie trilled from her place on Ivonar's shoulders. "Oh." Ivonar chuckled, tickling the little Eevee under her chin. "Sure, what's one more?"
"I wonder if he's found it yet."
"Me, too."
"Kyuuu…"
"I wonder what the reward is," Zan said.
"Reward?" Ivonar echoed.
"That… is… what the posters say." Remmy pointed to the big print on the second line of the poster.
"Oh." Ivonar shrugged a little. "Um… okay." She laughed at herself. "Who knows. At least Q will be back where it belongs." Q grunted. "I don't know…" Ivonar looked at it worriedly. "I thought it'd be happier about it."
"I haven't been here in ages." Ivonar looked out the window just in time to watch as they passed through a giant gate. "They had some problems with wild Rattata for awhile," Zan continued. "Not to mention Ghost Pokémon attracted to the tower. This is about the only tower I know that they don't want the ghosts in."
"Who is this Dr. Ko guy?" Ivonar asked. "What's he doing with resurrected Pokémon?"
"Some doctors do that sort of thing." Zan frowned. "They have to get a ton of permits for each one, though."
"Wow." Ivonar looked at Q. "You must've cost a fortune."
"Q." Q scowled. It pulled the pot farther over its eyes.
Zan stopped the truck. "This is it."
Ivonar peered out the window. "All I see is rain." She grimaced. "Poor Manx… he must be soaked."
"Static's probably loving it," Remmy laughed.
"I hope they don't catch a cold or something."
"Come on." Zan pulled the plastic hood of his poncho over his head. "The faster we run, the less that'll hit us, right?"
Ivonar banged on the door again, shivering. "I'm starting to think Fluffball had the right idea," she said, her teeth chattering. She looked back toward the truck, where Fluffball remained curled up beneath the seat. "My raincoat's useless."
"Mine's been useless the moment I opened the door," Zan muttered. "My hair is permanently plastered to my skull. Why do they bother putting hoods on these things?"
Q was silent, hiding under Remmy's jacket.
Zan tried his luck, pounding the door with his fist. "Come on, blast it! We got your Cunone!" he shouted. "And we're getting soaked out here!"
The door creaked, opening a tiny crack. "You have what?" a scratchy voice demanded.
Ivonar pointed toward Remmy's feet. "Um… we found your Cunone."
"And the Eevee?"
Ivonar and Remmy traded looks. "Um… we… haven't seen it," Ivonar said.
"Hmm. Something must've happened." The door creaked open a little farther. "Where is it?"
"Down there." Remmy pointed at his feet.
"Hmm." The door creaked open a bit farther. "Cunone. Come here." Q shivered, making a sound of protest. The voice's owner grunted. "Come in. All of you." The door inched open slowly. "It hates the water." They waited impatiently for the door to open, but it did so in slow, short jerks. "If you would push, please?" the scratchy voice snapped. "It's heavy."
With the three of them pushing, the door opened a bit faster. Manx slipped himself through the doorway first and shook off. "Pokémon trainers!" the scratchy voice snapped. "Keep your trainees in their balls if you will!"
"Manx hates his ball," Ivonar apologized, going in. She blinked, the rest of her apology forgotten. "Whoa."
The inside of the tower was poorly lit and a bit damp, but it made up for it in cleanliness and simple presentation. The floor was done in a black and white checkered spiral, the equally spiral staircase completely flat black. The walls remained the undecorated gray of the stone they were made from.
"I have very sensitive work here," the man behind the door growled in his scratchy voice. "Experiments and Pokémon that should not be disturbed by badly trained outside influences." He glared at Manx, who glared right back. "Hmph. Persians. Stubborn, stuck-up lot." He shoved the door shut again, then glared at Zan. "Are you really old enough to train that thing?"
"He's not mine," Zan replied, pointing at Ivonar.
The man was small, not too much above five feet tall, and built narrow. His darting magenta eyes stood out sharply in his angular, pasty face. He glared at Ivonar through glasses that appeared far too small to be of any use to him. He snorted, glared at Manx one more time, then turned his eyes toward the floor. "Cunone!" He pointed to his feet. "Here."
Slowly, Q pushed its way from beneath Remmy's raincoat. It pushed the pot back from its eyes with one paw, clutching the metal bar tightly with the other one.
"What is this?" The man glared at the others accusingly.
"What's what?" Zan asked politely, smiling an odd, small smile.
The man gestured toward the small Pokémon. "I don't seem to recall my Cunone having luggage when it ran away."
"Ran away?" Ivonar echoed, her eyes widening. Was that why Q wasn't excited to come back – because it had chosen to run away? Because it hadn't liked it here?
"Hmph." The doctor pulled his lab coat tighter around himself. "We had a storm several months ago. My poor Green Eevee was outside… I haven't an idea where she could have disappeared to. Then this ingrate of a creature decided to look for her, I suppose." He glared down at Q again. With eyes like his, the glare had to be permanent. "Only excuse you might have."
"Q!" Q nodded so quickly the pot banged back and forth on its horns.
Dr. Ko scowled. "What is this?" he demanded again, gesturing at the Pokémon. "What's that bar it has?"
"It got that from my mess kit," Ivonar replied. "It took it and doesn't want to give it back. It's not important – it can have it if it wants."
The doctor crouched down, seeming to ignore her completely. "Weapons." He touched the pot on Q's head. "Helmet… metal, not marrow… hmm." He gripped Q's wrist, lifting its paw so he could inspect the bar it held. "Metal." He frowned thoughtfully. "Couldn't possibly have been metal…"
"What couldn't have?" Zan asked.
"I've been trying for years to get this thing to use a weapon. I tried bone, wood, rock. What it should have had on hand, in its time. But metal? Ludicrous. It wouldn't have had metal to use."
"I found a skeleton of something like this Pokémon," Zan said. "As we were getting it out, there appeared to be some excess bone along with-"
Dr. Ko's head snapped up. "Where?" he demanded, standing quickly.
"Huh?"
"Where did you find it?"
"Tier Canyon." Zan frowned a little.
"Who's 'we'?"
"What's it matter to you?" Zan replied tightly.
"Tier Canyon…" The man brushed his hands together. "Tier Canyon… what depth, do you think?"
"Near the bottom."
Dr. Ko nodded quickly. "As I thought." He turned around, heading for the stairs. "As I had thought…"
"Q!" Q stuck its bar in its mouth and hurried after the doctor on all fours. Manx trotted after him, a sopping Static at his heels. Lacking anything better to do (and having no rush to go back in the rain), the others followed.
The doctor took the steps two at a time, going a level downward. With each step it seemed to get damper and chillier. There was about an inch of rainwater at the foot of the stairs; Dr. Ko walked through it, oblivious, and slipped through a door at the foot of the stairs. Q stopped at the last step, staring at the water grimly.
Static jumped over the last two stairs, landing with a small splash in the water. "Eee!" he squealed happily.
The door flew open again. Dr. Ko glared out at the Eevee at the foot of the stairs. His hopeful expression quickly faded into grim disappointment. Static looked at him curiously. Only then did the doctor look at the others, still on the stairs. "Carry Cunone in here if you will," he muttered, turning back, this time leaving the door open. "It hates the water. Take care, it bites."
Ivonar and Remmy traded confused looks. "Q doesn't bite," Ivonar disagreed, picking it up before walking gingerly through the water. She cringed it splashed against her bare leg, sending shivers up her back. "Static, stop splashing," she scolded him. Static trilled disappointedly, sitting down, his ears at ninety-degree angles from his head. They went into the basement room, Static, still looking disappointed, taking up the rear.
The basement room was a far cry from what they had seen of the tower so far: gone was the gloom and dampness. Here it was so brightly lit, it took a few moments for their visions to clear.
The room was done in a dull yellow color, with wooden and metal furniture, plastic-encased computer equipment, and metal cages making up the entirety of the décor. Manx growled softly, sniffing the air with a disturbed look on his face.
"Keep that thing under control, if you will," Dr. Ko muttered, apparently meaning Manx. He grabbed a thick binder from a metal bookshelf, tossing it on a wooden table as he snatched a pencil from a cracked coffee mug placed on a thin metallic shelf. He snapped the binder open, flipped quickly through several pages, then hunched over it and started scribbling madly, muttering to himself.
"Have you re-created anything else, Dr. Ko?" Ivonar asked politely.
"Only that thing," Dr. Ko grumbled. "I create. Not re-create."
"Create?" Ivonar echoed.
Zan scowled. "Isn't that illegal?"
"Please be quiet." Dr. Ko's voice bordered on a snap. "If it were illegal I would not have been hired for it. Now please – I'm trying to concentrate."
Ivonar scratched the back of Q's neck distractedly, wandering over to the cages. In one, a Jigglypuff was sleeping; in another, a small Psyduck, probably half-grown, looked at her blankly before attempting a weak smile. A Cubone banged its weapon against the floor of its cage boredly, resting its chin its other fist.
Suddenly, the Cubone disappeared in a haze of purple. Ivonar jumped slightly back.
Wide eyes stared into hers, their expression disapproving. "Gastly!" the eyes' owner snapped. The ball-like ghost wove back and forth, then bumped into her a few times, trying to move her backwards. "Gas, gas, gastly!"
Dr. Ko glanced over his shoulder. "Get away from there," he snapped. "I've no need for you getting yourself hurt."
"I was just looking," Ivonar muttered. The Gastly glared at her. "Is this your Gastly?"
"It was the only one here when I moved in," he replied, "and the only one I've allowed to stay. It has no attacks, but it does have its uses occasionally."
"Gastly." It continued trying to nudge Ivonar from the cages.
"Knock it off." Ivonar tried to push it away, but the thing became intangible. "Hey, that's not fair!"
"Gastly!"
"Go away." Ivonar walked through it, heading down the line of cages. The Gastly rammed into her back. "Stop it!"
Zan shook his head, smiling faintly. "Ghosts are pains, aren't they." He unclipped a pokéball from his belt. "Jester, talk to your friend, okay?" The pokéball popped open, releasing the Haunter.
"Keep your Pokémon contained!" Dr. Ko snapped.
"Haunt?" Jester gave the man a skeptical look, then floated over to the Gastly. The two were soon in a deep conversation… at least, Jester was. The Gastly's apparent annoyance made it seem more as if it was arguing.
Ivonar continued around the cages, Dr. Ko too distracted by whatever he was writing to complain. A Bulbasaur lay with its legs tucked under it, sleeping fitfully; an old-looking Eevee smiled gently at her. Sweetie trilled a greeting. The Eevee squinted a bit at Sweetie, then yawned. It curled into a ball, covering its nose with its tail, shivering slightly.
"Guess it's nap time," Ivonar muttered, going around to the other side.
And stared.
In the first cage was a creature the likes of which she'd never seen. She took her Pokédex out of her pocket, flipping it open. "Pokémon not found," it chirped helplessly.
The Pokémon looked at her with intelligent curiousness in its royal purple eyes. Its skin was pale lavender, its ears and chest a dull cream color. It looked mostly like a Charmander, but its coloring was completely wrong. The ears and pearly round spot on its forehead resembled the ones Drake had. Its tail, as long as the rest of the Pokémon, looked like a Vaporeon's, though it was the same pale purple as the rest of it.
"What is this?" she breathed.
The Pokémon smiled thinly. "Shar," it murmured, blinking slowly. It stood carefully, going to the front of the bars. It peered at her and Sweetie curiously. "Shar?"
Ivonar stuck a finger through the bars. The creature sniffed at it. "What are you?"
"Shar-char." The Pokémon snorted, a puff of steam escaping its nose. "Chardra."
It flopped back down. "Shar."
"Wow…" Ivonar looked at it for a moment more, then continued down the line of cages. Most were empty. One had an ordinary-looking Farfetch'd in it, though it didn't have a leek. It sat on a nest, its head bowed as if asleep, but its eyes were open. "Is this Farfetch'd okay?" she called.
"Eh?" Dr. Ko's head snapped up. He darted looks at Remmy, Zan, and Manx. "Where's the girl?" Remmy pointed toward the cages. "Get out from back there!" Dr. Ko snapped, hurrying passed the other two. "Give me Cunone and get out. Just get out." He reached for Q.
Ivonar frowned. "Is it okay?" she asked, pointing at the bird in the cage.
Dr. Ko looked at it. "Fine. She's incubating, that's all."
"Incubating?"
"Sitting on her egg." He smiled faintly. "An egg I hope contains another breakthrough."
"Breakthrough?"
He signaled for her to follow him, apparently forgetting his anger from a moment before. He went back to the other occupied cage. "My Chardra," he said. "A combination of a Charmander and a Dratini."
"You have a Dratini?"
He shook his head. "I borrowed material from an associate of mine, same with the Charmander. I try not to gain too many Pokémon… they take away time I need for my research. The Cubone and Jigglypuff are on loan from an old partner of mine. The Bulbasaur is one left from an older experiment whose owner never reclaimed it… Eevee-10 is the mother of my Green Eevee. She's never quite recovered from that, I think." He frowned a bit. "A bad reaction to the LRG-P in the Green Eevee."
"The what?"
"An important part of what makes certain Pokémon evolve when exposed to Leaf Stones and others not. Once I was hired to help discover why Eevees evolved when exposed to Fire, Thunder, and Water Stones, but not Leaf Stones. The reason are LRGs – loose reactive genes. Genetic structures within Pokémon that are incomplete unless exposed to the radiation of a corresponding elemental stone. Once completed, it allows those Pokémon to reach their next evolutional stage."
"Wow." She stared at the Chardra, whose curious expression had faded to boredom.
"Normal Eevees react badly to LRG-P – loose reactive gene, plant base. They contain the three different LRGs for evolving by way of the other three stones – LRG-F, LRG-W, LRG-E. Fire, Water, Electric."
"But they're allergic to the other one?" Ivonar asked, understanding most of it.
"Deadly, in most cases." He wandered back to the other side of the cages, Ivonar following behind. "With a bit of manipulation – and some Bulbasaur and Gloom DNA thrown in for good measure – I created an Eevee capable of producing LRG-P. My Green Eevee." He scowled. "You get hired to do something, they ruin you for doing it right…" he growled.
"And you haven't seen it since?"
He shook his head. "I've gotten foolishly attached to that thing," he muttered. "I'd finally convinced myself to evolve her…"
"What will it evolve into?"
"I don't know yet." He opened the cage containing the weak-looking Eevee, rubbing its head roughly. "Due to exposure to LRG-P when she carried Green Eevee, Eevee-10 is no longer capable of evolving."
"Eevee-10?" Remmy echoed. "That's the name you gave it?"
"In creating the Green Eevee, I was given twelve Eevees to work with. Each was designated by number, for the sake of record-keeping. Eight of them died. Two became paralytic. I'm not sure what happened to Eevee-4… that Rattata, Carter, probably stole it…" He snorted, rubbing the Eevee's ear. "Technically, the Green Eevee is recorded as 'Eevee-18' – the sixth infant. Second of Eevee-10's litter. None of the earlier litters survived… she was the only one of the litter treated." He gave the Pokémon's head one last pat, then closed the cage. She hadn't woken up. "Only one besides Eevee-10 I still have is Eevee-18, the Green Eevee. Had." He scowled. "Have… once someone finds her again."
"I hope you find her," Ivonar said.
Dr. Ko grunted. He looked in on the Cubone. "Cubone and Cunone… so far so little likeness besides parallel attacks." The Cubone gave him a bored look, then returned to banging its bone club on the floor of its cage. "Cunone apparently chooses its weapon individually, while all Cubone instinctively choose the same one…"
"Interesting theory," Zan said.
"With strong proof." Dr. Ko stood up straight. "I created this Cunone three years ago." He took Q from Ivonar, looking it in the eye. "Three years, trying to find a weapon it would use, that it would have access to. Bone. Wood. Stone. Mixes of the three… it's intelligent enough to form a make-shift axe, I wouldn't doubt. But metal…" He looked around the room. "It must have decided to choose metal while here… most of my materials are metal. But metal…" He shook his head. "Ruined. Completely ruined." He glared at Q. "Rotten creature," he scolded it dully. "You've ruined everything."
Q snorted, tapping the bar it held against the doctor's forehead. "Cune," it replied.
"Stop that." He handed it back to Ivonar. "Here."
"Huh?" She looked at Q.
"I have no use for this rotten creature. It's bitten me countless times. It's uncontrollable, stubborn. A distraction and a nuisance." Q glared at him. "I created it in order to study the characteristics of an extinct Pokémon while between… more pertinent… experimentation. But apparently, Cunone are too intelligent to study in captivity. They require natural setting. The experimentation with this one has been corrupted."
"So… you're just giving it to her?" Zan asked.
"How long have you had it?"
"A few weeks?" Ivonar guessed.
"A little over a month or so," Remmy said.
"If you can stand it that long, you stand it longer." He looked at Ivonar. "It really hasn't bit you?"
"When we first got it, it was sort of confused." Ivonar's expression darkened. "Had a run-in with an Abra." Q growled softly. "Kicked and clawed for a little while, but never bit."
Hmph." Dr. Ko grunted again. "Keep it. It's no use to me… and besides, I'm expecting more pertinent research within the next few days. Caring for it would take away time I'll require elsewhere. It seems healthy enough." He wandered over to the binder he'd left on the table. He picked it up, leafing through the pages. "All a waste. Pity." He scowled, closing the binder. "If that's all, you can go. I've work to do that doesn't require you underfoot. Consider it your reward."
"Just curious…" The doctor gave Zan an annoyed look. "What was the reward if you didn't give us Q?"
"Q?" He frowned. "The Cunone? Bah. Take your pick. A Psyduck or a Bulbasaur. Or Eevee-10, if you really wanted it. Hard enough to care for the things. I've other things to do. Harrison had better pick up his Jigglypuff like he's supposed to… and I'll have to tell him to take that Cubone back as well."
"Aw, man!" Ivonar slapped her forehead. "Rem, we still have to tell Professor Oak what Q is, don't we?"
He laughed. "I guess so!"
"Oak?" Dr. Ko gave both of them piercing looks. "You know Oak."
"We're from Pallet Town," Ivonar replied.
"Ah. Ah ha." He shoved the binder in his hands toward Remmy. "Deliver that to him if you will, then. He'll probably want to study the thing, regardless of its personality disorder. No need to burn wasted research if it can be of help to different studies."
Remmy took the binder with a frown. "Um… I have a question."
"Hmm?" The doctor raised one thick eyebrow. "Make it quick. I've work to do."
"I have a Raichu. I got her as a Pikachu, and she evolved – without a Thunderstone."
"Oh, really?" The other eyebrow went up. "That's impossible. Go on."
"We were out in the middle of the woods. I didn't have one. Nobody did. It just… happened. At first it didn't seem so strange, but then I remembered that Pikachu need Thunderstones to evolve."
"Hmm… where is this Raichu?"
Remmy rummaged through his pockets, finally pulling out a pokéball. "In here."
"Let me see it."
"Chia." The ball popped open. Cole immediately bounded over from where he and Static had been under one of the tables. The Raichu gave the black tail-tipped Eevee a rub on the head, making his fur stand on end. Cole snickered.
The doctor scowled thoughtfully. He took a tape measure from the pocket of his coat. "Hold still."
"Chu?" Chia watched the strange man with a confused look on her face, as he measured the length of her ears, feet, nose, and tail, along with the width of the stripes on her back, the diameter of the circles on her cheeks, and the space between her eyes.
"As I thought." The tape measure snapped shut. "Simple answer to that one."
"What is it?" Remmy asked.
"She ate one."
"She what?" Zan asked, sounding skeptical.
"The odd thing about LRGs is that Pokémon with them have some form of control. Those with them are capable of deciding whether or not to evolve, same as any other Pokémon. But judging by the measurements of this Raichu – longer ears and tail, larger electrical capacitors and tail tip, unusual height…" He pulled the tape measure open again, stepping on the bent end and lifting the measure to the top of Chia's ears. "Almost exactly three feet." He shifted his foot, letting the tape measure snap shut once more. "Too tall by almost half a foot. This Raichu has been overexposed to the radiation of a Thunderstone, which would mean she had to have virtually, if not literally, carried it for several weeks, if not months, before evolving. So, the simplest solution is that she ate one. It was probably too large to pass out of her stomach while she was still a Pikachu, and it would take years for a Pikachu to digest a rock."
Chia giggled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "Raichu…"
"Wouldn't that give her an awful stomachache?" Zan asked.
"Probably," the doctor replied, dropping the tape measure back into his pocket, "especially after eating. But Pokémon are adaptable, and most aren't capable of human intelligence. After awhile, the Pikachu this Raichu was probably accepted the fact that she got a stomachache when she ate. She got used to it." He frowned. "The question really is, why would she eat a Thunderstone?… and how did it manage to get into her stomach without her choking on it?"
"Maybe that's why she was at the Pokécenter," Ivonar suggested. "Maybe she ate a Thunderstone and got really sick, and her trainer just left her there."
"Chu." Chia's ears drooped.
Remmy bent down, giving the Raichu's head a rub. "Is that what happened?" he asked her. She shrugged a little, but her ears remained low. "Don't worry. We're not leaving you anywhere." Chia purred slightly, smiling weakly. Her ears perked up again.
"Now, if you could please leave…"
"Nice seeing you again, Doc," Zan said pleasantly. "Come on, Jester."
Doctor Ko gave him an odd look. For a moment, he looked as if he wanted to say something, but apparently decided against it. "Best let yourselves out, I hate that door," he muttered, removing another binder from the shelf. He flipped through it slowly, ignoring them.
They started up the stairs again, Q still in Ivonar's arms. "Maybe we should call Professor Oak," Ivonar said. "Where's the Pokécenter?"
"Haven Town doesn't have one," Zan said, shaking his head.
"It doesn't?"
"Nope. We're pretty close to Viridian, so emergencies go there."
"It can wait, right?" Remmy asked.
"Yeah… I guess."
"There's a Pokéshop in town," Zan told them. "It's pretty good, if you need any supplies."
"I only have one more pokéball," Remmy admitted. "I should have three, but I had to replace Mollie's and Drake's."
"It's not like we're getting anywhere else in this rain," Ivonar said, looking out the one narrow window in the tower's main room. She stuck out her tongue. "Ugh." She gave Q a scratch under its chin. "Maybe they'll let us use the phone."
They wrestled the door open and closed it as quickly as they could, rushing back to the truck. "Uh-oh," Ivonar cringed. "The door didn't close all the way. I hope the seat isn't wet."
"It better not be, 'cause that's where you're sitting," Zan replied, slipping into the driver's side. "It looks okay."
Ivonar sighed in relief. Remmy climbed in first, settling in for the squeeze. "Yeah, seat's dry."
"Good." Ivonar climbed in, slamming the door. With a metallic thud, it refused to close. "Oh, come on…" She pushed it open again. "Oh… whoops."
"I don't like whoopses in the company truck," Zan warned her. He was only half-teasing.
Ivonar laughed. "Nothing's broken," she replied. "The seatbelt's in the way, that's all." She pulled the seatbelt out of the door, and slammed the door shut. "Okay," she said as she fastened the seatbelt around her. "I'm set."
A bell jingled as the door shut behind them. Ivonar pulled her hood down. "Hello?" The lights were on, but nobody looked home. "Hello…"
"C'n I help you?"
Ivonar looked around. The shop was small… where could the voice's owner be hiding? "Hello?"
"Wait a min'nit." She heard some shuffling behind the counter, and something sliding across the floor. A silver-haired head peeked over the counter. "C'n I help you?" the little girl asked again.
Ivonar smiled. "Maybe. Can I use your phone?"
The girl nodded quickly, almost banging her head against the back of the counter. "Hang on!" She jumped off the box she was standing on. Though they heard her footsteps as she rushed through the curtain leading to the supply room, and saw the curtain move, she was too small to see behind the counter.
Remmy went to a pokéball display, looking at it intently. He picked up two in each hand. "Do we need potions or anything?"
"We might. How much do they want for them?" Ivonar went over to the shelf and checked the price. "Not bad… even if we don't, it's better to be prepared." She took a couple off the shelf. "This should be enough for an emergency."
The curtain moved again, and the girl jumped back on her box. She shoved a phone onto the counter. "Here you go!" She pulled herself halfway onto the counter, peering at them curiously. "Nice Persian. Where's his tail?"
"He lost it." Ivonar picked up the phone. For a moment she drew a blank. "What's Professor Oak's number again?"
"Where'd he lose it?"
"A Growlithe hurt him when he was a Meowth."
"Oh." The curtain moved again. The girl looked toward it, then down. "No, Flare. You stay."
Ivonar glanced over the counter even as Manx's nostrils flared. "Cute Growlithe."
"We just got him. Flare, go back in there!" Manx growled low in his throat, setting the Eevees on edge; the Growlithe puppy sniffed the air curiously, apparently not hearing the Persian or the girl. "Flare!"
The Growlithe looked at the girl. "Graow?"
The girl pointed. "Get back in there!" The puppy whimpered. "Don't be a baby. I'll come back."
"Gralth…"
"Oh, shush. Get back there. Go!" She pointed again. Ears and tail drooping, the Growlithe reluctantly obeyed.
The girl peered over the counter at Manx, whose ears were glued to his skull, his fur standing on end, claws bared. "He really don't like Growlithes, do he?"
"He has a good reason," Ivonar replied, dialing.
"Yeah, I know." Ivonar looked at her curiously, then remembered that she'd told her. She smiled slightly at herself, even as someone picked up on the other end. "Hello, Professor!"
"Ivy?" Ivonar cringed. "Oh, good! I was hoping to hear from you. How is your Psyduck?"
"Almost all better," she replied.
"That's good to hear. You'll be glad to hear something else. Where are you? Does it have a computer?"
She looked at the girl. The girl was frowning a little; apparently, she could hear what Professor Oak was saying. "We got everything on computer," the girl replied. "Why?"
"Why?" Ivonar echoed.
"I have an upgrade for your Pokédex."
She looked at the girl again. "We're the Haven Town Pokéshop," she said, with exaggerated formality.
"I'm at the Haven Town Pokéshop," Ivonar told him.
"All right… sending… hang on… and… there we go. It's sent."
The girl jumped down from the box. "If you give me your Pokédex I'll upload it!" she said.
Ivonar smiled, pulling it out of her back pocket. "Thanks." Remmy came up behind her, handing over his own.
"Wait – mine too." Zan grinned as he handed a beat-up looking one to the girl. "Never turn down a free upgrade." The girl raced back into the supply room.
"Joshua Craine's shop!" Professor Oak sounded pleased. "What brought you to Haven Town?"
"Our mysterious little Pokémon," Ivonar replied. "It's a Cunone. And guess what? We get to keep it!"
"It's a-" Professor Oak didn't sound as happy as she thought'd he be. "It's a what?"
"A Cunone." She frowned slightly. "An extinct ancestor of Cubone. A doctor here created it and it got loose. He said he doesn't want it, so he gave it to us."
"Ko." There was a dark tone to Oak's voice. "Yes, I've heard of Ko." There was a pause. "Didn't think he was into raising extinct Pokémon."
"He said he wasn't."
"Well, this makes things a bit awkward…" The girl raced back with the Pokédexes. "Have you got the upgrade yet? It says it was downloaded…"
"Yes, just got them now."
"Point your Pokédex at… have you got it with you?"
"It's back in the truck." Remmy put the pokéballs on the counter. "I'll be right back." He hurried outside, not bothering to put up his hood. Static splashed around in the truck bed; Cole peered out at him from the other side of the passenger side door's window. He pulled open the door, careful not to spill the Eevee outside. "Hey, Q, come on." He opened his jacket at the collar. "You have to come inside for a little while, okay?"
Q was sitting on the floor on the passenger's side, looking pleased with itself. "Q?" It frowned. "Q!" it refused.
"It's okay – I promise you won't get wet."
It banged its bar on the floor. "Q!" it snapped again. Then it smiled, almost slyly. "No!"
Remmy blinked. "No?" he echoed.
"Cu-no no!" it said.
Remmy rolled his eyes slightly. "Now you get a bigger vocabulary." Q grinned. "Come on. It's just for a few minutes, and I promise you won't get wet. Please?"
Q looked away, toward the seats. "Coon…" It snorted a little, getting up slowly. It hopped down the front of his jacket. He closed the top button and hurried back inside, making sure the door shut behind him. "It didn't want to come," he explained.
"It's okay," Ivonar said. "It's here, Professor. Hang on." She took her Pokédex off the counter and flipped it open. Remmy pulled Q out of his jacket, holding it in one arm.
A modified picture of Q appeared, complete with its helmet and bar. "Q," the Pokédex chirped. "The Confused Pokémon. Only one is known to exist. Bears similarities to Cubone, but appears to use metal rather than bone as its weapons."
"You added Q to the Pokédex?" Ivonar cried into the phone. She laughed.
"Well… yes," Professor Oak replied sheepishly. "Cunone… a Cunone!"
Ivonar tapped a few keys on her Pokédex. "Cunone," it said, its screen blank. "A prehistoric ancestor to Cubone. No complete skeletons have yet been found."
"Even the upgrade's obsolete," Zan said, smirking a little.
"It is assumed Cunone also made use of bones as weapons, though they may also have used wood or rock."
"Or whatever struck their fancy," Zan added.
"You said Ko is letting you keep it?"
Ivonar nodded, before realizing that nodding was a silly thing to do. This was a normal phone; Professor Oak couldn't see her nod. "Uh-huh. He complained that it bit him a lot, and that since it decided to use weapons it couldn't have had access to as a normal Cunone, then he didn't want it."
"Sounds like Ko all right." Professor Oak didn't sound very happy.
"He gave us a big binder of stuff on Q to give to you."
"He did?" he asked, obviously stunned.
"He said he didn't think… um… that research shouldn't go to waste, or something like that."
"I see… that… could be interesting," he admitted.
"We'll mail it to you," she offered.
"Oh, good! C.O.D. will be fine – cash-on-delivery."
"Oh… okay."
"It's perfectly all right. You need your money."
"Okay." She looked at the girl, who had a slightly pointed look on her face. "I… I think that's it. I better go – I'm tying up the phone."
"All right. It was good speaking to you, Ivy. How is Joey?"
"Joey?" She looked at Remmy, who raised an eyebrow. "He's fine, why?"
"No reason, just curious. Hope you're staying dry – the weather is miserable here!"
"It's pretty nasty here, too."
"Well, keep dry. Hope to talk to you soon!"
"Great talking to you, Professor. Bye!" She hung up. "Thanks," she told the girl.
"That wasn't long distance, was it?" the girl asked, giving her a dagger-sharp look.
"Nope."
"Okay." She grinned, taking the phone, and rushing it back into the storage room. A moment later she rushed back, leaping back onto her box. "Is that it?" she asked, looking at the two potions and four pokéballs.
"Do you have some antidotes?" Ivonar asked.
The girl rolled her eyes. "Hang on," she moaned, making another trip to the storage room. "How many you want?" she shouted.
"Three's enough!" Ivonar called back.
She came back with three antidotes. "Is that it?"
"Yeah, that's it."
"Just-" The girl glared at Zan, who grinned teasingly. "Never mind." She stuck her tongue out at him.
Once it was in the cab, Q leaped to the floor. "Hey, move a little," Ivonar scolded it. "I have to put my feet there." It glared at her with a scowl, shifting forward a little. "What's got your tail in a knot?"
"Unc."
"Well, yeah, same to you." She nudged it with her foot, trying to get foot space. "Come on!" She frowned. "Now you have to get difficult?"
"Coo." Q stuck the bar in its mouth and tried to belly-crawl under the seat, but the pot on its head made it impossible. It sat down, looking a little miffed. "Q."
Ivonar peered under the seat. "You okay under there, Fluff?" she asked, reaching under to give the Eevee a pet. "You're awful quiet."
"Vee," Fluffball replied, raising her head. She squeaked as she knocked her head against the top of the seat.
Ivonar frowned. Something about Fluffball didn't look… right, somehow. "Fluffball?"
Fluffball blinked sleepily. "Vee," she said again, then yawned widely. "Yeevee."
"Sit up, Eevee," Zan warned her as he started the ignition. "I don't want to hear you hit your head on the glove compartment."
"Does somebody have a flashlight?" she asked, not sitting up. She reached under the seat, giving Fluffball a gentle pet. Fluffball rewarded her with a grumpy glare. "Fluffball looks kinda funny."
"She has been under the seat all day," Remmy pointed out.
"There's a flashlight in the glove compartment," Zan replied. "Better sit up before opening it, though."
Ivonar did. The flashlight was easy to see: it, a badly folded map, and a bunch of certificates were the only things in the glove compartment. She leaned down again, flicking it on – and yelped.
"What's wrong?" Remmy demanded.
"Fluffball's tail's green!" Ivonar cried. She slid off the seat, scrunching into the foot space with Q. Q gave her a look of tolerant annoyance. "What happened, Fluff?"
Fluffball yawned again, giving her trainer a look of annoyance without the slightest bit of tolerance. "Yev," she chirped grumpily.
An ear flicked. Ivonar yelped again. The ear looked like it was coming from Fluffball's back! "Gree?" The voice was higher than Fluffball's, more squeak-like. The ear twitched again, and the green tail moved aside, revealing Fluffball's more than normal one, as well as the owner of the green tail.
Ivonar laughed. "You won't believe this!"
Zan banged on the door again. "Hey, Doctor!" Ivonar yelled as loudly as she could. "Hello! We found your Eevee! Doctor K-?"
The door jerked open almost a foot. "What?" the man demanded, his voice a short snap.
Ivonar grinned, holding it out.
It was a little over a foot long, with thick, greenish fur a little matted from the rain. Its ears were held down to keep the water from pooling in them, but it still managed to look happy. In appearance it was no less than a stubby-legged Eevee with a purplish bulb on its back. "Green!" it chirped. "Greevee!"
Ivonar would not have thought it possible, but the Rattata-ish man broke a smile. He really, actually did. "At last!" he cried, taking the creature from her quickly. "Where have you been, rotten little pest?" The odd Eevee trilled, nudging his head with its chin. "Thank you," the doctor said, his tone suggesting he'd never said those words before. "I put a great deal of effort into this creature. Years upon years of research would have been wasted had she not been returned." The Eevee curled up in his arms and licked the bottom of his chin; Dr. Ko pretended not to notice.
"You're… welcome," Ivonar replied hesitantly. For somebody who cared about the odd little thing, he had a weird way of showing it.
"You know how it is, then," he said, rubbing the Eevee between the ears. "The Bulbasaur's yours."
"The Bulbasaur?" Zan frowned thoughtfully. "What about the Psyduck?"
"I've found other uses for it," Ko snapped in reply. "Do you want the Bulbasaur or not?"
"I got Saurus," Remmy said, "but you don't have a Bulbasaur, Ivonar."
"I know…" Ivonar thought about the Bulbasaur curled up in the cage. It had seemed okay, but… she didn't really want to be given Pokémon. That old grumpy Pikachu was one thing; this was another.
She thought too of the Psyduck with a shy smile, and hoped whatever that "use" was, was a good one.
And…
Ivonar shook her head. "I have a better idea," she said.
Mrs. Marain looked up at the knock on the door. Frowning a little, she wiped her hands on her jeans as she went for the door. "One moment!" she called. She made sure all the furniture polish was on her old jeans and wouldn't wipe off on the door before she opened it. "Professor Oak! What brings you here?" A pit formed in her stomach. "Is something wrong with Eev- with Ivonar?" She could never remember who knew Ivonar's nickname and who didn't.
"Oh, Ivy's fine," the man assured her with a smile. "Actually, she sent something to me to give to you." He held out a pokéball. "Here you are."
"A pokéball?" She took it hesitantly… then scowled. "If she sent Manx back…"
Professor Oak laughed. "Oh, no. From what I hear, she and Manx are actually getting along quite well. This is a Pokémon she just caught. She said to give it to you. She said to say something else… I just want to get the wording right."
She released the Pokémon as the Professor cleared his throat. "An Eevee from your Eevee, to keep you company," he said.
The Pokémon coalesced into a ginger-furred Eevee with a tired expression. It looked old somehow, as if it wasn't quite healthy. "Oh…" Mrs. Marain picked it up gently. "Is it all right?"
"She seems to have been infected with some sort of mutant gene," Professor Oak replied. "She won't be able to evolve, and her energy levels are permanently low. Definitely a pet." Mrs. Marain smiled slightly, stroking the Eevee gently. A stuttering purr rumbled from its throat. "She said her name is Ten."
She looked at him, even as she continued to stroke the Eevee. "Ten?" Her eyes widened. "She's caught ten Eevee?"
Professor Oak laughed sheepishly. "Oh, no. Actually, that's the fifth Eevee Ivonar has… she found a whole nest of them. Cute little bunch. There's one that rides around on her shoulder… no, this one's number five. I don't know why she insisted she be called Ten."
"Thank you, Professor. Next time you hear from Ivonar, can you tell her something for me?"
"Why certainly."
"Tell her I love the Eevee… but I wish she'd call every once in awhile."
"I'll do that."
He stared into the cage, Green Eevee nestled comfortably in his arms. He'd forgotten she was there. "Yes… yes…"
He'd removed the Farfetch'd, as she was simply being a bother. An incubation light was now strung across the top of the cage, keeping the rocking egg warm.
"That's it… a little… just a little more…"
A crack appeared, following by another. Slowly, the cracks joined together, and…
"FETCH!" The top of the egg slid aside, and a mustard-colored head appeared. Its bill was wide and flat, its eyes narrow and glaring. Its mouth was open wide to scream at anything within sight. "FETCH! Fetch! Psyfeeeeeetch!"
Ivonar, Remmy, and Zan's time in Haven Town has come to an end, but Haven Town is not merely a stop on their way. If you wish to learn the fate that awaits Dr. Ko, the Green Eevee, the Psyfetch, and even the girl from the store several years from now, be sure to visit Haven Town, here on Fanfiction.Net.