Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
This story takes place before humans and before the first darkest day. Not that I mind gigantamax or dynamax, but they won't add to the story. This is far before humans have even settled in Galar. Pokémon that were human (Gengar) or brought to Galar (Meowth) will not be here for said reason. As the story goes, some areas might correlate with modern Galar, but it's not 1:1, as humans and the darkest day have left their mark since.
Pokémon available in the Galar dex and the IoA may show unless they are a case like described above. Later, some from the Crown Tundra might appear (I started writing this story before its release).
If there are points that the story has the feel of a storybook, that is intentional.
"Try and catch me!" the shrill voice of an eevee cried out. The vulpine pokémon bounced over a cluster of ferns and hid behind an ash tree.
"You can't hide!" a voice responded. "I can smell you, Eevee!"
The other pokémon resembled a stout dog with tan and yellow fur to reflect its electric typing. The pokémon, Yamper, brought her nose close to the forest's floor, sniffing the ground to catch her friend. The electric corgi traced her friend's path to behind a tree, only to discover the eevee fled.
"Come now, you two, it's your second call!" an older pokémon said. A four-legged blue pokémon, equipped with fish-like fins on its back and near its head, emerged from the bracken. This was Eevee's mother, Vaporeon. "Time to eat!"
Flanking the water-type was a large pokémon that was akin to a striped dog crossed with a lion. The imposing pokémon featured beige and orange fur, along with a fluffy, regal mane around its neck. This was Yamper's father, Arcanine, a fast runner who could snatch the two unruly youngsters in one fell swoop.
"C'mon you two!" the arcanine barked.
"But I haven't caught Eevee yet!" Yamper protested.
"You can catch her after your dinner," Vaporeon said. "Eevee!"
"Mum?" the brown fox asked, her ears straightening.
"Come here! You and Yamper can finish your game after supper!" Vaporeon shouted with a snap in her voice.
Eevee appeared from behind an oak tree and then walked toward the three other pokémon. The adults led the youngsters back to a wide glade where many pokémon had just finished eating, whether it was plant-based matter or fish pokémon from the nearby river. This area was the community commons, where pokémon assembled to eat and socialize.
Satisfying Eevee's palate today were kelspy berries and sunflower seeds. She scarfed them down without much concern for their taste, as all she wanted to do was resume her game with Yamper.
Flareon, Eevee's father, and Boltund, Yamper's mother, approached the two friends eating side by side. "Do you ever run out of energy?" the electric hound asked the two after they had eaten their fill within minutes.
"No," Yamper replied to her mother. "I don't think we do."
"For now," Flareon said, looking at Yamper and then at his daughter. The foxlike fire-type pokémon smiled. "After many seasons others will be scraping you from the forest floor."
They all laughed, the adults because they knew it would be true, and the young rascals because they thought the idea absurd. "Old pokémon," Yamper whispered to her friend, which caused the girls to giggle.
All the pokémon in the forest lived in an interwoven community. Their leader was the strongest pokémon around, a Dragapult. She had four children, both consanguineous and adopted. Dragapult herself housed two dreepy in her horns. Compared with the other pokémon living in the forest, besides old but hearty Reuniclus, Dragapult was ancient. She oversaw this forest and its pokémon community for generations, caring for them like her own, as she had a strong maternal instinct. Provided she was here, Eevee always felt like she would be safe, and no harm would come to her, her family, or her friends.
The two oddities of the community, who were not natives but Dragapult's adoptees, were a bored impidimp and a vigilant toxel. Rumors claimed Impidimp had been orphaned, while Toxel's mother abandoned her. Under the guidance of Dragapult, the two pokémon vowed to become stronger, especially against each other. They seemed to have an unsung contest regarding who Dragapult liked better, and they constantly went back and forth.
Impidimp was speaking to Dragapult, while Toxel was sitting near a bush eating by herself. "Look at those scoundrels," Yamper cried, glaring at the two outcasts.
Impidimp finished his discussion with Dragapult and then tiptoed over to Toxel, who was picking at the bony remnants of a leftover magikarp. Impidimp crept up to the purple poison-type silently, and then he grasped her narrow shoulders. The toxel started, but when she turned toward her rival her face conveyed a stoic expression. Impidimp laughed.
"Admit it, I got you that time!" he cried.
Toxel extended her arm, pushing her rival away. "I'm eating, you see. Buzz off."
Dragapult lingered nearby and caught the conversation. "Impidimp, let her finish." The ghostly dragon struck him with a reprimanding gaze.
Yamper and Eevee watched Impidimp as he sighed and walked away from the dragon and Toxel. The fairy-type noticed the two canids and he approached them, flashing them an ostentatious smirk. "One day, I'll be capable of beating her," he said as he passed, his nose high in the air.
Eevee didn't know if he was referring to Dragapult, or his rival, Toxel. Given his thirst for mischievousness, she assumed both. Yamper cringed as she turned around and watched him. Eevee, on the other hand, approached the poison-type who just took her last bite of dinner. Dragapult floated away from the commons and headed north.
Eevee greeted the baby pokémon, and Toxel stood up on her short legs. The toxel concealed her face with a hand, as any unsightly saliva that escaped her mouth disgusted most.
"Oh, Eevee," Toxel said, giving a sheepish salutation. She withdrew her hand from her face and put her arm back to her side. "You came to see me?"
Toxel cast a look over Eevee's shoulder at the yamper behind Eevee. The little electric dog tapped her front right paw against the ground with impatience. Toxel ignored the other pokémon and waited for Eevee's response.
"Of course," Eevee said. "You're more reasonable than Impidimp, and I'm sure you get tired of him since few besides me talk to you."
"Him," Toxel said, frowning. "He's aggravating my nerves more with each passing day. He loves to point out how much stronger he is…"
"He's full of it," Eevee said with a nod.
"True," Toxel concurred. "Dragapult worries about us. As you saw, she tries to separate us, but it's not going to work."
"I see," Eevee said as the dragon pokémon Toxel mentioned returned to speak to the three younger pokémon.
"We have a task for you," Dragapult began. "Appletun plans to harvest the apples on the trees in the orchard, and he needs some help. Are you three girls interested? If he thinks you did a good job helping him, you might get one as a reward."
"Apples?" Yamper cried. "This is the only season we harvest them!"
Eevee and Yamper looked at each other, their faces lighting up. "Yes!" they said to their elder.
Toxel considered the proposition for a moment, and then she shrugged. "Sure."
"Follow me," the ghostly dragon said. She led the young pokémon toward the orchard, which grew in the northeastern part of the forest. Appletun, who was a small, yet sturdy green and brown-skinned dragon, stood at the base of one of the trees. He peered into its canopy. Beside him was Impidimp, who was coveting every red-skinned fruit his eyes landed on.
Dragapult roared to catch Appletun's attention, and the pokémon turned his head toward his mate and to the pokémon behind her. "I've brought you more helpers," she said.
Appletun glanced at each youngster. He motioned with his head for the helpers to come toward him, and then the four stood before him in a group. Dragapult grinned at him, and she vanished from sight.
"All right," the apple dragon began, "I'll headbutt each tree, one at a time, and all you need to do is inspect the apples that fall and sort the bad from the good."
"Sounds easy enough," Impidimp said as he sized up his competition. He declared, "You're going to lose."
"Oh, there's no competition here," Appletun said.
"Why not?" Impidimp asked, shrugging.
"Because I'll end up in last, like usual," Toxel groaned.
"Not that it'd matter for you," Yamper said, "You'll be given the bad ones regardless."
Yamper's words sounded like an insult to an outsider's ear, but Toxel ate many expired or mouldy leftovers from meals. However, Eevee looked at the impassive Toxel and wondered if getting expired scraps from others made her feel inferior compared to the rest of the community.
Appletun said, "If we produce a good yield, I'll allot you an apple each. However, that's if we have enough to give to the fifty or so residents that can eat them. Within days of being off the tree, they will spoil regardless… so I'd prefer they'd get eaten."
"I'm going to count mine. I bet I can best all you three," Impidimp proclaimed, pointing at the girls.
Eevee and Yamper exchanged glances. Although they could pick them up by mouth, breaking apple's skin would cause the flesh underneath would turn quickly. The two furry friends glanced at Toxel, who conversely could pick them up like Impidimp.
"All right," Eevee said. "Three against one!"
"So Toxel," Yamper said with a haughty tone, "Eevee and I will roll the fruits toward you and you can sort them for us in two piles."
Toxel rolled her eyes. "Obviously, that's what Appletun just told us to do."
"I thought you might not have heard," Yamper said with a faint smirk. Namely Toxel's evolution was known to have poor hearing considering the level of noise they liked to produce.
Toxel sneered at the electric dog. Eevee pulled her canine friend away and told Toxel, "Don't mind her. You know she just wants to win."
Toxel blinked and frowned at Yamper but said nothing.
"If it makes it more fun for you," Appletun said, shrugging. "All right. I'll count them and declare the winner… or winners. Okay, stand back at first. I don't want them to fall on your heads! When I give the clear, you can collect them."
The appletun approached the trunk of the selected apple tree and then headbutted it, moving its branches, leaves, and fruits. A few apples fell. He attacked the tree several more times, sighing from his work, and then looked up within the branches to estimate if he should stop. Some fruits didn't want to dislodge, but he could conscript other pokémon to fetch those.
"Begin!" he cried out, shaking off an apple that landed on his back.
The three gatherers raced out to snatch the apples like youngsters beginning a scavenger hunt. Impidimp tried to grab two at once, but since they were too heavy for him, he opted to grab just one, holding it against his torso with his tiny arms. He deposited the apple on what was to become his good pile.
Eevee and Yamper either rolled the apples upon the ground by batting them with their paws or nudging them with their heads. Toxel performed as she was asked, inspecting each fruit, and placing it on the appropriate pile. Unfortunately, the girls' team discovered that as opposed to Impidimp's, they had a larger bad pile and fewer good ones.
The pokémon continued with the task until all eight apple trees were shaken of most of their fruits. Appletun inspected the ground for any unaccounted-for fruit and collected about a dozen apples that the younger pokémon missed. He counted each pile, and in the end, he declared Impidimp the winner. He had five more apples than the girls.
"He could have stolen some of ours!" Yamper protested.
"No, he couldn't. I was with the piles, remember?" Toxel pointed out.
Impidimp threw his arms into the air in elation. He stuck out his tongue at them, making Eevee deadpan, and Yamper roll her eyes. Toxel likewise performed what Impidimp had done.
"I won!" Impidimp said to them. "You're just jealous that I'm better than you three!"
"Oh, no you're not!" Yamper cried. Eevee sighed and shot the winner a dismissive look.
"He's not worth it," Eevee said to her friend.
"Agreed," Toxel concurred.
The five pokémon assembled to put all the apples into four baskets for transport. While they were busy, Dragapult reemerged from the shadows. Appletun noticed his mate and flagged her down. He told her about some of the apples lingering on the trees, so she and her little dreepy completed the job by pulling the remaining fruits from their branches. Once his younger helpers finished putting the good and bad apples into their respective baskets, Appletun tried to move one but it was too heavy. Dragapult told him that she'd handle them, and she inspected the baskets, nodding at the swelling containers with approval.
"Awesome," she commended. "Thank you for doing this for us." She looked at each of the four younger pokémon surrounding the baskets with gratitude.
Dragapult planned to transport the baskets to her den until morning, but Appletun stopped her and withdrew four apples from the good basket. The helpers noticed the gesture and approached Appletun. Dragapult flashed a smile at them and took away the baskets.
Impidimp received one of the apples first from Appletun for winning the contest. The impidimp stole away with the apple, drooling over it like a fool.
"He did a good job, although he needs a bit more modesty. Here," Appletun said, giving the three girls a ripe apple each. "You've earned these too."
"Thank you!" Yamper and Eevee chorused. Toxel lowered her head and smiled.
"No, thank you," Appletun said. "Tomorrow morning the community will enjoy them too, all because of you."
The appletun followed his mate, leaving the remaining pokémon by themselves in the orchard. Toxel inspected her apple, turning it in her hands. Impidimp had disappeared, although he couldn't have gone far. Yamper and Eevee looked at the red fruits before them and discussed whether they should eat them now or save them for the morning. As they were distracted by their debate, Impidimp appeared from behind them, catapulted over Eevee, and snatched her apple from right under her nose with a swift movement. He ran toward the woodland bordering the orchard.
"Whoa! Hey!" the fox pokémon shrieked. "Give that back!"
Eevee sped toward the snooty Impidimp as he bounced away. He fled into a collection of bushes and ferns in the adjacent forest. The bushes were too compact and gnarled for Eevee to pass through, and she was in no mood to have woody stems, dirt, and leaves in her fur.
Yamper caught up to Eevee and asked, "Where is he?"
The two heard an object clash with the bark of a thin oak sapling near the impregnable bush. Upon a caterpie's web, Eevee's apple rested— Impidimp had flung it upon the selected spot. The pokémon himself showed up on the oak's branches few moments later, cackling. Yamper growled, threatening to shock Impidimp, but Eevee had another idea. Following Appletun's example, she started at the tree, but Impidimp anticipated this. He collected the apple and tossed it toward a web fixed on a sturdier tree next to the thin oak. Impidimp jumped from the sapling, leaving Eevee to ram her head into the tree to no avail.
"Ouch!" the foxlike pokémon exclaimed.
"Are you okay?" Yamper asked as she examined her friend's forehead.
Eevee rubbed her head with her paw. "That wasn't as good of an idea as I thought!"
"It's because you didn't think!" Impidimp exclaimed from above, sitting on a branch of the hardier beech tree next to the one Eevee hit, chewing upon her apple.
"I'd shock him, but I can't reach him!" Yamper cried, electrical tendrils zapping about her.
"See, I really am better!" he exclaimed as he finished the apple and threw the core to the ground. He fled the scene in a flash, retreating into the woodland farther by hopping across each tree's canopy.
Toxel witnessed the scuffle, so she approached Yamper and Eevee. The poison-type held onto her apple with a peculiar mien.
"Here," Toxel said, holding out her apple to Eevee. "You can have mine."
Eevee offered Toxel a dumbfounded expression, but Yamper's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Her being irate made Toxel a target even though she wasn't responsible for Impidimp's tomfoolery.
Yamper batted the apple out of Toxel's hands. The poison-type's eyes widened, and her mouth fell open indignantly. The apple rolled away, resting in front of Eevee. "She probably poisoned it," Yamper said.
"Even I know you don't make friends that way," the miffed toxel growled. "Impidimp took Eevee's, and the only part I'd eat are the seeds. I like the tart ones better, but we only have the sweet variety around here."
Eevee offered Toxel a probing look. She oftentimes never let slip a biographical note about her life before coming to the forest. Eevee approached the fruit, looking at it and then at Toxel. "Are you sure you don't want it?"
"Yes," she said. Eevee appeared apprehensive. "I insist," Toxel urged.
"Well, thank you very much Toxel," Eevee said as she offered the baby pokémon a smile.
Toxel responded by bringing her hand to her lightning-like protrusion on her forehead. She cast her eyes down. "Welcome," she stuttered. Toxel sighed and removed her hand from her face. "I'll make sure Impidimp doesn't get away scot-free." The toxel turned in the direction where Impidimp had disappeared.
"You?" Yamper asked, her voice pitched high with sarcasm. "What could you possibly do?"
"A lot, actually," Toxel said, locking eyes with Yamper, a soft smile upon her face. "He'll never want to lose me as a friend. Not that I see him that way, but Dragapult told me he does."
Toxel walked away from the two friends. She investigated the trees and their canopies and seemed to be making deductions about where her rival had gone. She pushed past the low foliage, the greenery swallowing her petite form. After a few more minutes of faint rustling, Yamper and Eevee no longer heard anything and they knew she was gone.
Yamper shook her head. "I hate that look she gives," she grumbled. "So arrogant…."
"I heard Reuniclus say that she and Impidimp are almost ready to evolve. I mean, everyone knows that Toxel stopped crawling completely earlier this four-season, and Impidimp's confidence soared."
"That needs to go down a peg," Yamper said, her eyes wide.
"The real truth is they might not be here much longer," Eevee said, trying to clear the dense air around her friend.
" 'Imagine your future self and embody it,' " she scoffed. "What pokémon thought of that advice?"
"Don't you think of the day you'll be a boltund, like your mother?" Eevee asked. In her mind, any pokémon that wanted to evolve longed for the day they would with bated breath.
"Yes, but I won't be a become a selfish lizard or an egotistic, hairy goblin."
Eevee shrugged and turned away, fetching the apple Toxel gifted her. She wasn't in the mood to debate about Toxel or Impidimp. The sky was in twilight, and if the two didn't report back to their dens soon their parents would come looking for them. Yamper followed Eevee's example and retrieved her fruit. Having bitten them to take them back to their lodgings, Yamper dropped hers and asked, "Is yours sweet?"
"Yes," Eevee replied after placing the apple back on the grass to speak.
"Poisoned?"
Eevee's disgruntled look was concealed by the evening shadows. "No," she said, grabbing the apple and resuming her trot toward the commons.
A.N./ Here's the slow, introductory chapter to establish the cast. The pace will quicken, though.
For this story's purposes, the forest this clan of pokémon live in will later be known (when humans establish their settlements MUCH later) as the Slumbering Weald and Postwick (with some changes). I'll note any other locations in future chapters for reference. There will be a great deal of traveling in this story.
I'll offer a moment of silence to all the fish, bug, and bird pokémon who will be consumed as food by many pokémon in this story. I won't be graphic with the description; I'm not writing horror or anything. Humans aren't around to offer pokémon kibble like in the anime (what's that even made of?) or curries, and not every pokémon is a vegetarian.