On to chapter two. Hopefully I'll be able to post at least one chapter a week. The first two are the exception, considering that they are basically the establishment of the character and her Pokémon. Kind of a two-part episode, if you will. Couldn't really write one without doing the other as well.
Anyhow. If I keep going, I'll ramble all day in that vein. Let's just get on with the story shall we? But, first…
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. Nintendo, Creatures Inc., WB, etc. does. I do own my original characters, the personalities of their Pokémon, and any original Pokémon that I decide to put in the story. Take them without permission and I will send a horde of angry Tauros after you.
Chapter 2: Blackberry Christmas
"…Eevee?"
Lizzie stared at the warring Pokémon with something akin to disbelief. Couldn't be the same Eevee that she'd gotten from Bonnor…could it? The fur looked to be the same shade of chocolaty brown, but she couldn't think of any reason for that Pokémon to follow her. And by the same token, there was no reason some random Eevee would jump out of nowhere to rescue her. It made no sense.
"Aaauuurr!" The Tauros flung his head back, trying to shake the much smaller Eevee off. The furball clung like a leech to his nose, and he dropped his head down so he could try pawing it off with a forehoof. The Eevee dropped off and scampered clear before the hoof could connect. The pair faced off again.
Lizzie glanced from Pokémon to Pokémon as the bull roared and charged again. The little Pokémon nimbly skittered out of the way and darted in at his flank when he barreled past, nipping at an ankle. The bull reacted almost instantly, kicking at the Eevee. It squealed as it was sent tumbling into the bushes. "NO!" Lizzie started forward, but halted as the infuriated Pokémon whirled to face her and charged again. "Crud…!" She stumbled back a few paces, glancing about for the nearest climbable tree. Dodge this charge and make a break for it…
"Veevee!" Liz stared, thoughts scattered, as the Eevee barreled out of the bushes and again lunged at the bull's nose. The Tauros roared and spun about, skidding to a halt again right in front of her. Liz was sent stumbling in a vain attempt to keep her balance as the bull's shoulder knocked her backwards. Her left foot landed in an impossible snarl of thorns, getting tangled, momentum unchecked. She yelped as she crashed into another bush.
She pushed herself into a sitting position, struggling to pull her ankle free of the tangle, looking about frantically for the Tauros. She stared as it seemed to be engaged in something that almost looked like an absurd dance. After a moment, she realized that he was trying to stomp the Eevee flat. The little evolution Pokémon was nimbly avoiding the larger bull's hooves with ease. Liz finally pulled her leg free and tried to stand, suppressing a yelp as her leg buckled under her.
Musta twisted it… She grimaced, as she realized that her ankle was starting to really hurt. A triumphant sounding bellow from the Tauros snapped her attention back to the battle. He must have hit the Eevee with a glancing blow, stunning it momentarily. Liz squeaked, holding up a hand in a futile gesture as the bull tossed the Eevee aside with a sweep of his horns. The Eevee tumbled through the snow to land a few feet away, and Liz scrambled over, shivering at the sight of red on the white snow. Oh please don't be dead… The Eevee stirred as she reached the Pokémon, struggling to stand up. There was a nasty-looking gash down its left flank, and the right foreleg didn't seem to want to support its – her – weight, but that seemed to be the worst of her injuries.
"AAAUUURR!" Liz looked up as the Tauros reared back and charged towards them. She glanced down at the Eevee as the Pokémon bristled and bared her fangs in a snarl. Neither of them was in any shape to try dodging.
She muttered, digging into her pockets for something, anything to throw at the onrushing Pokémon. If she could hit his bloodied nose, it'd probably stop his charge. That seemed to be a sensitive spot. Her hand closed about a spherical object and she yanked it out, hurling it at the bull as he barreled closer. It nailed the bull squarely, and he drew back with a startled roar.
And then vanished into a flash of red energy. Liz blinked as the Safari ball hit the ground, rolling to a halt inches from her, then wriggled wildly for four or five seconds, stilled, then started wriggling again, though it stilled quickly this time. Silence reigned.
*ping*
Lizzie and the Eevee stared at the ball for nearly a minute, half expecting the Tauros to come bursting back out and attack again. Liz finally reached out and picked the ball up, warily. "Eevee veevee?"
Liz blinked at the Pokémon, then coughed. "I assume you wanna know why I didn't do that sooner, eh? Uh…well…" She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly as she pocketed the ball. "I…forgot?" The Eevee looked rather put out. "Um…" Liz dug out another pokéball, glancing from it to the Eevee and back. "I can get you to a Pokémon center in this…or not." She started to hold it out to the Eevee, and blinked as the Pokémon reared up and swatted it out of her hand before crumpling back to the ground.
Liz stared at the Pokémon a long moment. "You…are the Eevee I got from Bonnor…aren't you?" The Pokémon simply gave her an 'are you stupid?' look. Liz sighed. "I take that as a yes. Boy are you prickly." She reached over to retrieve the pokéball and pocket it, digging out the two that held Pokémon. "Why'd you follow me? I didn't give you any good reason to like me."
"Eevee." The Pokémon set to examining her side, ignoring Liz.
"How helpful you are." Lizzie sighed and leaned back against a tree. Anyhow….thanks." She examined the pokéballs, then pressed the release catch on one. The Eevee tensed, then relaxed as a Venonat appeared. "Sorry about that, fella, you can go…just didn't want you trampled." She looked up into the leafless branches overhead, sighing. What a Christmas.
"Veno?" Liz looked down as something tugged on a pant leg. The Venonat was staring at her, curiously. "Veno?" It glanced over at the Eevee, then returned its questioning gaze to Liz.
"Who, her? She's not that bad…just got hit by that Tauros a few times." She glanced over at the Eevee herself. "I take it you're sticking around, then?" Green eyes met brown and Liz shrugged. "I'd like ya to, but I'm not gonna stop you leaving."
They stared at each other a moment more, then the Pokémon made a faint approximation of a shrug. "Vee." Liz took that for agreement, since the Eevee turned back to her side and started licking at the gash.
The Venonat looked back and forth from the two, and finally sat down next to Liz, antennae quivering. "Naat…"
"I take it you're staying too?" Liz snorted, then shook her head. "I need names for you guys….but we'd probably best head for the exit first." She took a look up at the westering sun and stood, clutching at the tree to keep from falling as her ankle again refused to support her wait. "Oww…" The two Pokémon stared at her as she sank back down to a sitting position. "Or not…"
Night was falling quickly, and Liz stared up at the sky, wrapped in the thick wooly blanket she'd dug out of her backpack. She sighed as the blue faded to black, and one star became visible, than another. "Star light, star bright, eh, guys?" Liz gently ruffled the Eevee's fur. She'd done what she could to bandage her own ankle and the Eevee's injury, and the Pokémon had remained in her lap when she was done.
"Nat…" the bug's eyes glowed as it stared up at the stars. Liz chuckled as dug her fingers through the Venonat's fur as well. "Veno!" It squeaked happily.
"Glad you approve," Liz grinned, but the smile faded quickly. "Looks like we're gonna be stuck here for the night, though. Merry Christmas, eh?" She sighed again, running fingers through the Eevee's fur. "Any opinions, Venonat, Eevee?" She paused. "Man, I really wish I knew your names…feels funny calling you by your species. I wouldn't like being called 'human' all the time, myself…" She trailed off, realizing she was rambling. "Sorry."
The Venonat hummed faintly, eyes still on the stars. Liz grimaced. Just how she'd always wanted to spend her holiday, stuck out in the middle of the Safari Zone with a twisted ankle. Why didn't anything ever seem to go right for her? "Vee..?" A paw patted at her chin, gently. She blinked down at the Pokémon in her lap. A pair of worried brown eyes stared up at her. "Eeveevee?"
The paw reached up again and tapped at her nose this time. Liz smiled. "Trying t'cheer me up, Eevee?" She dug her fingers into the fur under the Pokémon's chin and the Eevee purred, stretching her neck out, rather like a cat. Lizzie giggled. "Thanks. You're a lot nicer than you pretend to be, aren't you? Getting to know you's like trying to pick blackberries without getting stuck by the thorns…hey. How's that, Blackberry? Would you mind if I called you that?" The Eevee blinked open one eye at her and sneezed, then rolled onto her back, batting at her hand with her paws. "Don't stop scratching, I take it. Silly…" She glanced over at the Venonat.
It was still staring up at the stars, humming softly. Lizzie cocked her head, listening. It sounded rather familiar. She frowned, staring at the bug. There was no way the fellow could know that song…but it was so close as to be the twin…
Liz stared up at the stars, blinking. Almost, she could hear the faint jingling of bells…it was Christmas Eve…slowly, she began to sing along, softly at first, then louder as she closed her eyes and gave up on trying to figure out what was going on.
"Silent night…Holy night…"
The Venonat softly hummed counterpoint to several more songs, as Liz sang softly. She opened her eyes as she felt Blackberry bristle in her lap and the Venonat broke off with a squeak. She followed their gaze, and blinked. About thirty feet off, a holly bush was glowing faintly. "What..?" she stared at the bush for a long moment, then dug her PokéDex out, flipping it open. The glow vanished.
Lizzie blinked. Was she just imagining things? "Gotta be dreaming…" She glanced down at the PokéDex in her hands, noting that Blackberry had shifted her gaze straight up. Liz blinked, looking up and pointing the PokéDex in that direction almost automatically, just in time to watch some glowing…thing flicker out of existence again.
"Scan incomplete." She glanced down at the device and sighed, turning her gaze out to the forest. This was getting weird.
"Meww?" Lizzie squealed as she found herself staring into a pair of pale blue eyes abruptly. The creature's glow filled the area faintly. Blackberry bristled, growling softly, but burbled into confused silence as the apparition blinked down at her, turning upside down in midair to do so, and giggled.
Liz blinked as the PokéDex beeped. She barely heard its speech as she stared at the Pokémon. "Mew. This Pokémon is believed to have been a very powerful psychic type. Little else is know about this Pokémon other than myths and legends. Its existence is questioned by many." It was a vaguely felinoid Pokémon with soft white fur, tail, back legs and ears tipped in a faint bluish purple. The tail was almost absurdly long, and the hind paws as oversized as the forepaws were undersized. But, since it was floating in mid-air, the size of its paws likely didn't matter.
It seemed amused at the whole situation, glancing from Eevee to girl and back, before flipping upright and chasing its own tail, giggling. Liz glanced down at the PokéDex finally, and raised an eyebrow at the image displayed. It was a hieroglyphic picture of a catlike creature that vaguely resembled the one before her. "Guess it's really rare then." The creature stopped abruptly, staring straight at her, the blue eyes seemingly boring straight through her. Liz stared back, wide-eyed.
"Mewwww!" It back flipped, giggling happily again, tail not quite hitting her face, not quite flicking Blackberry…and it was gone. Liz stared into the darkness for a long time, blinking.
Liz mumbled, burrowing deeper into the blankets as something furry rubbed against her cheek. "Wanna sleep…" Something patted at her face, then something nipped her ear. "Ow!" She sat up, rubbing at her ear and blinked at the blurry brown thing in front of her. A long moment was spent establishing that it was an Eevee. A chocolate brown furred Eevee. Liz closed her eyes. "Blackberry…"
"Eevee."
"Veno?" Liz glanced over at the bug-type, abruptly realizing it was snowing. And had been snowing for probably an hour or two already, to judge by how much The Venonat was shaking out of his fur. The bug Pokémon stared at her, quietly.
"You're still here, too? G'morning." She looked around the quiet forest. It seemed so peaceful now. She sighed and struggled out of the blanket, leaning against the tree to shake the worst of the snow off it before stuffing it into her backpack again. "Most magical time of the year…hah." Liz shook her head, then paused, glancing down at the Venonat, then off in the direction that she'd seen the holly bush. The bush was there, but it wasn't glowing. "Then again…"
She balanced herself carefully against the tree, trying out her weight on her injured ankle. "Doubt we should just wait for rescuers...they'dve found us by now I think. The entrance was that way…I think." Her ankle throbbed as she put weight on it, but didn't seem inclined to buckle completely. She took a deep breath and carefully stowed her backpack on her shoulders, and picked up Blackberry.
The Eevee snarled a protest as Liz deposited her on top of the backpack. "Hey, would you rather try walking through the snow yourself? I just figured this'd be easier." She held up the Venonat's pokéball and recalled him. She stowed the ball in a pocket, smiling faintly, "And thank you for giving me a chance. Both've you." She limped off through the forest.
It was quickly quite clear that her ankle wouldn't support much weight for very long, however. She found herself making her way from tree to tree to keep from collapsing. "Halloo!!" She paused against a tree, and listened as the cry echoed through the forest. "Hallooo!" Nothing. Maybe making noise wouldn't be the smartest move, but if there were people looking for her, it might help. She hoped.
Several hours passed in this fashion, her pausing to rest every few minutes and call out for anyone who might hear her. She finally slid down the tree she was leaning against into a sitting position, panting heavily. "Gotta rest a bit, 'Berry…cold, 'n tired." She leaned back against the trunk, closing her eyes. Blackberry stirred uneasily, glancing about the forest. It was beginning to snow harder and the Pokémon stirred restlessly as more and more minutes passed, and Lizzie didn't look inclined to go anywhere soon.
"Halloo!" It was faint, but with ears as large as hers, Blackberry had good hearing. "Halloooo!"
There was someone out there! "Vee!" She hopped off of Liz's shoulder, and tumbled into a snowdrift as her leg buckled with a yelp.
"Not gonna be here long…just gotta rest a few minutes, 'Berry." Liz didn't bother opening her eyes. The Pokémon levered herself upright, glaring at the girl.
"Eevee!" Blackberry glanced back as she heard the shout again. Was it getting louder? Or was it quieter? Hard to tell. "Veevee!" She stumbled off in the direction, looking back at Liz again. Liz was blinking at her a bit bemusedly.
"Hallooo!" Liz blinked as Blackberry glanced over her shoulder again. Was that…Lizzie struggled to stand up, clutching at the tree as her ankle once again refused to hold her weight. Liz pushed herself in Blackberry's direction, managing to hop on her good leg to another tree, and clung to that one.
"Not…hearing things…am I?" She glanced down at the Eevee, then scanned the forest. "Hallooo?" She listened to the echoes. "Donno…if they can hear me…" Lizzie sank down into a sitting position again. "Prob'ly not…" She sighed, closing her eyes again. "Prolly 'magining it…" Blackberry glanced back and forth between the faint shouts she could still barely make out, and the girl.
"Vee!" A flick of her tail and the Pokémon bounded off into the forest, moving quickly despite her injuries. Liz stared after the disappearing Pokémon, stunned.
"Wait..! Come back!" She struggled to her feet again, stumbling after the Pokémon. "Blackberry..?"
Blackberry bounded through the forest, injured leg held clear of the ground. One bound carried her into a snowdrift, and the unexpectedly deeper snow disrupted her momentum entirely, causing her to go rump over tail through the drift. She lay where she landed, panting, for a moment, then struggled back to her feet and set off again.
It was almost ironic, this, trying so hard to catch up with a group of humans, not for her own sake, but for a human's sake. She'd never cared much for the race of creatures called humanity, with their arrogant superiority. Getting captured by one of the 'Pokémon Trainers' had not been in her plans.
But once captured, there was little she could do about it. If she ran away, someone else would probably capture her. And this human seemed to at least care about her feelings. There could be worse options for humans. This Lizzie child at least didn't force her to go into one of the distasteful spheres…
And so, this led back to trying to catch up with those other humans to lead them back to the girl. If she'd been told two weeks ago that this was how she'd spend Christmas, she would have laughed. She was almost there…
"Hallooo!!" The large man paused a moment to listen to the echoes fade, then sighed, running a hand through his gray-speckled beard. He pushed on, hiking his jacket tighter around his broad shoulders. There had been people searching for half of the night for the girl, but nobody had found anything. This snowstorm wasn't helping matters, obliterating whatever trail they might have been able to find. So now they just had to keep searching, and hope.
It was possible that she might have made her way out of the Zone, but for the fact that the fence was unbroken, and most of the birds large enough to carry a person had already migrated south. That left the only way out as the main gate, and they would have been notified if she'd come out that way.
"This is ridiculous…who would go out and try to catch Pokémon on Christmas Eve? Kids should be home with their families." He glanced back at the pair in his group as they spoke quietly with one another. They were both half his age, and quite a pair, utterly devoted to each other. They worked well together.
"Maybe she doesn't have one. Thought of that, Alex?" The girl shook her head, poking a finger at her companion.
"Well…" Alex coughed, running a hand through his pale brown hair. "I guess that could be true, Wren…" He sighed. Alex was a nice enough sort, but didn't tend to look past the obvious right away. He was a good kid though, and his brown eyes showed that he was as worried about this missing child as anyone. "Whatcha think, Rob?" The large man merely shrugged, keeping out of the conversation for the moment.
Wren, his fiancée, thought things through as much as Alex took them for granted. They were rather opposite in many ways, he was tall, she petite, her dark skinned, him pale. She was an expert tracker, and often seemed to have a sixth sense about such things. She brushed her black hair out of her dark eyes, frowning. "Or maybe she was trying to find a specific Pokémon for a present for somebody and this was her last shot at it. There are a lot of possibilities why..." She paused, frowning, and pulled out a pokéball. "D'ya hear that?" Both of the men paused, blinking at her.
A flash of red and a Golduck appeared. Wren glanced around the area as the duck's eyes began to glow. Something's coming. A Pokémon. The Golduck's telepathic voice echoed in the Wren's head as his gaze darted in a quick circle. From that direction…it's an Eevee. There was no mistaking the faint surprise as he added the last part, pointing towards the southeast.
Wren immediately started in that direction, Golduck hard on her heels. The Pokémon's surprise was understandable. Though Eevee's were more common in this area, Evolution Mountain being their native territory, it was rare they'd end up in the Safari Zone. Rob and Alex followed a bit further behind, Alex looking confused, Rob unreadable.
She stopped, glancing down at Golduck as it caught her leg and tugged. It's coming…it's hurt rather badly. Wren frowned, and dug out a pokéball. The Pokémon stumbled into view, and Wren winced faintly at its battered appearance. She hefted the pokéball and tossed it at the Pokémon, blinking as the Eevee snarled and tumbled out of the way of it, staggering back upright to yap at her angrily.
She dug another pokéball out, and the Eevee bristled, but Golduck stepped forward. Wren paused, for the first time noticing that the Eevee's injuries had been bandaged, if inexpertly. "Gol?"
"Vee." The Eevee relaxed slightly. Golduck cocked his head, and the two spoke for several minutes as the humans watched. "Eevee!" The Eevee turned about and bounded in the direction she had come, or at least tried to, tumbling to the ground in a furry heap with an indignant squeak. Golduck hopped over, and reached out cautiously.
"Duck?" The Pokémon considered a moment, then nodded. He picked her up carefully and turned back to his trainer and her companions. She says she has a trainer already, Wren. I think it's the girl you've been looking for, too. Golduck paused, considering. Her trainer's hurt, too, and she came here to get our help. It's not too bad, he added as he darted off down the Eevee's trail, the girl just has some scrapes and bruises, mostly. The real problem is that she twisted her ankle.
Wren sighed with relief, setting off after her Pokémon. "Golduck says he thinks that the Eevee's trainer is that girl we're looking for. She just twisted her ankle bad. This way." Rob and Alex exchanged glances, and tried to catch up.
Lizzie stared in the direction that Blackberry had gone. She had thought the Eevee had wanted to stay with her. Naturally not. She packed up a handful of snow and hurled it in that direction. "Be that way then." Liz glared out into the trees. Some Christmas this was.
At least she knew that there were people out looking for her. Maybe she should try sending out that Tauros…too risky. They'd probably hear him, but she didn't believe he'd listen to her, and didn't trust her odds of being able to recall him before he tried to kill her. Maybe send the Venonat…no, he couldn't move quickly enough. She sighed.
Stupid Eevee. Stupid holidays. Stupid Lizzie, even. She wrapped her arms around her knees, resting her head atop them, closing her eyes. She'd never do anything right.
A crashing sound jarred her out of near-sleep, her eyes snapping open to stare in the direction of the noise. If it was another killer Pokémon…
"Golduck!" A Golduck galloped into view, skidding to a halt as it spotted her. She met its gaze, blinking. You are Elizabeth, yes? We've been looking for you. Lizzie blinked. Had it spoken to her?
Before she'd recovered enough to reply, a woman stepped into view, smiling. "Over here!" she shouted over her shoulder, reaching out to pat the Golduck on his head. "Good job, old friend."
"Eevee!" Liz blinked, only just noticing the brown Pokémon clutched in the Golduck's clawed hands. Blackberry squirmed to be put down, and Golduck obliged, looking amused. The Eevee bounded over to her, tumbling into her side with an indignant squeal.
"Blackberry?" Liz carefully scooped the Eevee up as two more people came out of the trees, "You went to find them? Thanks. I thought…well nevermind what I…you came back." She gave up on trying to make any sense and hugged the Pokémon gently, giggling as she felt the Pokémon's tongue tickling her chin. Maybe things weren't so bad as they seemed, sometimes…she glanced back up at the trio of people. They probably wanted an explanation.
"I…didn't mean to worry anybody, but there was this Tauros an' he didn't like company…" Lizzie trailed off as the lady held up a hand and chuckled, recalling her Pokémon. "I mean it's Christmas and I didn't mean to bother…"
"Can't think of a better Christmas present than friendship," the younger of the two men broke in, as he nodded at Blackberry in her arms, chuckling. "'Cept maybe love." He exchanged a look and a soft smile with the woman. "I'm Alex, by the way," he added, as he reached down to pick her up carefully, "That's Wren, my fiancée. And don't let Rob over there scare ya, he's a good guy."
Wren snorted as Liz squirmed slightly, ill at ease. "And you look before you leap." Wren shook her head, smiling at Lizzie. These three seemed awfully nice. "We heard you had a twisted ankle, Elizabeth, so it'll be easier for you if you don't try to walk, which is why Alex is going to carry you, if that's all right."
"S'all right..." Lizzie relaxed, letting Alex scoop her up.
"Why don't you recall that Eevee you caught, too? She's rather beat up herself." Rob suggested as he turned towards the entrance, and set off. "We'll get you to the Pokécenter in no time."
Lizzie relaxed further, exhaustion winning its battle with her more quickly than she wanted. "Didn' catch her…but she 'cided to stick wi' me 'nyhow…'Berry dun like pokéballs..." Wren touched her arm, interrupting her train of thought.
"Explanations can wait, Elizabeth. Everything can wait. It's all right."
"C'n call me Lizzie…" She mumbled, before sleep overtook her.
'Dear Mom and Dad,
I'm sorry for just running off like that, but I had to. I'm sorry. I just can't live the way you want me to. I want to live my own life and do what I really love doing. I didn't mean'
Lizzie paused, staring at the sheet of paper. She sighed and ripped it into little pieces that she dropped into the trash, watching them flutter like confetti to the bottom. She sighed again, and Blackberry cracked an eye open to regard her curiously. Liz stared back, then frowned and returned to another sheet of paper. After a short time she growled in frustration, scribbling over what she'd written.
"Can't get it to sound right." She crumpled up the paper and tossed it into the trash after the confetti-pieces. Blackberry yawned.
"Eevee. Veevee." She hopped up onto the desk and patted Liz's hand with a paw. "Veevee eevee." Liz cocked her head at the Pokémon, and sighed. She couldn't give up her Pokémon, not now, and she wasn't about to give up on her dreams. Avoiding her parents wasn't going to get her anywhere.
She sighed and thought back over the past few days, catching the Tauros and the Venonat, the Mew…she smiled faintly as she leaned back in her chair. That had been something special. Even if it wasn't real. She couldn't decide if she really saw it, or if it was a dream. She didn't want to try and find out yet, either. It didn't really matter either way, anyhow. Did it?
So much had happened. Alex and Wren had invited her over to have dinner with them while she explained what had happened, and before she'd really thought about it, she'd wound up telling them everything. About her parents, running away, Bonnor…
Well, she hadn't mentioned the Mew. If that hadn't been a dream, it was hers alone. Well, her Pokémon's too, but that was it. So maybe not quite everything, but they'd looked a bit concerned over the whole deal, and had tentatively mentioned that it might be good to go back and explain to her parents…at which point she'd run out of their house.
They had been right. And she didn't want to admit it. But she couldn't go back just yet. If she did, her parents would just make her stay home and never allow her near any Pokémon until she was able to move out. And she wouldn't be able to say no. She was tired of fighting over it. So she'd decided to try writing a letter, which she was not getting anywhere with. She sighed.
"Eevee." Blackberry hopped up onto her shoulder, and Lizzie giggled as the Eevee's thick fur tickled the base of her neck. What was it Alex had said earlier…about friendship being a gift? She paused, thinking. Bonnor had given her Blackberry as a gift, trusting in her judgment. And Blackberry had stuck with her despite her being so touchy about things…and then there was that Venonat that forgave for her catching him. And Wren, and Rob and Alex…she wasn't alone.
She had friends.
She grinned, running a hand down the Pokémon's back. "Thanks, Blackberry." She thought a moment, and turned back to the paper, staring at it for a second before writing furiously.
Lizzie handed the envelope over to the center's nurse as she collected her other two pokéballs from her, dropping them into a pocket. She needed to get something better to store them in. "Could I get that sent to Stone Town as fast as possible, please?"
"Certainly. It should be there in two days by Ponyta Express." Lizzie counted out her change, handing over enough to cover the fee, and trotted out of the Pokécenter. "Have a nice day!"
"Well, here goes nothing, eh Blackberry?" Liz pulled out her PokéDex and grinned at it. The nurse had registered Blackberry as one of her Pokémon, when she first came in, so everything was in order. She just had one more thing to do. She pulled one of her pokéballs back out of her pocket, releasing the Venonat. "Hey there." She dropped down to impulsively give the insect a hug as he stared at her. "Just wanted to thank you for giving me a chance, Chance."
"Nat?" The bug's eyes flickered as she stood up, smiling.
"Just a name, if you like it." Liz looked down the road, towards Fuchsia's exit, and grinned. "Since I can't find out your real name, I hope this one's okay." She looked at the Venonat inquiringly. He hummed, nodding slowly. "Alright, then, Chance, Blackberry, let's see what's out there, 'kay?"
'Dear Mom and Dad,
How's it going? I'm doing all right, caught a Tauros and a Venonat already. I met a couple of really nice people in Fuchsia, Wren and Alex. Wren's a Pokémon Trainer, and she showed me some of her Pokémon. Alex is one of the wardens of the Pokémon Reserve by the Safari Zone. They're gonna be getting married in about a year. They even invited me to come. I'm really looking forward to going to it.
I'm sorry about running away like that, but I can't be what you want me to. I'm not perfect, I hate dancing, and embroidery, and I like being outside and being with Pokémon. I'm not very good at being the lady that you seem to want. I'm not very good at very many things that it seems that you want me to be. This is something I think I can be good at. Please, I wanna be myself, and I wanna train Pokémon. I wish I coulda made you understand, or something, but I'm not that great at explaining, I guess.
I don't want to stay at home and read about things, I want to live them. I promise I'll write, and I'll call when I can, but please let me do this. It's my dream. I want to meet new people, make friends, and see the world. Don't make me give up my Pokémon. They're my friends. And I don't want to desert my friends. I'm sorry.
I do love you. Hope you understand. Give Bethy a hug for me will you?
Lizzie'