By Nyassa Kaiba
Chapter 5- Welcome Bright EyesI woke up the next morning to find empty bowls on the ground. The other pokemon, except for Akela were gone. The clock said twelve noon. Then I realized what had awakened me. The mental touch I now felt was Mewtwo's. I'm sorry to wake you up, but you can't sleep all day. He told me.
"Just watch me." I joked with a yawn. "Did I miss breakfast?"
The Professor kept it hot for you, biscuits, sausage and something he calls Canadian Bacon. Mewtwo replied. Might I recommend that you change clothes first. The Professor laid out a pair of jeans and a tank top that he says used to belong to his granddaughter. Mewtwo pointed to the chair nearby where the clothes lay, neatly folded. I'll leave while you dress.
I got up and fingered the clothes, the jeans were red, made of corduroy and tight. Red wasn't really my color, but I could stand it. The tank was a deep burgundy, of the kind that only had one shoulder, in a single strap that held up the whole thing. I pulled them on and put my vest over the tank. I never really dressed like that. I wasn't the kind of girl who dressed all hoochie koochie at school. I slipped the ball belt through the loops and hooked my pokeballs up to the attachments.
I ventured downstairs with Akela trotting at my heals. Mewtwo was nowhere to be seen, but Celebi was munching on a bowl of Cheri berries and giggling at the taste. You can tell when a pokemon is laughing, because it doesn't translate. Like now for example, I heard... These berries are delicious! Bibibibibibibibibiiiiii!
"I'm glad you like them Celebi."
You're up! I'm so glad! Professor Oak is currently feeding the pokemon. But he says you're to eat before you join him. He's going to teach you how to care for them.
"Thanks." I went into the kitchen and found my plate on the warmer. That was about the time Ash came barreling in. "I didn't miss anything did I?"
"If you missed it I did too, because I just woke up."
Gary wrapped his arms around Ash's waist with a smirk. "That's what you get for staying up late Ashy boy."
"Hey, we were all up late!" Ash protested.
"I'm kidding Ash." Gary said, nuzzling him amorously.
"Find a room you two." Misty said, rolling her eyes. She came in in a bathing suit, so I assumed she'd been working in the water pokemon habitat.
Brock grabbed Misty by the ear and dragged her away. "You're just jealous because Gary got Ash instead of you."
"OW BROCK!"
"Well how do you like it?" He demanded. "Every time I get near a reasonably attractive girl you yank me away."
"No comment." I muttered. "Besides Brock, I thought you liked Roxanne."
"I do, but I'm not sure it's serious." Brock muttered with a sigh.
"Oh, why don't you just call her, you've got her number." The biscuits were so good, forget the gravy, give me butter and strawberry jam any day. Of course, this stuff didn't taste like strawberries. It was sweet and spicy-ish. Very good.
Misty cut a slice of bread from a loaf that appeared to be homemade, slathered it with butter, honey, and preserves and sat down across from me. "So, Fera, want to come fishing with me Friday evening? I heard that they've sighted a new pokemon in the river south of Pallet Town."
"Sure, what's it called?" I asked.
"It's called a Feebas. I heard that if you feed it the right pokeblocks it turns into a pokemon called Milotic." Misty's eyes sparkled with stars. "I want a beautiful Milotic on my team... almost as much as I wanted a Vaporeon."
Misty caught a couple of new water pokemon during the outbreak. She caught a HUGE brown Feraligator and an Eevee that she evolved into Vaporeon almost immediately. She probably got the necessary stone from the mine that Hikaru left for me. Whatever the circumstances, Misty's roster looked something like....
MistyTogepi
Staryu
Starmie
Goldeen
Horsea
Psyduck
Corsola
Vaporeon
Feraligator
I took a long drink of orange juice to disguise the pounding of my heart. Had it happened at last? Had Misty finally asked me out on a date? I HAD to know. But I wanted her none the same. Misty was going to be MINE this Friday. And nobody or nothing was going to get between us.
"Oooooh Misty's gonna ask Fera out on a DAAAAATTTEEEE!" Ash teased.
Misty nearly choked on a piece of bread. "What makes you think it's a date? I just want help catching that Feebas, and if you cared at all about winning the Johto League you'd be trying to catch one too!" Misty snarled, face twitching. That made it official. When Misty started denying something that way, the opposite of what she said was very likely true.
"There you all are." Professor Oak said as he came in. Then he noticed the glare between Ash and Misty. "Fighting already? There's so much to do today. Fera, your Venusaur's hide needs to be oiled or it will be weak against acids. Your bulbasaurs and ivysaurs are fine. So are the rock pokemon you caught. They're settling in very well, although your Onix aren't doing so well."
"What's wrong with them Professor? And why do you have to oil a Venusaur's hide?"
"Well, the Onix didn't seem very happy to be here. Physically they're fine though. But I'm surprised that Venusaur's hide is so cracked. It must have been attacked by an ice pokemon, and it's got scars all over it's arms and legs." He shivered. "That one's been through a lot. Your other pokemon with fur has to be groomed daily for good health. A pokemon with scales or hide has to be oiled to help protect their skin."
I finished the last bite of pancakes and stood, clearing my place. "Show me how Professor." I told him.
Professor Oak lead me out to the grass pokemon's habitat. Ash's Bayleef and Bulbasaur joined myself and Akela as we walked out to the place where Venusaur was busy eating a stack of berries and fruits. The food is good out here.
Elder, I've come to oil you hide. I said. Professor Oak had already laid out the brushes and oil needed for the job. Show me where it hurts.
Venusaur turned to the area just above it's short, stumpy tail. It hurts most on this side, just beneath the leaves. I think I got a thorn stuck there.
Yeay! Akela cheered. I get to watch you oil Venusaur's butt!! He laughed.
Bulbasaur looked up at me hopefully. Can I kick him, or would you like to do the honors?
Children please settle down. The elderly Venusaur scolded them.
"This is going to be a loooooooonnnnnngggg day." I sighed as I dipped the long handled brush into the tub of herbal oil.
It didn't take as long to oil Venusaur as I thought, and the look and tone of relief on the old pokemon's face was enough to make the chore worthwhile. I gave the elderly pokemon a good rub on the chin. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"
Tomorrow is fine.
Meanwhile, Bulbasaur was talking with his fellow Bulbasaur. And then the Beedrill used twin needle. I ducked and gave it the good ole leech seed! The thing fell to the ground with an allmighty THUMP, twitching in pain! I'll bet Jeanette never saw it coming!
"Are you going to stay for awhile Bulbasaur?" I asked.
For awhile at least. Tell Ash that I wanted to hang out with the other bulbasaur.
"Okay, I'll let him know. I think he's brushing some of his larger pokemon."
I started up the hill with Akela and Bayleef followed. Unfortunately, our route took us through the poison pokemon habitat. YEEEAAAAAAAYYYY!!! I was glomped by a Muk.
"AAAACKKK!" I cried, "Get off of me!"
PO-KE-Piiillleeeee! Akela cried, jumping on my back as well.
When Bayleef finally managed to get both pokemon off of me I scolded them both. Look, Muk, I have no idea who your trainer is...
Ash...
Whoever! You don't just go glomping every person you see!
But I LIKE glomping people! It's fun. They're so cool that I just want to give them a hug! That's all!
Well your hugs are a little much.
I turned and continued to walk back to the house. Muk followed me along with Akela and Bayleef.
I'm one of Ash's pokemon too. Bayleef said cheerfully. He's so CUTE that I just HAD to be his trainer. I like giving Ash hugs!
Gods help me. I thought. I'm sure you do. I said, with the patience of one talking to a retard.
YEAY! ANOTHER of Ash's pokemon. I've been going all over the place trying to meet Ash's new pokemon!
"Hey Muk!" Ash cried, running over. "I was wondering where you've gotten too. I just finished feeding Snorlax, and I went to visit Pigeot off in the woods. Pigeot's coming back tomorrow. One of the Pidgy finally made it to Pigeot, so my Pigeot can come back."
Yeayyyyy! ASH! Muk cried, running over to give Ash a hug.
"Ash, your Muk was sliming me up!" I cried, mournfully.
"Uh, yeah, it tends to do that. Look, Gary wanted to talk to you." Ash jerked his thumb over to the back door, where Gary was waiting with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Oh great, he doesn't look happy." Akela and I went over to the back door.
"Follow me." Gary said, and strode off into the woods beyond Professor Oak's lab. This was no man's land. "So you think you can be a master huh? I saw all the pokemon you caught. You've been a trainer for months and you only have a little over a dozen pokemon? Five of them are babies? Come on. I know you can do better Fera. I've seen your potential during the crisis. So I convinced Professor Oak to let me go with you to capture more pokemon. He'll help you with the pokemon you've already caught, like Onix and company. But if you want to be a master you need more experience catching pokemon."
I sighed. "Alright, here we go then." I brushed my way through the bushes.
We hiked along the river. I wondered if there really were Feebas there.
I heard the noise. For the pack, for the pack, for the pack, for the pack. I also felt the vibration of maybe hundreds of tiny feet. Gary and I had about a second's warning before the Eevee, literally dozens of them, came barreling out of the forest. They knocked Gary and I off balance and knocked us into the river before getting a drink.
I came up, sputtering water and shouted. "YOU LITTLE PUNKS!! KNOCKING ME INTO THE WATER LIKE THAT!! I'LL CLEAN YOUR CLOCKS!"
They looked at me in total silence before they began to chant. Woman mad, woman mad, woman mad, woman mad.
"Damn right I'm mad! I'm so mad I'll catch all of you! Kadabra!" I cried, throwing a pokeball to block the Eevees' escape back into the woods. "Hypnosis attack!"
Hypnosis! You are getting sleepy, very sleepy. Kadabra told them. Waves rippled from its eyes. I ducked back under the water to stay awake and saw that the waves were even affecting the fish pokemon in the river.
I went above to check on Kadabra's work. The Eevee were all asleep. I opened the pouch on my backpack that had pokeballs in it and threw them, one by one, at all the different Eevee. In the end I counted 2 and ½ dozen Eevee! I had caught 30 Eevee!
Gary hauled himself out of the river. "Whew! That was close. What were they saying?"
"Well, first they were chanting, 'for the pack' over and over again. When I yelled at them they said, 'Woman mad' over and over again."
"You think grandpa would have some trouble with them?" Gary asked worriedly.
"I think he might. Let's go back. DRAGONITE!" I called out dragonite. "Kadabra, return. Akela, Gary, climb on." I told them as I mounted dragonite's back. Gary climbed on after me and Akela climbed into my lap. "Right, let's go."
Dragonite lifted off and flew us to the mansion. Mewtwo was perched with Celebi on the top of the spire. I'm glad your safe. But I'd rather avoid the ruckus in there if I were you.
"What ruckus?" I asked, as dragonite landed on the roof.
The eevee you captured are hyper. Mewtwo explained. They're running around knocking things over. They nearly ran me down.
"Oops, sorry Mewtwo."
Just don't let it happen again. Mewtwo rolled his eyes. Those Eevee are a pokemon gang, like the squirtle squad. They call themselves the Eevee pack. I'd heard of them during my days in Kanto. They beat the crap out of one of Giovanni's best operatives, even Domino had trouble with them.
"So they're basically a pokemon gang. Oh great."
I heard something crashing to the ground below. The whole house rocked with the explosion of something.
Oh no. Mewtwo stated. Oh please no.
"We'd better go pick up the mess." I sighed as Dragonite sailed down to the ground.
Professor Oak was chasing after a few dozen Eevees, an expression of exasperation on his face. Then they crashed into the bag that I'd put my element stones in. One of them, a rather small but ragged looking one with pieces missing from his ear, tugged at the tie that kept it closed with his teeth. He looked inside, eyes brightening when he saw the shimmering light of the element stones. Oooooh Shinies! Hurry up everybody! Come see the shinies!
Oooh!
Wow!
Cool!
I want one!
WHOOPS! Was the collective cry as the bag tipped over. Element Stones spilled across the floor, wherever Eevee touched water, fire, or thunder stone the hyperactive pokemon glowed, and, still tumbling over the floor evolved into either a jolteon, flareon, or vaporeon.
The tiny eevee had a leaf stone in his teeth and came running over. MY SHINEY!
OH NO YOU DON'T! I shouted.
Oh no! It's mad lady! Everybody run for it!
"Professor I'm so sorry!" I ran for the pokeball room, herding the eevees in that direction as I ran.
"Call me Grandfather Fera, and that's quite alright." He sighed as he lead me to where my pokeballs were kept.
I went over to shelf where the eevee's pokeballs were stored. I threw the balls, trapping the different Eevee, Jolteon, Vaporeon, and Flareon in them. "I'll deal with them tomorrow. I just thought that...."
The pokeball with the ragged little eevee in it popped back open. Mad lady bad! Mad lady leave lone!
"I can't do that! I'm your trainer." I growled. "You were the ones who knocked me into the river."
Shiney, give give now!
"No, no shiney, I need that to evolve a pokemon."
Which pokey?
"Uh..."
My point, give shiney and we leave loney!
"Oh great, blackmailed by my own Eevee. Alright, tell you what. Here's a shiney that won't evolve your people. Okay?" I handed Eevee a Sunstone.
Wheeeeee! Shiney shiney! The Eevee picked up the stone in it's teeth and then snuggled against my cheek.
"So what shall I call you?" I asked, scratching the little minx behind the ears.
Hmmm... Me called Half Ear by my packmates, but I born Dawn.
"Dawn huh, that's a pretty name."
Pretty nothing, girls not normally made chief. Girls given sissy names and girls 'xpected to obey boys. Me no obey. So me fight and me lead pack.
"Well, that makes too of us. When I first became a trainer, I didn't want to be left in the dust, so I worked hard and I've got a ton of badges now and some really strong pokemon. Dawn, I'm sorry I hurt all of you. Can you forgive me and work with me as my pokemon?"
As long as I can keep shiney. They say that diamonds are a girl's best friend, but me like element stones, shineys. But do me a favor.
"What favor?" I asked, worried that she'd demand the whole bag.
Don't make me evolve. Not yet at least, not until time right.
"Sure, you don't want to evolve, that's fine." I told her. "I can understand not wanting to change." I told her.
Yeay! Then you friend. You take care of shineys, I take care of eevee. Eevee held out a paw to be shaken.
"Okay, it's a deal." I took it. "You know Eevee. I own a mine where we dig shineys out of the ground."
You do? Someday I wanna see it! Dawn told me, jumping happily into my arms.
"Sure, someday, when I head back out to Johto, I'll take you to see it." I promised.
Mewtwo popped in. Is it over?
"Yes, I think I've worked out their problem, about half of them got into my element stones and evolved though. I'm going to have to sort them by evolution."
Thank all the gods that ever were. They were a menace.
Meweytwoey! Meanie mewietwoey! Go way Meweytwoey! Ptoie gablooie spitouie! Dawn said, spitting on the tip of Mewtwo's nose.
Mewtwo growled, wiping the spit off of his nose. As a human once said, Omae oh korosu! I am going to KILL YOU! He leapt after Dawn. Dawn slipped out of my arms and bounced on his head, to land on top of an empty shelf. Her body was bristling with hatred. You sell us to team rocket and you betray pokemon kind. You are an abomination. You die! Dawn leapt onto Mewtwo's back, teeth gripping into his neck.
Mewtwo stumbled forward, screaming in pain as her teeth sank into it's neck. Blood seeped from the cuts. Dawn used all her strength to kick and scratch, shaking her head to deepen the cuts in Mewtwo's neck.
"DAWN DON'T!" I cried, grabbing the Eevee.
He attack pack! He must die! Is enemy! Enemy is for killing! He help Giovanni capture pack! Capture mother! He die! Vengeance mine! The Eevee struggled against my grip.
Mewtwo disappeared into the lab. "I'll go help Mewtwo." Professor Oak said as he left the room.
Why you let him go! He hurt pack! He must die!
"No, he's not part of Team Rocket anymore Dawn. He's not under Giovanni's control anymore." I said, stroking her head soothingly.
He still Mewietwoey! Mewietwoey is bad! Mewietwoey split pack! Giovanni take them! Giovanni take mother! I venge Giovanni!
"Yeah, Giovanni took somebody close to me too. He gave me my first pokemon, did you know that?" I asked.
Giovanni take friend too?
"Yeah." I felt my throat choke over. "His name was Hikaru. It's because of Giovanni that he died."
Then why let Mewietwoey go?
"Because Giovanni was using him, the way he uses all the rockets. It's not the grunts' fault that they do those things. It's Giovanni's for making them. Mewtwo was just a pawn. If you hate anybody, hate Giovanni. But don't hate anybody if you can. Hate festers." I told her. "It hurts like a wound just as much as grief. Both of them aren't healthy Dawn." I leaned down to kiss her on the forehead.
Dawn giggled, then reached up to lick my cheek. I sorry I hurt Mewietwoey. I 'pologize soon?
"Let him recover first." I said. "Here." I pulled out the pokeblock case that Professor Elm gave me. I pulled out a pink pokeblock. "Try them, they're sweet."
Dawn ate the pokeblock. Mmm. What are they?
"They're called pokeblocks." I explained. "They're really good."
They are. Fera?
"Yes?" I asked.
I'm sorry I upset you. Dawn snuggled her cheek to mine.
"That's okay." I said, scratching her behind the ears.