Chapter 1

Ema kept repeating the process for a few minutes until finally he started coughing on his own. Ema lit up and pulled her head back as he slowly opened his eyes. "Thank Arceus you're ok!" She exclaimed. "You aren't that hurt are you?"

"Ugh…who's there?" Jacob asked as he rubbed the back of his head as he sat up.

"Is there someone else here?" Ema asked as she looked around for some voice she apparently never heard. She then turned back to the human she helped out of the river who was staring at her with wide-eyes.

"S-say something else Umbreon…" He said slowly.

"Like what? It's not like you'll understand me anyways." Ema said.

"Oh Arceus how is this possible?" Jacob asked himself.

"How is what…wait…you can understand me!?" Ema exclaimed.

"Ow." Jacob said rubbing his ear. "Not so loud please."

"I-I'm sorry…" Ema looked down and let the rain soak the back of her head more before Jacob pulled her chin upwards to his face.

"It's ok Umbreon, I forgive you." Jacob said. Ema smiled a little and Jacob let go of her chin. "I still can't believe it though."

"Believe what?"

"I can't believe I'm actually able to understand you. I mean this is so cool!" Jacob said in excitement.

"It has its pros." Ema said.

"Hey uh…do you have a name? I mean yes I know most people just call you by your species name, but I feel you need something to set you apart from other pokemon out there." Jacob said. "Oh I know! How about you can be Ubre?" Ema shook her head saying no.

"My mother gave me the name Ema." She said. "I think it would better to use that one."

"Then Ema it is." Jacob said. Ema rolled her eyes a little and the rain began to slowly die down. "I guess the rain's stopping." Ema looked up and saw the dark clouds over them seeming to stop their torrent for the time being.

"I guess so." She said.

"Do you want to come back with me to the camp?" Jacob asked.

"I-I don't know Jacob…" she replied looking away. Jacob then put his hand on her shoulders.

"I'll be with you everywhere we go, and if you don't want to be seen, we can try and find a way for you to stay hidden." He told her. She looked up to him.

"You mean that?" Ema asked. Jacob nodded.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I stay with you? I just pulled you out of a river after all." He replied.

"Yet who was the one who have to perform CPR?" Ema added.

"Ok fine we're tied; but that still means I'm not abandoning someone I'm willing to save." Jacob told her. Ema felt a tear form in her eye as she walked over and nuzzled against his body.

"T-thank you…" She said while sniffling. Jacob hugged and rubbed her. Ema licked his hand out of affection. "B-but how are you going to explain me to the rest of those humans." Jacob put a hand behind his head.

"Well….uh…you see…crap, you're right." He said. Ema giggled…no she laughed which caused Jacob to join her.

"I guess you're not exactly a pokemon trainer are you?" She asked.

"No I guess not, but please don't fall into that habit of calling me master or trainer. I want you to call me by my name and whatever nicknames you could think of during our time together." He replied. As Jacob was stroking Ema's back with his hand, he felt one of her scars. "What happened…?"

"S-Something I-I'd rather forget." Ema said nervously.

"I understand. I won't force you to tell me, that's probably something you need to decide for yourself." He said. He then let Ema go and looked at himself. "Aw man, these are going to need to be sanitized now."

"Can't take a swim human?" Ema joked. Jacob and Ema chuckled.

"You're a comedian now are you?" Jacob replied. Ema rolled her eyes and they made their way back to the camp just as the counselor and campers were about to organize a search party. Ema hid behind Jacob's leg and then one of the campers called out that he was back.

"Jacob! What were you thinking! You could have been hurt or worse!" The counselor yelled.

"I-I'm sorry, I needed to take care of something." He replied.

"And what was so important that you thought it best to run out like that?" The counselor asked. Jacob looked behind him and Ema slowly nodded so he stepped to his left to reveal Ema to the group. "Jacob, why do you have an Umbreon?"

"I found her in the woods yesterday and-and I was worried if she was going to be ok during the storm. I found her in a cave and decided to wait it out with her." Jacob lied. He wasn't about to tell the counselor about that he almost drowned in a river that was flooded. The counselor looked to Ema who nodded quickly to help cover up the river incident. The counselor sighed.

"I understand…just don't do it again." She said. Jacob nodded. "So what do you plan on doing with the Umbreon?"

"Well, uh…I was kind of hoping she could stay with me since she isn't really native to the forest…" Jacob said sheepishly. The counselor sighed again.

"Alright, but she's your responsibility." She said. Jacob smiled.

"I understand, thank you so much." Jacob replied. She then walked off and that's when the murmuring started. People started saying things along the lines of him being lucky to undeserving of the Umbreon they saw standing next to the soaked boy. Ema tried hiding herself besides Jacob and she made a few tiny whimpers. "Don't worry; we're almost to the wash room."

"Wait why are going there?" Ema asked. Jacob gestured to himself, who at this had mud covering him from head to toe. "Oh…"

"Don't worry, I'll give you one to." He said. Ema nodded and he opened the door for the dark pokemon. "You want to go in first?" Jacob asked her.

"I-I guess it wouldn't be too bad…" She told him. Jacob then bent down to pick up Ema. She slowly walked into his arms and he lifted her off the ground. He set her down in the shower, turned it on, and bent down to her level and rubbed her fur with a bar of soap as the water poured on them. Ema's rings brightened slightly and she purred as Jacob ran the bar along her before letting the shower rinse her off. He then took a towel and wrapped her up like a pokemon burrito before taking his own shower. He soon finished, but decided to stay behind the curtain as he cleaned off his clothes before turning off the water and putting his damp clothes back on. "I know you're sitting pretty in your fresh clothes, but can you please let me out of the towel now?" Jacob then opened the curtain and unwrapped Ema from the towel.

"Sorry about that." Jacob said.

"You better be." Ema pouted. Jacob chuckled a little and tied his shoes again. "So what's with your clothes? Are you trying to impress someone with the amount of pockets you have?"

"Wait what's wrong with it?" Jacob asked self-consciously. Ema laughed. "Ugh, something tells me you just said that to make me conscious about it; didn't you?" Ema nodded.

"Like I said, being able to understand me has its pros." She said is a friendly-mocking tone. Jacob rolled his eyes and rubbed her head. She purred and leaned into it.

"I guess that makes it official." Jacob said. Ema looked at him curiously.

"What does that mean?" Ema asked.

"It means you and I are friends from now on!" Jacob exclaimed.

"I thought the river incident where I technically kissed you proved it." Ema said with a small giggle.

"I-I uh…" Jacob began before getting flustered by the last part of Ema's statement, "Y-you and I both know it wasn't like that! You knew what I meant." Ema almost laughed again at his exclamation. Jacob rolled his eyes and patted her head before standing up again. He walked to the door and then opened it. Ema walked over to where he was and they both left the bath house.

The duo walked back into the camp, Ema stayed oddly silent while they were walking around the other campers. Her reason was to help Jacob hide his newfound abilities, but she never thought to tell him that idea. Jacob didn't seem to notice because he stayed quiet as well. They at the lunch Jacob made the previous night, which everyone actually seemed to like. As the other campers ate, Ema was face first into her plate of chips, cheese, and meat. Every time she pulled up to chew however, it took everything within Jacob to not laugh because of the cheese sauce that would stick to her fur. The other campers at their table tried to hold in the same laugher as a new orange ring found its way onto Ema's face and she then drank from the bowl of water next to her on the table. Jacob then took a napkin from the dispenser and rubbed Ema's mouth region with it to clean her up. Ema was reluctant at first but let him do it. That doesn't mean that she didn't then spit water at him like the previous day for trying it without telling her first. Ema took off through the room with Jacob hot on her heels as the other campers laughed at the two.

The next 3 days for the pair weren't the most unusual, but whenever the other campers would leave the camp, Jacob and Ema decided to sneak away and have fun on their own. Everything from races, to hide and seek, to just sitting by their spot near the cliff. When they visited the flower patch cliff as they called it, they spent the time talking to each other about things such as family to just telling funny stories. Ema always let Jacob talk about his family more than she talked about her Eevee family, but she talk about her brother and mother before her life as her old trainer's pokemon. Whenever Ema seemed like she was going to cry, Jacob stopped her by rubbing her back and comforting her.

Today was no different. It was the day they were loading up the car the campers took to get here, Jacob was one of the first ones to get done and they were sitting in their spot overlooking the valley bellow. "So I guess this is the last time we'll be up here, huh?" Ema asked.

"What makes you say that?" Jacob inquired.

"Well, in a few minutes we'll be leaving this place going Arceus knows where…" Ema began.

"My town isn't too far away actually, about a 10 minute drive to be exact." Jacob replied.

"Then why come here only now instead of coming any other time?" Ema asked.

"I never had a reason to, but now that this is our official spot, I'm sure we can come back whenever you like." He answered. Ema perked up.

"Are you serious about that?" She inquired. Jacob nodded and Ema smiled. She then nuzzled his torso and purred.

"I promise, whenever we get the chance, we'll come back here and just enjoy the view." Jacob said rubbing her torso. Jacob then noticed a small wet drop appear on his red pants.

"I-I'd like that." Ema said with a smile. She then wiped her eye with her forearm. "I guess we should get going now. We don't want to be late I guess."

"I guess not." Jacob then stood up and they walked back to the camp. Jacob climbed in the van he rode in on the way there and Ema hopped in his lap while he sat down. The van's engine started and the camp started fading away into the forest as the van drove back to Jacob's home town.

Larpse Town wasn't the biggest of towns, being around a mile to two miles long. The only real things that stood out were the Poke-Center, the clothes shop, and the market. Everything else was just the schools and houses. It was also a place for upstart pokemon trainers looking to catch Riolu's and Eevee's since the town was situated between routes 39 and 40. The Riolu were the harder of the two to catch because of how they hid for so long until their curiosity finally took over. The Eevee on the other hand were accepting, coming out around every other encounter. Other pokemon such as Ratttata and Furret were the most common seen, but by this time most trainers already had better pokemon anyways.

"We don't have that many pokemon around the town." Jacob said. "Mostly Rattata and Furret, but sometimes you can see Eevee and Riolu appear now and then."

"Y-you have Riolu?" She asked.

"On route 40 yes, they are the more desired ones by trainers who visit." Jacob said. Ema then buried her head in his chest. "What's wrong?"

"I-It's complicated." Ema said while crying a little into his chest. "T-the last one I m-met turned out to b-be one o-of the worst Lucario I knew."

"I understand. I won't ask. We don't have to go on route 40 when we get back. I was planning on staying in town anyways and going see a movie with the P I have." Jacob said. "You can come to if you want."

"Y-you mean that?" Ema asked looking up.

"I do, I think it'd be fun to do." Jacob said. Ema then sat up and licked his face some out of affection. "Ok, ok I get it your happy. That tickles…s-stop…" Ema didn't and Jacob tried containing his laughter as they van pulled up to his house. Jacob and Ema climbed out and Jacob opened the trunk to grab his bag. He set it down and the van drove off to the next house.

"So this is your house?" Ema asked looking at the medium sized house. Jacob nodded and reached in his pocket to grab the key. He unlocked the door and the two stepped inside.

"My mom's working on a dig site right now while my dad is still at the hospital so we have the house to ourselves for a while." Jacob said.

"I-I'm sorry." Ema said looking down.

"About what?" Jacob asked.

"About your dad, how long has he been there?" Ema said. Jacob starting chuckling and Ema looked at him curiously.

"He works there Ema, he's not a patient." Jacob said still chuckling. Ema then realized her assumption and pouted a little. Jacob set his bag in his room and Ema followed. Jacob's room was an average room for a kid his age; he had a bed, nightstand with alarm clock, and a closet for clothes. Surprisingly the only thing pokemon related was a fake pokeball high on a shelf.

"Pretty…uh…barren, wouldn't you say?" Ema asked as she hopped on his bed.

"I mean I haven't really been obsessed with pokemon in the training and capturing sense. I see you guys more as friends and partners rather than battle machines." He replied.

"But battling to see who is stronger is in our blood. That's why we try not killing each other and only knock one another out." Ema replied.

"So that's why you only faint? Interesting." Jacob said while unpacking. He soon finished and grabbed 2,000P he had in a jar. "You ready to go?" Ema nodded and the two left the house. Jacob locked the door and both friends walked to the market to rent a movie for them to watch. Ema decided to select one of the Echo League tournaments and Jacob rented it with 1,000P. He spent the other 1,000 on snacks and they walked back home. Ema jumped onto the couch and Jacob put the disc in and sat down next to her. He hit play and some of the best battles from last year's tournament played. They showed clips of Delphox's using Mystical Flame, Some Gyarados's being flung into the wall, and even Snivy's landing some hard hits. The two watched until the finals came up and Ema saw a face she never thought she would ever see again appear. Her old trainer was in the finals with a full team of pokemon. She instantly hid herself from the TV and Jacob turned off the tape. He found Ema crying behind the couch and leaned down to her. Jacob then started rubbing her back as her rings glowed brighter from her sobs. "I'll turn of the video."

"P-Please do…." She said between sobs. Jacob turned off the TV and held Ema close to him as she cried on his shoulder. Jacob wondered what set her off like that, but didn't ask. Nightfall soon came upon them and Jacob got dressed for bed. He lied down on his bed and groaned as the bed pressed against his sores. Ema hopped on the bed as well and lied down next to him, her rings glowing softly from the moonlight entering the room.

The two quickly succumbed to sleep and Ema noticed her nightmare was replaced by a warmth she couldn't describe. It was so inviting and so peaceful that she found it hard to resist. Her dream consisted of just her and her human friend sitting at their spot on the cliff, talking to each other and enjoying themselves under the calm summer breeze. Jacob's dream changed as well, but instead of learning more of what the two figures said, he was shown an old ruin buried inside of a mountain. The room he was in had a pillar in the center and markings which made no sense to him. The dream ended with a bright light shining through the roof which encompassed everything else.

The month soon finished, with Jacob having to go back for his last year of school before he was officially given a pokemon of his own from the Poke-Center. Ema had to stay home during the day and waited for Jacob to come home while trying to find things to do. She would practice attacks in the backyard, try looking though the house for any secrete rooms, and occasionally raided the fridge from time to time for a quick snack. When Jacob would get home, they would spend their time having fun in the backyard of the house together or playing pranks on each other like when Jacob used a laser pointer to lead Ema on a wild goose chase until he finally stopped laughing. Ema would usually return the favor with either a water gust or some new idea she formed like the time she jump scared him one night with having her rings so dark to where it made Jacob think he was having a lucid nightmare.

Jacob's dream about the ruin became more and more clear as the school year went on, each time revealing the exact same thing but in greater detail. His school year mostly consisted of pokemon training classes on how to help him form the perfect 'friendship' with his pokemon. He didn't exactly like his classes because they always pushed the fact of him being the trainer first and friend second. To him it didn't seem like the right philosophy for him to go about his future with pokemon. Add that with the experience Ema was giving him, and Jacob was starting to fall behind in the trainer regard. The teachers noticed it and tried talking to him about it only to get the response of him saying that it doesn't seem right to him. 'Why can't they just get that?' Jacob thought himself as he left another teacher's office for the day. 'Pokemon aren't just some items to catch, they deserve to be able to wander around and walk as much as we do.'