The next morning in said my goodbyes to everybody. The team in our sector all gathered outside the gates, some of the Pokémon I had befriended joining also. I waved to them, smiling as the two Fearow from before rubbed their long beaks into my cheeks, making me giggle then hand them one last treat before they flew back inside.
"Goodbye everyone! Thank you so much for everything, I'll definitely be back!" I called and Agatha smiled before putting something into my backpack.
"Just some snacks for your journey, I don't want you getting hungry on the blimp now."
"Thanks Agatha, you're the best!" I beamed then hugged her. When I pulled away Eevee rubbed into Agatha's legs, looking up at her sweetly and she chuckled before stooping down to stroke her. I turned and faced Fraiser, who put his hands on his hips whilst regarding me carefully.
"You sure proved yourself to be a great kid, Ruby. I'm sorry I ever doubted you." He said then reached up to his cowboy hat. I gasped as he lifted it off his head then dropped it on mine, revealing pale grey wispy hair ontop of his head. "You look after yourself now and remember, you can never stop learning about the secrets of Pokémon." Nodding my head I tilted the hat back to grin up at him.
"I'll remember." I promised then threw my arms around his waist. He blinked in surprise then chuckled, placing his hand on my shoulder and the other on my back to embrace me back before I pulled away. Eevee placed her front paws on his leg, smiling up at him and he smiled before picking her up and looking directly at her.
"Now, I want you to help protect and look after this girl. She's something special and she'll be the best trainer you could ever dream of, alright?"
"Vee! Vee!" She licked his face before he could pull back then wriggled, leaping out of his hands into my arms and I caught her with a laugh.
"Goodbye!" I called one last time, looking back with a wave then head towards the tourist jeep that was going to take me to the blimp station. I climbed on along with all the other tourists who were heading into town and chose a seat at the back where I turned and continued to wave at everybody even as we began to move off.
I was kind of sad to leave, but the next part of my journey beckoned and I had to keep on moving. Everyone continued to wave goodbye as I was driven down the road and I only turned around again when they were out of sight.
"Vee…" Eevee said to me and I sighed.
"I know little one, I liked it there too." I sighed then tickled her belly to cheer her up. "But we're going to a new place to make new friends, then after that maybe I'll meet up with Ash and the gang and I can introduce you, I know they'll love you, especially Misty. We're going to see her sisters now, in fact and they own a Water Pokémon based gym, so you can play in the water all day if you like."
"Vee! Vee!" Eevee trilled, excited by the prospect. I smiled then tucked her up in my arms, sighing softly as I looked to the road ahead.
Entering the Cerulean Gym I was instantly swarmed by three shrieking sisters. "Is that an Eevee? Oh it's so cute! It's like, totally great to see you!" Lily beamed as she gripped my arm and pulled me inside. "What brings you back here? Where's MIisty?"
"She's still with Ash and Brock." I answered, blinking as Violet and Daisy pulled Eevee out of my arms and began to tickle and fawn over her, making her squeal happily. "I was actually hoping to ask a favour."
"Sure! What do you need?" Violet asked. "Oh by the way, Misty totally already called and told us about your totally fabulous idea! It's super awesome and we totally want to back you up." The three sisters joined together and struck a pose, each one of them smiling and winking. "The Three Sensationals will totally support you!"
"Thanks." I blushed with a smile then cleared my throat. "But this is a little different. You see, in order to start up a sanctuary, I need to know all about Pokémon and their habitats, their personalities and their needs, so I was hoping you could tell me all about your water Pokémon…and also teach me how to swim." They stared at me.
"You can't swim?" Daisy gasped, hands jumping to her mouth. "What a bummer! Sure of course we'll teach you! You couldn't have asked anyone better to learn how to swim from!" She struck another pose. "The Three Sensational Sisters will make a champion swimmer of you. Let's go!"
"What, now?" I blinked and Lily giggled.
"No time like the present, come on! We've closed the gym today anyway because our Pokémon need a rest, so the pool is all free!"
"Wait, you're not going to throw me in the deep end, are you?" I yelped and they all laughed.
"Of course not, come on we'll show you where you can change into your swimming costume then we can start in the baby pool. That's where we keep all the baby water Pokémon who need help learning how to swim confidently and lets us easily check up on how they're doing." Violet said and I was ushered along by the three sisters.
I changed into my costume, a simple red onepiece then followed Daisy through the gym before she stopped by a door. "You're like, super lucky, we don't let just anyone into the nursery pool. Come on in and see." Eagerly I followed her inside. Instantly my eyes sparkled.
The pool was massive but not very deep and it was decorated with rocks, coral and seaweed just like a normal ocean setting, but there were loads of baby Pokémon in there! There were mainly tiny Goldeen, but there were also Staryu, Shellder and Horsea too! And they were all so cute!
"Oh my gosh, they're adorable!" I went to run forwards but Violet gripped my shoulders and rooted me to the spot.
"Hold up, you can't just run into the water like that, you'll scare them. Baby Pokémon are extremely shy and their parents are very protective, so you'll have to be careful. Come on I'll introduce you, but you have to be, like, totally quiet." Nodding my head I let her take my hand and pull me forwards.
We entered the pool until we were knee deep then sat down, waiting for the Pokémon to come to us. "They feel safer if you let them make the first move, let them like, check you out or whatever." Violet said to me and I made a mental note to make a note later.
Sitting in the cool water I kept quiet and very still, watching as slowly, the Pokémon began to gather closer. They were used to Violet which meant they were far more relaxed and curious about coming to see mee. One Staryu squirted a tiny Water Gun at me and I giggled at it. "How long do they stay with their parents?" I asked.
"Well, it totally depends on the Pokémon. Some need the protection of their parents longer than others, but we keep them in here until they get too big, so no more than three months." She said to me as Lily joined us.
"Yeah, these guys are all starting to be weened off their mom's. We increase separation time bit by bit until they are completely independent, then we can release them into the wild." Daisy sat on Violet's other side, picking up a Horsea with a giggle.
"Unless the Pokémon decide to stay, that is. Though we do our best to release as many as possible and sometimes we give them to little kids as perfect starter Pokémon." She giggled as the Horsea blew bubbles into her face. "You see, although we love to play with them, we don't allow too much contact, because that would like, totally ruin their instincts. They'd become more interested in humans and wouldn't really be wild Pokémon."
"I see, so how often do you interact with them?" I asked and Violet answered.
"We always check up on them every day, but most of the time we just stand up in the stands and just check on how everything is going and feed them, but proper interaction like this only happens every few weeks or something like that." Eevee bounded into the water then began to swim as she went out of her depth, lifting her chin and paddling over to me.
"Hey girl, you joining us?" I questioned and she chirped sweetly.
"Vee! Vee!" Chuckling I picked her up then set her in my lap and she watched the water Pokémon curiously, reaching out to offer her paw to one of the Shellder but snatched it back when it clicked its shell shut at her. "Vee?"
"Be careful now, it's only a baby." I whispered to her, tickling her underside so she rolled over in my arms and kicked up her legs.
"Vee Vee!"
"It's so adorable, like, totally super cute!" Lily squealed. "And it loves water, you should totally evolve it into a Vaporeon!" A Vaporeon? Looking down at Eevee I guess Lily was right. Eevee really did love water but I thought back to what that awful girl had said.
"I don't know, her previous owner tried to evolve her but it didn't work, maybe Eevee doesn't want to evolve?" I hugged her, burying my face into her fur with a smile. "I wouldn't change her if she didn't want to change, and I don't think I want her to either. She's perfect the way she is." The sisters all smiled at one another then stood up.
"Okay! Time for your first lesson!" I gulped but nodded my head bravely, standing up also and handed Eevee over to Daisy who sat on the side as Violet and Lily started my lesson. I showed them how far I had gotten with Misty, managing to float on my back without support so they continued it form there.
We worked on me moving my arms and legs at the same time in large movements that made me look like a Tentacool but it worked, because I could then move through the water with relative ease. We practiced the backstroke then moved onto my front, where I gripped on tightly to a float for support whilst kicking my legs to move forwards.
After two hours of practice we called it a day, had lunch together and I pulled out my striped notepad to write down all I had found out today about water Pokémon, getting tips and ideas from the girls about how to build my future aquarium, like how to keep the tank clean, what to feed everyone and how to keep up their exercise, because sometimes swimming around wasn't enough. I had to keep them entertained too.
Although Misty's sisters were quite vain and sometimes a little full of themselves, they were nice girls and I liked them. We became good friends, in fact. I helped them out at shows, giving out tickets and welcoming everyone whilst they got ready then sold snacks and drinks during the interval, allowing the girls extra time to rest before their second half. I felt I was the one winning though, because I got to watch all their shows for free and learn about their water Pokémon.
My lessons continued every day for two hours after the gym closed. As I gained confidence, I began to rely more and more on myself rather than the sisters or the floats. Sometimes I would sink but then one of the Pokémon would rise up underneath me and give me a grin as they helped me sort myself out.
Seel and I became best pals. Every lesson he would swim around me, clapping his fins whenever I did well and I would giggle as he swam circles around me and leap up into the air with a playful flick of his tail before landing with a splash, covering me with spray. "Seel! Stop doing that you cheeky little Pokémon! I'm trying to concentrate!" I laughed, shaking out my face then continued to laugh as he leaped several times over my head back and forth.
He offered me his fins so I held onto them and he spun me around, his powerful tail controlling the movement as I kicked with my legs to keep my head above water. "Yeah! Go Ruby!" Lily called with a beam. "You're totally getting the hang of this now!" I waved back, holding myself up in the water by kicking my legs then swam to the edge. "We think you can, totally like, try the big pool now and we'll even teach you how to dive like us!"
"That'll be great!" I nodded excitedly then looked to Eevee. "Shall we give it a go?" I asked and she flipped over her head with a trill.
"Vee!" Grinning I hauled myself out the pool then laughed as Seel jumped out too, slapping the ground with his tail. Eevee leaped over to Seel and they rubbed heads. They'd also grown rather close during our stay here, they were like best friends, never far from the other.
"Come on guys, let's go try the big pool." I smiled and they followed after me and Lily. Diasy and Violet were already waiting, standing on boards and as we entered, they waved then leaped off, tucking up easily then dived into the pool after opening up. "You all make it seem so effortless." I sighed softly then looked to Lily. "Okay, I'm ready to try the deep end." I said to her and she grinned.
"Great! Jump in!" So I turned and leaped into the water, tucking up into a ball then dropped in with a huge splash as I went under. Seel dived in after me and shot around me in several circles, his speed completely outranking mine and I giggled before swimming up to the surface with him.
I broke free then flicked back my hair, smiling as I shook the water off my face then began to swim. "That's great Ruby!" Lily called. "Just remember to breathe when you look at me, okay? One, two breathe! One, two breathe!" She chanted so I followed her rhythm.
"Kick those legs, you're doing awesome!" Lily said as she rode on a Seaking, waving as she surfed beside me and Violet swam at my side.
"You're really swimming! You see, we told you you'd get the hang of it in no time. You're a natural." They all praised as I reached the other side, gasping for air but still very happy with myself.
"Thanks everyone, I couldn't have done it without you." I answered then smiled as Eevee ran over then rubbed her face into my cheek.
"Vee! Vee!"
"Are you proud of me too?" I giggled as she nodded her head then began to lick my face, tickling my skin until I had to tickler her to make her stop. "So how about diving then? Show me what to do!" I beamed then lifted myself up onto the side.
My lessons progressed from there, starting on the ground in a sitting position and getting used to letting my hands and head go in first though at first I found it a little frightening. However the three sisters were very patient with me and no matter how many times I backed out at the last second or flailed around, they calmed me down then started again.
Eventually I got used to diving in headfirst so I moved up in height until I was standing. They showed me different dives, the Swan Dive, Racing Dive and all their neat little tricks until I was happily springing off the bottom board.
From there I continued to gain height until finally, I was diving off the top board in sync with them all. As we resurfaced from a rather impressive leap, we all grinned at one another. "Yo, we should like, totally adobt you or something!" Daisy beamed at me as I laughed, rubbing Seel's head as he weaved in and out of us. "You could totally be a Fifth Sensational Sister."
"Thanks but I think it looks better with just you and Misty." I smiled to them. "Besides, I have a lot of work still to do, I've got to keep learning about Pokémon and how to take care of them!" Looking to the side where Eevee was sitting patiently, I waved at her and she stood up.
"Vee!"
"Thank you all so much for your help, now I totally don't need someone to come rescue me from drowning." I winced inwardly at that. I guess they had rubbed off on me more than I thought.
"No problem, you've been a big help too." Violet said to me and the other two both nodded.
"Totally, thanks for helping with the Pokémon, even the yucky bits like cleaning the tanks." Lily winked at me and I laughed.
"I enjoyed it all, honestly, I did. But I think I better get going now, I've been off the road for two weeks now!" We raced one another to the edge and I of course came last, but I didn't mind that. I was just glad that I could finally swim competently. All I need now was practice.
I climbed out the pool, picked up Eevee then went to the showers to wash and change, feeling more comfortable once I had my red necktie and Fraiser's hat on. Walking to the entrance the three sisters met me, looking quite sad. "We'll totally like, miss you Ruby. You can come back any time." Violet said to me as she gave me a hug.
"Thanks, I sure will." I promised them, hugging Lily and Daisy too.
"Seel? Seel, Seel!" I chuckled then put Eevee down to say goodbye to her friend as I rubbed his head.
"Goodbye Seel, I'll be back soon I promise." I said to him as Eevee play tackled him. Standing up I looked at the three girls who were smiling at me. "Good luck with your shows, I know you'll all be amazing and totally fabulous as always." I winked and held up my fingers in a victory sign, smilling before stooping down and picking Eevee up. "See you all later!" I called then head out, looking back as they called after me.
"Tell Misty we miss our baby sis!"
"Yeah, tell her she stinks too!" I laughed at Lily then waved. They continued to wave until I was at the end of the path and heading out of town then caught a bus to cover some ground quickly. Now I could head to Cinnabar Island. I'd put this off long enough and although Charmeleon and I were better off now, I could tell he still wanted to go home.
After a few hours I got off the bus then let Pidgeotto out for some flight time. "Okay Eevee, you ready? Go!" I cheered then flung the tennis ball forwards, letting her chase after it before running after her with a laugh. She bounded after it, calling happily then pounced on it, catching it in her paws then swatted at it, squealing happily as she then rolled onto her back whilst batting it into the air. "Great job Eevee." I smiled as she let me take the ball then I threw it up for Pidgeotto.
"Pidgeo!" She called and snatched it easily, but Eevee suddenly lifted her head and sniffed the air.
"Eevee? What's wrong?" I asked her and she gasped.
"Vee!" Suddenly she darted forwards and I yelped.
"Hey wait! Don't run too far ahead!" I called then whistled for Pidgeotto, who flew after me through the trees that Eevve was now running through. "Eevee! Where are you going?" I called, watching her tail disappear into some bushes.
I leaped over them, clearing them easily then stopped short at the scene. "Vee! Vee!"
"Oh! It's another Eevee!" Misty squealed then dropped to her knees. "Hey there, where did you come from?" Brock and Ash looked in shock as my Eeeve ran to another, who was tied up to a tree with a bowl of food and water there for it too.
"Hey! I'm going to catch it! That way we can both get an Eevee Misty!" Ash proclaimed but before he could reach for a Pokéball I reached out and smacked him upside the head. "YOW!"
"Don't you dare try capturing my Pokémon Ash Ketchum, or I'll tie you up to a tree and leave you there." I told him sharply, putting my hands on my hips and everyone looked around to face me.
"Ruby! You're back!" Misty beamed, leaping up with the abandoned Eevee in her arms. "How are you? Did you learn lots about Pokémon? Where did you get this Eevee? Oh it's so cute, can I hug it too?" I laughed then scooped Eevee up, letting her get close to the other Eevee who then nuzzled noses with it.
"I found her as her trainer was trying to abandon her three weeks ago. I've adopted her." I explained with a smile. "And yeah, I learned so much! Plus, I actually captured my first wild Pokémon at the Safari Zone, and you'll never guess what it is." I said proudly, stepping back and putting Eevee on my shoulder as I put my hands on my hips.
"Ooh! Is it a Tentacool?" Misty asked with her eyes sparkling but I shook my head.
"Nope."
"A Scyther? Or a Heracross? What is it?!" Ash wailed, desperate to know as he gripped his face, bouncing from foot to foot in anticipation.
"Did you catch a Graveller?" Brock guessed. "They are pretty awesome rock Pokémon." But I continued to shake my head.
"No, you are all wrong. Do you give up?" They nodded their heads so I smiled. "I caught a Dratini!" Their faces all fell in astonishment. Ash even dropped to the ground as Pikachu looked at him with a frown.
"Pika?" Thinking Ash had fainted, Pikachu gave Ash a large shock which made him yell from the sudden electricity pumping through him.
"PI-KA-CHU!" Blinking Pikachu stopped his attempt at helping Ash then poked his face.
"Pika Pi?" Ash groaned, smoking on the floor.
"Thanks buddy." He muttered and I giggled as Pikachu then turned to me then raced up my leg to my shoulder to hug me and I tickled his chin, making his red cheek sacks spark with electricity. "You caught a Dratini? Really? Where did you get it? I want one!" Ash leaped to his feet and began to dart around me, trying to see. "If I had a Dratini then I could definitely beat that Gary!"
"Ash, calm down!" I smacked his head again and he yelped before rubbing the injured area. "You can't tell anyone I have one or where I got it, understand? It has to be a secret. I'm only telling you guys because I trust you." Misty nodded her head quickly.
"Sure! Just please, let us see!" So I picked up Dratini's Pokéball and sent her out.
"Come and meet the gang Dratini!" Beaming I watched as she materialised, blinking softly then called out. Misty then gave the loudest squeal, her eyes sparkling brightly as she scooped the Dratini up into her arms with the Eevee, who I noticed was wearing a collar.
"AGH! IT'S SO CUTE!" She practically yelled as she hugged it.
"Drii?" Dratini blinked then began to wriggle so I picked her out of Misty's arms before she could crush her.
"So what about this cute little fella, where did he come from?" I asked, putting Dratini on my other shoulder which now meant both my hands were free to tickle its chin. It perked up a bit and licked my fingers, making me giggle.
"We just found it. It looks like it's been abandoned." I cast my eye around the little hollow then sighed. This is just awful. I really hate some people, you know, more than Gary even. Gary was a jerk, but at least he cared about his Pokémon.
"Look at his tag." Misty said, turning it up towards us and Ash leaned forwards to read it.
"Hmm…Stone Town."
"Hey, isn't that the town at the base of Evolution Mountain?" I questioned. "Where all the evolution stones can be found?"
"Yeah that's right." Brock nodded his head. "We should try find this Eevee's owner, maybe this is all just a misunderstanding." He suggested and I humphed slightly.
"It had better be, or I'm going to have to give that trainer a large piece of my mind and they're not going to like what I have to say about abandoning their Pokémon." Reaching up to both Eevee and Dratini I stroked their heads. "Pokémon put their trust in us so its unfair to betray them."
"Come on let's go!" Ash called then began to run ahead with Pikachu at his feet. "Hurry up you guys!" I rolled my eyes.
"Still far too much energy to be normal I see." I sighed then hung back with the others. "So what's happened with you guys?"
"Ash got his Rainbow Badge from Erika." Misty supplied. "And the Marsh Badge from Sabrina in Saffron City. He had to catch a Ghost Pokémon to try and beat her and he found a Haunter, but in the end Pikachu wanted to fight the Kadabra again as Haunter disappeared." She told me and Brock continued.
"Yeah, but then Haunter appeared and started doing this tricks for Sabrina, making her laugh until she wasn't able to give any orders to Kadabra, so Ash won the match by default." They then filled me on all the other crazy things they had been up to, like accidentally stealing a boat and Ash entering a Pokémon race on a Ponyta that then evolved into a Rapidash to win at the final streak. Pretty awesome huh? I tell you what else was awesome.
Evolution Mountain. It was massive! Shadowing the town which we had now arrived at. I looked around the neat, orderly town and the cleansliness of its appearance before entering with the others. "You'd better return Dratini before you draw too much unwanted attention." I said to her, tickling her neck before letting her back into her Pokéball.
Ash looked down to Dexter, bringing up some more information about Eevee and I listened too. "Eevee evolves into one of three Pokémon, depending on which evolution stone is used on it. Using a Fire Stone will yield a Flareon, the flame Pokémon. A Water Stone yields a Vaporeon, the bubble-jet Pokémon. A Thunder Stone will yield Jolteon, the Lightning Pokémon."
"Aah, I'd love a Vaporeon." Misty dreamed as she continued to hold onto the Eevee we had found in the woods. Ash smirked then pointed to her.
"Big surprise Misty, all you ever think about is Water Pokémon." He said to her then folded his arms, giving her a sly look. "It sounds to me that you want to keep that Eevee all to yourself." Brock laughed in agreement as we continued down the street.
"Ha! So that's why she won't let go of it." She looked down but smiled all the same, unfased by their teasing.
"Well, if you really want something then you have to go for it." Misty answered back and I smirked, poking Ash pointedly.
"Yeah Ash, mister Pokémon Master." He jumped away from my prod as I managed to hit a sensitive spot on his ribs and he growled at me, about to retort back when Brock spoke up.
"Hmm, that's it. Block three house fourteen." We all looked then gasped, staring at the massive mansion before us. Each window gleamed effortlessly in the sun, not a speck of dirt in sight. You know, I kinda want to throw a mud pie at it just to make it look a little more…normal.
"Wow…" Misty appreciated as Ash nodded his head.
"It's gigantic!" Stepping forwards I smiled back to them.
"Well come on! Let's go and see who's at home." We ran inside to find some sort of garden party, with large spreads of food, several fountains and ponds and a whole load of people and their Pokémon. We stopped and stared, bellies instantly rumbling.
"It's a garden party!" Brock said aloud and I grinned as Eevee stood up a little on my shoulder.
"Vee?"
"Look's like fun." Ash added and I licked my lips.
"Just look at all the food!" However Misty caught our attention, making us look to where something was going on.
"Hey guys, look there!" I saw a Poliwhirl, standing patiently beside a guy with electric like hair, bright yellow whilst standing upon on end. He wore skin fitting clothes, a white shirt and yellow skinny jeans and he touched the Poliwhirl with some sort of stone. Wait, I think that's a Water Stone!
Suddenly the Poliwhirl began to glow then grew bigger, toughening in shape before finally, it had evolved into a Poliwrath. There was a round of applause and we stared as the guy turned and smiled to the trainer. "Congratulations! Your Poliwhirl has evolved into a Poliwrath!"
"Wow, that's so amazing." Misty said as we watched the Pokémon jump into a pool along with a load of other Pokémon which had been recently evolved by the looks of things. I looked over all the Pokémon and sure enough, they were all evolved Pokémon.
Looking back I saw what must have been three brothers, all wearing the same clothes only different coloured jeands and different styled and coloured hair with evolved forms of Eevee. Oh they were all so cute! The Pokémon weren't too bad looking either…am I drooling? Ew gross.
"Good work!" The one who stood with a Jolteon called with a smile. "Now that we've seen a round of evolution, how about comparing attacks hey?" Suddenly he looked right at us. No not us, me! "Eevee?" Huh? What about Eevee? "Eevee!" They all called and ran over to us and before I knew it, had snatched my Eevee from my shoulder.
"Hey!"
"You found Eevee! Where did you go to? We were worried about you Eevee!" The electric haired guy said as he held Eevee and I glared.
"GIVE ME BACK MY EEVEE!" I roared then smacked all three of them on the heads, making the middle one drop Eevee and I snatched her back and cuddled her as she whined, snuggling closer into me. Shooting them a disgusted look I stepped back to reveal Misty, who held their real Eevee.
"Oh! You have an Eevee too!" The blue haired one said with a smile as he stopped rubbing his head. His hair was gelled into webs, a tall plume sticking up in the middle which looked kind of weird at first but once I had adjusted, it did look kind of awesome. "That's cool, you're just like us!" I blinked at him. What was he on about?
"This is great! Now we've got our star, we can go on with the show!" The dark red haired boy said excitedly and we all looked at one another. What's going on?
"Eevee's a star?" Misty questioned slowly and we all looked at one another.
"Then why was it tied up?" Now I'm seriously confused. These guys looked so happy to have Eevee back, so why abandon it in the first place? It made no sense. Ugh, my brain is starting to hurt…
"Mikey! Hey Mikey! Eevee's come back!" The middle brother called and a smaller, little sadder looking kid slowly made his way over, looking down at his feet. Something was wrong, he looked very upset over something.
Eevee leaped out of the brother's arms with a happy cry then bounded over the the little boy who caught it with a soft smile. "Vee! Vee, Vee!" The three older brothers all faced him with condescending expressions on their faces.
"How could you lose it? You've gotta be careful!" The flame haired brother told him and the blue haired one finished.
"You'll lose your trainer qualification." We glanced to the three older brothers then approached Mikey, who was looking down sadly though the Eevee couldn't have looked happier. Misty smiled warmly and leaned down a little to talk to him.
"Did Eevee really escape? But it was tight to a tree, right?" Then Mikey turned and glared at her.
"Why'd you bring it back?" We all looked at one another. Huh? What was this kid's problem? Suddenly the middle brother turned around and faced his little brother, their evolution Pokémon all at their sides.
"Listen Mikey! One day you'll be a Pokémon trainer just like us." He started and his blue haired brother continued.
"Do you really think you can win your first battle with an unevolved Eevee?"
"All of us won our first battes because we'd evolved our Eevees', there's no other way to win! The key to victory is evolution!" I was definitely starting to see things a little clearer now. So they were trying to force their little brother to evolve his Eevee just because they'd done so? How stupid was that? Boys, I just don't get them.
"But…I don't care about battling." Mikey tried to tell them but they all gasped and glared down at him in horror.
"Don't care?" Their Pokémon all leaped up too, growling angrily and poor little Mikey looked frightened. Even Ash and Misty whimpered slightly at the brothers.
"They're scary." Ash muttered quietly. Ha! They didn't scare me.
"Everyone is waiting to see what you'll evolve Eevee into Mikey!"
"You've got three choices. Which do you think is the strongest of all the evolved Eevees?" The middle one asked and the last brother, the red one, lifting a finger to point out something.
"We want to know what you think of our Pokémon! Mikey, which Pokémon do you want your Eevee to become?" Then they spouted off into a display, showing off each of their Pokémon. Jolteon leaped forwards first, fur crackling with electricity as its trainer spoke.
"A Thunder Stone will make it a Jolteon! When a Jolteon gets mad, the hairs on its body turns into needles and then it fires at its opponent!" Jolteon tensed then barked out its name as little static hairs shot out from its body, shooting up into the sky as everyone gasped.
"A Water Stone will make it a Vaporeon." The next brother announced and I sighed dreamily. He is really handsome…snap out of it Ruby! "It can melt into water to make itself disappear!" The Vaporeon leaped into a pool of water with the fountain then disappeared from sight, actually becoming part of the water.
"A Fire Stone will make it a Flareon!" Last but not least, the fire headed dude. "With a blazing flame attack released from its internal fire source, Flareon is the strongest evolution type of all!" He decalred and it let loose a hot Flamethrower attack, though I was unimpressed. My Charmeleon could do way better than that.
"What are you crazy?" The oldest demanded of his younger sibling. "My Jolteon is the strongest of all."
"Too bad you're the only one who thinks so." He answered and I rolled my eyes. Yup, they're brothers alright.
"Hey Mikey, I'm sure you'll make the right choice and make it a Vaporeon." Fed up with all this pressure on the poor little kid, I stepped forwards and put my hand on his shoulder.
"Mikey doesn't have to evolve his Eevee if he doesn't want to. He's only a kid after all and has a while yet before he can do any battling, why don't you just leave him alone?" They all stared at me.
"Mikey has to evolve his Eevee if he wants to win battles, he's got no other choice." I glared at them.
"Says who? There's no rules about it. Normal type attacks can be just as effective as any special attacks just as much as unevolved Pokémon can be stronger than an evolved one. You can't force someone to change their Pokémon just because it's what you want. It's not fair!" The eldest lifted his chin.
"He doesn't have a choice."
"Come on, give the kid a break. Isn't he a little young to battle?" Ash tried, coming to stand closer to me also as we defended Mikey and his Eevee.
"We're throwing this party just for him and his Eevee." The eldest answered as if we should've known already.
"You should know you have to start training early if you want to become a Pokémon Master." The hottest of the three older brothers answered and I found myself blushing.
"Yeah one of these days, you'll turn that Pikachu into a Raichu won't you?"
"Huh?" Ash looked down at Pikachu who blinked up at him.
"Pika Pika?" Aw, he's such a cute fuzzball.
"And that Eevee, you'll have to evolve it eventually or it'll just keep on getting knocked out of battle." I glared at the eldest brother.
"My Eevee will never battle if that's how it wants to live, however if we ever did battle, it would depend on the skill of the trainer, not the strength of the Pokémon alone to determine who wins." I shot back at him, feeling the debate heating up a little.
Eevee picked up her head then leaped off my shoulder, bounding happily over to Mikey then called up to his Eevee. "Vee! Vee!" She then danced away and jumped up onto the water fountain where she began to splash at the water with her paws.
"Do you guys need stones?" One of the brother asked then showed us a table full of them. There were many of different kinds, they must have done a lot of digging to find all of these.
"Wow Water Stones! And thunder, and fire!" Misty praised, looking at them all. I have to admit, they did look pretty and Eevee would become stronger if she evolved, but that didn't mean she had to. She rejected a stone before which obviously meant she didn't want to evolve.
"You really have collected a lot of them." Brock said in an impressed tone and I grumbled under my breath, turning my back and folding my arms across my chest with a grumpy look on my face. Sure, they had shiny stones. So what?
"That's what our town's known for." The cute guy answered proudly. The others admired the stones for a while longer so I went over to the fountain where Eevee was playing.
"You really love the water, don't you?" I said to her and she nodded her head.
"Vee! Vee Vee!" smiling I rubbed her head then began to stroke her soft fur.
"Do you remember what kind of stone that awful girl tried to make you evolve with, Eevee? Can you show me?" I asked and Eevee blinked before looking over to the stone table. She bounded towards it, weaving in and out of people and she sat down at the table, looking to me patiently so I picked her up and set her on the surface.
She sniffed the stones carefully, looking over each one before sitting beside a Fire Stone. Well that made sense. If Eevee naturally liked the water then being a fire type would take away her ability to be so near it and play in it as often as she did. "Oh I see…and you didn't want to be a Flareon, did you?" I questioned and she shook her head. "You love the water and you didn't want to stop playing in it. That's very brave of you Eevee, stopping yourself from evolving by force. It must have been very stressful for you." I said then scooped her up into my arms to tickle her belly. "I'll never make you evolve if you don't want to, you can trust me. You can stay this way forever."
"Vee!" She licked my chin and I giggled.
"You know, if your Eevee likes the water so much then you should definitely evolve it into a Vaporeon." The blue haired brother said to me, his Vaproeon at his side and Eevee squealed before leaping down and nuzzling noses with it.
"Oh, no I couldn't. She's perfect the way she is. Besides, what if she wants to stay an Eevee? I couldn't force her to do anything, especially not evolve just because I want her too." He smiled and I blushed slightly, looking down at my feet.
"I'm Rainer, by the way. My brothers are Sparky and Pyro, three guesses as to who is who." I giggled like a lovestruck school girl then blushed further.
"I'm Ruby. I'm from Pallet Town on a journey to learn all I can about Pokémon." I explained to him. "Your Vaporeon looks like it's in excellent shape. I've just come from Cerulean City where I was training under the Gym Leaders there for a few weeks and they've taught me all about water Pokémon." I said to him, kneeling down and he did the same, holding out my hand to the Vaporeon who sniffed my fingers then let me rub its soft skin.
"Its eyes are nice and clear, fins in good shape and its skin is a healthy colour…you've done great raising it." I said to him with a smile. "But I'm sorry, I just don't evolve my Pokémon that way. I like to build up their strength and our level of friendship first before letting them evolve naturally in their own time, because that assures me that they're ready to make that big change." He nodded to me.
"I suppose all trainers think differently." He stood up and smiled at me and my heart fluttered. He's sooo cute! "Here, take this anyway, just in case you change your mind or your Eevee tells you that it's ready." He tossed me a Water Stone and I caught it, looking down at its deep colour and Eevee sniffed it before looking at me.
"Don't worry, you won't need this." I smiled, putting it in my backpack as I didn't want to insult Rainer by giving it back or throwing it away.
"Mikey!" I looked up at the loud yell and saw the three brothers approaching Mikey. Were they still at this? "Have you decided on Eevee's evolution yet?" He lowered his head and stuttered, unsure of how to answer but Misty merely smiled from beside him, sitting on the bench.
"Come right out and tell him Mike." She encouraged as I stood up with Eevee in my arms. Mikey continued to falter, trying to make his decision as I picked up Eevee and approached the little kid, giving him a warm smile and a nod of encouragement.
"Come on Mikey, tell us what you decided!" Sparky asked again only a little more impatiently this time.
"Go ahead and tell them Mikey, you can do it." Misty said again and Pikachu added his own support, lifting a fist into the air.
"Pikachu!" Mikey looked down to Eevee, who nodded and gave a soft voiced call. Mikey relaxed and smiled too, nodding his head in secret agreement.
"A Jolteon right?" Sparky arched an eyebrow but Pyro shook his head.
"A Flareon, right?"
"A Vaporeon?" In answer Mikey stood up, a determined look on his face.
"Ah! You guys, I uh…" Suddenly sparks went off on the ground, causing everyone to shriek and panic. One went off dangerously close to me and I felt the spray hit my leg painfully.
"Ow!" I leaped up, dancing on my feet to try and avoid being hit again. "What is this?"
"Its show time everybody!" Instantly I groaned.
"Not you! Don't you have anything better to do than follow us around?" I demanded, leaping up onto a fountain to avoid the pop suprises with Eevee still tucked safely into my arms. Team Rocket's balloon floated down then weighed anchor, Jessie and James leaping out to stand stylishly side by side as the Eevee brothers raced forwards.
"Who invited you?"
"Prepare for trouble!" Jessie cried and James smirked.
"And make it double." Then they started their stupid motto.
"To protect the world from devestation!"
"To unite all people within our nation…" Yeah, yeah, yadah yadah yadah WE KNOW ALREADY!
"To denounce the evils of truth and love…"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie…"
"James…" Those two seriously need to work on their act. They just weren't cutting it anymore. Maybe a restyle too, as those outfits definitely were not complimenting. Suddenly they rushed over to the food table and began to stuff their face. Okay, I take it back. This is just hilarious!
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!" Jessie mumbled through a mouthful of grub and James continued, much in a similar fashion. How could they eat so fast and talk without choking? That's rather impressive to be fair.
"Surrender now or prepare to fight."
"Hm! Delicious!" Meowth finished and I sighed with a shake of my head.
"Keep your eyes open guys, Team Rocket will steal your Pokémon if you're not careful." Ash said with a dark look on his face and I quickly put Eevee onto my backpack, letting her hang onto my shoulder.
"Hang on tight Eevee, looks like I'm going to have to battle these crooks." I said to her then rushed to get to Ash and the others.
"Wheezing? Spray the Smokescreen." James said through a large mouthful of chicken. Wait a minute, Koffing had evolved? Sure enough a large Wheezing floated across the party spraying its Smokescreen, a thick smog which blurred my vision and I stopped where I was, coughing on the sickly fog.
"Pidgeotto!" I called at the same time as Ash and both Pokémon flew up into the air. "Gust attack!" I directed, still coughing and they began to beat the wind, sending the Smokescreen away. When I took in a clean gulp of air I looked around to see Eevee was gone. "Eevee!" I yelled then looked around. "Ash! Eevee's gone!"
"All our Pokémon are gone!" Everyone began to panic as all the Pokémon, the stones and the food had disappeared. Hang on, Team Rocket had taken the food as well? Wow, they really had sunk low.
"Those creeps took everything!" Ash growled, clenching his fist tightly.
"Team Rocket took the stones and they took the food too!" Misty was just glaring at her new Psyduck disappointedly.
"Why couldn't they take you too?" No time for that, where was their balloon?
"Pidgeotto! Bring down that balloon!" I bellowed, pointing to it up in the sky and Pidgeotto instantly flew for it.
"Pidgeotto, you go too!" Ash yelled and the both of them dove for the balloon, tucking their wings in and burst straight through, bursting through the Meowth head and brought it crashing down again. I ran forwards instantly, preparing to leap inside and pound their miserable hides but when I reached the basket, it was empty.
"Huh?" Everyone chorused and I growled, growing bright red with rage. Fear, worry, anger and rage boiled up inside me, starting at my gut then rose up to my chest, heating up intil finally, I exploded into a volcano of thunderous yells.
"WHERE IS MY EEVEE?!" Whirling around I pointed to Pidgeotto. "Both of you hurry! Find Team Rocket!" They called out then flew away but I wasn't finished yet. "Charmeleon, I choose you!" I sent him out, still burning with anger and I think he felt it, because he looked at me in surprise. "Charmeleon, use your nose to find a scent trail, track down all our Pokémon that Team Rocket have stolen! Let's remind them just who they've stolen from!"
"Char!" He agreed then sniffed the air, turned his head this way and that before leaping forwards. "Charmander!" He began to point down the road where Pidgeotto had just flown to and I beamed.
"That's the way to do it, come on! Let's get back our Pokémon!" I called to the gang and together we ran forwards, following Charmeleon's nose as he followed the scent trail. I ran faster than the others, Charmeleon just ahead. Well, it looks like all that running and those games are really paying off.
"Pidgeo!" The Pidgeotto returned to us, calling out and flapping their wings frantically.
"Did you find something?" I called up and they nodded their heads. "Alright! Show us the way!" Increasing my pace both Charmeleon and I raced forwards, leaving the others behind.
"Hey Ruby wait up!"
"Wow, she really runs fast!" Brock commented but I soon left them way back at the start line, my heart pumping as I ran to get Eevee back safe. Those goons had stolen the evolution stones, which meant they wouldn't waste time in forcing both Eevee's to evolve and I am not going to let those creeps decide what my Eevee changes into.
I began to follow an ink trail and I realised Misty's Horsea must have spat it out to show us the way. Smart little Pokémon! "Get ready Charmeleon, this is going to be up to you and Pidgeotto to get Eevee back!" I said to him and he nodded his head.
"Char!" Suddenly we came across a large clearing and I stopped, gasping as I saw both Eevee's stuck in cages facing Team Rocket, who were holding an evolution stone of each kind. I caught a brief snip of their argument and they couldn't agree on which Pokémon to turn Eevee into.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu called out with relief and I shot him a smile.
"Alright! Pidgeotto, Gust attack! Charmeleon use Flamethrower!" I yelled, directing my hand forwards and Charmeleon ran at Team Rocket, making them all cry out as Pidgeotto whipped up a wind to slap against them.
Charmeleon leaped up into the air then spurt out a Flamethrower, toasting them nicely and I smirked. "Looks like you guys have just been rumbled. Now hand over the Pokémon!" I demanded, stepping forwards and anchoring my feet into the ground.
"You little twerp! You can't tell us what to do, we're Team Rocket!" Jessie growled as Charmeleon glared at her. I don't think he liked Jessie insulting me. "You little brats always ruin everything!" Just then the others arrived.
"Squirtle! Use Water Gun attack!"
"Squirt Squirtle!" Squirtle sucked in a deep breath but then Misty's Psyduck jumped in front of him, flapping its flippers and clutching its head.
"Psy-aye-ay!" It then opened its beak and spat out a rather dismal trickle of water, barely stretching out two feet.
"Embarrassing…" Jessie scorned with an unimpressed look on her face and Misty returned Psyduck to his Pokéball.
"Embarassing is right. Looks like its up to you Squirtle." She said and the little turtle Pokémon started up his attack again.
"Squirtle Squirt Squirtle!" A wide plume of water shot out and hit bot Meowth and James though Jessie managed to avoid being hit, though to two guys were struck back an impressive distance. Ash turned to us all and clenched a fist.
"Alright, let's go get our Pokémon."
"Not so fast!" Jessie snapped and everyone turned to look back at her, holding both Eevees' cages to her and I gasped, calling out at the same time as Mikey.
"Eevee!" James and Meowth came running back and I did my best to control my temper, glaring at the three of them as James stared at us in disbelief.
"How did you find us all the way out here?"
"Yeah, it's the first time we didn't screw up!" Meowth exclaimed but I turned to Charmeleon.
"Use your Slash to open up the cages on the truck and for Pikachu." I said to him quietly and he nodded his head.
"Char." Springing forwards two quick slashes had both cages open and the Pokémon all jumped out, Charmeleon hanging onto the side of the cage to make sure everyone got out safe before looking to Pikachu who jumped onto his shoulder.
"Pika Pi!" He greeted with a bright smil and Charmeleon nodded his head with a proud look on his face.
"Charmeleon!" He leaped down then came back over to me, Pikachu running over to Ash.
"Well you see, Horsea spat out a trail of ink to show us the way. Pretty smart huh?" Misty said proudly and Horsea spat out another spurt of ink at Team Rocket as if to rub it into their faces.
"Unbelievable!" James gripped his head. "That little squirt has corrupt our perfect plan!"
"I guess we'll have to settle for these little Eevee." Jessie said, beginning to draw away but Misty spoke out just before I did.
"Forget it you old hag!"
"You're not getting my Eevee, now bring her back before I get real angry!" I shouted at them, growing red at the ears. Jessie, however, didn't even hear me. Her face dropped into angry shock, gripping the bars of Eevee's cage so tightly I thought she would break them herself.
"What-what did you just call me? Urgh…ARGH!" She was practically spitting fire and I think Meowth saw the same thing judging by what he said next.
"Wow, Jessie just evolved into a Flareon!"
"Ready for battle?" She shouted at them and they flinched away largely, nodding their heads before James sent out Wheezing and Jessie released an Arbok. So they both evolved, that's pretty incredible.
"Arbok! Attack Arbok, show that puny little punk who's boss!" Jessie yelled, clenching her fist tightly as she held Mikey's Eevee and James held mine.
"I'm not puny!" Misty yelled back and Ash looked down to Pikachu.
"Ready Pikachu?"
"Wait!" Someone yelled and everyone looked to Sparky. "That's our brother's Eevee and it's our job to save it. Ready Rainer, Pyro?"
"Ready!" They called, all of them now wearing battle ready faces and they all stepped forwards, however I joined their ranks.
"That's my Eevee too, now let's go!" I said and they all grinned at me. "Charmeleon, Slash!" I yelled and my Charmeleon raced forwards, aiming for Wheezing.
"Wheezing, Sludge attack!" James yelled but I was already way ahead of him.
"Charmeleon, jump like you're catching the tennis ball!" I shouted and Charmeleon instantly leaped up into the air. His leg strength had increased a lot due to all the jumping he did when playing catch, sometimes he even managed to reach Pidgeotto's height. "Now finish that Slash attack!" I called and he swiped his glowing claws at Wheezing.
"Arbok, use Poison Sting!" Jessie yelled and Sparky faced her.
"Jolteon! Pin Missile!" I turned back to my own fight, focussing on returning Eevee as James now gave his next order.
"Sludge attack!"
"Dodge it, use Flamethrower."
"Chaaaarmeleon!" Jumping to the side Charmeleon then let loose a massive fire attack, hitting Wheezing in the side and throwing it off balance into James, who yelled as he was flattened, still holding Eevve.
"Get Eevee Charmeleon!"
"Char!" He leaped forwards, grabbed the cage then jumped up into the air, turning then ran back to us. I sighed with relief, kneeling down in the grass as Charmeleon slashed open the bars, ripping them apart to let Eevee out. She leaped onto him and licked his face, making him smile happily as he nuzzled her close.
"Eevee!" I beamed and she turned, looking at me brightly.
"Vee!" She jumped into my arms and licked my face, making me laugh with relief as I held her close. Suddenly I looked up to see Jessie and James looking at us with a smirk.
"You think this is over? Think again!" Jessie yelled then pointed, still holding Mikey's Eevee. "Arbok!" Arbok charged forwards and used Headbutt against Jolteon, knocking it out in one hit and Wheezing used sludge attack on Vaporeon and Flareon, causing them to lose strength too.
Suddenly Charmeleon stumbled and winced with pain, groaning and I gasped, catching him as Eevee leaped out of my arms. "Charmeleon! Are you okay?" I whispered then lay him on the ground. He looked terrible, his skin was growing pale and with one sniff I knew he was poisoned. "Brock! Take care of Charmeleon for me!" I yelled then stood up. "Alright Team Rocket, I've had it with you!" I yelled and Ash nodded his head.
"Yeah! You ready Pikachu?"
"Pika!"
"No Ash, this is my fight!" I yelled, picking up a Pokéball. "You are in for it now, you stole my Eevee, hurt my Charmeleon and keep coming back for more! I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget." I glared then threw the Pokéball. "Go Dratini!" There was a collective gasp as my Dratini appeared, her echoing voice ringing out.
"Wow! A Dratini!" Rainer breathed appreciatively but I ignored him, no longer caring how good looking he was.
"It's a Dratini, we should steal it!" James said to Jessie.
"Meowth that's right!" The little cat agreed but I merely snarled.
"Pidgeotto, Quick Attack to get Mikey's Eevee, then use Twister on all of them Dratini!" Pidgeotto dived forwards with a trill then grabbed the cage from Jessie's hands before any of them could move and she landed with it safely in front of Mikey who beamed with joy. A spiralling vortex rose up from Dratini's mouth, twisting upwards and Pidgeotto landed beside Charmeleon as Brock healed him, watching with an impressed expression as Dratini used her favourite move.
The Twister wrapped up all of Team Rocket and their Pokémon, causing them to yell and shout, begging for it to stop. "Now Dratini, use Dragon Rage!" I knew this attack would be powerful enough to blow the away and I wanted hose crooks gone from my sight as soon as possible.
Dratini opened her mouth and a ball of white light grew, gathering strength and power before shooting forwards in a beam of energy which burst the Twister and sent all of Team Rocket sailing up into the air, however they then fell back down again and landed in a heap on the ground.
"Can't…lose…now…" Jessie groaned then shook her head, leaping to her feet. "We can't lose this battle! Not to them!" Huh? They just…got up!
"Especially on our first day as champions!" James answered in agreement and their Pokémon rose up too, ready for another bout.
"Let's get 'em!" Meowth agreed and I blinked in shock, even Dratini looked surprised.
"What? They still want to fight?" Misty started and Brock frowned as he held Charmeleon.
"There's something different about Team Rocket." Mikey looked around, seeing his brother's Pokémon all completely wiped out before growing a hard face as he glared at Team Rocket.
"Let's finish this battle." Jessie announced and James punched the air.
"Victory!" I pushed back a foot ready to give out another order when Mikey stood at my side.
"Alright Eevee get ready! It's time for our first real battle!" He called and Eevee nodded its head.
"Vee!
"That little guy sure is brave." Misty smiled and I looked down at Mikey who smiled at me confidently. Finally I chuckled then nodded my head.
"Go get them Mikey, I know you and Eevee have what it takes." I said to him. "Dratini, come out the way for a moment!" I called and she leaped back towards me, turning to then watch the fight.
"Eevee! Take Down attack!" Mikey called and I nodded my head in approval. It's a good start, it'll stun Team Rocket as that move is more powerful than they might expect, however they didn't seem so concerned about a cute little Pokémon running at them.
"What's this, a stuffed animal?" Jessie scoffed but Mikey merely called out another order.
"Rage tackle attack!" Eevee's pace quickened and it lowered its head, my Eevee watching in awe in my arms as I held onto her, watching in similar astonishment as Eevee slammed into Team Rocket with a collective force which lifted them off the ground, however as they began to fall, I smirked.
"Dragon Rage!" The gang behind me yelped in fear as Dratini aimed the attack upwards and caught Team Rocket in antoher spiralling cyclone which held them up.
"Oh no! Not this again!" James wailed, obviously bringing back unwanted memories.
"Looks like Team Rocket's…blasting off again!" Jessie and the others screamed as Dratini let the cyclone go and they blew away into the far distance, not to bother us again.
"Alright!" I punched the air and Eevee in my arms called out with victory.
"Vee!"
"Drii!" Dratini leaped into my arms and I cuddled them both, glad to have them safe as Mikey praised his Eevee.
"Hey Mikey?" He looked at me, blinking softly. I winked at him. "You did good." He beamed at me but then I looked over at Charmeleon. "No! Charmeleon!" I ran over, Pidgeotto looking over to me as Charmeleon lay on the ground, Brock still tending to him. "Did you give him the Antidote?"
"I did but he's still pretty weak. I gave him some Super Potion but it still doesn't seem to be working. We need to get him to Nurse Joy as soon as possible, his tail flame is beginning to dim." I gasped in horror, putting both Eevee and Dratini down then gathered Charmeleon up into my arms.
"Charmeleon? Can you hear me?" He opened his eyes weakly and blinked, wincing slightly as I rubbed his chest. "You're going to be okay. I promise. You'll feel better really soon, I won't let you give out on me, I've still got to take you back to Cinnabar Island, remember? You want to go home, don't you?"
"Char…" He murmured then lifted his head slightly and touched his muzzle to my face, brushing against my slightly before fainting. I swallowed the lump in my throat then returned him to his Pokéball.
"You just rest, everything will be alright real soon, you'll see." I promised him then clicked the ball to my belt. "Alright everyone, that's enough excitement for one day, you all deserve a good rest." So I returned Dratini and Pidgeotto then let Eevve take a nap in my arms. Turning around I smiled to Mikey. "You and your Eevee have a very special connection Mikey, you should be very proud of both Eevee and yourself." I said to him then looked to his brothers. "I think you should tell your brothers now."
"Right!" He nodded his head then turned to face them.
"Hey Mikey! You won your first battle all on your own, that's fantastic!" Sparky praised and Rainer nodded his head.
"Yeah and you won with an unevolved Eevee!" Mikey swallowed nervously then looked up at his brothers.
"Hey you guys, I've decided I want to be an Eevee trainer." He told them and they all looked at him in surprise.
"An Eevee trainer?" Sparky questioned as he looked to his other brothers. Finally he smiled and nodded his head. "Well Mikey if that's what you want to do then do it."
"If you felt that way about then you should have told us sooner." Rainer agreed and Pyro grinned.
"Now we really are the four Eevee Brothers!" Mikey relaxed visibly then sighed happily.
"My brothers are the best." Rainer turned and winked at me so I arched an eyebrow but blushed all the same, slightly embarrassed by his attention but thrilled all the same. He came over to me as Sparky suggested about going back to celebrate Mikey's victory.
"You were really great with all your Pokémon, I can see you have a deep connection with all of them." He said to me and I nodded my head.
"I owe everything to them, I just boss them around really." I said humbly and he reached up to tweak my hat, tilting it up slightly so he could see my face as I was using it to hide.
"You know, you should stick around." He suggested and I blinked at him. "If you want, I could show you around the town and then we could head up the Mountain, I'll show you all the best places for mining for evolution stones." My eyes sparkled slightly at the suggestion. Like a date?
Then suddenly a Pokéball burst open and I gasped as Charmeleon appeared, angrily glaring at Rainer then spewed a fire attack over him, torching up like a marshmallow. "Charmeleon!" I gasped then yelped as he swayed on his feet only to collapse backwards into my arms. "Oh Charmeleon, you really aren't well! You're freezing!" I rubbed his arm then looked at Brock. "What's wrong with him Brock? I don't know what to do!"
"I think he may be coming down with something." Brock opened his mouth to look at his tongue which was turning slightly blue. "It might be a cold." A cold? But that was bad! If Charmeleon doesn't get enough heat from somewhere then his internal fire will go out and then he could die! "We need to get him to Cinnabar Island and fast! That's the only place I can think of where it's hot enough to keep him healthy and help him fight back the illness."
"Then what are we waiting for?" I yelled aloud. "Let's go!" Misty stood over me, looking at Charmeleon and then to Rainer who was being hosed down by his Vaporeon to wash off the black smudges.
"Looks like Charmeleon got a little jealous of Rainer trying to spend time with Ruby." She said and I looked down at Charmeleon, who was breathing heavily. That doesn't matter. What matters right now is getting Charmeleon back to health again.
So, Cinnabar Island is next.
