Chapter 7
Once the road split into the highway and the pedestrian routes, blacktop and cement were quickly replaced with grass and dirt. The feel of it on Maple's bare feet was far more pleasant than the unforgiving rocks of the pavement. Although Mark frequently asked her whether or not her feet hurt, she never once complained.
Maple was much more at home on the quiet woodland path of Route 38 than the crowded, smelly city. Out here there was nothing but quiet, lovely nature. Her element and her home.
All of the routes that connected the various cities had a road for cars and a road for pedestrians. Those pedestrians were almost always Pokémon trainers. The routes were where trainers spent most of their lives. After all, most Pokémon stayed far away from the main roads and wherever there were Pokémon, trainers would be somewhere nearby.
Mark and Maple had seen a few trainers on their way. They were mostly locals checking their usual stomping grounds for rarer Pokémon than the common Pidgey and Spearow fluttering through the air, or the Rattata scampering through the underbrush. These trainers didn't seem too concerned with Maple, but most, if not all, gave her strange looks.
However, it wasn't the trainers' reactions that bothered Maple. The Pokémon themselves were behaving very strangely when she approached. Most didn't take any special notice, but the ones that did never gave a positive reaction.
At one point, a trio of Rattata ran across the path in front of them. The first two didn't take any notice of their approach, but the last one stopped, sniffed the air briefly, and then began bristling its fur. It hissed violently at them before darting away, back the way it had come. Many of the wild Pokémon reacted to Maple's presence like she was an abomination; something to be hated and feared. Maple could only guess at why.
Maple hadn't been born in the wild, but instead had lived in a world where humans were always close by. Even though these were wild Pokémon they must have been somewhat accustomed to seeing humans. But they probably had never seen anything quite like Maple before.
Was she really that unnatural to them?
"The woods stop for a bit after a few more miles," Mark said as the sun began to set, "you sure you don't need a break?"
"Nope, I'm good," Maple smiled. She didn't know how to explain to him what she was feeling. First that biker had been afraid of her and now the Pokémon were afraid of her. She had thought that the Pokémon would recognize her as one of their own, but that obviously wasn't true.
"Okay," Mark nodded, "I guess we'll go for a bit longer, then." Maple was much quieter than she had been just a few hours ago. She was probably still upset from the biker episode. Mark was still winded from running after her, too, but he did his best not to show it. Maybe Maple was doing the same.
At the pace they were going they would make the ranch not too long after dark. And then they would both be able to rest and recover. Mark wondered how long it had been since he'd seen the place. He could still remember how it had looked when he and Hayley had bought the veritable piece of junk.
"Well, whaddya think?" Mark could still hear Hayley's cheerful, country voice when she showed him the barn that made rustic look like pristine.
"Is it safe?" Mark asked dubiously, his eyes shifting from the dilapidated barn, back to Hayley, and back to the barn, again.
"It will be," Hayley declared, proudly, "just gimme a few months and I guarantee you'll love it. A home away from home."
Mark stared at the peeling paint, the collapsing roof and the rusting door hinges and had trouble seeing how that would be possible.
"At least the land's salvageable," Mark muttered. The wide expanse of land would take work to get ready to be able to take care of any Pokémon. Rocks and tree stumps dotted the landscape, which seemed to be infested with all sorts of dangerous snakes and spiders, as well as a few poisonous Pokémon thrown in for good measure.
"Look, Hayley," Mark started, "we have plenty of money. We can afford something a bit better than…this. I mean, you don't even have to move to Johto. You can just stay in Sinnoh. It's not like it's impossible for me to move back."
"Nuh-uh," Hayley shook her head, "sorry, buddy, but I'm stayin'. I grew up in Johto and it's where I've always wanted a ranch. Hell, my Ma and Pa ain't more than a day's drive away. So, no backin' out. You hear me?"
"Alright, fine," Mark hung his head, "but I still think we should have a better place than this."
"You worry too much," Hayley beamed, "and trust me. We will have a better place. Just you wait. Trainers the world over won't be able to wait to get a Pokémon from the Endless Horizons Pokémon Ranch!"
"Uh…" Mark rolled his eyes, "we'll have to work on that name…"
One year ago, the ranch was more than a little shabby and run-down, but Hayley had nonetheless made fantastic strides with the place since then. She had kept her promise and fully repaired the barn in less than two months. She had even built a small cabin for herself, which doubled as an office. Now the barn was three times as big and they had fifty acres of land with which to let any Pokémon they raised roam anywhere they wanted. Even the name stuck, despite Mark's protests.
Hayley was growing more and more proud of the place by the day. Her dream was to have a ranch that could hold even a few thousand Pokémon. It would take a lot more time and even more hard work, but Hayley couldn't keep herself from imagining looking out the window at a utopia of Pokémon, in her backyard.
She was never much of a Pokémon trainer, herself. That was why she had partnered with Mark. He was a great trainer, but he needed more space for his Pokémon, and for some reason, which Hayley thought was really sweet, he hated using the Pokémon Box System that most trainers used.
Raising captured Pokémon also made taking care of them a lot easier. Some people had ranches with Pokémon that were originally wild, but the enhancements from the Pokéball taming system made it possible to run the place with less staff than most.
Hayley sat at the table, sipping on a cup of tea, going over the finances for the ranch. That was another talent of hers. She was only four years older than Mark, but she had worked with her father on everything he did at their own ranch. Through watching her father, Hayley had picked up her own fair share of tips and techniques on how to run a place like this, which was another talent she possessed that Mark didn't.
She wondered what her partner was doing. He often didn't check in for weeks at a time and it was even rarer for him to visit, even when they had been in the Sinnoh region. The last she knew, he was on his way to Ecruteak City, which had been a full week ago.
Mark had been something of a drifter ever since she had met him. As if staying in one place too long would make him stop training altogether. She had promised him a home away from home, but he didn't seem to want one.
Still, Hayley liked the kid. She watched over his Pokémon as if they were her own, caring for them as best she could.
A knock at the door disrupted her thoughts. The ranch wasn't closed yet, but it was rare to have a visitor after dark. Nevertheless, Hayley happily strode toward the door.
"Welcome to…Mark!" Hayley stopped, shocked to see her partner and a girl dressed like a Leafeon, in the doorway, "hello, what're you doing here? I thought you were in Ecruteak City."
"Yeah, hi," Mark nodded, "well…I was, but…slight change of plans."
"Hayley!" Maple cried in delight, as recognition sank in. She flung herself at Hayley and hugged her. Not knowing how to react, Hayley went rigid and she stared questioningly at Mark.
"Yeah…" Mark hesitated, "something kinda…happened in Ecruteak City."
"Guess so," Hayley muttered as Maple released her.
"So, this is Maple?" Hayley said with her brow furrowed in puzzlement, "Your Leafeon?"
"Well," Mark sighed, "she was, but, she evolved into this. A human Pokémon, I guess." The words still sounded strange next to each other like that, it was as if he would never get used to saying them.
"She seems human enough…" Hayley and Mark both sat at the round, wooden table as they watched Maple explore the room. She would pick up objects at random, examine them by turning them over and over, and finally put them back, often with the wrong side up.
"She can still fight like a regular Pokémon, too," Mark said, and Hayley recognized the pride in his voice.
"Not bad," Hayley said, trying not to sound impressed, "so…how 'bout this tournament? That why ya stopped by?"
"Yeah," Mark nodded, "I'll need to change around my team a bit to be ready for a tournament. Figured I'd stop by, since it's on the way."
"So, you're competing then?" Hayley asked.
"Well, yeah," Mark said, his voice suggested that he had never thought that he wouldn't.
"Even with her being a girl, now?" Hayley pressed.
"Huh?" Mark had to think about what she meant, but after a second he understood. If Maple was a girl now, why fight at all? She certainly didn't have to. A completely new world had opened up for her, what would be the point in fighting? Hell, she could probably train her own Pokémon, if she wanted to.
"Umm…Hayley," Maple spoke up from behind them, "I know it sounds strange, but I do still want to fight." She set down the candle she had been examining, on its side. Mercifully, it was unlit.
"You don't really have to, Maple," Mark admitted, "I mean, you can do anything you want now." He hesitated for a brief moment before finishing, "and I can take care of you, I don't mind."
Maple blushed at those words, but she shook her head, "no, I'm not just a girl. I'm a Pokémon too. I don't want to stop training and getting stronger just because something's changed. I've been fighting my whole life and I don't want to stop."
Now Mark understood why Maple wanted to fight.
Throughout history, humans and Pokémon alike had fought for many reasons. Survival had always been the main reason for fighting of any kind. In fact, that was how Pokémon training got started at all. Humans would have been all but defenseless against the magical creatures. The only way was to catch one, tame it and use it against other Pokémon.
But it was more complicated than just survival, and not just for Maple. After all, Mark had heard about plenty of people that just sought greater strength and even enlightenment through fighting, whether they were fighting Pokémon or other people. They weren't fighting for survival. What was stopping them from just walking away?
Was that the true motivation for Pokémon to follow humans? It was certainly no secret that training and fighting were the fast track to Pokémon evolution. Not to mention that some evolutions were outright impossible without human influence. After all, there was no such thing as a wild Scizor. Its evolution from Scyther was far too complicated without any human involvement. Of course, Scizor was not a special case. A myriad of Pokémon simply did not exist in the wild because of limitations like this. It took human ingenuity and experimentation to discover the vast number of ways that Pokémon could evolve.
Most importantly, with the evolution that Pokémon sought, came greater power. With a really good trainer, a Pokémon could reach higher and higher levels of strength. The chance for growth would be too tempting to ignore. That is, if the trainer was good enough to capture that Pokémon, in the first place.
When he thought about it that way, Mark wondered if Pokéballs were even necessary.
"Is that why Pokémon fight?" Hayley asked, "to get stronger?" Lost in his thoughts, Mark had forgotten to respond to Maple.
"Of course," Maple said it with such conviction that there was no point in arguing any further. To her, it was as natural as her tail.
"Alrighty then," Hayley stood up, "as long as you both want to do it, I won't try to stop you." She turned back to Mark, "at any rate, it's nice to have you back for a little bit. Your Pokémon miss you."
Maple's ears perked up, as if she had forgotten something very important.
"Something wrong?" Mark asked.
"No, nothing's wrong," Maple shook her head, "but…can I see Mom and Dad?"
"Huh?" Hayley peered at her, "Mom and Dad?"
"She means Twitch and Ember," Mark corrected, "her…parents."
"Oh!" Hayley shook her head, instantly embarrassed, "yeah, c'mon out to the barn. They're probably gettin' settled in as we speak."
Hayley lit a lantern and took the two outside. She led the way to the barn underneath a clear late-spring sky as a sliver of silver moonlight shone down on them. They could hear Hoothoot and Noctowl calling from the woods, back along Route 38, where Mark and Maple had come from.
The barn held most of the Pokémon at night with only a few exceptions, like Mark's larger Pokémon, remaining outside. They took care of enough Eevees and Eevee evolution Pokémon to fill the first floor of the barn to full capacity. Hayley was careful to provide every Pokémon with enough space and keep the stalls as clean as possible.
Twitch and Ember, two of Mark's first Eevee evolutions, and Maple's parents, shared a stall together near the entrance to the barn. There was plenty of space to separate Twitch, the male Jolteon, and Ember, the female Flareon, but the two adamantly opposed the separation.
On one occasion, Twitch had rammed into the wooden door on his stall, in an attempt to knock it down. Hayley, terrified that he would hurt himself, immediately put the two together and never let them be parted from each other again. Truthfully, it was rather touching. Such strong affection was something that Hayley rarely saw in Pokémon.
"Looks like you caught 'em at just the right time," Hayley said, hanging the lamp on a beam overtop of Twitch and Ember's stall, "looks like they're settlin' in."
The two Pokémon weren't asleep, but they did look as though they had been rudely awakened by the intrusion. They were lying next to each other, curled up on the hay in such a close resemblance to how Maple slept that Mark found it a little unsettling. Twitch raised his head, blinking sleepily at the intruders.
"Not exactly happy to see us, are they?" Mark asked no one in particular.
"It's okay, they're just tired," Maple chimed and she opened the stall door. She walked in, leaving Mark and Hayley behind and knelt down on the hay with the two Eevee evolutions. Maple put out her hand and let the two sniff at it.
Remember me? Maple thought. They continued sniffing her for a another full minute, not showing any sign one way or another that they did, please, remember me… Maple pleaded.
At last, Ember extended her head and nuzzled against Maple's hand. After a moment, Twitch did the same and Maple giggled as she petted their fur.
"I guess they remember you," Mark was clearly uncomfortable about how Maple petted them. He never thought about it before, but was it really okay that Maple was stroking the backside of her mother and father? On the other hand, none of them seemed offended. So, he guessed that it was okay.
"Well, guess I oughta go prep the guest room," Hayley turned to leave, "by which I mean the couch."
"Alright," Mark nodded, "we'll be in after a bit. And thanks again for letting us stay."
"Would you stop that?" Hayley scolded, even as she smiled.
"Umm…Mark," Maple's voice sounded a little strange, "do you think I could stay out here? Just for tonight."
"Huh?" Mark turned back to Maple. He was about to ask why, when he saw the look in Maple's eyes. "Uh…sure. I mean, as long as Hayley's okay with it."
"Oh, don't be stupid," Hayley shook her head, "it's fine. As long as you're sure you'll be comfortable out here."
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Maple smiled. Reluctantly, Hayley and Mark left her alone with Twitch and Ember. They left the lantern behind, so she could have some light. They shut the barn door, leaving her alone with her parents.
"So," Maple tried to sound cheerful, "did you miss me?" Twitch responded by scratching his ear with his back foot while Ember did nothing.
"Umm…" Maple struggled to find words, "I kinda…sorta…evolved. You know, like the story you used to tell me, when I was really little…" The two settled back into their position on the hay, indifferent to Maple's presence.
Maple didn't understand it. They had recognized her, Mark hadn't been wrong. However, they recognized her the same way that they might recognize Hayley or Mark. She was a comforting hand and a friend, nothing more. They hadn't recognized her as their daughter.
"I…I really wanted to know what you thought," Maple started to shake as she spoke, "I mean, I didn't know that it really was possible. I…wanted to believe it. I mean, I really wanted to believe it. But it doesn't feel right. Something's wrong." She stopped and took a deep breath before continuing. Her parents looked at her with a vague look that might be concern, but Maple knew her parents better than that.
They didn't care. Their daughter was on the verge of the tears and they didn't care.
"I mean…I think I know how this happened, but…" Maple hung her head, "doesn't the story say they live happily ever after? That's supposed to happen right? But, it's still really hard. I don't know what's going to happen."
Neither Twitch nor Ember reacted. Why? What had she lost that brought about that change? What was it that they no longer recognized?
"I'm scared…" Maple's voice wavered, "I don't know…what I am, anymore. I'm not a Leafeon…and I'm not a person."
What the hell are you?
"Can't you please, help?" Maple bit her lip, "I just…need to know that…you're okay that this happened. Please. Just tell me that everything will be alright. Tell me that I can still have a happy ending." Maple's vision was blurred by tears.
"Please, just answer me one question, at least," Maple looked up at her parents, "I need to know…am I still your daughter?"
The Jolteon and Flareon didn't respond. Instead Twitch laid his head down on the hay and Ember her own head on top of his. Soon, the two were both fast asleep. And then Maple was alone.
AN: btw, i'm aware that there's no ranch on Route 38, but Route 39 has the MooMoo Farm, so, i figured it was a good spot for Hayley and her "country accent." also, Hayley is more or less supposed to be the Hayley from My Pokemon Ranch
once again, thanks for reading!