Chapter 5: Eevees… 'Nuff Said

A cluster of green dots blinked on the screen, but they were not just any dots. They were the key to our success. To my success.

I glanced shiftily at the door as the Master walked into the room... not that I truly considered him a Master. The boy glared at me as he entered, calculating. He was, as the saying goes, one smart cookie. That snotty teen had to be in order to have kept his position as Master for the past four years. This, however, did not change the fact that he was ten years younger than me and certainly a less capable leader than I could be... would be...

But nevertheless, this boy was the Master, the leader of Team Glop'emm. He had been since his father, the previous leader of Team Glop'emm, died of a "heart attack."

I smirked.

Heart attack, yeah right.

The death of the previous Master was not due to any natural cause; it was due to my brilliant plan. It had taken me years to develop and perfect a scheme that would ultimately end in the murder of our leader, but I did it. His death had to look natural so no one could possibly suspect me, the dedicated assistant, of murder. I was not going to spend the rest of my life in jail, as many members of Team Glop'emm have for other more petty crimes. I paid dearly to acquire the poisonous dart that triggered a heart attack when inserted in just the right part of the chest. Without going into too many details, after sneaking my way into the Master's house past all kinds of security, I killed the man with the dart in his sleep. Simple, but brilliant.

I palmed the Pokeball of my Hypno. The scheme would not have been possible without my beloved Pokemon. She had inserted the dart perfectly into the man's chest with her psychic and then had removed the dart when the man died so nobody could find evidence of a murder. The dart was so thin it did not even make a wound. The camera watching the man never picked up the thin dart moving silently through the shadows to kill the man. It was a perfect murder. A perfect plan... almost.

Now, don't be thinking that I am a ruthless, thoughtless homicidal killer. I do not kill without reason. This is in fact the only murder I have ever performed, and I had a very good reason to murder him. There are some people in this world who are destined to be in control, to have power. I have no doubt that I am one of these people, and thus, I wanted to, needed to, and am fated to become the leader of Team Glop'emm. Any person who prevented me from fulfilling my destiny, such as the current leader of Team Glop'emm, had to be eliminated. Then I would take over. This is where my plan backfired.

I worked my way up in Team Glop'emm, from a lowly grunt to the Master's right hand man. Each Master chooses his successor and writes it in a will that can only be opened after the Master dies or retires. I thought as the leader of Team Glop'emm's most trusted assistant that I would surely be named the successor. However, the Master surprised me, for his will named his son, this cold boy standing in front of me, the next Master of Team Glop'emm.

The reason for this choice still mystifies me. I had been so sure that I would be the successor. I had all the right qualities. I had acted so perfectly. That boy...

I clenched my fists. He had ruined my plans of becoming the leader. He would pay. One day.

The cold boy turned his head to me and looked at me with those luminous, frozen eyes.

After a second of awkward silence, the boy spoke tauntingly, almost in a whisper: "Please explain."

I was confused for a moment until I realized he was referring to the flashing green dots on the screen.

"I thought you knew everything," I retorted snobbishly.

The boy waited unemotionally. This must be very important to him, otherwise he would have replied with a threat to demote me or punish me for my rudeness. I decided to explain. Despite my disgust with this horrid boy, he still was the Master. Though I do not treat him with respect, he saw my supposed dedication to his father, and my dedication to the team now. I have no doubt that he has named me his successor, and I plan to keep it that way. Rude as I may be, he knows that nobody else in Team Glop'emm has the craftiness, experience, and dedication needed to be an effective leader.

To become leader, I just needed to find a way to eliminate him. I could not use the same method I had used on his father. It could not work on this boy. He was... special.

The boy cleared his throat, still waiting.

"Master," I started with a derogatory tone. "The device picked up signals of Pokemon X in Acceber for a brief time yesterday. The area the signals came from is represented by the green dots on the screen."

The boy narrowed his eyes toward the screen. "In between Melonbi Town and Azul City? Isn't that where my father found this same Pokemon?"

"Yes, sir," I replied in a genuinely serious voice. "Well, nearly. However, we have a strange issue. The signals were only up picked twice for a few seconds — once at 10:33 a.m. and once at 11:54 a.m."

The boy turned toward me. "And do you know why these signals were not received for a long, continuous time?" The boy asked the question as if he already knew the answer.

"We have some theories–"

The young Master interjected. Clearly, his question was supposed to be rhetorical. "The signals were only picked up for a short amount of time because Pokemon X was only there, in its true form, for a short amount of time. It either transformed into another Pokemon, or teleported to another region."

I rolled my eyes. "If that is the case, then I don't see how this machine can possibly help tracking Pokemon X. As soon as we locate Pokemon X, it will have teleported or transformed."

The boy thought a moment. "We will see about that. Are there any residencies near the area Pokemon X appeared in?"

"One. An old mansion. The rich Goldenthrills live there."

The boy smirked, "Send one of our members in Azul City to the area. I think we must go pay the Goldenthrills a visit."

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

"GOOOOOOOODMOOOOOORNIING ANITA!"

I leaped out of bed at the sudden wake-up call.

"Where's the fire?" I asked stupidly.

"There's no fire, silly," Erin said, grinning madly. "Come on, get up. I want to show you where the gym is, and then I have to pay a visit to the Azul City Research facility."

Why the heck did she have to wake me up? I looked at the clock sitting on the nightstand beside me. It was freakin' 7:30 in the morning. I growled at Erin and slammed the door on my way into the bathroom.

As I was brushing my teeth I heard a whine from the other side, "Huuuuurrrrry up!"

I slammed my toothbrush down. That was the last straw.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

I knew it was coming the moment we woke up. Anita was angry. She'd already found Erin's talkativeness annoying, and you didn't have to be a psychic to know Anita hated being woken up early. Though, I suppose being a psychic did help predict the exact time of Anita's temper outbursts. And boy was she going to burst.

I stretched my paws out over Anita's blanket and looked shiftily at Erin, who was calmly picking out her clothes for the day from a shrinkable wardrobe. Now Erin was a strange character. In front of Anita, she acted like a flippant, annoying girl who had a tendency to start ranting about herself. However, when Anita was not around, she was more calm and more collected. It was as if she was testing Anita...

Of course, I could simply read her mind to find out her objective, but that would be rude. I certainly would not want anyone else reading my every thought, so I do not read minds unless I'm in a dire situation.

I did sense, however, that the girl did not have ill intentions. If she did, I would have informed Anita, but as her intentions were not bad, it was much more fun to watch Erin scheme and Anita lose her temper.

Erin turned toward me and grinned. Unlike many humans, she acknowledged that Pokemon had human intelligence (or rather, humans had Pokemon intelligence because Pokemon came before humans) and treated them like equals. Though she had not communicated with me, and believed that I could not directly communicate with her, she knew that I knew of her odd behavior.

She mouthed, "This is going to be fun!" and then smiled sweetly toward the bathroom door and hollered in a whiny voice, "Huuuuurryyy up!"

I felt Anita's temper go overboard. Her anger and annoyance were so strong that any psychic Pokemon within a mile radius would surely sense the emotion.

I covered my ears with my paws to muffle the explosion. It didn't help.

WHAM

Anita slammed the bathroom door open, her face practically purple with anger.

"IF YOU DO NOT SHUT YOUR FREAKIN' ANNOYING MOUTH UP I WILL PERSONALLY STUFF A GRIMER IN YOUR MOUTH AND GLUE IT SHUT SO YOU CAN NEVER UTTER ANOTHER WORD FROM THAT UGLY PIE HOLE!"

Yeesh, she went just a tad overboard. I was tempted to tell her so, but thought better of it. Though I suppose it was good she now had enough control not to throw things. Before... well, let's just say it was bad.

I guess it was also good her psychic powers had not fully developed yet. Though there are a few exceptions, for the most part the gift's growth corresponds with puberty. As a human goes through puberty, their gift becomes stronger and more developed. Luckily, Anita was still in the beginning stages of puberty; her menstruation cycle had started only a few months ago and her chest had a ways to go. Had she been older and lost her temper as she just did, she surely would have caused much damage to the area.

Sighing in relief that no real damage had been done, I curiously turned to watch Erin's reaction. She looked terrified until Anita once again slammed the bathroom door shut. Then she burst out in a fit of silent laughter.

I watched Erin noiselessly as she recovered and began scribbling something on a piece of paper. Bored, I turned around and gazed out the window at a flock of Pidgeys clustered around an elderly woman under the dim glow of the morning sun. By the time I turned back to Erin, she was dressed, fashionably of course, and was on her way out the door. She pointed to the note, flung the door open, and was gone.

The corners of my mouth twitched. She sure had style.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

"Bye Erin. Have a nice day!" Nurse Joy called to me as I rapidly left the Pokemon Center. With the wind whipping at my lab coat, I turned left and began my walk down Rainbow Street. It was a mile to the Research Facility.

I smiled as my heels continued to clank against the sidewalk. My thoughts returned to the girl, who was probably still fuming in the bathroom. After analyzing and testing the girl's behavior, I decided she was a strong candidate.

For the past few weeks, I had been looking for someone to travel with me back to my lab in Cape Caution. Of course, I could have easily gone back by myself, but I wished to collect data on some of the Pokemon species on my return trip. This would cause me to move more slowly and leave me more susceptible to danger.

A few years ago, I would have had less to worry about. In the past few years, an organization called Team Glop'emm has become more active. There were rumors that they had members watching every city, waiting for the perfect opportunity to steal money, Pokemon, and valuables.

I knew that though I had decent battling skills, I would not be able to defend myself against strong opponents, whether they were wild Pokemon, Team Glop'emm members, or other dangerous people. I'm a pretty fourteen year old girl, after all. There are dangerous people in the world just waiting for the opportunity to take advantage of me, if you get my drift. Thus, I needed to find someone to travel with.

Of course, I couldn't travel with just anyone. I had standards, just as I did with everything in life. It is my belief that a person should set rules for themselves, and then keep to those rules. It keeps life organized and makes decisions easier. One of my standards, for instance, is to dress to impress. Nobody has ever caught me wearing anything unfashionable, and I plan to keep it that way.

In this situation, I was looking to travel with a person who

a.) would not annoy me. So many people are whiners or overly talkative nowadays (I am not really usually as crazily talkative as I pretended to be around Anita... though sometimes...), and I cannot stand them. Anita, despite her clear dislike for shopping, did not complain, and she was pretty much the opposite of talkative.

b.) would not flirt with me. This actually falls under the first standard. Boys who flirt with me because of how I look are annoying, and because most boys try to flirt with me, traveling with a boy was pretty much out of the question.

c.) could tolerate many situations. Anita did not flip out when she was covered in mud, like some girls do, and for the most part was able to deal with my obnoxiousness. (She lasted a whole day, even if she blew up this morning.) She's the kind of person who would not go crazy if we ended up a sticky situation.

d.) could hold their own ground in a battle. This one needs to be tested, but Anita is a trainer, so she should be able to battle. I plan to watch her battle with the gym leader.

e.) was traveling in the direction of Cape Caution. Cape Caution has a gym, so Anita has to go there eventually.

f.) would not bore me. I want to travel with someone who is exciting. Anita's temper, for one, is very amusing. Secondly, she acts so strangely sometimes and has revealed so little of herself that I find her quite mysterious. Surely by traveling with her I could discover whatever caused her to act in this manner.

I grinned. Anita was a very good candidate. Plus, she needed my help. She was, after all, another young girl traveling on her own and needed as much protection from the dangers of the world as I did. I also got the feeling that deep down she was lonely. She was not traveling with any other humans, and she had decided to room with me. She could have slept on the couch of the Pokemon Center if she had not wanted companions; yet, she had chosen to share a room. She may not have even known it, but she yearned for human company, and I could provide just that.

There was also the bonus of those Eevees she had. It was recently discovered that certain environments cause Eevees to evolve. This was directly linked to my research on the impact of the environment on Pokemon!

I smiled again, and sped up my walk. I was excited to find such a perfect candidate. Now all that was left, besides watching the gym battle, was to inform my peers at the Research Facility that I was finally going to depart and to pack up supplies for the trip.

A young man at the corner thought I was smiling at him. He began to approach me. "Hello there—"

I quickly crossed the street to avoid talking to the man. Honestly, I can't stand men. I straightened my face in hopes that no others would accost me if I looked serious and businesslike. The lab coat I was wearing added to my attempt to look serious; if only I had glasses...

I strode onwards, containing my excitement for the journey to come.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Anita,

Went to the lab, will be back in the afternoon to show you the gym.

Your pal,
Erin

P.S. For a quiet person, you sure have a loud temper.

I had felt resentful when I left the bathroom, and a trickle of anger returned when I read the note. This girl was beyond annoying. She was a pea-headed chatterbox that had no off button and was completely oblivious to the world around her. Her emotions changed faster than anyone I had ever been in contact with. One moment she looked terrified, the next she was telling me she was my "pal". An actor couldn't have done better...

I crumpled up the piece of paper and tossed it in the trashcan. Then I froze.

An actor. No way. Could she be...faking... was that even possible? It would certainly explain her odd temperament. But why? I clenched my fists. If that girl was faking... That would mean she was intentionally provoking me with her droning, her whining, her obviousness. I would kick her *ss!

And if she wasn't faking? Then she was just stupid and emotional and not someone I would want to hang around. Either way, I didn't like her.

{Aren't you being a little judgmental?} Apple commented.

I glared. "No."

{You were fine with her yesterday.}

"Today is new day."

{I think you are just cranky 'cause you were woken up. That combined with teenage hormones equals anger management issues.}

"I DON'T HAVE ANGER MANAGEMENT ISSUES!"

{Right, and I'm not a Mew.}

"UGHH. I'm going." I put on my pack and slammed the door on my way out of the room before Apple could get out. Of course, as I was striding away, I heard the door open again. Apple could psychically open the door.

Apple caught up to me when I reached the stairs.

{You know, she could have done worse. She could have decided to wake you up even earlier.}

{Instead she decided to wake me up at 7:30. That's not early at all,} I sarcastically remarked. I spoke psychically. It would look weird having a one-sided conversation with my Eevee. {She decided... It's like she planned to annoy me.}

I looked at Apple, who promptly looked away.

{She did plan it! That little... And then she just left!} I added angrily, {Why did she even wake me up if she was just going to leave? Grr. She was just trying to provoke me!}

{You could have gone back to sleep after she left.} Apple pointed out sheepishly.

{You know I can't fall back asleep after I'm woken up in the morning! That pooh-head!}

{You could have tried,} Apple weakly argued, but then decided it was not worth arguing about. She changed the subject. {Where are we going anyway?}

By this time, we had reached the Pokemon Center counter where surprisingly Nurse Joy was already up, even though the rest of the Pokemon Center lobby was empty. Instead of answering Apple, I turned to the pink-haired lady. "Good morning," I said tersely, still annoyed with everything and everyone. "I would like the Eevees I gave you yesterday back."

"That is fine. The eldest has fully recovered, but you must remember the other four will be in no condition to battle for the next two or three weeks. They are still young and being starved out in the wilderness hit them quite hard. They need lots of love, rest, and food to recover."

"I know, I know," I replied in an agitated tone.

"You understand this is very important to their—"

"I KNOW!" I yelled. Then I realized who I was yelling at. "Sorry. I've had a bad morning."

"Right." Nurse Joy looked at me nervously and then put the five Pokeballs in my hands. "Well, I'm trusting you with these."

There was awkward silence as I took the Pokeballs. Nurse Joy was slightly intimidated by my yelling.

"Thanks." I nodded curtly, and then left the building. Apple must have sensed my continued agitation because she did not speak to me as I walked down the block. When we reached the corner, I took out the Pokeball of the oldest Eevee and released him from his Pokeball.

{What are you doing?} Apple finally asked.

{I need to see if he wants to travel with us,} I replied.

{But you already caught him.}

{I will release him and his siblings if he wishes.}

In the meantime, the released Eevee was adjusting to the area. He glanced at the buildings, and then turned intently toward me. Even though his fur had been groomed, he still managed to maintain a slightly rugged look, with random pieces of fur standing up. He stared at me intensely, not quite angry, but certainly suspicious. {Where are they?} he demanded.

I pulled out the other four Pokeballs, and showed the Eevee. He narrowed his eyes at me but said nothing.

{They are in here. They need food and care, and are in no condition to battle for the next few weeks.} I tried to sound friendly.

{So I have heard. The pink lady informed me after I was healed.}

Silence.

{What do you want to do?} I finally asked.

{What can I do?} the Eevee bitterly replied. {My family is hurt. We will not be able to fend for ourselves in the wild.}

{Would you and siblings like to travel with Apple and me?} I gestured toward Apple, who was peering at the Eevee curiously from behind my legs, unsure if it would attack.

{No,} the Eevee responded frankly.

More silence. I was about to press the release button...

{But we will anyway. As much as I dislike humans, my family is in no condition to return to the wilderness. You have already proven that you will take care of my family by bringing them to the Pokemon Center to be healed. For now, I will trust you.}

I smiled at the Eevee who responded with a glare.

The Eevee growled, {However, one wrong move, and I swear by Mew—} Apple chuckled and the Eevee turned his gaze to her. {I swear that I will personally rip your throat to pieces.}

Apple stopped laughing and stared intently back at the Eevee.

I clapped my hands, trying to break the tension. {Alright then, welcome to the team! Do you have a name?}

{No.}

{Eevees, and most Pokemon for that matter, tell each other apart through scents,} Apple informed me.

{Well then, since I now have six Eevees, I must name you so I do not get confused. I will call you Fiery. Any issues with that name?} I told the Eevee.

Fiery turned away. {No.}

{Do you prefer to be in a Pokeball or outside of it?} I was not about to keep a Pokemon in a Pokeball if it did not wish to be held there, especially not a fiery Eevee. Fiery, it seemed, did not like to mess around.

{Outside for now, but keep the little ones in. No need to put them in any more danger than they already are in,} the Eevee decided as he suspiciously eyed a lone Growlithe carrying the morning newspaper across the street. It ran between the legs of the few early risers walking in the opposite direction.

{What's that supposed to mean?} Apple piped, finally deciding it was safe to talk to the Eevee.

{Exactly what I said, moron.}

{Alright, let's be nice to each other now,} I tried. I got two glares in response. I sighed. {I'm Anita, by the way, and as you know this is Apple.}

{How do you do?} Apple snickered, shyness nowhere to be found now.

Fiery growled, but chose to ignore Apple, {How can you speak to me anyway? Only Pokemon can communicate with each other telepathically.}

Before I could answer, Apple responded, {She's a psychic, so she can speak to Pokemon too. It's obvious really. Look at her eyes.}

{Whatever,} Fiery said coolly. I crossed the street and started down the next block. Apple and Fiery followed.

{So, where are we going now?} Apple asked, again.

{To find the gym,} I replied.

Apple complained, {But we haven't even battled a single person away from home yet! We'll get our *sses whooped!}

I didn't respond.

{I think you're being arrogant. We need to train! Plus, we don't even know where the gym is. We should wait for Erin to show us.}

{I don't want or need Erin's help.}

{Who's Erin?} Fiery inquired.

{You'll see.}

{Unfortunately,} I added.

-

After wandering around town for an hour, stopping for a quick breakfast, and then wandering around some more, we still had not found the gym.

"It has to be here somewhere," I muttered thoroughly irritated.

{Well, it would help if you asked someone for directions,} Apple commented.

{I don't need anybody else's help.}

{Well that's stupid. Of course you do!} Apple countered.

{Yeah, otherwise you'll end up where we are now,} Fiery remarked.

{And where is that?}

I shouldn't have asked.

{Right where we started.}

I looked up. We were indeed right in front of the Pokemon Center. I groaned.

{You know,} Apple started. {I think there was a gym sign in the park we passed five minutes ago.}

{There wasn't a—} Apple shoved Fiery with a paw. {I mean, of course. How could you miss it?}

{And I smelled hotdogs,} Apple added hopefully.

Fiery looked at Apple in disgust. {Do you know what those things are made of?}

{Dog sweat?}

Fiery and I exchanged mystified glances and followed Apple, who was sprinting ahead toward the park. Obviously she just wanted a hotdog, but hey, there was nowhere better to look.

Of course, when we reached the park, there was no gym sign, though there was a hotdog stand. The park was large and green, covered in different trees, grasses, and flowers. There was a single gravel path that twisted down the center of the park. A large cluster of trees created a miniature forest a few yards away on one side of the path, and the other side was a spacious field of different types of grasses. The hotdog stand was a ways down the path, though one could smell it from a mile away. There were some people walking with their Pokemon down the path, and a few wild bug Pokemon scurried about the trees and grass. I sighed. The gym was not here.

Apple was leaping between patches of flowers, while Fiery simply stood.

{HOTDOG!} Apple shrieked when she noticed the hotdog stand was visible. {Let's go get hotdogs!}

I sighed again. "You can have a hotdog for lunch. For now, I guess we should train 'cause we can't find the gym."

Apple sulked, {But lunch isn't for another three hours!}

"The faster we start, the faster we can eat lunch. Now, before we start, I think I should meet the other four Eevees. Here there shouldn't be too much danger, and they shouldn't be able to get into too much trouble."

Fiery snorted. {Yeah, right. They'll find trouble anywhere.}

We moved to an open area of some yards away from the path. I pulled out the four Pokeballs. Four red lights flashed as the Eevees were released.

The four young Eevees clustered together and stared up at me will big adorable eyes. Their fur was rather dull compared to Apple's and Fiery's and like Fiery, they still had a slightly scraggly look. The Eevees were still rather small, about the size of rabbits, but they were not done growing yet. Their skinny legs and bony bodies revealed their long lack of nutrition, but at least they were no longer wet and whimpering. I remembered Apple telling me they were all about four months old, meaning they hatched about four months ago. They were considered to be from the same litter because they all hatched around the same time from the same mother and father.

The Eevees seemed intimidated at the sight of me. Their ears were folded back and they retreated slowly. Fiery trotted over to the Eevees and rubbed noses with them to comfort them. {Don't worry guys, they won't hurt you. That girl is our trainer now, and she will care for us, and if she doesn't…} Fiery glared at me. {then we will tear her to pieces.}

I put on my friendliest smile and spoke to them psychically: {Hello, I'm Anita, and this is Apple.} I gestured to Apple, who had decided to start chasing her tail. {Welcome to the family.}

For a few seconds, the miniature Eevees stared at Apple, who promptly stopped chasing her tail and lightly skipped over to the new Eevees to greet them. The Eevees then turned their gaze to me and stared in amazement.

{She can talk in our heads!} the one farthest to the left squealed. Its ears straightened and it ran over to sniff my hand. The other three followed cautiously.

{I thought humans couldn't talk to Pokemon. Only Pokemon can talk to Pokemon,} another Eevee commented after much sniffing.

Apple, who was sitting with Fiery watching the scene, answered proudly, {She's a psychic, so she can talk to humans and Pokemon!}

The four Eevees looked up again and simultaneously said, {WOOOOOOOOOW!}

Then, suddenly, the greeting was over, and the first Eevee that spoke bounded away to chase frogs. The second Eevee scanned the area, saw a puddle, and promptly jumped into it, splashing water on itself as well as the surrounding grass. One of the other Eevees ignored the rest and went over to flowerbed, where it laid down. The last, and smallest of the bunch, quietly walked under a sunflower near Fiery and Apple.

{Well, I suppose I must name all of you,} I informed the group. Each Eevee looked up from its activity, and Apple and Fiery watched curiously.

{Which ones are boys, and which are girls?} I silently asked Apple.

{The one playing with the frog and the one in the puddle are males. The others are females,} Apple replied without revealing to the other Eevees that we had communicated.

I started with the furriest and boldest of the young Eevees, the one that had dared to speak first and was now playing with a frog. {I will name you Allo.}

The Eevee cocked its head at me. {Why's that?}

I shrugged. {It was the first thing that came to mind.}

{Then your mind is weird.}

The Eevee splashing around in the puddle turned to Allo. {Your face is weird!}

I turned to the wet Eevee. {I think you shall be Splash.}

The wet Eevee rolled his eyes and mocked his brother. {Why's that?}

{Great, another smart-alec,} I stated dryly.

{I thought you said my name was Splash, not Alec,} Splash snorted. Then he literally snorted water and started coughing and laughing simultaneously. Oy vey.

I turned my gaze to the Eevee in the flowerbed. Her coat was less ragged than the others and she laid in such a way that her fur seemed to glisten despite its dulled color. She had somehow managed to put a red flower behind her ear and was now licking her paws. When she saw I was looking at her, she sat up and appeared to be attempting to pose, as if this action would help me come up with a name for her.

{I will name you Vanilla.} I finally decided.

Vanilla eyed me carelessly and then concluded, {That seems fitting. A beautiful name for a beautiful creature like me.} The Eevee then laid back down and continued cleaning her paws. Splash snorted again, this time at Vanilla's response, and Vanilla glared.

I finally looked over to the smallest Eevee under the sunflower. She would not meet my gaze. {I will call you Sunflower,} I calmly told her. She nodded and moved closer to Fiery.

{Alright then!} I looked at the four Eevees. {You four stay out of trouble while Fiery, Apple, and I train. Don't leave this clearing.}

{Why don't we get to train too?} Splash complained. {I wanna battle!}

{Nurse Joy told me you guys need recovery time.} After a second thought, I added strictly, {Under no circumstances will you four battle in the next two weeks. After that, we'll see.}

{But I feel fine!} Splash whined.

{Your coat is still dull,} Allo pointed out.

{Well so is yours,} the wet Eevee retorted.

{Exactly, all of us need time to grow healthy. Don't you feel like you tire a little too quickly?} The two female Eevees nodded in agreement with Allo.

{No,} Splash said defiantly.

{I personally think battling is overrated,} Vanilla randomly stated.

Splash snickered, {You think anything that might get your precious fur dirty is overrated.}

Fiery sighed, {Won't you guys ever get along?}

{NO!}

Apple turned to me, {Are we gonna start soon or what? I want a hotdog!}

{Ok, Fiery, Apple, come over here. You four, no battling and stay out of trouble.} I walked with Apple and Fiery to the other side of the clearing where the young Eevees were still in sight, but not in the way of training.

I looked down at Fiery. {I haven't really seen you battle yet, so why don't you and Apple battle each other so I can see your skills?}

Fiery glared up at me. {You're expecting me to battle for you?}

I looked at him in surprise. I had thought he would want to train and battle. {Well, I kinda just assumed... I mean trainers work with their Pokemon in battle to learn and grow stronger, and I thought you would want to become stronger... I won't force you if you don't want to.}

Fiery's continued to stare. {Let me make this clear. I will battle for you, but not because you are now my trainer.} Fiery looked over at his siblings, now huddled together playing some sort of leaping game. {I will battle so I can be strong enough to protect my family.} He turned to Apple and said fiercely, {I will not fail them again. Let's do this.}

Apple shrugged, and the two Eevees distanced themselves to prepare for battle. I was a bit disturbed, but like Apple, I shrugged it off. I spoke: {This will be a one on one battle with no commands from the trainer.} To Apple, I added privately, {Remember, no using psychic powers. We have not told them yet, and we also don't want any people to see.}

{Begin!}

{Ladies first,} Fiery snickered.

{Only if you insist,} Apple countered, and began racing toward Fiery in a quick attack.

Fiery eyed Apple carefully, and at the last second dodged out of the way using his own quick attack. He then changed directions and slid to a stop, making the dirt on the ground sputter into Apple's face. Apple spun around confused.

{What's wrong? Can't catch what you can't see?} Fiery ran at Apple.

{Oh, shut up with that classic line! Everyone uses it, and its not true 'cause I will catch you!} Apple spat. Despite my command not to use her psychic powers, I could tell Apple was indeed using her powers to locate Fiery while she couldn't see because she responded by dodging Fiery's tackle, twisting, and biting his tail.

Fiery howled in pain, but I noticed his tail was lighting up.

{Just kidding,} he taunted as his iron-hard tail hit a helplessly close Apple on the head. He then followed up by aiming another tackle at her, but Apple ducked and kicked Fiery up with her hind legs as he flew over her.

By the time he landed, Apple was nowhere in sight. Fiery twirled about until he noticed a hole. {Uh-oh.}

Apple popped up underneath Fiery, sending him flying. Fiery crumpled to the ground as he landed. He shakily got to his feet, and his tail once more began to glow.

Now it was Apple's turn to utter an, {Uh-oh} and duck out of sight with another dig attack. However, Fiery was not about to fall for the same trick twice. He scanned the ground and found a nearby rock, which he rushed on top of. Apple was unable to pop up directly beneath Fiery, giving Fiery the opportunity to tackle Apple to the ground.

Panting, Apple pounced on Fiery in response, and the two Eevees rolled over each other in the dirt. A bite here, a tail whip there. Their paws and tails were intertwined, and they were rolling so quickly, it was hard to tell which Eevee was which.

{Take that, and that!} Apple squealed, biting Fiery's ears.

{Oh yeah, well take this!} Fiery suddenly rolled over so that he towered over Apple, causing Apple to be stuck in a very awkward belly-up position. He held her four paws down with his own, and his tail was lit up over him, ready to strike should she manage to escape.

He smirked. {Game over.}

Apple struggled for a few seconds, but she was unable to throw Fiery off of her. She then stopped struggling, and smirked right back at him.

{Fine, you win.}

And then she gave a lick across the face that rivaled a Haunter's in sliminess.

Fiery jumped off of her, {Ewwwwww!} He ran around until he finally stumbled into the puddle Splash had been playing in. He threw his head in the water and pawed at it in an attempt to get Apple grossness off of him. When he was finally satisfied he glared at her. {You're despicable.}

Apple stuck out her tongue in response, causing Fiery to jump back in fear of another lick.

{Do it again! Do it again!}

I turned to see four young Eevees yelping excitedly at the strange series of events they had just witnessed.

Splash ran up to Apple, {You're sooooo cool! Can you teach me how to lick like that?}

Apple smiled triumphantly at that comment, and then whined to me, {Can I PU-LEAZE have a hotdog now?}

{Just a little more training, you two,} I started, choosing to ignore Apple. {Fiery, how do you know Iron Tail?}

Fiery shrugged. {We all do.} He nodded toward the younger Eevees. {Our father was an Aagron.}

I nodded. {Can you try and teach Apple? I'll watch you two and keep an eye on the other four.}

{While you're at it, you should practice clearing your mind and listening like we did before,} Apple added privately. {I haven't forgotten our deal.}

I sighed and sat down under a tree as Fiery began to show Apple the technique needed to turn her tail as hard as iron. Splash, Allo, Sunflower, and Vanilla were huddled together watching Apple and Fiery a few yards away.

I inhaled deeply, closed my eyes, and relaxed my body.

"HELLO THERE!"

I jumped up so fast, I accidentally hit my head on a low branch and started cursing.

"Err, sorry miss. I noticed your two Eevees train'in while I was a-walkin' n' I was a-wonderin' if ya wanted to enter 'n my contest."

I quit my cursing, and, rubbing my head, I turned to face the source of my pain. "What do you want?"

I was facing a short man wearing a top hat. He had a short gray beard, was plump, and had a squeaky voice.

"Wanna enter me contest? It's free n' there's prize money."

I considered. "Alright. When is it?"

"Starts 1:00 in front o' the hotdog stand. There'll be sixteen compet-etors, n' each battle's one on one," the man answered and handed me a sheet of paper with a few other names scrawled on it. "Sign here."

I signed. It would be a good test of Apple and Fiery's skills.

"Thanks much," the man said as he tilted his top hat and walked away.

I looked at Fiery and Apple to find Fiery still teaching Apple the basics of Iron Tail. They had been so caught up in training that they had not noticed the strange little man.

I looked at the four young Eevees to find… they weren't there.

Crap.

I quickly scanned the clearing, but the Eevees were nowhere in sight.

Crap.

Fiery would kill me. Literally.

Did I mention crap?