In a far off river of the forests, lay a scene that quite encapsulated happiness in its purest form. Within the flowing waters lay Eevee, playing in the aquatic stream. She was splish-splashing about, and playing with some new friends of hers, Dracovish and Parasect. Quite literally, in fact, as she was splashing water on both of them, enjoying a very fun water war.
"Come on Eevee, cut that out, the water tickles!" cried Dracovish, splashing water onto Eevee as a form of retribution. As she was pounded by the blistering cold wave, she giggled profusely.
"Nuh-uh, this is too fun!" She splashed water onto Dracovish again, as he too laughed. She eyed Parasect, who was standing off to the side, staring blankly at the two. "Come on Parasect, join in!" yelled Eevee, splashing water on Parasect. Parasect simply stood, unmoving.
"You realize I cannot partake in any form of emotion nor tangible feeling, correct?"
"Come on Parasect, lighten up a little, at least have some fun!"
"I do not really feel "fun", Eevee." Parasect shook from side to side to remove water, as Eevee went back to playing with Dracovish, dismayed. As she took measures to drown Dracovish in a surprise torrent of liquid, she was caught off guard from the side. Turning to see who had splashed her, she spied Parasect, feigning ignorance. Eevee giggled as both she and Dracovish began to happily splash Parasect, as Parasect, too, began to fire back at them.
However, as the happy times of the afternoon soon faded into sunset, the three had tuckered themselves out.
"I'm sad you guys have to go… even if I'm… kinda sleepy… yawn …" She rubbed her eye as Dracovish smiled.
"Don't worry about it kid, we can play again reeaaalll soon. But we gotta head home for now, we're just as tired as you are."
"I may feel nothing but eternal agony, but I admit, that was a somewhat pleasant experience. Thank you, little one," added Parasect, seemingly having become content to some degree from the playtime.
"You sure you'll be fine walking home, kid?" inquired Dracovish. Eevee smiled from ear to ear.
"I'll be fine guys! I'm not that tired."
"If you say so, then. Come on Parasect, let's get going." The two waved goodbye and departed, leaving Eevee alone by the river. She huddled down in dismay by a rock, saddened by the departure of her compatriots.
However, another presence soon made itself known as it began to form from the water of the river. As Eevee stared wide eyed, the newfound apparition took shape, revealing itself to be none other than Vaporeon. Eevee recoiled at the sudden appearance.
"Hello, Eevee. How have you been? It's been a while."
"You're the big scary guy from the council meeting!" She began to quiver. "Oh no…. Did I do something bad? Was I in a bad part of the woods the whole time? Did I-"
Vaporeon calmly walked up and put a single paw to Eevee's lips. Eevee quieted down, and Vaporeon backed off.
"Relax, Eevee. I'm not here on any strictly serious business. And I'm not here to punish you for breaking the rules or anything. But I should ask, why am I suddenly scary now? I never even spoke during the meeting you were introduced to us at!"
Eevee cowered back. Seeing the reaction, Vaporeon decided to change the subject.
"Well, I suppose I should explain why I actually came to visit you. I noticed you were rather uncomfortable when you first arrived, so I took the opportunity to contact Dusknoir and ask about you a little more thoroughly." He paused as Eevee continued to whimper. "He told me you were given to our trainer as a gift, and that you were alone most of your life. Am I correct?" Eevee nodded.
"Y-yeah, t-that's right," Eevee sputtered out. A look of guilt crossed Vaporeon's face.
"I'm sorry if I'm scaring you, Eevee. I just came to tell you I understand how hard it is." Vaporeon motioned towards Eevee. "You don't mind if I come a little closer and tell you a story, do you?" Eevee shook her head. "Good. Then allow me to start from the beginning." Vaporeon moved a little closer, resting a foot away from Eevee.
"My trainer first met me way back when in the Kanto region. His journey was still in his infancy by then, and I was also, quite literally, in my infancy. Celadon City was the place we met, though I'm not sure if you've heard of it." Eevee shook her head. "It was a magnificent city, full of towering buildings and lush, green vegetation. It was my home, when I was little. I never could quite replace that view, from the high rise of the apartment building, with anything else."
Eevee looked up at Vaporeon with a look of wonder, as Vaporeon continued his explanation.
"...Back then, I was still an Eevee. I was part of a large litter. My old trainer struggled to take care of us. We were all little handfuls, ha ha, all of us were. Ah…. memories." Eevee had moved a little closer now, curiosity dotting her face.
"So what happened?"
Vaporeon began again. "Well, our trainer couldn't afford to take care of the whole litter. So he was forced to split us up, and give us to trainers who wanted us. Eevee are a rather rare Pokemon, so he knew he could ensure good homes for us. He didn't really want to do this, but he had to." Vaporeon paused a moment before continuing. "And that's how I met our trainer. He was one of the lucky ones who was given a member of our litter. I remember being so downtrodden at being separated from my family, and given to a random stranger. I was just as shy and scared as you were back then. But he took care of me well. He even made me a part of his main team."
"S-so, you're… like me, then? You were given to him as well?"
"Yep, exactly."
"Wow…." Eevee looked up with wonder, mouth agape, as Vaporeon chuckled. "B-but, it kind of makes me wonder… Why did you choose to become a Vaporeon?"
"My trainer asked me one day about evolution. He needed a Water type Pokemon in order to explore the oceans, and thus, I evolved into a Vaporeon to fulfill that role. And I must say, it definitely worked out well." Seeing Eevee nodding, he continued. "It wasn't like I had no choice. He asked if I wanted to, and I chose to do it. And you want to know why?" Eevee nodded, along, groggily. "Because I was a part of a family, properly. The Pokemon on his team at the time… they were like a second family to me. And I wanted to help them out, my newfound family."
"Was, yawn … Charizard, one of them?"
"Ha ha, yep. Charizard was the leader of the bunch, even back then. None of us could even hope to rival his power, even me, the Water type Pokemon, couldn't hope to defeat him. But that's besides the point. What I'm getting at here Eevee, is that I was just like you. I was given to our trainer, and found a new family, and even got to forge my own path. And now, the same decision lies upon you. You have an even bigger family than I could ever have hoped for back then, and now, your own destiny awaits. You can make it however you want to, and it all comes down to your decision."
Eevee had moved closer to Vaporeon, and was practically lying on him like a cushion. Barely keeping awake, Eevee asked one last question.
"But, what about your old family? I don't… I don't want to leave you guys behind… yawn …"
"My old family…?" Vaporeon thought for a moment, before giving Eevee his answer. "...Well, once our trainer figured out my past a bit more, he went and took me back to see my old trainer sometimes for little visits. I even reunited with a few of my siblings in the field, with other trainers, and I go and visit them sometimes." Vaporeon looked at Eevee with a look of happiness and determination. "Because that's the thing, Eevee. You must never forget your roots. To forge your own path, you need something to build it with. I never forgot one day of my time with my old trainer, and I'll never forget one day with my current one. And, one day, Eevee, we might even be able to reunite with some of your siblings, just like I did mine. So, for me, please… never forget where you came from."
Eevee lay on Vaporeon, staring for a moment, before delivering her answer.
"Can we do it… together?"
"H-huh?" Vaporeon was taken aback by Eevee's response.
Eevee reiterated. "I… want to do it… yawn , with you…"
Vaporeon paused, realizing the full gravity of what she was asking. He smiled at the bundled up pile of fur in his lap."If you'll let me, Eevee, then I'd be happy to."
"That sounds… good…" Eevee began to drift off into a magnanimous slumber, but before she took the plunge into dreams, she asked Vaporeon a question.
"While I'm here… can we be… family?" Vaporeon was surprised for a moment, but his surprise soon faded into happiness.
"Of course, Eevee. If that's what you want." Eevee smiled, content.
"Then we can play together… tomorrow… big bro…" Eevee finally fell into a deep slumber, resting against Vaporeon. As Eevee rested, Vaporeon contemplated the role that Eevee had now thrust upon him. An older brother…
Well one thing's for sure, Vaporeon knew that he was going to help Eevee find her own path, and where she wanted to go. Just as Eevee tried to determine her path, he was going to make this his. Where that path would take them, he had nary an idea, but he was going to make sure the path they took was going to be a good one. No matter what.