Chapter 3 - Enter the Eevee
We walked into the Azelea Town Pokemon Center to the soon to be familiar sight of a Nurse Joy. I asked her if she could examine my Vulpixes for me. "Of course we can" she cheerfully replied. She and Blissey walked with my Vulpixes to the examination room. In no time at all, Nurse Joy, Blissey, Flamefox, and Firestorm emerged back into the lobby. Nurse Joy then said to me, "Your Vulpixes are in excellent shape! They are very healthy and quite strong. How long have you had them?" I answered her, "Not too long. I just got them a few days ago, in Brushfire Woods." To that, she replied, "I've heard stories about Brushfire Woods containing very strong Vulpixes. I guess the stories are true." Then I said, "Well, we've got to get going to New Bark Town. Come on, Flamefox and Firestorm!" Nurse Joy seemed surprised. "Don't you have pokeballs for them?" she asked. I responded, "Well, truthfully, I don't even have my trainer's license yet. I'm on my way to Professor Elm's to get it. I just lucked out getting these 2 Vulpixes on the way. Actually, you could say they chose me." She smiled. "That's wonderful! They must see your potential as a good trainer. Good luck on your journey, and take good care of those Vulpixes!" I then said, "I will! Thanks Nurse Joy!", as the 3 of us left the exit of the Pokemon Center. We proceeded through town. "Nurse Joy sure is nice, isn't she, guys?" I said to my Vulpixes. They nodded in agreement.
As the 3 of us were midway through town, I heard a whistle, then a female voice coming up behind us, "Stop right there!" We all turned around - it was Officer Jenny, running towards us. "Is there a problem?" I asked. "Who are you, and what are you doing with these Pokemon?" she asked me, suspiciously. "I'm Joe from Crimson Town, and these are my Pokemon, Flamefox and Firestorm." Each Vulpix, in turn, let out a friendly "Vul pix!" She then asked, "Why are they out of their pokeballs?" I told her what I had told Nurse Joy, that I'm on my way to Professor Elm's to get my trainer's license, and that I don't have pokeballs for them yet. She replied, "I'd like to believe you, but there are a lot of Pokemon thieves around, especially here in Azelea Town because we have so many Slowpoke around here." She wasn't kidding. I had noticed Slowpoke in people's yards, on their porches, and in their pools while we were walking through town. She continued, "If you don't mind, I'd like you and your Pokemon to come with me to the station. We'll call Professor Elm. As long as he vouches for you, there's no problem." "Okay" I said, reluctantly, not really wanting to get sidetracked on my way to New Bark. "Come on, guys!" We followed Officer Jenny to a building with a roof in the shape of her police hat. She dialed Professor Elm on the video phone. In the corner of the police station, I noticed a sleeping Eevee. Then I heard Jenny talking, "Professor Elm, there's a young man here claiming to be on his way to see you. He says his name is Joe, and he has 2 Vulpixes with him." At that, the usually distracted professor actually looked up at the video screen from his research, and pushed his glasses up with his finger. "Two Vulpixes?" he asked, sounding surprised. Then he saw me standing behind Officer Jenny. "Oh, that's Joe from Crimson Town. Yes, he's telling you the truth. Thank you for your concern, though." Then to me he said, "You have 2 Vulpixes now? Where did you get the second one?" I told him, "The second one followed us on our way here. I named him Firestorm. I think they are brothers, from the same litter. They get along great together. Firestorm is more fiesty than Flamefox, but he's a great battler against wild Pokemon." He responded, "That's great, Joe! It's unusual for a trainer to develop a great rapport with one Pokemon without a trainer's license, much less two! They must sense something special in you. Your teachers are right - you do show good promise as a trainer. Keep up the good training, and I look forward to seeing you in a couple days." "Thanks Professor! See You!" I said as he went back to his research and the screen flashed off. Officer Jenny then said, "Okay, the professor vouched for you, so you can go. Just be careful out there!" I replied, "Thanks Officer Jenny. Sorry to cause you any trouble." I looked in the corner again to see my Vulpixes curiously checking out the sleeping Eevee. "Is that your Eevee, Officer Jenny?" I asked. She turned a bit somber. "No, that poor little Eevee was abandoned. Some people found her eating out of their garbage. I'm going to send her to Mr. Fuji's house in Kanto. I don't understand why anyone would abandon such a sweet Pokemon. She's very tame. She'll make a good Pokemon for somebody." At that, my eyes lit up! "Officer Jenny, do you think I can take her?" She looked surprised at me. "I don't know. Mr.Fuji is already expecting her..." I pleaded, "Oh, please, Officer Jenny? I promise I'll take good care of her!" She smiled. "All right. You seem to be responsible with your Vulpixes, so I guess it'll be okay with Mr. Fuji." I was ecstatic. "Oh, thank you, Officer Jenny!" I went over to the now awake Eevee, who was nose to nose with my Vulpixes. I began to pet her, and she loved it. "Would you like to come with us, Eevee?" I asked her. Her eyes lit up as she answered with an enthusiastic "Veee!" I took that as a yes. Officer Jenny came up behind me. "I want you to have this" she said, handing me a pokeball. "What's this for?" I asked. She replied, "You can keep Eevee in it. Eevee are very rare and someone might try to steal her from you if you let her roam." I responded, "Thanks just the same, but I like to let my Pokemon roam freely. Besides, Flamefox and Firestorm will protect her, won't you guys?" I said, looking to my Vulpixes. She said, "Well, take it anyway, just in case you need it." "Thanks" I replied,as I put the pokeball in my pocket. "Come on Flamefox, Firestorm, Eevee, let's go! Thanks for everything, Officer Jenny." The trio of Pokemon followed me out the door of the station, Flamefox beside me, the other 2 behind me.
We continued through Azelea. Eevee was looking around in all directions as we walked, as if she was looking for someone or something. Suddenly she stopped in her tracks, looking towards a house. She got wide eyed and smiled as she stared. "What is it, Eevee?" I asked, trying to figure out what she was looking at. Suddenly, she just sprinted off yelling very excitedly "Eevee, eevee!" I thought, "Is that her owner's house?" But she wasn't heading for the house. Instead, she ran into the yard and leaped into the pool! She began dog paddling through the pool. I was stunned. It felt like my jaw had dropped to the ground. My Vulpixes looked at her, then looked at me in confusion, as if asking me "Is she nuts?" I know that's what I was asking myself. I finally collected myself and ran towards the pool, yelling, "Eevee, what are you doing? Get back here!" Then the owner of the pool, a big guy, came out of his house. He was furious! "Hey, get out of my pool!" he yelled at Eevee. Then he turned to me and angrily demanded, "Get your Pokemon out of my pool!" I apologized to him for Eevee's behavior, saying truthfully, "I don't know what got into her." I yelled to Eevee, very sternly to get out of the pool, and this time, she did. She shook herself off and ran over to me. I apologized to the man, and he calmed down a bit, saying, "That's okay, but don't let me catch your Pokemon in my pool again!" "Yes, sir!" I replied, as I picked up Eevee and ran off, my Vulpixes right behind me.
When we were far away from that house, I put Eevee down, and said sternly, "Now, Eevee, I don't want you to run off like that again, understand?" She seemed to, as she looked at me, smiling. Then I said, "Okay, gang, let's head for Violet City!" We only got a few blocks further in Azelea, when Eevee started looking around again, stopped just like before, and went running, yelling "Eevee, eevee!" Sure enough, there was another pool in a yard. "Eevee, get back here this instant!" I shouted. She didn't listen. My Vulpixes looked down, shaking their heads - even they were embarrassed by her behavior. I had to stop her, and could think of only one way. I took the pokeball out of my pocket. "Pokeball, go!" I shouted as I threw the pokeball towards her. It opened up right above the running Eevee, engulfing her in its bright white light. I picked up the ball off the ground. "I'm sorry, Eevee, but until you learn to listen to me, I can't let you roam freely" I said to the pokeball I now held in my hand. I knew she couldn't hear me. Pokeballs are just mini stasis chambers. The Pokemon don't feel a thing while they're inside - it's more or less like being in a deep state of REM sleep. I put the pokeball back into my pocket. "Come on, guys. Let's go." I said to my Vulpixes. I was a little downhearted. I felt rotten about keeping Eevee in her pokeball, but what else could I do? I did let her out again once we were out of the town and back on a route, but only in intervals. If she started to run off, I recalled her. Anyway, we continued ahead. I wanted to make Violet by nightfall, Cherrygrove by tomorrow, and finally, New Bark Town.