Chapter 25 - Vaporeon's Family
Since Scyther and Jolteon needed time to heal, I decided we wouldn't head back to Olivine City right away, after all. I wasn't planning to use them in our next gym battle, anyway, but this gave me, Flamefox, Firestorm, Tauros, and Vaporeon an excuse to aimlessly walk around the beautiful beaches of Cianwood. As we walked along and took in the beautiful sights, a young male junior trainer ran up to us. He asked, "Hey, you, how about a Pokemon battle?" I confidently answered him, "You're on!" He took out his first pokeball and tossed it, shouting "Go, Venomoth!" The large moth-like Pokemon materialized from the light of the pokeball. I responded, "Okay, Mothra, let's see how good you really are. Go, Firestorm!" My Ninetales jumped into the battle. "Use flamethrower!" I commanded. He launched his flame attack at Venomoth. It's trainer ordered, "Venomoth, evade it!" Venomoth flew out of the way at the last minute, and just missed being hit by Firestorm's flames! "Good, Venomoth! Now use your stun spore!" he shouted. As Venomoth released the stun spore, I commanded, "Use your flamethrower to burn up those spores!" Firestorm's flames incinerated the stun spore attack before it reached him. "Quickly, use fire blast!" I ordered. Firestorm launched the "t-shape" of flames at Venomth, and hit it point blank! The charred Venomoth fell to the ground, defeated! "Venomoth, return!" it's trainer shouted, recalling the burnt moth to it's pokeball. "Good job, Firestorm!" I shouted, and we jumped up in the air and did a high five! The junior trainer took out his next pokeball, and shouted, "Go, Pikachu!" as he threw it in the air. The yellow electric mouse appeared before us and said, "Pika!" as he stood, ready to battle. I responded, "Go, Flamefox! Use quick attack!" "Vulpix!" he said, as he ran at the Pikachu. The trainer quickly commanded, "Pikachu, use your agility!" Flamefox's quick attacks kept missing the swift Pikachu. I needed a different strategy. Then the trainer ordered, "Now use thundershock!" I quickly responded, "Flamefox, now use YOUR agility to avoid the attacks!" Pikachu kept thundershocking, but my Vulpix was even faster than he was, and the electric attacks kept missing him! Then I shouted, "Now use confuse ray, Flamefox!" Flamefox's attack directly hit the Pikachu, and he was now confused and thundershocking himself! "Try shaking it off, Pikachu!" his trainer shouted. It was no good. I finally commanded, "Let's finish this! Use fire spin!" Flamefox's eyes glowed bright white as he released the tornado of flames from his mouth, and they wrapped around the Pikachu. Once the flames dispersed, the charred, swirly-eyed Pikachu fell to the ground, defeated! "Excellent work, Flamefox!" I shouted as I ran up to hug my Vulpix. The trainer recalled his Pikachu and said, "Wow, you're a strong trainer!" I replied, "You're not bad, yourself! Thanks for the battle!" With that, we parted ways.
My Pokemon and I continued to walk along the beach, and I decided to ride on Tauros for a while. Up ahead, on a jetty, I thought I saw something blue moving along the rock outcroppings, but assumed it was just my imagination. As we passed by it, a Golduck leapt out in front of us, taking us all by surprise! He hit Flamefox and Firestorm each with a water gun, which knocked them to the ground, and then he ran off. "Hey!" I shouted, as I jumped off Tauros and ran over to my fire foxes. "Are you guys okay?" I asked them. They replied, "Vul" and "Nine" as they stood up. Then I said, "Vaporeon, after him!" She chased the Golduck into the water, as Tauros, my fire foxes, and I watched from the beach. They kept hitting each other with water attacks, like water gun and bubblebeam, and then Vaporeon used bite on him and Golduck used scratch on her. Finally, my Vaporeon got the better of him, and pinned him against the rocks using hydro-pump! He fell to the ground and she ceased her attack. "Good job, Vaporeon!" I shouted as I ran over. I threw a pokeball at the Golduck and captured him. The pokeball was immediately transported to Professor Oak's Pokemon sanctuary. The next thing I knew, a man was running towards us, and he shouted, "That was marvelous! An excellent battle! You are quite a skilled trainer. Your Vaporeon handled herself beautifully!" I replied, "Thanks" as I stood there with my 4 Pokemon. Then he said, "My name is Bill, and I'm a Pokemon researcher. I'm here on vacation at my beach house, about 2 miles from here. I decided to take a long walk, and I saw your Vaporeon battling that Golduck. I was quite impressed, so I hope you didn't mind my watching." I was stunned. "You're not THE Bill, the famous researcher whose done groundbreaking work studying Eevee evolution, are you?" He answered, "Yes, I am. But I feel you're giving me more credit than I feel I deserve. I haven't done all the research on my own. I'm one of many Pokemon researchers engaged in the subject." I replied, "Yes, but your research has been published in text books!" He was obviously very modest and he jumped to another subject. He knelt down by my Vaporeon, stroked her head, and said, "Your Vaporeon is very impressive! She looks like you've raised her very well. If I may ask, where did you get her from?" I answered him, "As an Eevee, she was abandoned by someone in Azelea Town. She was eating out of people's garbage. Officer Jenny was going to have her sent to Mr. Fuji's house in Kanto, but I convinced her to let me take her in. We had a very rocky start because she loved water, even as an Eevee, and I couldn't keep her from running off and jumping into people's pools, or running away from battles to go swimming instead. But in time, we worked things out. I promised her that one day, I'd evolve her into a Vaporeon, and I kept that promise. She's been happier ever since she evolved, and has been a valuable member of my team for a long time!" He looked closely at her, then said, "It's good to see you again, Eve. I was worried about you for a very long time!" and then he hugged her. Okay, I was confused! I looked at Flamefox and Firestorm, then back at Bill and Vaporeon, and asked, "Eve?" Then Bill said, "I lost an Eevee in Goldenrod City, at my house. Eve and her brother, Aqua, both loved the water, and and I had the same problem - they kept running off to people's pools. I, too, planned to evolve both of them into Vaporeons. However, one night, while I was out, Eve and Aqua somehow got loose. I found Aqua swimming in a neighbor's pool, but could not find Eve anywhere. My parents and sister turned the city upside-down looking for her. She must have worked her way to Azelea Town. No wonder she was eating out of people's trash cans. That's a long distance. She must have been starving!" I didn't know what to say. He continued, "Thank you for taking such good care of her for me. I'm so happy for this little reunion!" I got defensive and said, "You're welcome, but don't get any ideas! Vaporeon is an integral part of my team, not to mention a very good friend, and I have no intention of giving her up! Not after all we've been through together!" Bill looked at me and said, "Please, there's no reason to get hostile! Obviously you care very much for Vaporeon, as much as I did when I had her. I would never dream of taking her from you. You did an excellent job raising her. I couldn't have done better, myself! I couldn't ask for a more qualified trainer to be raising her." I turned very red, a little embarrassed for my behavior a minute ago, and said, "I'm sorry. Thank you for what you just said." He replied, "That's all right. I meant what I said. Besides, I usually give an Eevee to any trainer I feel is special and qualified enough to handle one. You fit that category perfectly!" Then he said, "Say, how would you like to come back with me to my beach house? I could show you some of my research and you can meet some of your Vaporeon's relatives." I answered, "Sounds like fun!"
My Pokemon and I walked with Bill, back to his beachside house. I recalled Tauros when we arrived, and then Vaporeon, my fire foxes, and I followed Bill inside his house. There were 2 Eevees, a Vaporeon, a Jolteon, and a Flareon, all in a large room designed just for them. My Vaporeon ran up to the 2 Eevees and they started nuzzling and licking each other's faces. Bill said, "Those 2 Eevees are Eva and Edmund, your Vaporeon's parents! The Jolteon and Flareon are her sisters, Shocker and Inferno. And the other Vaporeon is, of course, her brother, Aqua!" The Jolteon, Flareon, and Vaporeon all joined in the little reunion, happy to see their sister again! Vaporeon seemed to really be enjoying this! Soon, we let all the Pokemon outside. My Vaporeon and Aqua got along perfectly together! I let my Jolteon out to play with Shocker, and they also had fun together. Inferno, however, just sat on the beach and when she saw Firestorm, she looked at him, then stuck her nose in the air, closed her eyes, and looked aloof. She was definitely giving him the cold shoulder! Flamefox sat up on my shoulders and we watched as Firestorm slowly approached her and started to sniff her. She quickly opened her eyes, turned her head to face him, and unleashed a fire spin on him! He leapt out of the tornado of flames and ran behind he. He just stood there behind me, cowering. I commented, "She's... scary!" Bill said, "You'll have to excuse Inferno. She gets very jealous of other evolved fire types." I looked behind me at Firestorm and asked, "You're not gonna take that from her, are you?" He looked back at me and nodded. The look in his eyes seemed to say, "Keep that crazy female away from me!" I laughingly said, "You coward!" and Bill also laughed.
While Flamefox, Jolteon, and Vaporeon played with Eevee's siblings and parents outside, Bill showed me some of his recent research in the field of Eevees. Firestorm stuck to me like glue the entire time - I hadn't seen him this afraid of another Pokemon since he was still a Vulpix and we first met Tauros! Anyway, Bill was saying, "Eevee evolutions are one of the greatest mysteries of the Pokemon universe. We are learning more every day. In fact, it was long disputed that Eevee cannot evolve without an elemental stone of fire, water, or thunder, but ancient writings recently discovered tell of Eevees evolving without the aid of a stone, but merely through tameness. More research needs to be done in that area. As of now, only the 3 evolutions are known." I replied, "That is pretty amazing. More Eevee evolutions would be pretty cool! Maybe there'd even be a psychic Eevee!" He replied, "You never know." He continued to explain the origins of Eevee research and what's been discovered about the known forms in recent years. I found it all very fascinating, but at times, boring. Still, it was cool to be getting a lesson from the most well known Eevee researcher in the field!
In the evening, we fed all the Pokemon. I let Scyther and Tauros out to eat, as well. Vaporeon and her brother shared a bowl, as did Jolteon and Shocker, while Eva, Edmund, and Flamefox all shared a bowl at the picnic table, where Bill and I sat. Inferno was eating out of her own bowl, as was Firestorm. After she was finished, she casually walked over to Firestorm, who was minding his own business, eating, and she shoved him over! Then she proceeded to eat his food, as well! I couldn't believe Firestorm was putting up with this! He ran over to Tauros and hid on the other side of him. Flamefox and I both sighed.
After supper, the Pokemon continued to play outside on the beach. Flamefox, Eevee and Edmund played in the sand, as did Inferno, Shocker and Jolteon. Vaporeon and Aqua played on a nearby jetty. Scyther rested up in a tree, while Tauros slept in the grass - and there, sleeping next to him for protection, was Firestorm! I was inside with Bill, when we suddenly heard the Vaporeons yelling. We ran outside! Over on the jetty, our Vaporeons were being attacked by another Golduck! She was using confusion on them, then hitting them with water gun and fury swipes! "Why is that Golduck attacking them?" I asked. Bill said, "She must be the mate of the one you battled and captured before! I don't think she's too happy about it!" I watched as my Vaporeon tried to defend her brother by using hydro-pump on the Golduck, but she was quick, and used body slam on my Vaporeon! Vaporeons siblings and parents ran over towards the jetty, as did Bill, my Pokemon, and I. Inferno leapt onto the jetty to defend her sister and brother. "Inferno, no! She's a water type! Let Shocker and Jolteon handle her!" Bill shouted, but Inferno didn't listen. Instead, she used flamethrower on Golduck, which made her even angrier. She used mega-kick on Inferno, which knocked her off the jetty and back onto the beach. As she lay helpless in the sand, the Golduck launched a powerful water gun at her! Just before it hit, Firestorm leapt in front of Inferno, and took the water gun for her, at full force! "Firestorm!" I shouted. He collapsed to the sand, in front of Inferno. Bill and I both commanded our Jolteons, "Use thunderbolt!" They both launched their powerful electric attacks simultaneously, and knocked out the Golduck! I threw a pokeball and captured her, and the pokeball was transported directly to Professor Oak's Sanctuary - she was with her mate again! Firestorm lay in the sand, near Inferno. Bill and I ran over to them. Inferno managed to stand up and she started licking Firestorm's face. He began to lick her face, as well, as he lay on his side in the sand. Bill said, "Well, they're finally getting along." I said, "Good job, Firestorm!" Bill and I picked him up out of the wet sand and carried him back to the house, where we wrapped him in blankets. He was very worn out and fell right to sleep. Inferno slept right next to him. Bill treated the other Pokemon who had battled, and they would all be fine by morning. He generously offered to let me and my Pokemon spend the night.
The next morning, Firestorm, Inferno, Vaporeon, and Aqua were all fully restored after a good night's rest. They all played together outside, even Firestorm and Inferno. I was happy to see them getting along together. I decided to leave at mid-afternoon. I thanked Bill for the educational visit. He said, "Feel free to stop by and visit me in Goldenrod City anytime!" I think all of my Pokemon hated to leave, especially Firestorm, but he and Inferno exchanged goodbye licks before we headed out. I recalled all of my Pokemon to their pokeballs except Vaporeon, who swam me back to Olivine City.