Chira pushed open the door to the pokecenter in Viridian City just as the last rays of light were fading from the sky. It had taken longer than planned to reach Viridian, even with Chira riding. It was probably due to the fact that the closer they had come to the city, the more trainers had wanted to battle. Chira had accepted the first three and won, but after that they had pushed to reach Viridian before night fall. Now they had reached it, but dusk had already painted the sky and hidden the sun. She had been surprised at the size of the town and pokecenter both. She had always imagined that Viridian was as small as her beloved little town.

She walked in, and the first thing that hit her was the amount of people. She froze as it overwhelmed her and was able to discern that a good portion of the noise came from the trainers' pokemon. Another bit was from what was going on in the corner. It appeared that the pokecenter personnel were unloading something and taking it into storage rooms.

"Hey, careful with that!" came from a round man who was half talking to two trainers and half supervising the unloading process. A worker had stumbled and almost dropped a large box on his toe in his haste. He looked sheepish and took it a bit slower.

Chira headed to the counter where it appeared the only employee was who wasn't helping unload. Cami was close behind, her hooves clicking on the floor.

"Why did they have to use marble?" she complained. "I feel like I'm going to chip it."

Chira smiled back at her. She reached the counter and the first words out of the attendant's mouth were "You have to Return your ponyta while in the pokecenter."

"Why?" Chira asked. "She won't disturb anyone."

"Large pokemon are not allowed out inside. It gives an overly crowded atmosphere, and some pokemon are too big anyway."

"But…"

"It's the rules." The woman looked at her over her glasses' rims.

"Fine," Chira muttered, taking out a new pokeball. "You heard her, Cami. Return." She tossed the pokeball at her and she was sucked inside. The pokeball didn't even wobble, the button simply turned red. She picked it up and hooked it onto her belt. Just as she did she heard the supervisor saying something again, his voice high pitched.

"C'mon! You have to take it. I've tried everyone! No one wants it! And I do not plan on keeping it all my life! Can't you see the potential it has? You have to take it!"

The trainers were shaking their heads. "Potential? That scraggly mutt? That's like saying the moon is brighter than the sun! No one will believe you."

They turned and started to walk off, the supervisor trailing along behind them, begging. Chira headed over to see what they were talking about. She sucked in a breath when she got there, for on the other side of the reception desk was a thin, bedraggled eevee. Tears welled up in Chira's eyes as she gazed at this tiny, undernourished dog pokemon who was huddled on the floor, chained to the desk. She bent down to pet it, and it shrunk away.

"You poor thing," she cooed softly. Its ears twitched. "He's trying to get rid of you? How could he even think of it? And in your condition, too." She straightened and faced the man as he came stalking back in. He glared at her.

"What do you want?" he asked gruffly. "I don't suppose you want that eevee?"

"I do," Chira responded, following him as he continued on.

"Don't play games with me, Girl. I've had a rough day."

"I'm not. I really do want that eevee if you're getting rid of it. How much do you want?" Chira reached for the money her mom had sent along with her. He turned to face her.

"You really are serious?"

She nodded.

"You can have it for free. It's not worth any money."

She put her money back in her backpack. "I beg to differ. With a bit of proper nutrition, that eevee will be better than most."

"Girly," he said, going back to work. "You didn't see it before it was this weak."

Chira burned with anger for this cold man, and stood there furiously. She turned away just as he dropped a box on his foot. He yelled, and she smiled as she left him.

She walked back over to the eevee and untied the rope around its neck. "There now, you'll be alright. Let's get you some food." Picking it up, she took it over to the cafeteria part of the pokecenter and got a plate of food. "So what's your name?" she asked as she gave it a piece of meat. It was skeptical at first about this human that was so kind to it, but then slowly reached for the food. When it realized she wasn't going to harm it, it tore into the meat ravenously.

Chira carefully made sure not to show her anger for it to it as she realized it had been abused. She waited for it to finish the meat, and then held another piece out for it. But she didn't give it to it right away.

"First your name, then your food," she said conversationally. It looked at her for a moment, weighing its options.

Finally its hunger won over. "Not that you can understand me, but my mother always called me Insight."

Chira gave her the meat as she studied her. "Insight," she murmured. "Interesting choice for an eevee. Why might I ask?"

Insight stared at her. "You can understand me?"

"Of course." Chira waved a hand, dismissing this revelation. She gave her some more meat and put the rest in a goody bag. "We don't want you eating too much at a time," she said as explanation.

Insight was still staring at her, though eating as well. "Can all humans understand me?" she asked, her voice catching slightly.

Chira shook her head. "No. As far as I know, I'm the only one." She picked up Insight and headed to her room. "No one else even knows I can understand pokemon, so I won't be able to answer any questions you might have around other humans."

"Do you travel with any other pokemon?" Insight asked.

"One other, a ponyta named Cami. You'll like her." Chira opened the door to her room and entered, checking to make sure no one else was in there. "That is, if you want to travel with us. I'll feed you as much as you want, but you are staying with us until you are fully recovered whether you want to or not."

Insight nodded. "I'll travel with you, you saved me!"

Chira smiled. "You don't have to decide now, but what we do have to do is give you a bath. When was the last time you had one?"

Insight blushed. "I can't remember. My old trainer didn't exactly like me, I was too weak."

Chira felt boiling hot anger against that man rise again. "You are strong. You just have to believe in yourself. And I will make sure you become stronger than you have ever been before! Now, about that bath…"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whew, what a promise. I hope she is able to keep it. And will Insight decide to travel with her when the time comes? Tune in for the next installment of Ancient Gift. Now, what to write next chapter…