2. The World Is Changing
Where am I? I wondered to myself as Marie carried me around the house, showing me the two story home where the childless couple lived. There were three bedrooms, one used as a study and the other an art room, with the biggest master bedroom I had ever seen. The couple must have been rich, because everything was well decorated and beautifully colored. Maybe it was just how small I was, now, but even so it seemed huge for a young couple to be staying in alone.
They had three pets; Two cats and a dog. The dog seemed skittish about my presence, one of the cats hissed at me, and the other, a black and white kitten by the name of Oreo, wanted nothing more than to play with me. Marie, however, was not content to set me down until she had shown me the entire house and backyard.
After the tour, she finally let me down on a bright orange couch on the living room. It was a playfully decorated living area, with curvy bookshelves and a huge TV, with every gaming console you could think of at least somewhere in the room. The cushion was rather stiff, I couldn't imagine getting comfortable sitting on it like the couple did, as they closed me in on either side.
I was so shocked by the strange events that I was too distracted to take in a lot of the details. This room did pop out, with its blue walls, green carpet, and orange furniture, but it was just too much to take in all at once. I just wanted to go back to sleep in that comfortable egg right then.
Until my stomach grumbled.
The couple didn't hear it as they talked excitedly above me about what had just transpired. A real pokémon, they pondered, how exciting.
I tried to tell them that I was hungry, but my mewling seemed to only warrant pets and scratches. After a while of this annoying game of trying to communicate, I growled and went to jump down from the couch...
Oh, but the height! I felt my ears pin back in displeasure as I looked over the edge to the sea of green carpet. I'm so small, now... I felt a flutter in my stomach. It was too high, how could I possibly get down from here by myself?
As though they finally understood a thought in my mind, Marie picked me up off the couch and placed me gently on the ground. "Alright, go on and explore on your own, Rarity." She cooed. I flicked my tail and started walking toward where she had shown the kitchen to be. I wanted something to eat.
As soon as I crossed the threshold of the kitchen, though, I was greeted by a fierce hiss. Looking up, I spotted the older, black cat glaring at me from atop the counter. I blinked at him and continued my journey. There had to be a cupboard somewhere. I could smell something delicious.
I lifted up my head a little bit and sniffed the air. I could actually make out the smell of herbs and chicken, cheesy potatoes... My belly rumbled as I searched for the source of the wonderful smell. Then I came upon the trash can. I didn't smell any trash, just the food. The can towered above me, though. How would I get the food out of there?
I put my front paws up against it, but it didn't budge. I pushed on it and still didn't seem to do anything. I growled and stepped back, all four paws on the ground again. What now? I thought to myself. I didn't need to think very long, though. Of course, I'm a Pokémon! But how could I use my moves?
I stepped back from the trash can and flicked my tail. I got ready, lowering my chest toward the ground and raising my rear end. I'll Tackle it! Then I leapt forwards, crashing into the can and throwing the bottom out from under it, knocking it onto its side and sending the pet-proof lid flying.
Yes! I scrambled over to the opening and sniffed. I could see the leftovers from a recent meal sitting there, the only thing in the garbage bag. I jumped into the can and nibbled on a portion of chicken. It was still warm, they must have just eaten dinner. It tasted fantastic, and there were some buttered noodles and half of a twice baked potato... it was far too much for me to eat all at once.
I just took a bite out of the potato when I heard the clicking of that dog running into the kitchen. My ears pinned back as I heard him sniffing at the opening, but I was far too busy with my meal to bother with him.
Then I heard him growl.
I turned around in time for him to bark in my face. I crawled back deeper into the trash can until my tail pressed against the bottom. He kept barking at me, a sound that was soon greeted by footsteps.
"Stark, what-Oh!" I heard Andrew's voice between the hound's barking and growling. "Get over here, Stark, now!" He shouted at the dog, whom retreated immediately.
I noticed my heart racing, ears pinned, and my tail between my legs. Now I didn't want to eat, or leave the safety of the bin.
A moment later, Marie's face appeared. "Oh, goodness, Rarity..." She reached for me and pulled me out by my scruff. "You're all covered in food, now. That was very bad, you need to stay out of the trash. Let's go take a bath."
She plugged the kitchen sink and filled it with water, then placed me into the water that was a tad too cold for my liking. I sat still as she lathered a sickly-sweet dog shampoo into my fur and rinsed me with warm water.
A towel dry later, she sat with me captive on her lap as the couple turned on the news. Apparently, this wasn't the only place where a pokémon egg had hatched. Millions of people began reporting that their Arthur Malcolm Brand pokémon eggs had hatched. Soon, there was an interview with the man himself.
Arthur Malcolm was an olive skinned man with hazel eyes and a square face. He grinned at the camera as he spoke. "I sold exactly what I said that I sold; Pokémon eggs. I've been funding the research for many years, now, to create these lovable, iconic creatures everyone knows." His voice was deep, familiar. My fur bristled and my ears fell back. I growled. There was something wrong with this man. Something I didn't like.
Marie ran her hand over me, but otherwise ignored me as Malcolm continued speaking, her eyes wide in wonder. "My plan was to surprise many families, but now that the secret is out, I can tell you that we will soon be selling pre-trained pokémon, specialty pokémon foods, and we are almost completed with a fully functioning Pokéball. If you go online, you will see where our stores are soon to open up, how to order supplies while they are not yet complete, and how our pokémon tournaments will soon begin to take place."
"Wow!" Andrew shook his head. "I can't believe it, I wonder if he's working on a league..."
It seemed like Malcolm had nothing more to say after that. The news went back and forth to many different people showing off their pokémon. I watched the many pokémon as they showed pictures and owner interviews. They looked almost exactly like imagined by the art in the anime, mangas, and 'trainer' books. It was actually impressive.
"Look how common most of their pokémon are, Marie." Andrew leaned forwards. "So many common birds and field-found pokémon. There's another Taillow!" He shook his head and looked at me. "I think we truly lucked out. The rarest pokémon I've seen in these interviews was a Riolu, and only one out of so many other repeats."
Marie scratched my back absent mindedly as she looked on her phone. "No one has reported having an eevee online, yet." She said quietly. "Two Riolu, including that one, a lot of common pokémon, there is one Larvitar..." She chuckled as she continued to search.
I looked up at her when she stopped scratching my back and pointed her phone camera at me. I tilted my head and lowered one ear, giving her some puppy dog eyes to upload. "Aww!" She cried in delight, looking at the picture before scratching under my chin. "Perfect!"
"Hey, there's a tournament coming near us next month!" Andrew said. " 'No Arthur Malcolm Pre-trained pokémon allowed'. You hear that? If we train Rarity, we could totally enter!" He looked down at me and I wiggled my ears curiously. Could I really compete in a competition?
"She's so small, though, and how could we possibly train her?" Marie asked.
"Adam got an egg at the same time as us, remember?" He replied. "I'll call Kim and him and see if they're interested.