Author notes: Behold! The longest chapter ever (by 25 words)! Still in search of a writing strategy, I adopted the "write, don't think" method for this one. Result: chapter written in a record time 5 hours 30 minutes instead of 8-10 hours. Took me nearly as long to revise, though, but that is beyond the point. The point is: Cool! As bonus, since this is chapter lucky 7, I bring you this one day earlier than expected! I'm so nice (and tired of revising). The real reason has to do with going home tomorrow and Super Mario Galaxy… but… err…
Now, review responses!
Foxyjosh: Yes… I do it the right way. Pokemon are creatures too, and we need to see how they think! This is important for our planet… and things… Anyway… you are lucky, because Sunny will stick around for a bit longer, probably. I can't promise anything.
StormFang: Woo! Wow… this beat Foxyjosh "Great Chapter!" as the short review ever… really… I dare anyone to do a zero word review. You know I will find a way to imagine a reply. I did before. I'm kind of getting away here… but that's not like I have a lot to say about your review. So I will say that I'm happy to see you are back, unlike some others people. (stare at Bill)
Kirby: Confusion, fusion, adoption! You like –ion a lot… so I will say this: Vacation! Woo! No… that's a joke. Last time I said that, I disappeared for a whole 3 months. Hum… yeah… so Rick is in the adoption pen. That's sad… or is it? That depend for whom, I guess. Some people might find it great, other don't. And pokemon think simply… I'm sure I said that before… oh well…
Tyler: You followed my advice, hey? Anyway…yes… I worked a lot on the chapter on revising, and even more on this one, though I doubt that the results will be as good. But it will be up to you to tell me. And yes… you learn things everyday. When I revise, the pokedex and google are my best friends. I have questions, they have the answers. It helps a lot with getting facts. Speaking of facts, you doubt mine about pokemon not being dumb. Yes… but the sad truth is, pokemon cannot be as brilliant as they are in the anime. Really, when pokemon talk, what is said are not words, but only the tone of their voices haves meaning. Pokemon are mostly able to qualify things, like big, small, tail… etc… but most concepts would be foreign to them. This is a work of literature, but if it wasn't, you would never hear a pokemon say words. That's what make is so hard to make a translator to translate their language, but yet, easy at the same time. Since they only understand the tone of their voices, they can say about anything, as long the tone is right. And that's partly why all pokemon speak differently, but can understand each other, no matter the species.
And now comes the chapter:
Chapter 7: Walled freedom
The vixen's words repeated themselves in Rick's head, irritating him. Their meaning become clearer each time he heard them. This place... it would be his end! It would finish him off! There weren't twenty meanings he saw in what the enthusiastic vulpix had said. There was, unfortunately, only one: one day, a trainer would come and pick him as a starter or something, then he would be kept in a pokeball and forced to fight against innocent pokemon! Not only battling was wrong, as far ethics were concerned, but if simply walking around grass had made him lose some knowledge, he feared to think about what would happen to his mind if he was to be weakened physically, after all those battles. He wouldn't even have some time to himself for trying to keep his mind intact! His life would be reduced to battling, training, sleeping, training, battling... without any rest... he would be lost not before long. There was no way he would let this happen to him. He was human, not pokemon! That human that had put him here... this Oak... how could he have done this to him? Didn't he know what he was? What had motivated him to get rid of him like this? Didn't he value his life?
Rick looked up, angered by those questions without any answer. His eyes met with the smiling face of that vulpix. That face... it was taunting him. How could she be so happy, while he was losing his mind? "What's the problem with you? Don't you see? The humans are trying to make me crazy! They... they want me to forget... they want me to disappear... they... they..." he wanted to finish, but his voice died. He didn't want it to say it. He felt so lost, all of a sudden, so alone. He was in pain... a pain that this dumb pokemon couldn't understand! He was probably only talking to himself. "...they hate me!" he screamed, lowering his head.
He didn't deserve any of this! He had done nothing wrong! It was only a small mistake... being transformed was enough of a punishment. Why were they punishing him more? And why, for the love of everything on this planet, no one had the answers to all those questions he kept asking himself? As much he was angry at the humans, he was ashamed. Ashamed of himself for making mistakes, ashamed of humans for seeing as someone to be hated and ashamed he shown his angst to this pokemon, even if she couldn't understand it.
This was where he had been partly wrong. Sunny kept listening to everything he said and, as he thought, she hadn't understood any of this... until he said that humans hated him. Hate. This concept wasn't so foreign to her. She met those bad pokemon before, who fought, but weren't smiling. Those pokemon who said that their human hated them and wanted to hurt them. Those pokemon who wanted to escape. Those pokemon who didn't want to play. Sparktail did all those things... but he hadn't acted like a bad pokemon, at first. He had shown interest in playing with her and he was smiling. Having never met a pokemon who was both good and bad, she had no idea about what she was supposed to do. No human had ever taught her about that. However, she needed to be with good pokemon, because it made her feel happy. And if this pokemon had shown he was good, she had to make him good again, so she can be happy again. A good pokemon was happy, and she knew just how to make a pokemon happy. She walked near his lowered form and licked the top of his head.
The arrival of a tongue coming to lick Rick's forehead was sudden and unexpected. More importantly, it was unwanted. He had no use for something that made him feel more like a pokemon. This was bad... it made him forget things. "Stop... Sunny... I don't..." he muttered weakly, lowering himself more, in a poor attempt to avoid it. Unfortunately for him, Sunny saw this as an act of submission to her licking, and wasn't about to stop. His body wasn't helping either... he felt himself wanting more of it. "No... I... It's... not..." he tried to say, but his words lost their strength. They vanished, replaced by soft sounds of pleasure, which were recognized, to any pokemon listening, including himself, as if saying "Don't stop... so...nice…" He heard it, he understood it, but didn't care anymore. Each time the tongue licked him, it felt like being in paradise, again and again. This moment didn't want to stop and didn't want it to. If there had been anything he ever experienced before that would have came close to this, it would be that time his mother cuddled him at the age of nine moons, after he injured his paw on the feet-moved human machine. It was simply too good to stop.
Instinctively, he rolled on his back, leaving his soft belly exposed. His eyes closed, his anger melted away and his heart rate slowed down. The only thing left to do was to enjoy it as long he could. Standing over his belly, Sunny didn't disapprove his choice of position, as she proceeded to licking his belly, in a manner not very different than the one she would later use on in her life, as a Ninetales with kits to take care of. Obviously, she was enjoying it as much he was. It could be considered weird to any human, but to her, this action was natural. This pokemon was in need and she was applying a method that she liked to use to make him feel better. It was enjoyable to see that her licking was nearly making him scream in joy. So much joy sounded like music to her ears. Soon, they would be playing again...
-----
In the comfort of his favorite old fashioned wooden chair, Samuel sat silently, putting the finishing touch to one of the many forms he had to fill. As the local authority on pokemon, there was not a moment where he could sit and relax. With his time split up between studying rare species of pokemon, studying pokemon in their environment and working in collaboration with other researchers like Bill to make great advancements in the technologies used every day, he had unfortunately little time left for new responsibilities. As he was filling his form, though, he knew that time wouldn't be an issue. Soon... his newest problem would go away like a helium filled balloon in the wind.
His concentration was soon interrupted by a high-pitched ringing sound coming from the other side of his home. There weren't tons of things in his house that could have made this kind of annoying sound. As disturbing as it was, the tone of his doorbell couldn't have come at a better time; he needed to take a break from filling those forms. Carefully closing his files and putting them back in his desk, he got up from his chair and quickly made his way to his front door. Calmly, he opened it, taking a look at whoever was standing outside. What he saw was to be expected, with the fame the pokemon professor had.
Wearing a belt filled with pokeballs, the figure standing in front of the old professor was, without any doubt, a trainer. Not your usual type of trainer either. It was the "survivalist" kind of one. Eyes hidden behind sunglasses, the person was wearing hiking boots, cargo pants, a simple shirt and gloves. Holding a bag that seemed to weight more than the person lifting it, it was the kind of gear that would let anyone survives in any rough environment. But the biggest surprise was the person dressed in such a manner. Behind those glasses, were hidden the glittering emerald eyes of a young woman, no older than 18. Her face shown healthy colors, her long, untied light brown hair was apparently very clean and her smile radiated with happiness. "Hello, Professor Oak, honored to meet you. I'm Jen Sutter." she started politely, her hand ready for a handshake.
The professor looked at her, not at all fazed by the girl before him, but rather surprised with the good timing. He was expecting her only the next day, or the day after, but certainly not today. But, anyway, it was welcomed news. Shaking her hand, he stared at her, smiling widely. "Thank, but, at the current time, I think it's more of an honor for me to meet you, Miss Sutter. I heard a lot from my peers about all your discoveries in your homeland of Johto, and your good performance as a trainer. I assume you are here for that pokemon that was promised to you?"
The young woman nodded, her sunglasses hiding the obvious excitement in her eyes. The pokemon she was promised is rare in her homeland. It would be quite a good addition to her team, as it was said to have a large training background. Not only that, but getting it from the famous professor Samuel Oak was all an honor in itself. She could consider herself lucky to get this today. From what she heard, the only pokemon given away here were starter pokemon, the choices were usually limited, and the pokemon untrained. The pokemon she would get was leagues away from that... and it would be a welcome gift more than appreciated. Calm and prepared for this, the girl took the most serious tone she was able to use. "Yes... professor... I was surprised when I heard from my father that you wanted me to take one of your pokemon. I'm no one special, really. Only your usual trainer, ready some challenge of some kind." she said modestly and honestly, smiling slightly.
Samuel smiled at her frank behavior. She would be the perfect person that little experiment of his. "It is true that you don't have the most impressive list of achievement as a trainer, but your ability to bond and to take care of pokemon, is, from what I heard, exceptional. A gift of this kind does require a nice present, but... I have something else to offer you that might spark your interest."
The girl was taken aback by this. If this mysterious offer had come from anyone else, she would have kindly refused. As much she liked to take risks when exploring the great outdoors, she wasn't this open when it came to people. However, since it was coming from a respected professor, what would she have to risk? "Something else?" she asked, with reserved interest.
The old man bent to his side, reaching for the cage he used earlier, showing it to Jen. "I won't bore you with long explanations. It would better if I shown you. It's in the same cage that the vulpix you will receive. Please follow me." he said while stepping outside and closing the door. Walking past his house, he gestured her to follow him toward one of the many enclosures around it.
After tightening her bag on her back, she walked behind the kind professor at a pace that was way too slow for her. If she knew where they were going, she would already have run there. Getting bored, she glanced at the cage and frowned. She didn't believe that this cage was for the vulpix. Not only it was too small, but a tamed pokemon wouldn't require a cage. Another pokemon was probably involved in a package deal, but it didn't explain why he was bringing a cage. She waited until they were far away from the house and possible spying eyes, and asked her question, in a determined voice. "So... is it another pokemon? What is up with the cage? Is it wild?" Getting to tame a new wild pokemon would indeed be a challenge, but if it wasn't a vulpix, what could it be, then?
Samuel glanced at her for a short moment, almost annoyed by her almost disrespectful way to ask the question. But... he has been young and impatient at one point in his life, so he understood her. He might as well get past the lie part and be done with that. "Yes... it's a wild pokemon, Miss Sutter. It's not a regular one, though. Since it was captured recently, we noticed that this pokemon displays formidable intelligence, I would dare to say, almost human like. I was charged of examining its behavior, but my simulated environments are not ideal for this kind of subject. I need to know how it will behave in a real situation, while learning training methods and interacting with people and other pokemon. Unfortunately, I don't have time for such, but I though a challenge of this magnitude could interest you. It would be a unique experience in your trainer career, as well in your life."
The young woman looked at the professor strangely, unsure if this she had to believe this. A pokemon with near human intelligence? This was surprising, to say the least. Impossible, even. She was about to reply to that, but the professor stopped in front of an enclosure. She decided against reacting strongly for now and would watch how things will play out. You have to see to believe, they say. It was a good time to apply this.
During this time, Rick was having it hard. Despite his best efforts, he had been unable to stop himself from enjoying the licking he was receiving, or to prevent the female vulpix from giving it to him. He had only been able to lie on his back, like an inoffensive creature, and give all his body to her, completely driven out of his mind by his instincts. He was lost so deeply in his pleasure state that he didn't hear when the two humans came close to the cage. If it weren't for Jen's heavy boots, they would have come totally unnoticed. They weren't, though, since Sunny heard those boots. Like if she was given an order, she instantly stopped licking the poor pikachu, and looked at the approaching familiar shapes. The humans! They were coming! Now, it was her turn to leave and to return to playing with humans! "Here they are! Here they are!" she shouted happily, leaping over Rick and running next to the exit place the closest to the humans. A quick examination of the humans shown her that one of them was new and female, but, most importantly, she had homes of light with her. She had no doubts now, as she was pawing at the gate: She was getting a new home!
Sunny wasn't the only pokemon to be excited, though Rick's excitement was completely different. The sudden disappearance of the licking gave Rick two opposite reactions. The first was instinctive: he was losing his protection, his happy feeling and he felt like something important was missing. Panicked, he opened his eyes and looked around. Only high up and high green was to be seen, nothing else. The emptiness of the area around him confirmed the sad truth: the nice fox had left. He wasn't sad for long, however. With the instinctive control of the licking gone, his logical thoughts resurfaced, ordering him to look more deeply into this. Sunny was gone. This was both a good and a bad thing. Good because he wasn't controlled by his instincts anymore, but bad because... well... with all those humans hating him, Sunny was the closest thing he had to a friend, and now… she was gone. He had to know what had happened to her!
Going back to his four-pawed position, he sniffed around, searching for that particular burned fur scent so characteristic of the vulpix. Luckily, the scent was still there and its source only feet away. After doing it only once, tracking a scent seemed to be a natural skill. He would have to thank Sunny for unlocking this knowledge, as soon he saved her from… something else nearby. Having his view being blocked by the so useless patches of grass (he was truly considering adding that on his hate list), he had no choice but to walk blindly toward the scent of his foxy friend. Once freed from the wall of green, he saw what had made her come here. And he wasn't sure if he had to be happy or if he had to panic.
Beyond the fence between him and freedom, were two large humans, one holding the cage that was his home before. This, alone, could have been good. The old human was probably coming back to get him, after feeling so guilty about leaving him here alone with this vulpix. Not that Sunny had been any trouble, considering that she should normally have killed him. If he ignored her desire to make him play games that made him forget things, he could even consider her like a good friend. Another good thing was the person next to the man. Its scent was nowhere as unsettling as the vulpix scent, or even the scent of the older human. Something about it was... attracting, almost pleasuring.
Next to him, Sunny was in a similar state. The way this new human smelled... it was great! If the wall-you-can-see-through wasn't there, she would have rubbed herself against her feet (she learned to tell the difference between a male and a female human, by their different scents.). But it was there, so the only thing she was allowed was clinging on the wall-that-disappeared, eying the thing that makes it vanishes. It was only a matter of time before the human would make the wall disappear. Nothing was wrong.
To Rick, the list of positive facts ended there. He might have been impaired visually, but he wasn't an idiot. As soon he noticed the balls on the female human middle section, his admiration for the female human ended. She was one of those evil trainers, wanting him to fight and to forget, wanting to put him into that evil dark place, where he would meet the evil pikachu that confused him with his strange talking and made him feel pain and fear. This fear, he didn't want to experience it again. Never would he go into a ball again. Never! Not even the nice scent would convince him of that. The nice scent... oh... he wanted so much to go near it and lie down. And maybe get some nice petting.
"No!" he scolded himself, looking away from the human. He would not fall for it! Being licked by something he liked was bad enough, but letting a human that hated him do that… would be horrible! He would rather have a bloodthirsty vulpix next to him than that! Well... maybe not that... more like having a playfully annoying little vicious vulpix next to him playing with his mind rather than his body. No… this was Sunny… well… whatever… he just didn't want to be petted by the human girl.
Feeling the urge to be petted by that girl increasing again, he raised his body on two paws, staring at the female human while he was subtly making his way toward the grass, where another kind of freedom was waiting. This freedom, right now, seemed more appealing than the one outside.
From the point of view of the girl, the whole thing played out pretty much like she had expected it. They only had to approach the cage to make the young vulpix come as close to them it could, waiting to come out with an enjoyed expression on its muzzle. This was the sign of a perfectly well tamed pokemon. She had nothing to fear from it. For a moment, she had been tempted to open the enclosure's gate, but it suddenly became more risky. Another pokemon jumped out from the patches of long grasses, this one having a negative aura of anger around it. It was sad, since the pokemon was a cute little pikachu. From her earliest childhood memories, she had always seen pikachu as those happy creatures appearing on TV. Even the real ones she had observed on her travels looked playful, as long she wasn't getting too close from their home. This one just seemed too… nervous and worried. She could see it in the nervous way it was looking ahead, with one eyes looking to its left, toward the grass. This pokemon didn't want her to be here
This pokemon had only been there for a short moment that it was already walking away. There came another thing in its behavior that was uncommon, maybe even a rare sight. The pokemon was backing away, but on two paws! She might not be an expert on pikachu, but any prey pokemon able to walk on four paws would use them all to get away. It made almost no sense for it to act like this. And by the way its front paws were placed in front of it protectively, as to defend itself... if this pokemon hadn't almost human intelligence, it certainty learned to have an almost human gesture. "If I had to make a wild guess, I would say this cute little pikachu is the pokemon you were talking about, professor."
The professor nodded at her, taking a small notepad from his front pocket of his lab coat, trying to be as detached from the situation as he could. He was talking about a pokemon here, not a human. "It would be a good guess, Miss Sutter." he said without ceremony, as he began to read the first page of his little notepad, which contained all the biological specifications about Rick's body, coming right from Bill's DNA database. "This pikachu is a male about twenty month old, have a weight and height close to the average of his species, which is about 1' 4" and 13 lbs. Being wild, he didn't have a name, so I named him Sparktail. He seems a bit nervous about humans, but he doesn't seem to dislike us, which is a good thing. Some training should make him more approachable, but, to be safe, I think it would better if you tried to get acquainted with him before he get too much of a bad idea about you… or hide in the grass." he finished, monitoring her to go closer to the cage, which was something Jen would have done even without being told so.
After setting her travel bag on the ground, she walked near the cage with a smile, sitting next to it. It was impossible for her to make her hand go on the other side on the fence, which was a shame, since it was inches away from the vulpix she wanted to get to know too. She would have already, if it hasn't been for the pikachu that kept her busy.
At this point, Rick had stopped. The professor's words had reached for him and thrown him in the dirt. He was trying to feel more like a human, and this man came here, with this human trainer with the evil balls, and talked about him like if he was just some kind of lab rat! He wanted to dig a hole so much right now, to hide his head into it, but even that was impossible. He sucked both at being a human and a pikachu. The best alternative was lowering his body as low he could, his ears flattened against his head, and bracing himself for something stupid that would come out of the trainer's mouth. He was served, when the soft voice talked to him, saying: "Hello, Sparktail. I'm Jen Sutter. Nice to meet you."
Nice to meet him? Nice to meet... what the? Was this trainer completely out of her mind? He expected something like 'Oh... the cute little pikachi pikachu! Wanna see the nice trainer? I have an apple for you!', not this almost... respectful... human way of greeting. Finally someone talking to him like everyone should have, since the beginning! He was impressed. This was all it took to make his view about the Jen girl flip around. This human could be the first one worthy of being called nice… maybe.
Sensing an opening, he rose back on two paws and walked toward her, waving his paw. "Hi, Jen! I'm Ri...Ri… bah… I'm Sparktail!" he said almost too innocently. Unfortunately for him, this answer, well... more precisely, the way he acted, was nothing like a pokemon would do. Jen gasped, amazed. "D-did he just wave his paw at me?" she asked, turning her head to glance at the professor, her face paling.
The professor stayed silent, his eyes set on the pikachu approaching the gate. This, indeed, was surprising, but not that much. He had no idea what could really be going on inside Rick's head, but he could make a guess. Rick wasn't that brilliant anymore, it seemed. As to what the rodent had been thinking, he wouldn't have shown how different he was from a regular pikachu, have he had human intelligence, unless the former human didn't hear what he said about him. This possibility, again, he had to ignore. If he understood Miss Sutter without any apparent trouble, he had no doubt that he knew what he said. He acted like something with a mind just a bit better the usual intelligence of a pokemon, closer to the mentally challenged person. As sad it was, he was helping him right now. He let out a small "Hum…" as only sign of approbation.
Stunned, Jen looked back at the strange pikachu, who was now near the gate, next to the vulpix, looking at her curiously. "Errr... well... you know why I'm here?" she asked, the whole thing feeling a bit awkward. She was used to talking with her pokemon, but never would she expect one to actually understand anything but basic commands.
Rick though for a moment about the question. He had a pretty good idea why, especially after hearing the male human speech, but he wasn't entirely sure about it. Maybe she only wanted to see him. Maybe she was here only for Sunny. Either way, not to break his chances of knowing a nice human beside himself, he had to answer. He pointed her pokeballs with his paw, his face looking unpleased.
"What is it?" the young woman inquired, trying to figure out what the mouse was pointing at. Following the imaginary line prolonged from his paw finger to his arm, she noticed that the object he was pointing at was her pokeballs. She forced a smile; he knew why she was here, at least. "Yes... and I would want you to come with me. We could become good friends you and I. And all the other pokemon in there wants to be your friend, too!"
Rick closed his eyes, sighing. This girl wasn't any different from the others humans. She only cared about using him. Becoming a battler would be giving up on his future. Sure... if he was not to be kept inside a pokeball, not doing any battling and that there was nothing that could be done here to help him, he would not have any problem with going with her for some time. He would be free of this cage and she seemed nice. It wasnt like it was going to happen, though.
He shook his head vigorously. Sure, his human girl would understand him. "No? You don't want to come with me? It's a lot bigger out there than in this tiny cage. Don't you want to be outside the mean cage? Or to have nice food? Like this." Slyly, she searched into a pocket of her bag while Rick looked at her hand. Soon, she took the promised fruit, an apple, and set it in front of the opening. "Could you open the cage, professor?"
The old man looked down at Rick, then at the apple. Then he smiled. "Yes, why not?" he said, taking out a small key that he inserted into an opening of the gate, undoing the lock what would usually be undone by the cage's docking mechanism. The gate slid open, opening the way to the apple. Rick wasn't the only pokemon in the cage, unfortunately. Sunny, which has been silent since the humans appeared, jumped in joy when the gate opened. She was free! And she was offered a nice gift! She ran out of the cage, took the apple in her jaws, laid down in the grass and began eating it, all of this before Rick realized what was happening.
His eye's narrowed. This apple was his food! Following Sunny out of the cage, he ran near her face and tried to grab the apple, but the vixen turned her head. Annoyed, he ran back and forth, following the movement of her head, but unable to grab the apple. Sunny decided, after a few tries, that she had enough of this, and moved elsewhere to eat her apple.
Rick looked down sadly. He wasn't even able to take a fruit out a pokemon mouth... how pathetic. "Oh... sorry Sparktail... I forgot about your friend. Well... doesn't it feel nice to be out of the cage?"
Out of the cage? He wasn't... he was... out... He looked behind him in confusion, seeing the opened gate and the long grass beyond. He was really out of the cage! He won against the evil wall! Now, he was free to go wherever he wanted! The only problem was: where was he supposed to go? Bill promised to help him, but he sent him to Oak instead. Oak promised to help him too, but he locked him inside the evil cage. He remembered what he said before... the humans really hated him. No one wanted to help him. But this human female... she was offering him freedom and food. So far, it was the nicest thing someone did for him since he ended up like this. This was so confusing…
He looked up again, forcing a smile at her. Jen smiled too, rubbing her hand on his head. "Being outside is fun, isn't it? But there is lot of better things out there. Other pokemon, trees, big water, cities and mountains. Lot of fun and food. Don't you want to see those things?"
He would have nodded, but his mind was busy with her hand touching his head. It felt so good. He knew that he should have been refusing it, but she was being so nice with him. And then… the switch flipped. For the first time since he became a pikachu, he was considering doing something that a real pokemon would do. Not because he was giving up on his humanity. No. He knew better than to fall into this easy death trap. Simply because, between all the choices he was offered, this was the best one, currently. He would not be able to stay in this cage for a long time. The hate of that male human and the field-like environment would drive him crazy. And if the human had been so fast to give him to the first random trainer that came here, it wouldn't be the last time, if he refused. The day he would crack to the pressure, he might end up with someone that wasn't as nice as this female. With some luck, he would be able to make this human bend to his will and make sure she would not treat him like a pokemon. She already knew he was mentally gifted, for a pikachu. He would only have to push things that way. And maybe... just maybe... he would be able to convince her that he used to be different. With someone so nice at his side, regaining what he lost would not be as hard as it looked. Either way… the humans he considered his peers and friends wouldn't help him. It was time to do things his way.
Waiting until she was finished, he enjoyed both the petting and the peace given by his choice, making him ready for anything. As soon she removed her hand, he nodded at her. Silently, she took a pokeball from her belt, and put it in front of Sparktail, making sure that the vulpix was too busy with her apple to care. "Alright... are you ready to come, now?"
He looked at ball for a few seconds, almost resigned. He would go in there decently, this time. No running away. He was about to start another part of his life. Whatever this would bring him, it would be an exciting adventure. In the end, he might win or lose, but whatever the outcome, he would be happy, human mind or not. This would be his consolation prize. Slowly, he rose on his feet and touched the round button on the ball with his paw. The ball opened, the light appeared, and soon, all that was left from the former human was a memory.