The next morning, Jenna and her newborn Cyndaquil crawled out of the burrow into warm sunshine. The bird Pokemon were singing, the grass types were sunbathing, and bug types sucked up sap from nearby trees. Cyndaquil shut her eyes tightly and covered them.
"Mommy, it's so bright!" she complained.
Jenna rolled her eyes and said, "It's okay, darling, it's just the daytime. Open your eyes, you'll get used to it."
Cyndaquil opened her eyes just enough to see, but not enough to reveal her eyes. She marveled at the tall trees and all the Pokemon around. She breathed in the fresh air, and felt the ground beneath her feet. She began to explore and laughed as she did. Jenna couldn't help but smile at the little one.
"Now, to think of a name..." she mumbled. She knew many Cyndaquil were called by the name of what they are, but she wanted to call her by her own name. She wanted to give her daughter something unique, but something that won't be flat out embarrassing for the little one. As she thought, a figure approached her.
"I have a suggestion, my friend." he said.
Jenna's ears perked up, and she briefly glanced at the figure behind her, though admittedly, it was a poor glance.
"Cindy."
Jenna stared in a random direction for a moment, then started to laugh. Cindy? Isn't that a little cheesy? She kept laughing for another minute, then toned it down so she could talk.
"Why name her something so simple?" she chuckled. However, she stopped laughing when she turned completely around and realized she was talking to a Xatu.
"I'm sorry, but, seriously?" she asked.
"Yes, I saw into your daughter's future, and when she's a year old, she'll have a trainer who will call her that." Xatu explained.
Jenna's eyes widened. A trainer? Really? A Xatu's predictions were nothing to sneeze at. After all, mother Pokemon abandon their young when they're old enough to live on their own, which is at least a year old. She'll be captured by next year? She didn't want to think about it, especially since she still felt hurt by her last encounters with a human.
"Are you sure it'll be Cindy?" Jenna asked doubtfully.
"I am sure. She'll be used to the name by then."
Jenna narrowed her eyes at the bird, unsure about his seriousness. She was about to reply when she heard a splash and her daughter screaming.
"OH NO!" She spun around and dashed to the source of the screaming.
Xatu shook his head. She'll forget about me in a week. At least the name 'Cindy' will serve as a subconscious reminder of her mother, even after next week's events. At least the Cyndaquil's father will watch her, no matter how far apart they are.
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Jenna had made it to the river and found Cyndaquil clinging to a rock, trying to keep from being swept away in the current. She was afraid, as Jenna could tell, and her little paws were slipping! So, Jenna carefully waded in the cold water, and as quickly as she could, lugged through the current to reach her baby.
"Mommy, help!" Cyndaquil yelled.
The water weakened her, and her legs began to freeze, yet Jenna kept wading. Almost there, she thought. Once about halfway there, she began extending her arm to her.
As Cyndaquil attempted to reach back, she slipped and started floating down the river. She screamed out of sheer terror, not knowing what'll happen next. Jenna, panicing and not content with wasting time, sprung forward, splashing into the water close enough to grab her child. She waded back to shore, climbed out of the river quickly, and set Cyndaquil down. The young Pokemon coughed and shivered.
"Mommy...I'm cold." she said through chattering teeth.
Jenna walked a good distance away from the baby and shook her body to dry herself off. She breathed heavily and started shaking.
"Cindy...do not... play in the water! Fire-types are weak against water!" she snapped, upset over what just happened.
The young Pokemon jumped back, shocked. She still shivered from her wet fur, her face on the brink of tears. "I'm sorry, Mommy...I just wanted to see what it was like to play in it. I saw others playing in it."
Jenna sighed. "Cindy, those are water-types. They're meant to play and live in the water, and use water-type attacks. Now, shake yourself. It'll dry you off." Then, making sure her fur was dry, made the red spots around her neck burst into flame. "Or it'll be difficult to do this."
Cyndaquil copied her mother's shaking actions, and then rose up on both hind legs to gape at the flaming mane. Though amazing, the realization that her mother had said a strange word nagged at her.
"Cindy?" she asked.
Jenna then realized she had called her baby the name that Xatu suggested. "Uhh... it's your name. You'll be called 'Cindy' from now on." she said, thinking, Why couldn't this mystery trainer come up with a better name?
Cyndaquil (who'll now be called Cindy) thought for a moment, and with a big grin, said, "Okay, Mommy!" She admired the flames around her mother's neck. "How do you do that?" she asked.
Jenna smiled. "I'll teach you..."
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For the next week, Jenna was teaching Cindy about the forest they lived in, what's edible and what's not, how to take a drink from the river without falling in, and which Pokemon are friendly to a little Cyndaquil, and those that'll attack it. She also taught her how to use attacks for self-defense, though Cindy was having problems lighting her flame, even complaining about feeling too cold and wet, even when perfectly dry. Though flame problems weren't unheard of for a Cyndaquil, the feeling of wetness in her red spots was. Must've taken more damage from that river than I thought. thought Jenna.
But, the two had fun as well. Cindy would pick large leaves, and sled down a hill on one, while her mother used a couple as skates and slid down as well(though she fell quite a few times). They'd shout in the nearby canyon and listen to the echos (Cindy often asked who was shouting back at them). And they'd point out funny shapes in clouds.
As night fell the seventh day, the two looked at stars, Jenna pointing out constellations and Cindy excitedly trying to find them. Jenna had to draw out shapes of the constellations in the dirt for the little Pokémon to try to find, including one of Jenna's own invention.
"Mommy, I can't find it!" Cindy shouted in frustration.
"Keep looking, it's there." Jenna encouraged.
Cindy peered closer to a certain spot in the sky, and jumped up. "Mommy! I see it! There's the funny dancing Feraligatr!" she exclaimed, giggling.
Jenna laughed. "I told you it was funny."
Cindy kept giggling. "Funny shapes in clouds and stars? That's so cool!"
She attempted to look for more when a shooting star streaked across the dark sky. She stared for a moment, then asked, "Mommy, what's that?"
Jenna saw it as well. "That's a shooting star. You make a wish on it, and if you tell no one, it might come true." she told Cindy.
Cindy took it in for a moment, then started pushing her.
"Huh? What are you doing?" Jenna inquired.
"Go, go, go! I'm gonna make a wish!" Cindy snapped. She kept pushing.
Deciding to let Cindy have her wish, Jenna walked off and hid behind a tree. She was still in hearing range so she could hear the little Cyndaquil's wish:
"I wish I could go out and see the world!" Cindy looked around, making sure no one was there.
When she heard this, she sighed and whispered to herself, "I wish I could see my little Cindy become a Typhlosion." She leaned against the tree and started thinking.
Cindy's not a normal Cyndaquil. She's extremely curious, a little daredevil, not at all shy, and whenever her flame is lit, she can use a powerful fire attack. Too powerful for her to even be a Cyndaquil. I guess that's what happens when her father happens to be-
"MOMMY! I'm done with my wish! You can come out now!" Cindy yelled. Jenna snapped out of her thoughts and came out from hiding, approaching the week-old Pokemon.
"So, what did you wish for?" she asked, seeing if Cindy remembered what she had told her.
Cindy stood back, looking offended. "Mommy! You told me I'm not supposed to tell anyone!" she shouted crankily, rubbing her eyes. Jenna could see she was tired. It had been a long day for the both of them.
"Okay, okay. But if you don't go to bed, you'll have to tell me." Jenna stated, smirking.
"But-but I'm not" -yawn- "tired." Cindy complained.
"Then why did you yawn?"
"Ummm..." -yawn- "I don't know."
Jenna picked up Cindy and carried her to the burrow. She listened to the mumbled complaints of her daughter, growing quieter and quieter as Jenna walked closer to the burrow. By the time she got there, Cindy had already fallen asleep. Jenna crawled into the burrow, curled up, and made sure both she and Cindy were comfortable. She nuzzled her daughter, laid her head down, and closed her eyes. She smiled when she felt a small body cuddle up to her, and she drifted to sleep.
By this time, Jenna had forgotten about the Xatu, and what happened that night would change little Cindy's life...