(Kalos Nature Preserve)

I persevered on the far outskirts of Kalos, well out of the way of civilization.

Materializing out of nowhere, she glanced around. She was in a clearing now, in a forest. She was now in a nature preserve on the far reaches of the Unova region, far away from human civilization. It was a government-designated area stretching for hundreds of miles on end. Entry was strictly prohibited and few were ever allowed a permit, so she knew it would be safe. Getting caught for him would probably be awkward for him, plus it ensured no criminals would harm him again. Sure, she could have left him with a human owner, but beyond the awkwardness of that for a former human, Mew knew very few humans she trusted to watch him and disliked the idea of just dumping him on someone at random. Besides, she knew a nice community of Pokémon here who could raise him. Mew knew them to be kind, and this place was far away from danger in the human world. Living in the wild was not perfect, but where Mew was going could certainly help ease him into it, given the kinds of pokemon that lived there. That and the rules of neutrality that were present within this community.

Floating through the forest, she made her way to the sanctuary deep in the woods. It was a haven made up of Pokémon who worked together to survive. None ate each other, as most were omnivores or hunted outside the sanctuary if needed. Any Pokémon present there was expected to reframe from fighting or hunting one another while within the area. A sort of neutral zone, as it were. A perfect place to shelter a young Pokémon. As she approached the entrance, she passed a few different kinds of Pokémon, and each looked shocked to see the mythical Mew. None made an effort to speak to her, however, seeing that she seemed busy. They did look up curiously at the eevee she was levitating beside her, though.

She kept making her way further into the sanctuary and noted the surroundings as she did. The central meeting place was composed of a large clearing with soft dirt in the center, and trees in the surrounding area. Overlooking the clearing itself were a few dens dug into the hillsides. The number of dens per hillside varied, but overall there were about a dozen were evident on the hillsides. Along the hillside are various walkways and dirt paths, built from inclines.

Mew looked around, noting the den at the top of the hill. She simply teleported up there with the sleeping child still levitating nearby. Upon getting close to the entrance, she called out. "Flame, are you there?" The cat asked.

She sensed his thought patterns within but needed to get his attention. Sure enough, a male ninetales, mostly yellowish around his whole pelt, walked out of the den rather fast, followed by a female sylveon. She had the usual features one might expect from their kind, a white coat with pink ears, ribbons, and pink accents on her paws and tail, as well as bright blue eyes. When they saw Mew, both gasped in surprise.

"Mew! Apologies for not having a better welcome, we were not expecting you." Flame greeted.

The sylveon, Lace, bowed respectfully along with Flame, and spoke up.

"It's a pleasure to see you again. To what do we owe this visit?" Lace inquired.

Mew nodded. "Good to see you two as well. I apologize for being blunt, but I need your help with something." She said, floating the child into view, and putting him down gently in front of the pair, on some soft dirt. Both pokemon looked at him in shock and worry, even more so once they noted his seemingly unconscious state.
"Oh, my Arceus! Is he ok?" Flame inquired.

Mew sighed. "Physically, yes. But there is much I have to discuss with you."

Lace sounded even more concerned, and looked up at the psychic cat.

"A pup? What happened to him? Why is he hurt?" The sylveon asked.

Mew set the eevee down and sighed. "His name is Zale Glydewell. And to answer your question: a tragedy. I will tell you, of course. I can sense your worry and questions. To put you at ease before I begin: yes, he gave his permission for this. I asked in a dream." She stated.

The sylveon looked up at Mew and then back to the eevee. "So what happened to him really then? Why was he in that river? And where are his parents?" She asked.

Mew sighed sadly. "They are dead. I scanned his memories to find out what happened to him. Sadly, Team Plasma killed them two weeks back. During some kind of altercation after he and his parents walked past them while they were in the middle of a scheme of theirs. He apparently has been living on his own off what little money he had left on his person in the interim, trying to evade them. He did not seem to want to be put in an orphanage either from what I gathered, due to bad stories he heard of those places. A pair of grunts caught him and threw him off a bridge into the river last night. I found him washed up on the riverside, in the nearby forest." She explained. "He would likely not have gotten very far on his own for much longer anyways." She noted sadly.

The Pokémon present gasped in shock. "That's horrible!" The stove on, Lace said.

The ninetales shook his head. "Vile people… I can't believe the lows they sink to. Murdering a child and his family…" he said. He then looked over at the eevee.

"But why turn him into an eevee? Are there no more of his kind who could take him in? Would he not want to stay human?" he inquired

Mew sighed sadly. "I searched his memories; he has no other family left. No grandparents were still around and no aunts and uncles to speak of, nor siblings. And he was too badly hurt for me to properly heal. At least fully. As far as I could tell, it was a gamble if I could even stabilize his condition enough to give him a chance at survival. Even if I took him to a hospital, it was unlikely he would have survived. He would have never fully recovered anyways, nor did he have anything left for him in his old life. " she explained, recanting her analysis of his injuries. "Transforming him into a new body was the best I could do to save him. At least now, his injuries are gone and he can make a full recovery." She stated.

Lace was still curious.

"I see then… but why an eevee?" She inquired.

Mew stared at her. "I saw in his mind he thought they were cool and wished to adopt one before losing his parents. Plus, it gives him more options for what he wants to become." Mew calmly explained. "I figured might as well give him a form he might like since I had to do this." She stated

"But why not give him to a human then? " Lace asked.

Mew shrugged. "Could be awkward for him, even more so than this. And he needs pokemon's guidance for the new life. I don't know exactly interact with many humans, to begin with, and I can't just dump him somewhere randomly. I want to leave him somewhere I know, with pokemon I trust. Which is why I came here. And yes, I know my methods are not perfect but it's all I can do. " she stated, sounding a bit uncertain but firm.

Both pokémon exchanged a glance, pondering her words. After a few seconds though, they nodded to this, understanding her reasons. Mew took the opportunity to speak more, seeing she did not have to explain much more.

"Now… was there anyone here who could take him in. He deserves someone to take responsibility for him; a child should not be forced to be on his own. I personally cannot." She said. It was common knowledge legendary Pokémon like Mew had busy lives and were normally too mobile to provide the stability a child needed.

The ninetales looked to Lace, who seemed unsure.. He spoke up. "Well, I personally am fine with-"

But the sylveon, Lace, shot up and cut in. "Wait, I can take him in." She said, before stopping herself. "If that's fine, of course."

The ninetales smiled at her.

"Of course. I had a feeling you would." He said, chuckling a bit. "I was interested in raising another little one myself but I don't want to rob you of this chance."

Mew smiled ( as much as she could) "Very well then It's settled." She said, lifting the child over towards, her and placing eevee down before her. "I trust you will take care of him, Lace." She finished.

"Now, forgive me for being curt, but that concludes my business here. I have other things I must attend to; too many pokemon and humans in need. I need to look more into Team Plasma's activities elsewhere. Well, then, and various other things." She noted

Lace looked down and the child and back to the Mew. "I understand… and thank you. For bringing him here." She stated. New gave her a smile.

"Take care of him." She insisted. Before she left, however, the ninetales spoke a final time.

"What if he wants to speak to you?" He asked.

"The gardevoir in the area knows how to contact me. But you should know everything you need to gif him. Anything else is up to him if he wishes to tell you." She stated. "It is not my place to violate his privacy…"

The Pokémon took the hint. With that, Mew waved them off and teleported away. The crowd began to dissipate soon after that.

Before turning to leave, Flame looked over at Lace. "Do you need any help?" He asked.

She shook her head. "No, I should be fine. For now, I think it's better we do not overwhelm him," she said.

The ninetales nodded. Lace picked up the child by the scruff after that, and gif her friend fair well. The ninetales walked away, leaving Lace alone to return to her den elsewhere on the top of the hill.

Within a few minutes, she was back in her den. She had set the sleeping eevee down within her own mound of ferns and soft leaves she normally rested on. She smiled down at the sleeping eevee; it was her child now, she knew. She smiled at the thought of being a mother.

However, the reality of the situation than dawned on her, it just sank in what kind of responsibility she just accepted. Raising another Pokémon? She has not done this before. She helped with the younger Pokémon in the sanctuary from time to time but never took in on herself. And yet, it was something she had wanted to do for a while.

Setting the sleeping eevee down on a nest she made in the den, she smiled to herself. She would do her test to watch over and guide him.

A thought occurred to her: just how would she raise him? He was a former human unaccustomed to life as a wolf Pokémon. And then there was his age. He was about 11. He was approaching his teens, when children became much more independent. Of course, he was still a child and needed a guardian but the problem Lace worried about was guiding him in this new life. The woods of the preserve were a dangerous place to live, even for adult Pokemon. Getting acquainted to living in them took time and guidance; she was worried how he would adapt. He would have to have more care given to him than a normal eevee pup his age, as introducing him to this life was more or less like a pup leaving the den for the first time. He likely would not know how to walk yet even. He was nearly a newborn in the sense that he was now in a new body, and would have to learn basic things like walking again. But she knew not to treat him as a newborn, he was too old to be treated like that.

Of course, she would do her best, and maybe she was just guessing here, but she knew preteens could be rebellious about how much freedom they are and are not allowed. She knew he would be curious to explore the woods beyond this sanctuary before long. Children always were curious, but it would probably take a bit of time before he was prepared to actually do that, given the dangers in the preserve.

Lace sighed. She was thinking too far ahead. How much freedom he was and was not given to explore would have to be figured out as safe went along. He has not even woken up yet.

She looked back to the young eevee. His breathing was stable again, but she worried about his health. Mew said did what she could, but Lace doubted the transformation was one hundred percent free of consequence.

She shook her head though. Whatever his troubles would be did not matter, she would have to guide him and help him through whatever he needed.

Yawning, she decided to rest. She sat down next to the sleeping eevee, and pulled him closer with her paw, curling herself around him. She smiled down at his sleeping form and gave him an affectionate lick on the head. He unconsciously seemed to cuddle closer to her, causing her to blush. The sylveon smiled widely as she rested her head over his.

"Sleep well, Zale… my son. Soon your new life begins."

Been a while, hasn't it? Well, I am done with school now, so hopefully I can start updating more again. Next chapter, he can wake up and we get cute family moments and such. Should be exciting to write. Anyways, let me know what you think in the comments.