A more proper disclaimer than what was used in the prologue: Glee is not mine, and the only Pokémon I own are in my video games. The title of this fic is from the Offspring song of the same name. (Listen to it if you want; I feel as if the lyrics gradually describe Quinn's journey throughout the story.) Also, the title "Celebi: A Timeless Encounter" is the Japanese name of the 4th Pokémon movie. However, in this fanfic, I'm borrowing it as a title for a book a character reads.
A/N: Italics are used for when a Pokémon is saying its name. Bold is used for Pokédex entries.
"Hey, look! It's Lucy Caboosey!" A group of boys taunted as they made their way over to a young girl reading under a tree. "Whatcha reading, Lucy Caboosey?" Azimio smirked and snatched the book from her hands before she could reply.
"'Celebi: A Timeless Encounter'?" Rick read over Azimio's shoulder. "What are you reading this for? Everyone knows Celebi ain't real!"
"Th-that's not true!" Lucy scrambled up from her spot under the tree. "There are countless Po-Pokémon being discovered everyday!" She attempted to get her book back. Azimio tossed it to the last boy in the group. "There's research done that proves Celebi—"
"You don't even have a Pokémon, Lucy!" Finn interrupted after catching the book. He flipped through it before throwing it to Rick.
"Yeah! You're the only one in our grade without one! Even that big mouthed Berry girl has one now; she wouldn't shut up about it this morning!" Rick laughed and threw the book over Lucy's head to Azimio. The young girl's hand grazed the book, causing it to fall to the ground before it could reach the boy. Before she could retrieve it, Azimio took out a pokéball from his belt.
"Not so fast, Caboosey. Go, Bulbasaur!" A bright red light shown from the ball, and out came a little green Pokémon. "Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip to get her book." Lucy watched helplessly as dark green vines emerged and held the book high over her head.
"Saur!"
"G-give it back!"
"All right! It's my turn! Go!" Finn smirked and chucked his Pokéball.
"Karp, Magikarp!" was heard as the Pokémon flopped on the grass.
"Magikarp, you too! Use Vine Whip!" Finn instructed the fish, but it only continued to flail around. "Magikarp, I said use—"
"Magikarp can't use Vine Whip, stupidhead!" A voice interrupted him.
"What are you doing here, Puckerman?" Sneered Azimio. Lucy tried to grab her book, but the Bulbasaur once again made it out of her reach.
The scrawny boy puffed out his chest and replied, "I was using the park to train my Pokémon before you three punks distracted me!"
"You mean that little rat hiding behind you?" Rick remarked while Finn and Azimio laughed.
Puck glared at them as his Pichu cowered behind his legs. "Shut up! At least I know what moves to teach him!"
Finn stopped laughing and glared back. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Magikarp's a water type and Vine Whip is a grass move!"
"So?"
"Most Pokémon can only learn moves that are cat-categor—" he tried to remember the word his best friend said, but gave up and sighed, "that are the same type as them."
The group continued to argue, and Lucy used the distraction to finally retrieve her book. "Got it," she exclaimed proudly. She blushed under the four boys' scrutiny as she held the book close to her chest with one hand and straightened her glasses with the other. She just wanted to curl back under the shade of the tree and disappear.
Rick snorted and threw out his own pokéball. "Weedle, use String Shot!" Before Lucy could duck, the little yellow Pokémon had shot out its web and stuck her to the tree.
"Hey!" Noah yelled. "You can't do that to a girl! Pichu, use Tail Whip!"
"She's not a girl; she's more like a Snorlax! Bulbasaur, use Leech Seed on that rat!" Azimio countered.
"Use Poison Sting, Weedle!"
"Magikarp, use… um, use Tackle attack!"
Pichu collapsed to the ground as the three boys' Pokémon gained up on him. Noah grimaced and tried to think of a plan.
"S-Stop!" Lucy yelled in horror. She tore away from the web and ran in the middle of the battle. She covered the tiny Pokémon in an attempt to block the attacks. The onslaught stopped, but only because the little mouse behind the girl began to glow.
"Hey, what's happening?" asked a dumbstruck Finn.
Noah stared in awe as his Pichu slowly started to change form.
"It—It's…" Rick trailed off.
"It's evolving!" Azimio finished for him.
Lucy gasped and backed away as a now proud looking Pikachu stood in the place of what was once a tiny and timid Pichu.
"Pika!"
Noah stood speechless for a few moments before slowly turning towards the trio with a smirk on his face. He crossed his arms and yelled out a command, "Pikachu, use ThunderShock on these losers!"
Pikachu was only happy to let out a burst of electricity on the bullies.
"You'll regret this, Puckerman!" Azimio yelled as he and the other two boys and their Pokémon ran out of the park. "You too, Caboosey!"
"That's what you get for crossing the Puckasaurus!" Noah yelled back. He turned towards his Pokémon. "I can't believe you evolved! This is so awesome!" He high fived his new Pikachu, before remembering about the girl, "Oh, hey, are you okay—"
She was nowhere in sight.
"Hey, where'd you go? Hello?" He called out a few more times. He turned back to his new Pikachu with a sigh. "I guess she left." The boy picked up her discarded book and addressed his Pokémon who was looking at a tree, "Come on, buddy, let's go. Maybe we'll see her again soon." Pikachu continued to stare at the tree as his owner started to walk away. Noah turned around when he noticed Pikachu not moving. "Pikachu, let's go!" The Pokémon gave one last glance at the tree and then scurried along."My Jewbro's gonna be so psyched when she sees that you evolved!"
Lucy gave a sigh of relief as she heard the boy's excited voice fade into the distance. She slid down to the ground with her arms wrapped around her knees.
It was best that she hid away.
She only caused people trouble.
"Where have you been, young lady?" Judy called out from the kitchen.
Lucy froze. She had tried to enter the house and make it to her room without getting caught. The young girl averted her gaze to the ground and quietly sniffed, "I…I was at the park…" Judy turned towards her daughter after she set the table. She gasped at the dirtied clothes and scuff marks.
Lucy shifted under her mother's scrutiny and the movement caused Judy to snap out of it. "Go get cleaned up. Dinner will be ready in 15 minutes."
Lucy nodded and ran back up the stairs. Judy poured herself another drink.
"Knock knock," Frannie said as she walked into her younger sister's room. "Mom told me to come get you, Q. Dinner's ready—Hey, what's wrong?"
"Nothing," Lucy mumbled from the bed in a clean pair of clothes.
The older girl shut the door and walked the rest of the way into the bedroom. "This doesn't seem like nothing." She sat on the bed and wrapped her arm around her sister's shoulder. "Was it those bullies again?"
Lucy clenched her eyes shut as tears started to pour down her cheeks.
"Oh, Lucy Q…" Frannie murmured and pulled her onto her lap. The younger girl choked back a sob and buried her head into her sister's neck. "Shh…. It's okay. Don't let them get to you. They're just a buncha little assholes."
Lucy let out a watery laugh at her sister's cuss word, before pulling away and wiping furiously at her eyes. "A boy sa-saved me from th-them today."
"Saved you? What happened?" Frannie frowned as Lucy recounted her story. Her older sister had a grimace on her face by the time she finished what had happened.
"Those little fuckers—"
"Fran!" Lucy exclaimed with wide eyes.
"What? It's true! I can't believe they would do that! We should have mom go talk to their parents—"
"No!"
"What?" Frannie startled when Lucy jumped from her lap.
"They—they'll just call me a tattletale!" Lucy exclaimed. "And…and besides, I don't think mom would do anything…" She mumbled and shifted her eyes to the floor.
Frannie frowned only deeper as she realized, yeah, their mother wouldn't do a damn thing.
"Girls, dinner!"
Both of them looked to the door as they heard Judy call up from the bottom of the stairs.
Frannie sighed before standing up from the bed and kneeling down in front of her 10 year old sister. She took her glasses off and wiped the tear stains from her pudgy little cheeks. "Come on, Q, we'll figure something out." She gave the glasses back and held out her hand.
Lucy looked up with wide hazel eyes, and Frannie vowed as they trekked down the stairs that she would think of something.
It came to her moments later when they arrived at the kitchen, and she released her Vulpix from its ball to eat its pokéfood.
"Dad, mom," Frannie spoke up from her spot at the table after setting food on her plate.
"Lucy, don't you think that's enough food on your plate?" Russell chided at his youngest daughter before turning to his eldest. "Yes, dear?"
Lucy's breath hitched as she put down the bowl of food.
Frannie narrowed her eyes. "I think it's about time Lucy Q got a Pokémon."
Lucy gasped and looked around the table with a wide smile.
Russell quirked an eyebrow while Judy looked on with interest.
"She's ten years old. This is normally the time most kids receive their first Pokémon." Frannie explained before taking a sip of her glass.
"No."
Frannie coughed on her drink at her father's dismissal. "But…"
"Pokémon are nothing more than tools for humans. My youngest daughter has no need for one." Russell hardened his stare and turned to the fire fox Pokémon on the floor. "I shouldn't have even let you get this mutt." Vulpix looked up from its bowl and growled at the man. Russell had a good mind to flinch and turn away. He settled his gaze back on his eldest daughter who seemed to be trying to fight off a smirk. "So, no, she will not be getting a Pokémon."
Lucy visibly deflated and sunk down in her seat.
"A Pokémon would be good for her! It could teach her responsibility and friendship!" Frannie argued. She stared pointedly at her mom, "It could protect her."
Judy shifted uncomfortably in her seat at her older daughter's glare.
Russell slammed his fork down. "The answer is no, and that's final! Now you either finish your meal with no more talks of—of Pokémon," the man seethed, "or you don't finish at all and go up to your room!"
Frannie set her own fork down with a glare to her parents. "Fine. Come on, Vulpix." The fire fox barked and followed her up the stairs.
Russell watched her go and then turned to Lucy. "The same goes for you, young lady. Do you have anything to say about this?"
"No, sir." Lucy shrunk under his gaze.
"Good." He turned his attention to Judy. "Now as I was saying, I go into my office and there's a voicemail from Tanaka talking about some mishap or another from last night…"
She heard Frannie slam her bedroom door shut, and fidgeted in her seat.
She only caused people trouble.
It had been a few days after what Lucy mentally dubbed The Pikachu Incident. Those days were spent carefully searching the park for a new hideaway.
She clutched a new book to her chest as she steered off the cobblestone path and into a small clearing she found the day before. It was just out of sight from the rest of the park, but not completely out of the way that it ventured off into the woods.
She sat in the old tire swing she found abandoned on a tree in the clearing and gazed around with a small smile. Pidgeot were building nests in an upper portion of the tree. Butterfree were fluttering about. Hoppip and Skiploom were drifting in the light breeze. Something was rustling in the bush to her left—
Lucy fell from the swing with a gasp, and scooted away from the bush. The rustling continued. Not knowing where to go, she shielded her arms above her head and shut her eyes. She waited with bated breath and only hoped it wasn't the trio from school. Or a wild Ursaring. She let out a tiny whimper at the thought.
The noise stopped.
Lucy tentatively opened her eyes, only to come face to face with big brown ones barely an inch away from her.
She let out a squeak of surprise, and scrambled even further away, only to have her back hit the tree. She stared with wide eyes as the Pokémon plopped on its hind legs and gazed right back.
"You-you're too little to be a Houndour or Houndoom. And…and you're definitely not a Vulpix…" she trailed off. She was silent for a few seconds before snapping her fingers, "Growlithe! No, wait, that boy Artie has a Growlithe and it's orange with black stripes."
The small dog-like Pokémon quirked its head to the side.
She adjusted her glasses. "You're obviously not orange or black," she stated as she gestured to its brown body.
"Vee!"
"Vee…? Ve—Oh! Eevee!" Lucy exclaimed with a grin. She slowly reached her hand out, and giggled when the Eevee trotted up to her and nuzzled her outstretched hand. "What are you doing out here all alone, little one?" She asked as she caressed the soft fur.
The Eevee stopped its affections and quirked its head again.
"Don't you have a family that might be worried about you?"
"Vee?"
Its left ear twitched, and that's when she noticed a chunk missing off the tip. Lucy swallowed. "Or…or maybe you ran away," she concluded. She looked at the torn ear again. "I ran away, too," then shifted her gaze back into its eyes, "well, only for a little bit of the day. I wish I could run away forever, but daddy would get so mad…" Lucy paused. "What am I doing…? I'm talking to a Pokémon…" she sighed. "Now daddy would definitely get mad at that if he knew."
Eevee licked her hand as if it understood. "Vee!"
"But… but maybe he doesn't have to know." Lucy bit her lip and then made a quick decision. She scooped the little Pokémon up in her arms. "W-would you be my friend?" she all but yelled out. The little dog-like Pokémon licked her cheek, and she only held on tighter.
A few weeks later, Lucy ran through the park and along the cobblestone path to her secret spot. "E-Eevee!" She panted. "I missed you!"
After their first initial meeting, she begged Eevee to meet her the next day at the hideaway. She wasn't sure it would be there, but something in its eyes assured her it would be. She was pleasantly surprised to find it resting under the tire swing when she arrived that day.
One day turned into two, and before she knew it, she was walking to the park every afternoon to meet her only friend.
Russell wasn't sure why his daughter arrived home each night right before dinner, but she seemed to be thinning out, so he kept his mouth shut.
Frannie hugged her sister close and promised to cover for her if needed whenever she went out to meet her Pokémon friend.
"I wish I could take you to school with me, or-or home…" she puffed out with her hands on her knees. Once she caught her breath, she looked up to find not only one Eevee, but two. "Oh! Hello! Eevee, is this your friend?"
The new Eevee shrunk under Lucy's gaze as she observed it. Her Eevee's fur was a little tangled from being an outside Pokémon, while this one's seemed to be brushed daily. It also had a gigantic pink bow with gold stars tied around its neck that only made the Pokémon seem even smaller than it was.
The young girl gave a bright smile and held out her hand. Lucy's Eevee licked the second one's cheek before nudging it towards the human. Lucy's smile only brightened when it tentatively walked towards her and sniffed her hand. She carefully went to pet it when—
"Elphaba?" called out a voice.
Lucy jumped back as what could only be a tiny angel rustled her way out of the bushes.
The newcomer's expressive brown eyes lit up as she spotted the Eevee with the bow. She scrambled towards it and held it tightly to her chest. "Oh, Elphie! I was so worried!" She peppered its fur with kisses until she noticed she had an audience. She tucked her Eevee under her right arm and put her other hand on her hip. "Who are you and what were you doing to my Elphaba?" she demanded with a stomp of her foot.
Lucy confusedly looked between the girl and the two Eevees. "Um…"
The other girl followed her gaze and gasped. "Oh, my—Y-you're a Pokémon thief, aren't you? Oh, no, I won't let you steal my Elphaba!" She brought the Pokémon back up to her chest, and shrieked, "My dads are gay and unless you want the force of the American Civil Liberties Union coming down on you, I suggest you evacuate my presence at once, you…you… you Eevee snatcher!"
That seemed to snap Lucy out of her daze. "No, wait! D-don't call the American Civil Li-libert-library Onion!" She stumbled over her words as she pleaded with the girl.
The girl narrowed her eyes and clutched her Eevee tighter. "And why shouldn't I?"
"I'm not a Pokémon thief!"
"That's what they all say!" The newcomer's Eevee scrambled out of her arms and cautiously walked to Lucy. "Elphaba! No, don't! Stranger danger! Stranger danger!"
Lucy threw her hands up in exasperation. "I'm not gonna steal it!"
"It?" She shrieked. "My Elphaba is not an it!" She narrowed her eyes at the bespectacled girl. "If you were a real Pokémon thief, you'd know how to tell the gender of these Eevees!" She thrust out an accusing finger.
Lucy pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "That's because I'm not a thief!" She quirked her head to the side, "Wait, how can you tell the genders? Besides, from... well..." Lucy trailed off with a blush.
The girl's eyes widened in realization, "Well," she coughed into a dainty hand, "seeing as you're obviously not a Pokémon thief—even though it is still entirely suspicious of you to be in a hidden part of the park with my Elphaba and this other Eevee! Don't think I forgot about that, missy!—I suppose I shall unfold my secrets of the world of Pokémon unto you." Her proud grin faltered at the blank look on Lucy's face. "The markings on their tails," she deadpanned.
Lucy looked to her Eevee's tail, and then to Elphaba's. "O-okay..." She said in uncertainty.
"See how their tails are two different shades of brown?" At Lucy's nod, she continued, "All Eevees have a lighter brown at the tip, but the males are slightly darker than the females." She pointed to the two Eevees sitting next to each other by Lucy's feet, "Ours are female."
"Oh, wow! Wh—where'd you learn that?"
"My pokédex, silly!" the girl stated as if it were obvious.
"You have a pokédex?" Lucy asked in shock. Her daddy refused to get her one.
"Yeah, my daddy got it for me when he bought me Elphaba!" At her acquaintance's crestfallen look, the newcomer sputtered to continue, "Do-do you want to see it?"
"You'd really let me see it? E-even though you thought I was stealing your Elphaba..."
She blushed heavily. "I—I apologize for my accusation..." She trailed off, before quickly continuing, "but, but you shouldn't be in this secluded part of the park! It's dangerous!" Lucy quirked an eyebrow up at their surroundings, noting a few Butterfree and a Sentret, but that's it. "I was so scared when Elphaba had run off, and when I saw you, I—I assumed the worst." She stepped towards Lucy and thrust out her hand in an excited manner. "Let's start over! My name is Rachel Barbra Berry! I'm ten years old and I attend McKinley Elementary! And the Eevee over there in the lovely bow is Elphaba!"
The bespectacled girl blinked, and Rachel's grin faltered. Quick to rectify the situation, Lucy tightly grasped the other girl's hand. "I—I'm Lucy!" Rachel gave her a pointed look. "Fabray! Lucy Quinn Fabray! I'm the same age as you are, a-and I also go to McKinley." The brunette's eyes widened in excitement. "And, and that's...um... Well, I don't have a name for her."
Rachel gasped. "You haven't named your Pokémon? It's important to give them a sense of individuality!"
"Well, she's not really mine... But, but I didn't steal her!" Lucy rushed out before she could be accused of being an Eevee snatcher. "She's...she's my friend."
Rachel's eyes softened as she took in the sight of Lucy and the Eevees. Nodding to herself, she made a quick decision. "Well, come on!"
"Huh?"
Rachel giggled. "You want to see my pokédex, correct? It's at my house. So you," she looped her arm through Lucy's, "and your friend are coming over!"
Lucy's eyes widened in excitement. "Really?" She hesitated. "But, but I don't want to cause any trouble..."
"Nonsense! Let's go!" She tugged Lucy's arm. The taller girl looked to her Eevee, only to see Elphaba intertwining their tails before trotting along beside the humans. She smiled and turned back to the girl beside her who started to ramble on about something or another. "...stars. They're a metaphor and metaphors are important. I hope to one day have a Staryu or a Starmie which will..."
Rachel continued on, and Lucy could only grin.