Little Eevee was so excited to be out of Poke Ball. Jim still couldn't believe how cute and perfect she was. He really wanted to let her explore the basement to her heart's content, but he had only a few minutes to place her in the special box with the ribbon around her neck. Since she was still a baby, she thought Jim wanted to play with her, so she took the ribbon and tried to cover herself entirely with it. She almost looked like a red mummy. Jim tried hard not to laugh. He didn't even care if she accidentally tore the ribbon. But Darling will come downstairs any minute. He had to present the gift in the best way possible, especially considering the fact that there was a catch.
Jim gently caressed Eevee's soft fur and she enjoyed it so much she relaxed, completely calm, for a second. It was the perfect opportunity. Jim clumsily tied a red bow around Eevee's neck and picked the Pokemon up. She didn't mind the ornament being wrapped around her, but being in the closed, dark box was a different story. Jim realized it was hopeless, so he just put her in the opened box and practically ran to the Christmas tree. Darling still wasn't there. He found a perfect place to sit down and wait. Sometimes, it was a good thing that women need so much time to get ready. Sometimes.
Eevee's eyes sparkled as they reflected the shiny decorations. Fortunately, she didn't want to inspect every item up close. She was probably tired, she was a baby after all. She gently nested in one corner of the box just as Darling was making her way to the living room. Won't be long now.
"Merry Christmas, Jim Dear." Darling looked gorgeous as ever. She kissed Jim and sat next to him. Her gift for him was carefully wrapped in green paper and neatly tied with a red bow. Jim tore the paper like a little boy and found a cologne that looked pretty expensive. He'd probably just save for some special occasion that'll never come, but he was so excited because he celebrated Christmas with his wife that he hugged her so tightly she stopped breathing for a moment. They laughed together at darling's comments about how much of a baby Jim was.
Then Jim slowly reached for his box. In her head, his wife scolded him for not putting the lid on the box, but then she looked inside and saw the cute little Eevee with a red ribbon. "Oh, Jim, she's just perfect. A beautiful little Lady." Eevee liked Darling from that very first moment. Everything seemed just perfect.
"Jim Dear, what's this?" Darling found a little booklet explaining Eevee's evolution with pictures and characteristics of each Pokemon it can evolve into. Jim left it in the box on purpose, so he wouldn't have to be the one to bring up this topic.
"And I wondered where I had put it." Jim snapped his sudden noise startled Eevee, who was gently nesting in Darling's lap. Darling petted her.
"Oh Jim, she is just the cutest thing, I do not think I want to evolve her. Right, little angel? Aren't you perfect just the way you are?" Darling put the booklet on the floor beside her. Jim sighed. He was afraid of this. But this was the true price of this present.
"I'm afraid we can't leave her this way. It is absolutely necessary to evolve this Pokemon. They told me so in the pet shop." Jim almost braced himself, awaiting reaction.
"Oh Jim, I hope this Pokemon isn't ill, so she needs to evolve in order..." Jim hated to interrupt darling, but if he didn't spoke then, he'd lost courage.
"Everything is fine with her health. It's just...it's possible for her to evolve into, you know...dark type." For the last two word, Jim lowered his voice as much as possible. He didn't truly believe that a certain type of Pokemon can be evil, but Darling didn't even allow saying the names of those banished types. If she wanted it that way, Jim found it easier to humor with her than explain his point of view. Since he didn't know anything much about Pokemon, his arguments sometimes just made no sense.
"Dear, why didn't you say so right away?" Darling reached for the booklet in such a violent way that she almost scared the Eevee away. "Let's see, maybe she can evolve into a ghost type..."
Ghost? In Jim's opinion, if something sounded evil, that would definitely be ghost type. Since he rarely showed any interest in what was happening in the community, Darling sometimes got angry with his questions, telling him to be more active in what happened around them. But this time, his curiosity was just too strong.
"I'm sorry to ask, Darling, but aren't ghost Pokemon supposed to be, you know, evil as well?"
Darling just looked at him and blinked a few times. Jim knew it would have been better if he had just kept his mouth shut. But it was too late now.
"How can ghost Pokemon be evil, Jim? Don't you remember the last year's Pokemon Show? You even took me there to see it."
Jim faintly remembered it. Pokemon shows were exhibitions where people showed off the beauty of their Pokemon. Every one of those high class Pokemon had its own hairdresser, stylist, make up artist, nutritionist and Arceus knows what else. Women of all ages were simply crazy about this thing and everyone wanted a Pokemon just so they could compete. But of course, no one could ever beat the mayor's wife. Jim thought that was all extremely boring. First of all, why compete when the winner would always be the same? And another thing was a secret Jim never told anyone. Secretly, he'd like to have a real Pokemon battle some day. All Pokemon at the exhibitions did was show off one or two weak moves they learned at the training center. Those moves could have been stronger, if only they allowed battling...
"Jim, are you even listening to me?" Great. He got lost in his thoughts, so he didn't hear a thing his wife was telling him.
"I'm all ears, just like every time you speak, my Darling." Jim kissed her hand. Eevee watched carefully, then she quickly licked the same spot. Darling giggled.
"So, after seeing that lovely little Misdreavus, how could anyone think ghost types are evil? You remember how gorgeous she was when she received the first prize, right, Jim?"
Jim remembered. Of course, he should have known. Mayor's wife had a ghost type, of course there was no way for the poor guy to label that type as evil. He felt a strange note of something familiar in that. then he looked at Darling, who was busy looking at the Eeveelutions. Then her eyes sparkled as she turned to her husband.
"Jim Dear, look at this one. Isn't it just perfect for our little Lady?"
She was really excited. It was a hint for Jim to be serious or else. He looked at the picture her wife was pointing at. It showed a slim, lilac Pokemon with a red gem on its forehead. The text under the picture said it was an Espeon, a psychic type with the ability to foresee the future. Jim had to admit, that did sound pretty cool, even though he secretly hoped his wife would pick a grass type evolution. He was always very fond of nature.
"And look at this, Jim Dear." Darling found another piece of information about Espeon. "One can only get an Espeon if the Eevee is mostly loved and trained during daytime." The fire in her eyes just seemed to get more intense. "With Espeon, I'll have a Pokemon that says how loved it really is. Maybe I could enter the show with her, what do you think? And what do you think, little Lady?" She showed the picture to Espeon-to-be. The brown creature put her paws on it and tried to take the Sun Pokemon out of the booklet. Jim and Darling laughed. Then the wife made a serious face again.
"It is not going to be easy to get an Espeon, Jim. You'll have to take her to the training center every day."
"It'll be my pleasure, Darling." He really meant it. Training Pokemon sounded fun and he always wanted to give it a try. With such a cute little Pokemon, he just couldn't wait to start. If only he could battle with her as well.
The couple enjoyed their Christmas. Darling's lunch was great es ever. Even Eevee agreed. They just couldn't resist her cute big eyes. She was a part of family already. Darling couldn't wait to show her to her friends. She was certain she got the best Christmas present this year. Jim knew what his wife thought, but he also knew she'd take good care of the Pokemon. And she looked beautiful when she was happy which was another bonus.
Great day was coming to an end and Eevee, as well as Jim and Darling, were getting sleepy. Jim showed darling a little bed made especially for the Pokemon. It was perfect for her. They wished her goodnight and closed the door. Darling was worried she'd get lonely, but Jim wanted them to show authority from the first day. It sounded a bit harsh, since she was very young, but she was a Pokemon, she could probably take care of herself even if someone attacked her.
In bed, Darling hugged Jim tight and thanked him again. At that moment, they both heard Eevee from a room downstairs. Jim went to calm her down and quickly returned.
He definitely underestimated Eevee's intelligence. She noticed that master would always come down, whenever she made noise. And no matter what he did with the door, she always found a way to get away. After escaping another one of the traps, she started climbing upstairs to play some more. To her, it was all just a game and she was almost entirely awake and full of energy. The stairs were trickier than she thought, since she was so small. It took a fair amount of time, as well as her strength, to climb. Then she used her nose to find the masters.
She didn't have to play with the door, to room was opened. She went inside and licked Darling's hand, which was hanging from the bed and woke her up.
"So you don't like being alone down there, right little Lady?" Darling petted the Pokemon who made the cutest faces.
"Jim Dear." She turned to her sleeping husband. "Lady is afraid, I say we let her sleep here just for the night."
Jim was half asleep and it was two o'clock in the morning. "Alright, darling, but just for the night." Then he turned and started snoring.
Darling put her little Lady by her feet. "Just for the night, you say? We'll see." The little Pokemon smiled to herself as she fell asleep.