"668."
"668?"
"Yes, 668."
The old man stared back at the black haired boy astounded that someone so young could catch that many pokémon.
"How many more do you need to catch in order to complete the pokédex, Master Samuel?"
"Please, Jason, do just call me Sam." The dark haired boy said. He then took a sip out of his glass that was filled with iced tea. "Four more." He answered.
"Only four?" The gray haired butler replied as he thought about it for a moment. "I thought there were 719 pokémon."
"That would be true, but only if you count the legendaries." Sam replied as he looked out the window of the two-story mansion that towered above the rest of the city. "And everyone knows they do not truly exist." Sam then turned to Jason, "Even if they might be real, they aren't required to catch for Prof. Oak's contest."
"Of course, of course." Jason responded while still sitting in his leather chair that was placed in the corner of the room. "What was the prize for filling up the pokédex again?" He asked. He knew that Sam had told him it before, but his memory was failing in his old age. To this, Sam smiled a little.
"$100,000,000, my friend!" Sam said as he walked across the elegant rug that covered most of the wood floor . "Not only that," He continued, "but 3 of the most rare pokéball there is."
"Which is?" Jason asked when Sam did not continue.
"The master ball!" Sam replied. Jason looked at him with a puzzled look.
"Is the master ball really that good?"
"Indeed. It can catch any pokémon without fail."
"Really! Without fail…" Jason trailed off, thinking about what kind of material they would have to use in order to make something that was flawless in catching pokémon. "Well when you've caught all of the pokemon, why would you need to catch anymore?" He then asked.
"Well let's say I find a shiny or if one of these legendaries really do exist." Sam replied and took another sip from his glass. "I wouldn't want that opportunity to go to waste." After Sam said this, Jason looked at him with a small smile. "What?" He said once he saw Jason staring.
"I just can't believe someone as young as you could catch all the known pokémon." Jason responded. Sam just laughed.
"I'm sixteen Jason."
"That is still really young." Jason stated before launching another question that was on his mind. "Which ones have you not caught yet?"
"Well, out of the four, three of them are eeveelutions." Sam said. Jason gave him a questioning look.
"Why have you not caught very many eevees?" He asked with inquiry.
"You yourself must know that eevees are very rare and finding them out in the wild is very hard." Sam said as he drank the last of the tea that was in his glass and started to pour himself some more, careful to not spill it on his suit. This one wasn't as extravagant as some of his other ones and it wasn't even new, but he still didn't want to ruin it.
"Of course." Jason said and then asked "Can't you breed them?"
"Yes I can and that's what I'm trying to do, but it is taking awhile and I fear someone else might win the contest before I do if I just obtain them through breeding. That's why I have Steven looking for some out in the forest."
"Alright then. Which ones are they?" Jason questioned. Sam looked up to the ceiling as he tried to remember them. After a few seconds of thinking he replied, "A glaceon, a flareon, and an espeon." Sam said. Jason then finally got out of his chair and poured himself some tea as well.
"Why those?" He asked.
"Well, it's not that I dislike those, they're just the ones I haven't gotten to yet." Sam said as he took a sip out of the newly filled glass. "When I tried to get an espeon the eevee actually evolved when I was sleeping, so it turned into an umbreon. I've never gone up to the mountains to evolve one into a glaceon and the fire stone was the last stone I obtained so I haven't been able to use it yet." Sam finished.
"I see." Jason said. He started going back to his chair but stopped once he realized that Sam had only named about three pokemon. "What's the last one?"
"Guess" Sam said and sat down in a chair across from Jason's. The butler thought about it for a second.
"A blissey." Jason guessed. Sam just smirked.
"It wasn't the easiest thing to raise and it did take awhile but I got one." After Sam said this, Jason sat back into his chair and gave it another thought.
"One of the fossil pokémon maybe."
"Wrong again friend. Most of them I just bought from scientists and gave them back once I had the pokédex entry from them. One more guess." Sam said. Once again, Jason thought about it long and hard and finally came up with his last guess.
"Well it has to be one of the starters." The butler said, but he knew that he had already lost when he heard Sam chuckle. "What is it?" Jason finally asked. He was very surprised by the words that came out of Sam's mouth next.
"A mightyena."
"A mightyena?" Jason was once again astounded, but this time for different reasons. "Why on earth have you not caught a mightyena?"
"There really aren't any in this area and since they are fierce predators not many people are enthusiastic about going out to catch one, even if I pay them a lot of money."
"Well you have a poochyena right? Then why don't you train it into a mightyena?" Jason asked. Sam paused and then looked at the ground as he replied, "I had a poochyena."
"Had, sir?"
"Had." Sam confirmed what he had said. He sighed, knowing that Jason would want to know more. "When I first got the poochyena out from it's ball to train it, it slashed my leg and then ran off before I could recall it. I haven't seen it since." Jason knew that Master Samuel had a scar on his leg, but he never knew how he got it until now.
"I'm sorry master." Jason said. But then, looking on the bright side, he said "Well maybe you might find it again. And if you do, you would just be able to recall it right?"
"Yes, but I don't think I'll ever run in to it again."
"You never know." Jason said "You never know."
After Jason said this they both heard someone running up the stairs. Then a man entered the room. He was wearing the same attire that Jason was, but was a lot younger. He did, however, still have some years on Samuel. The man was still panting when Sam spoke up. "What is it Steven?" He asked. The man called Steven, who had finally got his breath back said, "I've found one sir! An eevee! I've found one!" To this, Sam put his glass down.
"Where is it?" Sam asked hastily.
"On the other end of town sir! In the forest" Steven replied.
"Get the car ready."
"Yes sir!" After Steven said this he ran down the stairs and Sam followed soon after. He stopped at the door and started to put on his scarf and mittens.
"Um...Master Samuel, I have a question." Jason said as he carefully stepped down the stairs.
"What is it Jason, I'm in a hurry; actually come on we can talk on the way there." Sam said as he left the house and went outside. Jason did the same and once he got outside he felt the chill of the air that accompanied the late Autumn season. His close he had on didn't help with the cold air. Once they had both entered the limousine, and the car got going, Sam looked back at Jason. "What was your question?"
"Well it's just that…" Jason was trying to think of the right way to word his question. "What if the eevee doesn't want to be caught?" Sam was taken aback by this question.
"What do you mean Jason?"
"Well you know that pokémon have feelings just like we do. They have families and goals in life, just as we do. I was just wondering if this pokemon doesn't want a trainer. Maybe it's happy in the wild." After Jason said this, Sam was silent for a minute. The only thing that could be heard was the soft humming of the car on the road. After what seemed like forever Sam spoke up.
"Why should I care?" He asked. "Pokémon are just that; pocket monsters. That's all they are. Their purpose in life is to be caught by us and trained. And anyone who thinks differently is a fool." Sam took a moment to breath. "I see no reason when I am this clothes to completing the pokédex that I should just stop. Do you?" He finished.
"I guess not" Jason concluded. He had a clear look of sadness on his face, but it disappeared as fast as it came.
"Do you have my pokéball ready?" Sam asked.
"Of course. Here it is" Jason said as he took a shiny gold plated pokéball out of his jacket pocket. Sam took it and held it in his hand. After a few more minutes, the limo stopped. Steven looked back from the driver's seat and said,"I found it around this area. Good luck sir!"
"Thank you Steven. I'll be back soon so wait here." Once he said this he left the car and started walking into the forest. That was the last time Steven or Jason would see Sam for another week.
Samuel started to look around in the dense forest for one of the most elusive pokémon known to man. Steven said he had seen it around here, but it could have roamed to another part of the forest or even went out of it entirely. But he still had to try. He was so close, that he could taste the prize money. He was going to win this, and no one would stop him.
After searching for about 15 minutes he was starting to lose hope. What if he never did find it. He would search until nightfall if he had to but that might not be e-.
"Hey Sam! Funny finding you here." A voice behind him said, interrupting his thoughts . Sam turned around to see his old friend Dallas standing there. He wasn't wearing anything extravagant compared to the suit Sam was wearing; just a red T-shirt and some blue shorts along with a blue baseball cap that faced backwards. Then again, he wasn't rich. And even thought it was the beginnings of winter, the cold didn't seem to mind him a bit.
"What are you doing here?" Sam asked, yet he knew what the answer would be.
"Catching pokémon, what else?" Dallas responded. "What about you? I didn't think you went out to catch pokémon."
"I don't" Sam said. It was true. Usually he would have his servants catch it or pay someone else to. "But I heard that there is an eevee somewhere around here, and I'm going to catch it myself for a change."
"Oh, I saw an eevee!" Dallas exclaimed. "But it got away from me before I could catch it. I wonder if it is the same one?"
"It probably is." Said Sam. "They're so rare that the one Steven saw was the same on you saw.
"Well, hope you have a better time catching it then I did." Dallas said.
"Me too…" Sam replied "Well, see yeah."
"Yeah, bye." Dallas said as he went off towards the town. Sam, however, went in the opposite direction. He still needed to catch that eevee.
After some more walking (and even getting scrapped by some thorns) he arrived at a clearing in the forest. "This is one of the only spots in the forest where sunlight gets through." Sam said to himself. "Maybe I'll find it here." It was a good thought, but there was no one sunbathing today, probably because the sun wasn't directly above and so not a lot of sun got through. Sam sighed to himself and was about to go look somewhere else when he saw something enter the grove. It was small, brown and had long ears. It was an eevee.
Sam wasted no time at all as he threw his gold clad pokéball at it.
"Eev-?" was all it was able to get out before it was sucked into the ball. It fell on the ground with a clink and started shaking. It shook about three times and then he heard it click as the lock tightened. He smiled a bit and went over to pick up the ball. His own custom made pokéball was a golden variant of the quick ball. This way he didn't have to battle the pokémon before he caught them. Sure they cost a lot to make, but it was well worth it. Right when he was about to pick it up, it opened. But the eevee didn't come out. Instead, a red line of energy shot out and hit Sam square in the chest. Then, Sam started to get sucked into the ball.
"What the-!" was all he could get out before he was sucked into the black abyss that was the pokéball.