I scowled as my eyes again tried to produce two Sams. My battle had taken out more than I had expected and I'd gotten pretty dizzy for a minute or two. I adjusted my position and as soon as I did, I was back in reality. I was with Sam and there was an old man talking to him for some inexplicable reason. He was holding a small spray bottle up to my hind leg and explaining how whatever it was worked to Sam.
I couldn't have been out for long so I guessed didn't faint from damage but kind of zoned out from exhaustion. I shook my head in disbelief, this whole situation was so different from what I had expected when I'd woken up this morning. My injured leg twitched without asking my permission. I mentally scolded it when the movement brought a new bout of pain.
"This is a regular potion," explained the man.
Read my thoughts. I don't care. I thought, not being able to back away, I resorted to mentally insulting him.
"Now a normal potion restores 20 hit points,"
I've always wanted to know that.
"Which is probably all your Eevee has."
Hey! He just insulted me! I finally came to a state of full mental capabilities and lifted my head slightly to inspect the damage. Sam smiled and waved when he saw that I was fully conscious again.
"You spray the wound, your Eevee is pretty small, but this bite isn't serious to anything but a newborn."
I sniffed indignantly. It still hurt.
"Son, hold your Pokemon steady while I spray the bite, she seems a little jumpy and it might sting a little," The older man instructed. I stiffened, not liking the sound of this. He shook the spray bottle as Sam hesitantly wrapped his arms around my neck and rested my head on his lap. I squirmed in his grip but got absolutely nowhere. I heard a spray and blue mist came out of the bottle. It hit my bite mark wound with the feeling of antiseptic on my wound. I whimpered for a second before I shut myself up by gently biting Sam's arm. If it hurt he didn't let me know. Seconds later, the pain diminished to a bruise sensation, then… nothing. The pain was gone, the bite mark replaced my slightly irritated skin.
I relaxed against Sam and sighed taking my sharp teeth off him. Immediately, I checked for damage my teeth had caused on his arm. I could see imprints of my teeth that were blushing from the pressure, his skin hadn't been broken. So his skin was tougher than mine... for now. I would get stronger and stronger and be able to be a halfway decent Pokémon. Especially possibly rabid Rattata and crazy mothers and maybe even a couple caterpie-carrying, hyper aggressive little boys.
After all, this boy's dream of being a Pokémon trainer rested on me, and my dream was to see everything I could-tall mountains, small streams, new Pokemon, maybe even a bright city.
"You know your Eevee was only in so much pain because it hasn't been well enough trained. Its pain tolerance is extremely low. She's level 4 or 5. That's how Pokemon strength is measured, strength and ability to take hits."
Sam hung his head slightly, ashamed that he hadn't trained me properly. Which didn't make sense considering I had only known him, what, maybe a little over an hour?
"Sam it's not your fault, that ratatta was crazy," I told him, my ears dropping again. Of course, I knew Sam wouldn't understand me.
I followed Sam at his energetic, sweat-worthy pace until he finally slowed and gave up on chasing the long-disappeared Dane. Then he plopped down next to me as I tried in vain to catch my breath. I'd kill for some human legs right about now.
"Guess that coward was too scared to let us catch up to him," huffed Sam. I wasn't so sure that was the reason, but I growled in agreement nonetheless.
After the incident with the ratatta, we had encountered a caterpie, which I had defeated in a minute flat. It had been exhausting though and the sparse sunlight that had filtered through the trees had dimmed as the sun had already begun to set. I had completely lost track of time in these woods, and if I had to guess, Sam probably had too.
Sam slung his backpack off his back and I watched curiously as he pulled out a small, thin sleeping bag, his camera, a can of brown beans, a small propane lighter, a small cooking pot, and two plastic bowls. Lastly, he pulled out a thin leather wallet with an outline of raichu on it, a pair of jeans and a shirt. He put his Pokédex to the side and threw on his jacket for extra warmth.
"We made good progress, Nova. We must have walked at least three or four miles already." He said as he set out the food he'd been preparing for both of us.
Whatever I was eating, it was amazing. I can't find anything to describe it. Mix dry food pellets with metal tasting room temperature water and multiply it by every time I've felt relieved that I'm with Sam instead of in isolation and that's what these little soft, wet, brown pebbles tasted like. The syrup with them exploded with flavor. I licked the sides of the bowl eagerly for all the flavor.
"You like it, huh?" Sam smiled. "They're called baked beans. I'll get them again if you want." I looked at him expectantly.
"Not right now, Nova." Sam laughed. I growled lightly but decided to forgive the young human. Sam tucked himself farther into his sleeping bag.
"It's night-time, so you should probably get into your Pokéball now, Nova." He said a bit reluctantly. He'd had fun with me, too.
No way, I was having it. I did not want to be in one of those things. Not even a luxury ball. He reached for my Pokéball but I got it first, rolling it away. In the process, I almost pressed the button to suck myself in, but luckily I was spared the embarrassment and my mission was a success.
"You wanna keep me company then? Guess there's no harm." He welcomed me under his arm and I decided to oblige, eager extra warmth. He hadn't hurt me so far, so I could trust him.
The next morning, Sam packed up the supplies. When everything was prepared, Sam crouched down in front of me.
"We have so much to do, Nova. Collect badges, get stronger, maybe win some contest ribbons, but well... I've been thinking, I'm not really gonna be the one fighting so... are you in? Do you wanna do this I mean?" Sam asked, looking to the side, an embarrassed air to his words, his elbows resting on his bent knees. I tilted my head, surprised by his words. I had known what I was getting into when I decided to travel with him, but it seemed he was the one who hadn't fully understood.
"Nee-e eevee vee-e."
(Sam, I'll fight for you.)
"So we continue?" Sam looked hopeful.
I kept eye-contact with him and nodded. Sam ruffled my head fur and slung on his backpack. I noticed Sam's camera lying around unpacked and grabbed it gently with my teeth and returned it to him. He smiled, scooped me up to his cheek and snapped a picture of us. I looked at him, bewildered. Sam let out a small, bright laugh and held the screen up to me. Right there, was a small image of me and him. He was smiling and I had my eyes wide open in surprise.
I felt my heart lift. The picture was goofy, like neither of us had a care in the world, like I had been this happy all my life.
Five minutes of walking was all it took for a small brown bird to appear, curious about what was happening. Since the creature was my height, I noticed it before Sam. Good.
Now I could show him what I was made of.
I was feeling a lot more confident after two battles, all of a day's experience outside, and one dream that I was Nova the Destroyer, defeating a building-size certain ratatta that was terrorizing a city with a single tackle.
So, without a second thought, I charged at the bird. Behind me I heard Sam's call of surprise interrupted by the Pokedex explaining a 'Pidgey.' Like I care. It wouldn't be around long enough to make a difference. I was feeling stronger than I had this time yesterday and it was a rush. I felt like I just couldn't control the energy that my body was producing. It was exhausting and exhilarating.
I rammed into the pidgey, knocking it back two feet and then... ow. What the hell? The pidgey still hadn't gotten up. How had I been hit, right in the middle of my forehead? I felt something ooze down my face. I scrutinized the pidgey. Oh. I had tackled it and my face got nailed by its beak. I probably shouldn't have hit him head on, then.
"Hey! Nova, don't be so reckless! You hurt yourself!" Sam called from a couple yards away, giving me room to fight. Come on, Nova, I thought, ignoring him, in blind stubbornness. You need to show Sam that you can do this! Out of instinct, I knew that Helping Hand wouldn't do any good at the moment. I wanted to finish this fast, so I decided against Growl. I didn't want lower his attack anyway, I could take another hit if I had to. What I wanted to do is lower his defense, his guard. So I swallowed what pride I had been able to scrape up after the ratatta attack and wagged my tail and tilted my head un-threateningly. He hesitated for a second before charging. I was positive that I didn't want to be at the receiving end of the Pidgey beak again. I clumsily jumped the side at he charged past and nudged him hard to flip him over. I hesitated, not knowing how to perform a tackle from this angle.
"Come on! Nova, Tackle!"
Alright. I backed up a step and charged. Nailing him to the ground with my head. He was done for sure.
...Except he wasn't. He had moved far enough to avoid most the impact. I had smashed a wing into the earth. With little padding, I pulled my battered head up. My neck hurt and the pidgey was gone. Sam hurried over to me. He took a napkin and wiped my war wound. A spot the size of a quarter appeared once he pulled the napkin away from my face.
"I'm okay," I reassured him. I felt weird strength flowing through my limbs at the moment even though I felt dizzy. I knew better than to let yesterday happen again.
Sam understood I wanted to keep going so he picked me up and carried me in his arms.
"I'll get stronger soon, Sam. And then I'll be the one to protect you." I vowed solemnly, pushing my head into the crook of his elbow. Somehow, this human had become important to me. We would train. I wanted, more than ever, to repay this boy for his kindness. Protect him because he was the best of the humans I'd seen.
Now it was my duty to protect that flame.
And so, Sam and Nova start to understand each other!
2017 Edit: This is so hard to edit why do I always forget words in the first draft? It's