Part XXIII: Misty's New Friend

"How rare did you say this Eevee was again?" Jessie asked as she looked at the clearly rare Eevee in front of them that none of them had ever seen before. "It is certainly an unusual Eevee."

"Exceedingly rare." James said smiling as he flipped through his Pokémon cards looking for the right one. "It's what is known as a shiny Eevee. That is to say it is a rare color variant of Eevee."

"And if it is a chick then it is even better." Meowth said with a gleeful grin. "Eevee is one of those Pokémon with a disproportionate gender ratio making the girls even rarer."

"I mean it is a pale brown, almost gray color." Jessie said studying it. "Not the usual rich brown that Eevee's are known for. That I get, that makes it rare beyond belief. Eevee isn't common to begin with, but what does female have to do with its rarity."

"Well you see, part of why Eevee's are so rare is that they have a significant gender imbalance as Meowth said." James said looking at the card. "According to my cards, about 13% of all Eevee's are female, give or take. That would mean that the only ways to breed them is either with a rare female or an equally rare Ditto. It all plays into the reason why the Pokémon is rare to begin with."

"So you're telling me that if we catch it and give it to the boss and it is female then he could get even more Eevee's" Jessie said putting a finger on her chin. "And maybe produce some more of those shiny Eevees."

"Bingo." Meowth said with a wide grin showing his fangs. "And seeing as it is a shiny Eevee that makes it almost as valuable as a legendary Pokémon. Think of what we would get if we gave it to da boss."

"Promotions, expense accounts, executive status!" Jessie and Meowth exclaimed happily.

"Or at least forgiveness from the boss." James grumbled bringing his partners crashing back to reality. "We need that after the disaster we had in Unova that got our asses bumped back down to our usual status at the bottom of the corporate ladder."

The other two members of Team Rocket signed and nodded after they had picked themselves up off the ground. They had recently tried to further their organizations goals in Unova and to start with things had been going well. They were doing a lot better than usual.

After the twerp and his fellow twerps had left they had thought that they could truly win and bring glory to Team Rocket. However, everything that could have gone wrong did in the end. In the final confrontation they were blasted off for the first time in a year, the boss had almost been caught and the operation ruined.

As a result, they had been demoted back to their low level grunt status that they had before the Unova mission. That meant no more money, no more support from the main organization and no more cool toys. They were back to being on their own like they had been for years.

The only silver lining had been that they were allowed to keep the Pokémon they had caught in Unova and the ones they had left at headquarters were returned to them so they had a larger team then normally but that was it. They would have to earn their way back into the good graces of the boss, again. What better way than to catch a really rare Eevee and give it to him.

"Alright, let's get this Eevee." Jessie said leaping out from the bush they were hiding in and expanding a Poke Ball she hadn't used in over a year. "Yanmega, you're up."

"You too Yamask." James yelled throwing out his own Poke Ball as he joined his first Unova partner. "Time to start anew with a successful capture for the boss."

"Eevee?" The Eevee looked up in confusion at the sudden interruption of its quiet enjoyment and saw the two humans and three Pokémon bearing down on it.

"Silver Wind!" Jessie ordered.

"Shadow Ball!" James added.

Both Pokémon attacked without hesitation. Yanmega beat her wings as she sent out the powerful bug type attack while Yamask made a dark ball of ghost type power appear and sent it at Eevee, knowing that it wouldn't affect the normal type.

Eevee knew that they wanted to catch it but that there was no good in these people. It would join a trainer one day, most Pokémon wanted that as it helped them get stronger, but it had to be the right human. One with a pure heart and a love for all Pokémon, and preferably one who appreciated Eevee's unique look. These two did not have a pure heart so Eevee would deal with them quickly and leave. There was always one way to get rid of attackers that Eevee relied on.

Eevee leapt up high in the air, avoiding the Shadow Ball and Silver Wind attacks with elegant grace. Then, at the apex of the jump, Eevee gave the Pokémon, including the odd Meowth that seemed to be more human than Pokémon that was with them, a seductive wink. Hearts were instantly sent out at the attackers.

"Not again." Meowth moaned as soon as he saw the attack. "Please be male, I really hate Attract."

The hearts hit them before they could react. Instantly Meowth and Yamask's eyes became pink hearts as the infatuation took hold of them and they were no longer a threat to Eevee just as she had planned. However, the Yanmega was oddly unaffected by the attack, something Eevee hadn't seen before. That wasn't good.

"It's a girl!" Jessie said extatically. "That makes this Eevee almost as rare as a legendary in my book. Now Yanmega, use Ancient Power! The boss will reward us for sure with you."

"Yamask, return." James said in defeat as Yanmega built her power. "It's all you Jess, I can't help you now."

Eevee wasn't going to let that stop her. Opening her mouth she formed a large ball of dark purple ghost type power, her own Shadow Ball. She sent it at the same time that Yanmega sent out her ball of Ancient Power. The attacks collided and as expected exploded. Unfortunately all parties were a little too close to the explosion.

As usual, Team Rocket were sent blasting off with a now stunned Yanmega and still attracted Meowth, screaming their frustration at it to the world. In a second they were just a spec on the horizon.

The same happened to a now inured Eevee. She was blown back and launched into the air with a wail. The attack had hurt her and she knew that the landing would do more damage. Luck was on her side however as she saw a pair of humans idly hanging out on a nearby grassy plain, they would make a nice landing spot for her. Humans did have a purpose, sometimes.


Misty and Ash were enjoying a nice break from their respective training regiments. They had left Pewter City the day before after a few days with Forrest and his siblings to heal up and do some more training in the Pewter Gym, and watch a few gym battles that Forrest had while there. They needed it after the battle and still had 3 weeks before they had to be in Cerulean City for the first contest of the season followed by Ash's battle with Dawn.

The break was also needed as Ash was able to switch out his team with a new one that he intended to use against Dawn. Once again he had gone with two Kanto Pokémon and then one from each of the other regions with a mix of type advantages, neutral, and disadvantages against water type Pokémon, factoring the Pokémon that Ash expected Dawn to use against him.

They needed a little time to train and get in sync with each other for the battle while Misty had to perfect her routine for the Contest so it made sense to leave Pewter City as challengers were now coming more frequently with the start of the new Indigo League Season. Ash didn't want to impose on Forrest any longer than he needed too and it would be nice for he and Misty to enjoy some time on the road training and being a couple away from everyone else. Just them and their Pokémon, it was perfect.

As such, the couple had decided to set up camp on a nice plain somewhere between Pewter City and Cerulean City. The plan was to spend at least week, maybe two, training hard before heading over to Cerulean City and getting settled for the events there. It was going to be hard and productive training for the pair as they prepared to win their respective challenges.

Right now, they were taking a break while Ash tried to cook a simple meal for them on the camping stove they had brought. All of their Pokémon were out and relaxing in the sun and eating the Pokémon food Forrest had given them from Brock's personal stash that he had apparently prepared for them before he left for Fuchsia City. Some napped after training, some ate, and Buneary was chasing Pikachu around as usual. It was a nice break from a hard morning's workout.

"Eevee!" A loud, long, yell came from above causing Misty to look up from her current job of polishing Pinsir's carapace so that she shone for appeals in confusion.

All Misty saw was a small, light, blob falling from the sky right towards her. She didn't even have time to wonder what it was before a fluffy Pokémon hit her full in the face and floored her. This habit of Pokémon hitting her in the face was starting to get old.

Misty groaned in pain as she opened her eyes. She was on her back on the hard ground with a small weight on her chest. Looking down, she blinked as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing there.

On her chest, curled up and looking a little worse for wear was a stunned but otherwise seemingly fine Eevee of all things. The only thing was that this Eevee was unlike any Misty had ever seen before and she'd seen enough to know what Eevees were supposed to look like.

Instead of being the warm brown that Misty knew Eevee to be, her mom had raised one into an Umbreon so she knew the Pokémon well, this Eevee was a light brown/gray color. That meant that it had to be really rare even by Eevee standards but Misty had no idea where it had come from or why it had been falling from the sky.

"Misty, you ok?" Ash asked his voice full of concern as he, Piplup, Buneary and Pikachu came over to check up on here. "Um, babe, why is there a shiny Eevee on you?"

"That is the question of the day." Misty groaned as she slowly sat up, making sure to take care of Eevee as she did so that it was lying in her lap. "I was just minding my own business when it hit me, literally."

"You really should have to stop meeting Pokémon this way." Ash noted and Misty smiled at that truth, Pokémon seemed to like to attack her or surprise her these days. "It looks a little shaken though."

"I figured that if it came down from the sky then it had to have been in some battle." Misty said as she gently examined the Eevee in her lap. "I think it just needs a little care and it will be on its feet in no time. Can you get my bag Ash?"

"Sure." Ash said as he went over to Misty's bag and brought it to her.

"Thanks." Misty said as she opened it and began to look for what she needed. "Go back to lunch, I'm starving and if you don't pay attention to it you will ruin it. I can deal with Eevee while you work."

Ash just nodded knowing that Misty had it well in hand and returning to the lunch before he ruined it. Misty was right seeing as he wasn't a great cook so he had to make sure that he didn't mess it up. He liked food too much to go without it for too long.

Misty busily fussed in her bag while all her Pokémon, except Mamoswine who was sleeping after his larger lunch, along with Pikachu gathered around her. They were all worried about her and the newcomer but let Misty work knowing that she could handle it.

Misty found the bottle of potion in her bag and gently applied it to the small wounds on Eevee, they would heal quickly, the potion was fast acting, but it clearly stung as Eevee scrunched up its face at it and finally came too. Misty smiled warmly at it, Eevee was going to be more than fine.

"Eevee?" Eevee asked coming too and looking around in confusion.

She wasn't in any pain, though there had been a brief stinging sensation just before she fully came too. She had managed to hit one of the humans it seemed and that had cushion her fall though the impact with the human's head had knocked her clean out for a moment.

Now she was in the lap of that human as it tenderly cared for her with soft, loving hands. She felt contented in the human's lap as it brushed her fur and made sure she was ok while muttering soothing words to her. Eevee had managed to hit a good human; she could feel so in the human's heart.

It was also a good sign that the gathered Pokémon around her, who were clearly either this human's or the one with black hair that was currently doing something a little way's off, were also concerned for Eevee. They had clearly been raised with care and love and they reflected it in their actions.

It was an odd assortment of Pokémon with most not being native to this area though Eevee had learned from other Pokémon that humans tended to have a mix of Pokémon with them that weren't often suited for the habitat they were in. Eevee took a moment to study the gathered Pokémon who were looking at her with confusion and concern.

There were two, a small blue penguin looking Pokémon that had to be a water type and a bipedal rabbit looking one who looked like it could live in this area but that Eevee didn't recognize at all. The others were an Oddish, an oddly docile but gleaming Pinsir, and an adorably cute Pikachu. Eevee could tell that the last one was male based on his tail and clearly a strong Pokémon. It might make a good mate if she could see it battle.

"Eevee, you're up." A soft, feminine voice said to her and Eevee looked up to see that she was in the lap of a human female with red hair and soft blue eyes. She must be the one who had cared for her and treated here, after Eevee had hit used her as a landing spot. "You feeling ok?"

"Eevee." Eevee said with a nod and a smile before her stomach growled and she blushed in embarrassment at her hunger.

"Good." Misty said with a chuckle at Eevee's stomach. "You hungry?"

"Eevee." Eevee admitted with a nod, it had been an eventful day and she was interrupted looking for food by those other, bad, humans.

"I have just the snack for you to help you out." Misty said as she reached into her bag and pulled out her normal poffin case. "You could use it after what happened. Here try this, they're called Poffins and all my Pokémon love them. Well except Pinsir but she has her own special Poffins that she loves just as much."

"Eevee?" Eevee asked curiously as she sniffed the treat, it smelled good.

With a little hesitation, Eevee nibbled the poffin or whatever the human had called it. It was delicious and instantly she gobbled it up in three bites, a smile on her face at it. Misty laughed and gave her another one to help her out.

"There you go." Misty said with a smile as Eevee finished the second poffin. "You will be just fine."

Misty slowly put Eevee down on the ground and stood. She was a little sore from earlier but a late-night massage from Ash, one that would lead to other more adult actions, would sort that out. Eevee however had other things in mind and didn't want to leave the comfort of the human's warm arms. She was nice, she was compassionate and she clearly cared deeply for Pokémon. If she could prove to Eevee she was strong in battle as well then she could be the one.

"Eevee!" Eevee yelled and leapt into Misty's arms as she stood and snuggled down as soon as Misty instinctively caught her. "Eevee."

"Er, alright, I can hold you for a bit Eevee." Misty said a little confused but glad, it was a good sign that Eevee liked her and it might let her catch it later, something that Misty would not turn down. "You've had a long day I can tell, rest for a bit with us before we decide what you want to do next then. Don't worry, I got you."

"Piplup." Piplup said haughtily as Eevee took his rightful spot in Misty's loving arms but Misty ignored him as she went over to check on Ash.

Piplup growled at Eevee as Misty left. His trainer was going to pay for ignoring him and not giving him a poffin as well. Piplup was going to make sure that Misty didn't have a chance to mate tonight like she and her mate did more than he would have liked as he got kicked out of the tent during it. Tonight Misty would pay.

"How's lunch coming dear?" Misty asked as she reached Ash.

"Almost there." Ash said as he looked at the pot of simple noodles he was making, a little confused as to why Misty was still holding the Eevee but not questioning it. "It's not much but we have to ration a little and well I am no cook but it will suffice for now. We should get more seasonings when we get to Cerulean though, I don't think we have enough with us right now."

"Well unless its Poffins I am useless." Misty said. "So at least one of us can do something with a stove. Besides, I don't mind, it will make the Pokémon Center food so much nicer when we get there."

"True." Ash agreed. "Though Dawn did offer us the chance to stay with her again and well you know Dawn, we can't really turn her down. It is the right thing to do regardless, she is an old friend of mine and has kindly offered so we should stay with her."

"That is nice of her." Misty admitted. "But she insists on separate rooms and I don't like not being with you. It's frustrating that she won't let me be with my boyfriend but it is her place so we have to respect her rules."

"Same." Ash said with a smile at what they did when they got some alone time. "But I think it is best not to offend Dawn or break her rules, we both know how destructive she can be. It will only be for a few days though, I think we can manage."

"I will do my best to deal with her petty jealousy." Misty grumbled conveniently not mentioning her own desires to be petty towards Dawn in kind. "But I see your point. It will help if we stay at hers and as you said it is the right thing to do. I'm still keeping an eye on her just in case."

"I wouldn't expect any less." Ash said as he checked the noodles and trying to hide his confusion at Misty's odd desire to keep an eye on Dawn. "But we can deal with that when the times comes, for now lunch."

Misty smiled as Ash began to sort out the food. He turned off the small stove, drained the water, and served the noodles into two bowls that they had brought. He then pulled out two sauce and power packs and sprinkled them onto the food before mixing it all together. It was simple and not up to Brock or Cilan's quality of cooking but Misty wasn't complaining as it had been Ash who had cooked it.

They sat on the ground, Misty putting a reluctant Eevee next to her but using a few Poffins to keep the Pokémon happy, as well as more to placate an irritated Piplup, and accepted the bowl and chopsticks from Ash. They ate in silence, enjoying the quiet meal while the Pokémon, who had already finished their food by now, either played or relaxed.

It was a nice meal, one that Misty had gotten used to with her travels alone with Ash ever since they became an item in Johto. Of course as soon as Misty thought about that, their peaceful time was interrupted by a familiar sounding explosion.

Ash and Misty turned to the sound and both groaned at the sight that greeted them. Rolling towards them was a large mechanized Eevee with a bright red R in the center of its brown chest. There was no mistaking who was rolling up to the teens to cause them trouble.

"I thought I left you two in Unova." Ash called at Team Rocket, it had been so nice not seeing them until now. "Why are you here?"

"They were in Unova?" Misty asked. "I never saw them while I was there."

"Yeah they were not attacking me at the time though they were stalking Meloetta while you were with us." Ash explained, he would tell Misty the full story later. "I was hoping that they would stop annoying me but alas it seems like they will never stop. It was such a nice break from them as well."

"Is that the sound of an annoying twerp I hear?" Jessie asked as the left eye of the mech opened to reveal her.

"Two for the price of one." James responded as the right eye opened.

"Prepare for trouble!" Jessie said flipping up to stand atop the mechanized Eevee's head.

"And make it double!" James added as he joined her and they assumed their usual positions while Ash just groaned though Misty looked confused.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth that's right!" Meowth added as the nose flipped up revealing the talking normal type Pokémon as he flipped up to join his partners in crime.

"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet said bursting out of his Poke Ball.

"Mime, mime." Mime Jr. chimed in.

"That was new." Misty mused when they were finally done. "Never heard that motto before. Still as annoying as ever though."

"I have." Ash said with a sigh remembering the motto all too well, it was seared into his mind. "That was the one they used for 4 years straight before switching it up about a year before you met them. It's little old school, not sure why they're doing it."

"We felt that a trip back to basics would help bring back our old confidence." James said smugly.

"Yeah get back to our roots." Jessie added. "Back when we were just setting out and at the top of the world."

"Ah so you got demoted." Ash said with a smirk. "I didn't expect your status to remain as it was back in Unova."

"We were not demoted." Jessie yelled. "We were reassigned to a new position that just so happened to be the same as our old position."

"Demoted." Ash and Misty said to each other.

"That is besides da point twerps." Meowth snarled from between them. "We are back in Kanto now and getting Pokémon for da boss, ya twerps just got in our way. Though we will take dat Pikachu as well as dat rare Eevee off ya hands for ya."

"Never!" Misty yelled putting herself in front of Eevee and the other Pokémon. "We won't let you. Mamoswine, I need your help."

"Mamo!" Mamoswine yelled as he woke up and heard his trainer's voice.

She was in trouble, he could tell from her voice and he was her bodyguard, she needed him. Instantly the Twin Tusk Pokémon was rumbling to stand in front of Misty, snorting at the trio he knew all too well from back in Sinnoh. Mamoswine didn't care that they were here, all he cared about was protecting Misty from them.

"Pidgeot, time for some old school fun." Ash called out and his recently reacquired Pokémon flew to his side ready for a fight with the familiar incompetent trio that he knew all too well. "We beat you every time, you have no hope."

"We shall see." Jessie taunted as Mamoswine took his position in front of Misty and the other Pokémon. "Yanmega, come on out and teach these twerps a lesson."

"Carnavine you too." James called out before yelling as his affectionate Pokémon burst out, turned and instantly chomped down on his head. "Not me, them. Go after the twerps."

"Shall we just send them flying again bae." Ash said. "I want to get back to training and beating these losers doesn't count as training, it's too easy."

"Agreed dear." Misty said with a smile at her boyfriend before commanding her powerhouse. "Mamoswine, Earthquake!"

"Mamo!" Mamoswine roared as he reared up and slammed his feet down hard.

The force of the powerful ground type attack hit the mech and it broke into hundreds of pieces. Ash and Misty blinked in surprise, as did Jessie and James as they stood in the air for a moment before they too crashed to the ground in the heap of broken scrap metal.

"Meowth what the hell!" Jessie yelled at the Pokémon who she had landed on in the fall. "You were said that this was well built."

"Yeah but it was basically all rust." Meowth admitted nervously as he got out from under Jessie. "We are broke so I had to be cheap. Plus that Mamoswine is more powerful than I remember it being."

"Guys, we have a bigger problem." James said but it was too late, the distraction had been what Ash needed.

"Pidgeot, hit Yanmega and Carnavine with Twister!" Ash order and Pidgeot cawed as he flapped his wings together.

The dragon type move formed and flew at Team Rocket's Pokémon. They had been too distracted by their trainers' plight to notice until it was too late. By that point the attack hit the Pokémon and threw them back and into their trainers, adding to the heap that was in the rubble.

"Pikachu, Electro Ball!" Ash ordered. "Send them flying!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu yelled as he formed the ball of electricity at the tip of his tail and then launched it with deadly accuracy at the constant thorn in their sides.

The electric type attack hit the mess of machine, villains, and Pokémon in the center of the mass shocking them all. There was followed by an explosion frying the bumbling thieves and then they were all blasted off and into the distance.

"We're blasting off again." Team Rocket wailed as they disappeared, their Pokémon adding their own calls in as well.

"Well that was interesting." Misty said as they turned back to their campsite. "A little break but hardly good training when they are defeated so easily."

"Yeah I was hoping I had seen the last of them." Ash said with a sigh. "Alas I guess they will never change. We will just have to keep defeating them for all eternity it seems. They never win so we should be fine."

"At least we protected Eevee." Misty said looking at the shiny Pokémon.

"Eevee!" Eevee said happily running towards them.

Misty expected it to jump into her arms again. However, Eevee ran past her and start nuzzling a startled Pikachu. Pikachu looked surprised at the affection. Meanwhile Buneary was not happy in the slightest and was already heading over to reclaim her mate, even if Pikachu had yet to agree to being her mate, from this sudden rival.

"I guess Pikachu has another new admirer." Ash said with a laugh.

"Pika?" Pikachu asked confused by the attention, he did not need this again.

"Well after everything, I think we have to ask Eevee to join." Misty said with a smile as she crouched down in front of Eevee as the Pokémon continued to nuzzle Pikachu. "So what do you say Eevee? Will you join me?"

"Eevee?" Eevee asked looking at Misty but remaining close to the mate worthy Pikachu she was crushing on.

The trainer had asked Eevee if Eevee wanted to join her. She hadn't tried to take her the way other humans had. She had helped Eevee when Eevee needed it, she had defended her with a behemoth of a Pokémon that was clearly a protector, and now she had asked Eevee permission to join her rather than expecting it from Eevee.

Clearly this human was a worthy trainer and judging by the scent from her and the male trainer, who was just as compassionate given his actions defending Eevee, they were mates and as such staying together. That meant that the handsome Pikachu, who Eevee deduced was the male's would be around as well. Plus those treats the woman made were an added bonus.

Still, Eevee was not going to go with a human that easily. This trainer may have asked her but she would still have to earn that right in battle. That and she sensed that the rabbit Pokémon that was hopping over to her and glaring the way only a pissed of female could glare had a thing for Pikachu so she wanted to face it and prove that she was a worthy mate for the electric mouse.

"Eevee." Eevee said with a nod before looking to the rabbit and leaping in front of it and between it and Pikachu and issuing her challenge to it. "Eevee."

"Bun, Buneary." Buneary said with a scowl, flexing her paw and showing that she understood the challenge and accepted it.

This chick was homing in on her Pikachu, she wouldn't let her do so. Pikachu was hers and Buneary would defend that claim against any Pokémon. Hopefully her trainer would realize that and command her to victory over this hussy.

"I think Eevee wants to join you but only if you can beat it with Buneary." Ash said as Misty looked at the interaction a little confused while Pikachu sweat dropped at the challenge.

"Is that right Eevee?" Misty asked it.

"Eevee." Eevee confirmed with a nod.

"Bun, Buneary." Buneary said ready for the challenge, she would put this Eevee in her place.

"Alright." Misty said with a smile as she ran to stand behind Buneary while Pikachu ran to join Ash out of the way. "Buneary let's do this."

"Buneary." Buneary said seriously getting her game face on. "Bun, Buneary."

"Eevee!" Eevee yelled as she formed a large Shadow Ball with her mouth, she was going to end this in one move, her most powerful one.

"That is a ghost type move!" Misty exclaimed before smiling at the sudden advantage. "Buneary, charge through it and use Dizzy Punch. The attack won't affect you."

"Buneary!" Buneary yelled charging, trusting her trainer's instincts though unsure why an attack wouldn't affect her.

It worked just as expected. The ghost type attack did nothing against the normal type Buneary and she burst through it unharmed with her ears blazing, much to the surprise of Eevee. She had expected the attack to work, it was her most powerful attack and Eevee had a feeling her other main attack wouldn't work against another female after it had failed to affect that oversized bug earlier.

Buneary used this distraction to land the attack. The rhythmic punching of her ears of struck Eevee and threw her back though the possible side effect of confusion didn't seem take hold. Still it was enough to throw Eevee off her game. She needed get better like this Buneary to be worthy of that Pikachu, it seemed like the woman was a strong trainer after all.

"That's it Buneary!" Misty yelled. "Finish it with Thunderbolt!"

"Buneary!" Buneary yelled again as she opened her mouth and the electric type attack shot out, enjoying the fact that she would beat her new rival with her crush's signature move.

Eevee was still down and slowly getting up from the earlier attack. She had no hope to dodge the Thunderbolt. The bolts slammed into her side and sent her flying with a yell of pain. When she landed she struggled to get up again and fell back to the ground. it was just the opening Misty needed.

"Go Poke Ball!" Misty yelled throwing the ball at Eevee.

It struck the injured Pokémon on the side and bounced up, sucking Eevee in in a flash of red. It then fell to the ground and began to vibrate, flashing red as it did. Then it dinged signifying a successfully capture.

"Alright!" Misty yelled as she rushed to pick up the ball and hold it up high. "This Eevee is mine, all mine!"

"Well done Misty." Ash said congratulating his girlfriend while Pikachu cheered for Misty's successful capture. "Eevee is a fine edition and as a shiny it will be great in Contests, a real rarity for the judges."

"I know, I can't wait to see what she can do." Misty said with a smile as she walked over to her now gathered Pokémon who had watched the battle and were congratulating a slightly confused Buneary. "Hey guys, meet your new teammate, Eevee!"

They all cheered, except Buneary who had just realized that Misty had captured the Pokémon she had just beaten. She would of course welcome it to their team and be civil with Eevee but now they were rivals for Pikachu, Buneary was not going to lose. She had already shown Pikachu who was best, he would be hers.

Misty of course didn't notice this as she let Eevee out of the Poke Ball and began to treat her again after the fight. While she was doing this Ash began to clean up lunch and then get ready for the afternoon training session with his team who were currently greeting the new addition to Misty's team.

The day had been an exciting one for sure, a good break from normal training with the added bonus of a new Pokémon for Misty. Soon all this training would pay off as Cerulean City awaited them again. Neither could wait for the challenges in store for them when they reached it. It was sure to be epic, it always was.