Chapter Seven

Radley hadn't forgotten about Emilio's possible visit either. Another reason he had wanted to stay in town was to be ready in case he came that day. After breakfast, he and Kalin went to the diner with their Eevees and looked through the rooms on the second floor.

"There's really not much in this one," Radley mused, studying a handful of boxes in one storeroom. "There usually isn't. Let's combine this room with one of the others and use this one for the Eevee family."

Kalin nodded and picked up a box. "How do you plan to decorate it? Do you want to give them something to climb?"

Radley chuckled. "Should we encourage it? If we do, I was thinking of one of those big cat trees that almost reaches the ceiling."

"They'd love that," Kalin grunted.

"And there should be plenty of balls and other floor toys," Radley said. "We can put food and water over here, and litter boxes over here . . ." He mentally mapped out the room while they worked, clearing away the few boxes that were there. The Eevees cheerfully warbled and tried to sweep away dust bunnies with their tails.

Radley smiled at them. "You're very helpful."

Evie cheered.

"What if Emilio comes tomorrow instead of today?" Kalin suddenly wondered.

"Well, then we'll either wait on going to get the eggs or we'll see if he'd like to come along for that," Radley said. "He probably would, but if he can only stay the day, it'd be better to be here so the babies can be let out the whole time."

"Yeah." Kalin paused to look out the window. There would definitely be a good view of the town from here. The Eevees would probably like that too.

"We'd better go to the general store and pick up what we'll need to furnish this room," Radley said.

Kalin nodded. "We can take the van."

"Or we could just walk to there and back," Radley mused, "but that would probably be too cumbersome. Yes, we should go home for the van."

While at the store a few minutes later, Emilio called Radley again. "We can come today!" he said in delight. "We should be there in an hour!"

"Great," Radley smiled. "I'll let Scotch know so he can get everybody ready."

Emilio's Eevee Ramona cheered. So did Evie.

"We'll see you soon!" Emilio said.

They said Goodbye and Radley swiftly called Scotch to let him know.

Scotch was delighted. "I'll have everyone ready," he promised.

"I know you will," Radley said.

They hung up and Radley selected a large cat tree and lifted the box into the cart. "I wonder if these are hard to put together."

"We'll have to ask Scotch and Robert how hard it was to do Isla's," Kalin said.

Soon they had collected everything and were checking out. Mrs. March looked amused but mystified that they were already buying more pet supplies. "Just how many of those cute little animals do you have now?" she asked.

"We still have four," Radley said. "But Scotch now has five more."

"Where do they all come from so suddenly?" Mrs. March wondered.

"Well, these five came from the City," Radley said. "You know, we still wonder where some of the others came from." His eyes gleamed with the realization that Ruby could answer that question.

"It's definitely amazing how they all seem to find you," Mrs. March said.

Ruby warbled with pride.

"It sure is," Radley said. "But we're so happy they have."

Outside, they loaded the van and prepared for the quick drive back to the diner. Radley settled into the passenger seat with all four of their Eevees. They snuggled him, always looking forward to the cuddle session driving places was for them.

"I still wonder how you manage them all," Kalin remarked as he drove.

"They're no trouble," Radley said. "Now if I was trying to hold all the babies, it'd probably be a different story altogether."

Kalin could imagine.

Soon they arrived back at the diner and started carrying things inside. The Eevees rode on the boxes or trotted at their feet. When everything was in, Radley surveyed it and petted the Eevees.

"So I was wondering," he said to them. "We still don't know where some of you guys come from. Could you type out something about your pasts, Ruby?"

Ruby chirped and perked up, going on two legs.

Radley laughed. "Emilio will probably be here soon, so I'd rather not start the project of putting together that kitty tree right now. Why don't we go in my office and get better acquainted?"

The Eevees warbled happily.

Kalin followed them into Radley's office and watched as he turned on the computer and let Ruby sit down at it. She opened a word processor and swiftly typed.

Lily and I grew up in the woods. We don't know anything about our parents. We stayed together until I wanted to look for romance and decided to leave. Lily wasn't interested in coming, but I was determined to go. I wish I hadn't. Maybe Lily wouldn't have found you then, though.

"So you girls are sisters?" Radley smiled. It had been obvious they knew and loved each other, but of course he and Kalin hadn't been sure of the exact connection.

Lily chirped and jumped into the chair to rub Ruby, who smiled as she typed.

Yeah! One day I was watching YouTube and saw Lily in a video someone posted. I talked to them in the comments and found out they were living in Satisfaction Town. So I came!

"She made herself a YouTube account?" Kalin grunted.

Radley was amused. "Is that really a surprise at this point?"

Kalin reconsidered his question. ". . . No."

I don't say I'm an Eevee, of course. They wouldn't believe it!

Radley patted her. "You're an amazing little Eevee. All of you are," he added.

They all chorused happily.

The sound of the airplane overhead was soon obvious.

"They're coming," Radley said. "Let's go bring them in."

The Eevees eagerly romped for the door. Radley and Kalin followed in amusement.

Within ten minutes, they'd driven out to the airstrip near the mine and Emilio, Marisol, and Ramona were coming out of the plane. Emilio beamed. "Radley!" He rushed over, hugging his brother around the waist while Ramona danced around joyfully with the other Eevees.

Radley smiled and hugged back. "It's so good to see you guys," he declared. "We'll take you over to Scotch's place. He has the babies there."

"Yay!" Emilio beamed.

Marisol smiled. "Emilio has been so excited for this. And of course, we're always happy to come and see you and the others, Radley."

"And we're always glad to have you, Mom," Radley said.

"Eevee-vee!" exclaimed Evie.

Soon they were en route and soon they arrived. Robert opened the door with a smile and led them inside to where Scotch was playing with all the Eevees. "Hey!" Scotch greeted.

The babies all looked up. "VEEEEEE!" they said in unison, which translated to a very enthusiastic "HIIIIII!"

"I love them all!" Emilio declared. He hurried over with Ramona and started petting them and Penny and Isla and Kiryu, to their delight. Soon they were all playing on the floor.

"It's always so good to see Emilio happy," Marisol remarked. "We've always tried to make sure he has everything he could want." It was going to the other extreme after Radley had been treated so poorly, and Radley was still amazed and relieved that Emilio really wasn't spoiled as Radley had thought at first.

"And Grandma's really okay with him having Ramona?" he asked.

"Oh yes, especially when she is so good and doesn't get into everything," Marisol said. "She is Emilio's constant companion and is happy to be so."

"I'm glad," Radley smiled. It was a genuine smile, but there was definite sadness in the back of his eyes that he had not fared so well with little Evie. He couldn't help wondering sometimes what would have changed had they been allowed to be together.

From Marisol's expression, she wondered too. But neither of them wanted to bring it up again. It was pointless to think about and talk about, and this was a happy occasion.

Instead, Radley glanced around the room. "Have you guys had any more luck with Eevee-proofing?" he asked.

"We've been trying to put cords out of the way where we can," Biff said. "I think I remember hearing about some kind of protective tube you can put over them, so I'd like to see if we can find any of those for the ones that really have no place to go."

"That's a good idea," Radley said in approval. "We found a room at the diner to fix up for them too. We got a big cat tree so there's something they can safely climb and some other toys and stuff. We might wanna go into the City to get some more things."

The Eevees exclaimed in glee.

"Epic!" Scotch beamed.

"They will certainly love that," Robert remarked.

Emilio finally looked up from playing. "I like their names," he said, fingering Heidi's tag.

Heidi warbled with pride.

"Me too!" Scotch said.

"Is Heidi really because of that kids' story?" Emilio wondered.

"Yeah, because she acts like Heidi!" Scotch said. "She sees the niceness in everything and loves everyone!"

Heidi chirped and rubbed a table leg.

Radley laughed. "Pollyanna would also be a good Eevee name," he realized.

"I love it!" Scotch gushed. "Maybe Nico or West will name theirs that!"

"Have any of you actually read those books or watched the films?" Kalin deadpanned, not even sure he was kidding.

"Yeah!" Scotch said. "They're cute. I didn't really like how Disney changed Pollyanna, though. Or how Fox changed Heidi! Can you believe they took out the kitten scene?! That was the best part!"

Kalin just gave him a blank look. "What."

Radley chuckled. "There's a scene where Heidi brings in a big basket of kitties and they escape and run all over the room getting into everything. The movie Scotch is talking about replaced it with a scene of a Capuchin monkey. I don't know if any other versions kept the kitty scene."

"I wonder if there's a Pokemon version where it's a basket of baby Eevees!" Scotch said.

Radley looked to the babies running happily all over the room. "That . . . would be pretty accurate," he said in gentle amusement.

"Are there any other Pokemon in town?" Emilio curiously asked as he petted all the Eevees he could.

"We haven't seen any," Radley said. "They're mostly still hiding because of Zero Reverse, I think."

"The ones who come in always seem to be Eevees and they end up with us," Kalin grunted. He smiled as he petted Evan.

"You know, the one time I saw another Pokemon in town, it was a Slowpoke?" Radley looked amused. "You wouldn't think a Water type would hang out in the desert."

"I still wonder why it didn't yawn and make it rain!" Scotch said.

Kalin stared at him. "You're serious."

"It's a legend some people have," Radley said. "There's an anime episode where it's true, but I don't know if it's true in real-life."

Kalin looked scandalized by such a strange legend.

"If we had a Slowpoke here, it would probably be laying on the floor and all the Eevees would be climbing over it," Radley chuckled. "They're pretty docile, gentle creatures."

"It'd probably look like a mountain to baby Eevees!" Scotch said.

Holly was currently engaged in climbing another mountain, the couch. Seeing how it was done, Ivy soon joined her.

"It seems like their goal is to climb everything," Kalin said. ". . . And everyone." Peter was starting on his coat.

Amused, Radley reached to lift him off. "They're pretty obsessed with it, alright."

"I'm glad Ramona doesn't do this," Marisol said. "It's very cute, but I know your grandmother would have a fit."

"Yeah, no kidding," Radley sighed.

"What's a Slowpoke?" Heidi asked.

"It's a big pink Pokemon!" Evie said happily. "They're really nice! They like to sit and think a lot and some people think they're dumb, but they're not!"

"Have you even ever met any mean Pokemon?" Isla had to wonder.

"Um . . . some of the Team Rocket Pokemon are pretty mean," Evie said. "But they're just trying to please their people." She frowned. "It's awful Team Rocket trains Pokemon to be bad."

"That's sad," Heidi agreed.

Ramona decided they needed a happy topic again. "Mommy Evie, will you teach us another song?"

"Yeah!" Evie said. "I've learned a whole lot of fun songs from Radley and Scotch!"

"Is Aunt Evie your mommy?" Heidi asked.

"She is, and Mommy Isla is, and Mommy Lily, and there's Daddy Evan and Daddy Kiryu too!" Ramona said. "They all helped hatch me, so they're all my parents, and I know I have other parents with my breeder too! And Aunt Ruby!"

"That's a big family," Holly said.

"And now you're all part of it too!" Evie said. Finally deciding on a song, she started to sing Lucky Ladybug.

Scotch listened with starry eyes. "That is so cute! I wonder if we could get them to sing this tonight! If you can stay, Emilio, Ramona could sing with them!"

Ramona chirped most happily at that idea.

Emilio immediately looked up at Marisol. "Can we, Mama?!"

Marisol smiled a bit. "Your grandmother is expecting us back tonight, but yes, we could stay for that, if it won't be too late."

"I'll bet Evie could have it ready for the dinner crowd! Couldn't you, Evie?!" Scotch exclaimed.

"Eeveeee!" Evie exclaimed.

"Okay! Let's all rehearse!" Scotch promptly found the song on YouTube for the Eevees to sing along with and Evie happily started over. The other adult Eevees, minus Lily and Penny, and Ramona all joined in. The baby Eevees also tried to sing after hearing it a couple of times.

"Awww! That's so cute!" Scotch gushed. "I wish they could sing too!"

Radley smiled a bit. "That would be really cute, but I don't know that we should let them loose in the main part of the diner yet. They'd probably try to climb the curtains and the chairs."

"And the people," Kalin said.

"Even if Penny told them not to?" Scotch countered. "I'd take them away as soon as they sang!"

Radley looked to Kalin, then back again. "I don't know, Scotch. I hate to say No, but I really don't think they'd be ready yet. Or that we'd be ready."

Scotch sighed. "You're probably right, Radley," he conceded.

Radley smiled gently. "As soon as we're sure we're all better prepared for it, I'd love to have the babies perform," he said. "Maybe tonight or tomorrow we can finish fixing up that room and see how they take to it and Penny can start teaching them things not to do in the diner."

Penny warbled in confirmation.

Scotch finally smiled again too. "Okay," he agreed. "I'm sure it'll work out! The babies will be good. Won't you, guys?" He looked to Holly and Ivy on the couch and Heidi and Peter rubbing everyone.

They all chirped very sweetly.

"They'll be good!" Emilio said.

Ramona cheered and rubbed him, then Evie. Evie was more than happy to reciprocate.

xxxx

The rest of the day was fun and happy, with the Eevees learning the song amid the babies' playtime. Come evening, everyone prepared to go to the diner.

"Can the babies come in the carrier?" Scotch pleaded. "It'd be nice if everyone could go!"

Radley chuckled in resignation. "Okay, they can come in the carrier," he said. "But you'll have to make sure nobody unlocks it in the diner's main room."

"I will!" Scotch promised.

Penny chirped and walked inside. The babies all happily scampered after her.

xxxx

The dinner crowd had packed the diner, as usual. When the Eevees were ready, Scotch jumped up on stage with all the ones who were going to perform. As he announced them and their song, the audience cheered and clapped. They loved the Eevees' performances.

Evie led the others in the cute song, much to everyone's delight. The babies danced and bobbed to the music in the carrier, while Penny looked on proudly. Biff, sitting with the carrier and seeing the cuteness, recorded it for Scotch to see later.

Emilio was all smiles as the song ended. "That was so fun watching Ramona sing with them!" he said.

Radley smiled too. "Everyone did a wonderful job. Congratulations, guys!"

All the Eevees chirped.

"Will we be able to sing sometime too, Mommy?" Ivy asked.

"Yes, darlings, when you're older," Penny said. "And after we teach you about being in this place. You won't be able to climb on everything you want here."

"Aww," Holly sighed.

"I just want to sing!" Heidi said innocently.

"And I know Scotch will give you that chance," Penny said.

Scotch petted all the Eevees and hopped over to Biff. "How were the babies?!"

Biff held up his phone with the video. "Great."

Scotch exclaimed in delight. "They're so cute! Thank you, Biff! We've got to put this on YouTube!"

Biff had really expected that too. He let Scotch take his phone and open YouTube.

Scotch was just about to click the Upload button when he noticed one of the Recommended videos. "Eadie's Food Channel?! There's a picture of an Eevee here!"

Evie's ears shot up. "Eevee?!"

"It must be your aunt, girl!" Scotch said. He clicked the video and it went to a scene of an Eevee sitting up to a counter. A bandanna was tied around her ruff to keep it from shedding in the food.

"Good afternoon, fellow food lovers!" came a voice. "Today I'm going to show you how to make my famous hash browns."

Radley started and immediately looked to the video. "Is that Eevee . . . talking?!"

"It must be puppetry," Kalin grunted.

Scotch opened the description for the video. "'Yes, I'm really talking,' he read. 'No, I'm not a puppet and no one's speaking for me. I'm Eadie the Eevee, owner of Eadie's Diner.'" He looked up with starry eyes. "She learned how to talk human talk!"

Evie shrieked with joy and jumped up and down on the floor.

Kalin stared as the video continued with Eadie demonstrating the cutting of potatoes for the hash browns. "How is this possible?"

"If a Meowth can learn to talk, why not an Eevee?!" Scotch countered.

"Isn't the talking Meowth only in the anime?" Kalin grunted.

"I . . . have no idea," Radley said in amusement. "But regardless, Eadie the talking Eevee is sure real."

Evie hopped up on a stool to watch the rest of the video, her eyes wide.

"This is so amazing!" she gasped. "Maybe I could learn to talk people talk too! Maybe we all could!"

Evan jumped up next to her to watch too. "It's probably hard," he said.

"It would be worth it!" Evie said dreamily. She placed a paw by Eadie on the video. "Veeeee!"

"You really wanna meet her now, huh?" Radley said with a smile. "I'm pretty curious myself."

"How far away is she?" Kalin asked. "I didn't think she was in Hydrangea Town."

"She's in Goldenrod City," Radley said. "I'm not sure where that is relative to here. It must be over the mountains where the Pokemon cities mostly are."

"You could call Professor Hawkins and ask!" Scotch said. "Or we could see if the Pokemon cities are on GPS now!"

Radley opened the Maps app on his phone and typed into it. "Here it is," he announced. "It looks like it's not too far away, actually. By plane, we could probably get there in a couple of hours."

"Yes!" Scotch exclaimed. "Let's make plans to go!"

"I wish we could go too," Emilio sighed. "But we need to get back home after dinner."

"We can't really drop everything and go there right away anyway," Radley remarked. "We have other things we need to do here and in Hydrangea Town first."

Kalin nodded. "Maybe by the time we're free, you can come."

"Maybe we can take our plane!" Emilio exclaimed. "That would be faster than a commercial flight!"

"Veeee!" said Ramona.

Marisol smiled a bit. "We shall see," she said.

"Meanwhile, we could call her on the phone!" Scotch suggested. "And watch more of her videos!"

That was a good enough compromise, and Evie warbled her happy approval. She could hardly wait!