Chapter 3

"Seasons of Sawsbuck"

Castelia City, Unova

Davey walks into his family kitchen. With a happy look on his face, he grabs his Stantler themed mug and pours himself a cup of coffee. He readies his coffee up with cream and sugar. He then lets out a sigh and takes a sip. "Ah! Today is going to be the best day ever!" He starts humming a familiar tune.

His sister Sarah was in the living room of the apartment, brushing Furfrou's fur, all while her Pikachu nibbled on some Pokémon food. "Can you please shut the hell up? You are annoying both me and Furfrou!" Furfrou agrees with her as she nudges her head up against Sarah.

"Sorry sis, I'm just super excited!" Davey jumps up and down like a little school girl, clapping his hands.

"Excited about what?" She said sarcastically. "Finally living life?" She laughs.

"No…" He fought back. "I'm excited because me and Ashley are going on our first Research Task! I wonder what region to go to! The TCG Islands? Holon? Alola?"

Sarah gives him the side eye. "How are you gonna travel when you're afraid of Pokémon?"

"I'm not afraid of Pokémon." He lies. He turns around and closes his eyes. Sarah's Pikachu jumps onto the table and then onto Davey.

Sarah giggles. She inches closer to her Pokémon's left ear and whispers. "Why don't you shock him?" She asks. Pikachu was concerned about shocking Davey. But Sarah reassures her. "Come on, it will be funny!" The Pokémon shrugs, and shocks Davey. Pikachu laughs and then jumps back to where its food was. Sarah and Furfrou laugh also.

"You are such a loser."

"Morning Sarah!" Damon walks into the kitchen, completely ignoring his son, which bothers Davey, because he wished he and his father had that kind of close budding relationship. Damon grabs himself a cup of coffee. As he was walking, his partner Pokémon Delcatty was with him.

Sarah gets up and kisses her dad on the cheek, while side-eying Davey, mocking him. "Morning Daddy!"

Davey looks down. There was one person in his house excited about seeing Davey, and that was Delcatty. Davey bends down as Delcatty runs over towards him and he pets her. Delcatty purrs. "Nice to see you Delcatty." Delcatty was one of the only Pokémon Davey could touch, but that had more to do with Davey growing up with her.

Davey looks at Damon and Sarah communicating, feeling left out. It ruined his happy day. But he didn't let that bother him and became happy again.

Happy and excited yet again, Davey finishes packing up his belongings and heads out the door, ready to go to school for the day. He ran down the steps of his apartment complex and passed by his fellow neighbor, who caught his eye. The neighbor waves at Davey and greets him. "Davey, yo!"

Jeremiah was a handsome boy. He was the picture perfect image of an old-fashioned all Unovian teenage boy. Tall, well built and athletic. He was the same age as Davey, and the two got along well. But that didn't stop them butting heads, as their personalities were different.

The shout-out from his neighbor stops Davey in his tracks, so he turns around. "Hey, Jeremiah! Headed to that Pokémon School of yours?" He asks.

Davey growls, but plays coy. "First of all, Jeremiah, the proper term is Academy. Second of all, yes! It sucks you aren't going to the Pokémon Academy, though. It'd be cool if you were there too. Me, you and Ashley could be the human version of the Swords of Justice."

Davey nudges Jeremiah, but he wasn't phased. He stood firm in his beliefs. "Davey, you know I think Pokémon are for children. What self respecting teenager still plays with Pokémon?"

"I do."

"Dude, you can barely touch them!" Jeremiah folds his arms and leans back against the wall.

"Well- That's not the point, Pokémon are amazing creatures!"

"They're annoying, cause property damage across multiple cities, and people are annoyingly obsessed with them."

"So just like you are with Football…?"

"It's not the same!" He shouts. He pinches his nose as a sense of calming himself down. "Look, I can't spend all day arguing with you, I need to go!" Jeremiah starts walking away, trying his best to ignore Davey.

"Haha, yeah! Go back to your boring mundane, non-Pokémon life!" Davey teases. Jeremiah turns around and flips Davey off before leaving. "Hey, that's inappropriate!"

"Fuck off!"

School was now out, and Davey was a happy camper! Today was Davey's first Field Research assignment, and he was on his way to meet Ashley, who was waiting for him outside the school. Davey held onto the straps of his backpack, skipping happily. "Traveling, traveling, traveling, traveling." He sang. Davey sounded like a lively flock of Oricorio, singing in harmony. Before his mom disappeared, he and his mom practiced singing almost every day.

Davey was getting close to Ashley. She was holding her newly caught Piplup in her hands. She hears someone singing and figures it was Davey. Davey stops as he catches up to her. Though, she wondered why he was smiling so early in the afternoon. "Why are you smiling? It's not like you to be happy that school is out… usually you're happier and try to lock yourself into the classroom."

"Because Ashley… We're getting our first Field Research Assignment! It's so exciting! I haven't traveled to another region in years!"

"That doesn't seem like something that should be celebrated… Such a little kid."

Ashley confuses Davey. "I thought you'd be a little more excited, this being your first trip outside Unova and all…"

"I am excited." Since she had Piplup in her hand, she had to be careful. So, she slides Piplup over to the side and grabs a Poké Ball. "Now that I have Piplup, I can catch as many Pokémon as possible, so I can meet more Shiny Pokémon and catch them!"

"Whatever floats your boat…" Davey shrugs.

Davey and Ashley were told to head to Professor Moss' lab on the campus. They walked into the room, only to find it was squeaky clean. Moss' Minccino had been a busy lady, making sure every nook and cranny of his laboratory was cleaned. It did not take long before Minccino judged the two teenagers, inspecting them to see how clean they were. Davey was perfect in his cleanness, while Ashley was dirty as hell. Minccino spins around Ashley and cleans every aspect of her body in a short period. She becomes clean, satisfying Minccino.

Minccino runs away, only to jump onto Moss' right shoulder when he approaches his students. "I see you two have been greeted by Minccino…" He was a tad bit embarrassed by her actions. "Minccino, what have I told you about cleaning random people, especially my students?"

Ashley and Davey giggle. "No worries, Prof. We're used to Minccino's OCD tendencies from the classroom." Ashley explains. Ashley bends down and tries to pet Minccino, but she was still cautious about touching Ashley, after noticing how dirty she tends to be.

Davey looked around the Professor's lab and was dazzled with how impressive it looked. Being the bookworm he was, Davey felt like he was right at home. "This lab of yours is amazing, Professor Moss! Seriously! I feel like I could stay here the rest of my life!"

"With how much of a nerd you are, that's going to be the rest of your life." Ashley and Piplup laugh up a storm.

A frustrated and insulted Davey chews her out. "Shut up, Ashley!"

Professor Moss enjoyed this. "Ah, you two remind me of when I was little. But since we're not in the classroom, you guys can call me by my real name, Emmanuel! Professor Moss is a little too professional. "

"But that sounds so weird… Like we're getting ready to get into after school special territory." Ashley says, thinking about all the stranger danger PSAs she's watched over the years.

"Hey, I don't mind after school specials like Total Drama High School or PokéProblems. They're both informative." Davey replies.

"Of course you would…" She glares. The impatient Ashley turns around and looks at the Professor. "Hey, Emmanuel… if you don't mind me asking… What exactly will our first Research Task be?"

Davey nudges her. "Ashley…"

"What? I have things to do, like sleep and eat. I don't have all day." Ashley's shrugs. Her Piplup chuckles.

The Professor laughs. "I was just about to get to that." He walks over to his computer and begins typing. He had multiple computers plastered throughout the room, but they were all around the same vicinity, all connected by multiple keyboards.

As Ashley looks at the Professor type, a funny thought about him came to mind, and she couldn't stop laughing. The laughter began to annoy Davey, but simultaneously he was curious about why she was laughing. "Ashley, what are you laughing about?"

"It's nothing."

"Come on Ashley, spill it!"

"Okay, okay, dweeb. Look, I was just minding my own business, until I thought about the most hilarious thing."

"Oh yeah? What's so funny? Hopefully it won't be something immature." He said in a snarky tone.

"Nah, just forget about it!" She snickers.

"Professor Moss, I've gotten reports of-" Harper walks in with her Abra floating by her side. She was holding on to her tablet, which contained research data for the Professor. Since she was one of the Professor's personal assistants, she had various tasks that she had to do for him, no matter how mundane they seemed. Currently, she is watching a viral video. Her train of thought gets stopped once she spots Davey, Ashley and Piplup.

"What are they doing here?"

"Oh hey Harper! It's great seeing you again!" Davey reaches out to Harper for a handshake, but she rejects it by staring blankly at his hand, "Guess you're still not up for greetings, I see…"

"What a bitch." Ashley mumbles.

"Harper! You guys remember Harper right? My teaching aid? Or assistant? I don't know the right terminology for these things these days."

"Yeah we met…" Ashley rolls her eyes. Piplup notices the tension rising inside of Ashley, and worries about her.

Analyzing Ashley and Davey's behavior, Professor Moss puts things together and comes up with a conclusion. "I suppose you guys know each other further than my classroom?"

"It's a long story Professor…" Davey gets nervous and scratches the back of his head.

Harper ignores everything and turns her attention to the professor. "Professor Moss, there's a rumor of all four seasonal forms of Sawsbucks appearing all at once in the Lental Region. The reports came from a viral video of some guy." Harper turns her tablet around and plays the video. It shows shaky cam footage of all four seasonal forms of Sawsbuck. Ashley was shocked, but Davey was skeptical.

"That isn't real!"

"What? How do you know that?"

"Because it's a deep fake. You can't believe everything you read on the internet."

Ashley felt offended. "Well, you can't believe everything you read in a History TextBook."

"Yes you can, because there's scientific poof!" Davey responds.

The two lock eyes and growl at each other. The Professor had no clue how to end this feud between the two thirteen years old, besides the only way he knows how. He whistles and the two stop. "I thought you two were best friends! Why do you keep arguing about everything?"

Ashley folds her arms, closes her eyes and turns to the side. "Because Davey thinks he knows everything."

"I mean I do…"

"See!"

"Knock it off you two!" The Professor demands.

"What do you think, Professor? Do you think it's real or fake?" Davey asks, wanting the professor to be the middleman. But in a way, he wants the professor to be on his side. "Since you're a man of science, I imagine you'd think it's fake." Ashley ignores Davey in annoyance.

"Actually, I'm kind of on the fence about it." The Professor says. He turns around and starts typing on his keyboard. He pulls the video and the video starts playing on repeat. As the Professor analyzes the video, Harper, Davey, Ashley and Piplup watch him. "Computer zoom in a bit." He orders, and the computer does exactly that. He starts typing some more to see if the video was digitally altered, but no results were coming up, meaning there was a chance the video was real.

"Either this video is real or someone made a good fake."

An idea pops into Ashley's head. "Maybe me and Davey can go to the Lental Region and investigate!"

'Oh?" The Professor asks.

"Umm Ashley, I don't know if traveling to another region to see a video that's obviously fake is a good idea."

The Professor snaps his fingers, rebutting Davey's claims and liking Ashley's. "That's not a bad idea Ashley! I was going to have you guys investigate the gender differences in Unfezant as your first research assignment, but this is better." He likes the idea so much that he decides to make it official. "That settles it then! Ashley and Davey. Your first mission will be to investigate the Sawsbuck of the Elsewhere Forest in the Lental Region."

Ashley and Davey nodded their heads. Despite Davey feeling hesitant about the accuracy of the video, he was still curious about the legitimacy of the viral video. "Yes sir!" They say in unison.

Ashley and Davey high five. "Let's go!" The two turn around and start to run.

"Wait!" The Professor says, stopping them. "Before you go Ashley and Davey, remember that the world is also your Pokémon Academy, not just the school."

"Huh?" They both ask.

"You'll realize it in time, so have a safe trip." He winks at his students, and the two head out.

Elsewhere Forest, Lental

Davey and Ashley gather their belongings and head to the airport. They waited a bit before catching a flight. The airport was busy, with people from all over the world there. After waiting for a couple more hours, they board the flight and the plane takes off. While on the airplane, Davey couldn't contain his excitement, as he and Ashley's Piplup looked out the window of the airplane. They finally arrive to Lental Region and get off the plane, and arrive at the Belusylva Island Airport.

The Lental Region was a region made up of several islands. Each island contains various biomes, such as jungles, beaches, deserts and volcanoes. The region was tropical, known mostly as a vacation spot for tourists and a hot-spot for photographers. It was usually always sunny here, but that mostly depended on which part of the island you were on, because the climate varies. Right now it is sunny.

After arriving on Belusylva Island, Davey and Ashley headed to Elsewhere Forest. The forest was covered in a mysterious mist. The mist was a chilling ghost gray with ploppy drops of rain pouring harshly in the background. A family of Lotad, Lombre and Ludicolo swam along in a muddy moss lake as two different flocks of Trumbeak fought over an apple.

The incessant rain caused the area to stink, which caused Davey to wear a mask. The pungent smell bothered him so much that it seemed like he couldn't breathe, causing him to take his inhaler more and more. Ashley, on the other hand, loved the forest as she took pictures of everything she could, using her Rotom Phone.

"So many different types of Pokémon! I wanna catch them all!"

"Huh? I thought your thing was shiny, Pokémon…" Davey takes another puff of his inhaler, trying to catch his breath.

"Oh Shiny Pokémon are still my thing, but there's no harm in wanting to catch others."

"I guess…" Davey responds. He comes across a Summer Form Deerling jumping out of a bush nearby. He grabs Ashley's attention, and the two stare at it. "That's a Summer Form Deerling!" Davey points out. He takes out his Rotom Phone and scans the Grass-type Pokémon:

"Deerling, the Season Pokémon, a Normal and Grass-type, Summer Form. The color and scent of their fur changes to match the mountain grass. When they sense hostility, they hide in the grass." After the Pokédex analysis of Deerling, Davey puts his phone away.

"It looks so pretty!" Davey's eyes widened.

Ashley, on the other hand, didn't care. She reaches into her pocket and grabs a Poké Ball. Ashley then throws the Poké Ball at Deerling, which hits it on the hand. The Pokéball opens, and Deerling is consumed inside. The ball closes and falls on the ground, only to shake several times before stopping. Several stars surround the ball, which meant Ashley successfully captured the grass-type Pokémon, much to Davey's dismay.

"WHAT?"

"Deerling has been registered to your Pokédex!"

Ashley shrugs and grabs the Pokéball. But Davey was not happy. "What the hell, Ashley? Why did you catch that Deerling?"

"Obviously Davey, if we catch four Deerling and get them to change their forms, we complete our assignment. Isn't that simple enough?!"

Davey facepalms. "No… Ashley! That's not how that works! The fur on Deerling's body changes depending on the seasonal equinox. It's physically impossible to change its fur on a whim, it isn't a Rotom!"

"What?" She asks. "That doesn't make any sense! If we can't change the season of a Deerling, then how come this one is in its Summer Form when it's Fall?"

"Ashley… It's September…"

"Okay, so then it should be fall!"

"No, it's not Ashley, it's still summer."

"What?"

"Yes, Ashley… The start of a season starts on a certain date. That's how it works."

"That's bull and doesn't even make sense, but whatever." She shrugs. She tosses the Pokéball up into the air, and Deerling is released. "Now that I caught myself a Deerling, we can have Deerling search for other Sawsbucks nearby."

Davey smirks. "Come on Ashley, that video was fake. There's no way in hell that all FOUR different Sawsbucks can appear in one place. It's scientifically impossible."

Ashley fights it off. It was mysterious how these two people of different opinions could ever be friends. But they always managed to make it work, somehow. "You're just jealous, because the possibility of something that can't be explained can happen!"

Ashley caught her off guard, because she was right. But Davey was never going to admit that. "Whatever. There's no way you can ever see all four in one place, and that's exactly the way it is."

She had to think of a comeback fast. Then an idea clicked in her head. I got it. "You know, we can have Deerling search for other Deerling and Sawsbucks using its sense of smell, and if we get lucky, maybe we can find a Shiny Deerling or Sawsbuck!"

"You know, that's not a bad idea." He admits he was wrong.

Davey sighs. "I knew there had to be a catch to you having a good idea."

Ashley bends down and takes out her Rotom Phone. "Rotom, search for Sawsbuck." She commands.

The Rotom Phone does its thing and searches for Deerling's evolution. "Found it!" The device starts. Ashley faces the phone in front of Deerling's face, so she could get a good look at Sawsbuck. The phone showed a picture of all four forms of Sawsbuck. "Sawsbuck, the Season Pokémon. A Normal and Grass-type. The plants growing on its horns change according to the season. The leaders of the herd possess magnificent horns. Sawsbuck is famous for having four different forms depending on the season: the forms' names are Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn."

Ashley points to her phone. "You see that Deerling? Me and Mr. Clean here are looking for one of these four Pokémon. Think you can help us find them?"

Deerling nods her head. She starts sniffing for a scent and gallops off. "I think she found something!" Davey points out. The two start chasing after Deerling.

Deerling follows the scent track of the Sawsbuck and was trying her best. But she ends up in a dead end, stopping as she finds a tree. It took her thirty minutes to find it. Davey and Ashley were both disappointed, causing Ashley to sigh and Davey to get angry. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted Deerling and just went with our own instincts!"

"Hey, don't blame Deerling! She was trying her best!"

Davey ignores that. "Why is it that every time we listen to you, we always end up in trouble?"

Ashley felt insulted. "It isn't my fault!"

Davey's eyebrows scrunched together and his lips tightened, biting his tongue before he said something he was going to regret. "Yes it is!" Davey got incredibly frustrated. "You know what, I need to cool off some steam." Davey runs off.

"Fine! Then I'll try and search for the four Sawsbuck myself!" She shouts. She turns around. But as she did, the fog thickens and Davey mysteriously disappears. Ashley turns back around just in time to watch it happen, but it was too late as he was gone. She worries for her friend and clenches her fist. "Davey?!" Davey, where did you go?!" She looks around to see if she can find him, but she can't.

"Davey, where did you go?!"

The mysterious fog dissolves. Ashley panics, looking around to see if Davey was close, but there was no cigar. "Davey? Davey? Davey?" Ashley starts to cry, feeling like she was responsible for Davey's disappearance. "This is all my fault." She was on the verge of crying.

Ashley's two Pokémon worry about her and see after her. They try to cheer her up, by embracing her. Ashley hugs her to two Pokémon and starts crying. "I'm so sorry Davey, I didn't mean anything I said. You're the best friend a person can ask for." Ashley's Pokémon cries out for her, which snaps her into her senses. "No, I'm not going to sit here and sulk in my own feelings." She slaps herself in the face.

"We're going to find Davey, and with you too by my side, we can do it!" She promises. The trio cheers.

Davey didn't notice the fog swept him away. But it didn't take too long to realize that he missed Ashley deeply. He starts crying, regretting his decision of running away. "Ashley, where'd you go? Ashley?" He looks around the forest to see where she went, but she was nowhere to be found.

Davey shook his head and slapped himself in the face. "Get yourself together Davey, you can do this!" He looks around and starts walking. But the thought of him being alone in the forest causes him to get scared. "Alone in the forest in a region you have never been to, full of Pokémon…" He starts walking backwards. A Wurmple crawls up his leg, causing him to get scared, and he screams. The Wurmple falls and Davey runs.

Davey trips over a long and rolls into some bushes. Some twigs and leaves got into his hair, along with some dirt on his clothes. "AHH!" This freaks him out, as he hates being dirty. Davey quickly wipes himself off until he gets squeaky clean. Once he was cleaned up, he hears the sound of a certain Pokémon barking, dancing alone in an open spot in the woods. He looks straight and sees the Pokémon, which catches his eye.

"Is that an Eevee?"

It indeed was an Eevee. However, this Eevee looked a bit different compared to other Eevee. Besides being a female and having a heart-shaped tail, this Eevee had unique spiky hair done up like a modern teenager. Davey takes his smartphone and scans the normal-type Pokémon. "Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon, a Normal-type. Due to its unstable genetic makeup, this special Pokémon conceals many different, possible evolutions." Once the dex was done scanning, Davey puts it away.

Eevee was caught off guard by the noise of the Pokédex. So it turns her head and looks at Davey. She tilts her head to the side, curious about Davey. Davey gets nervous and hides in the bushes. The curious Eevee steps up to Davey. There was something about him that intrigued her. Davey could feel Eevee getting closer, so he ran behind the back of a tree. But Eevee wasn't going to give up too easily and follows him.

Davey peaks from behind the tree and sees Eevee standing very close to him. Davey backs up a bit, and Eevee follows him. "Haha, what do you want, Eevee? Are you hungry?" He asks, trying to understand Eevee better. Eevee nods her head and wiggles her tail. "Okay, so you're hungry." Standing six feet back from Eevee, he pulls out an apple from his backpack that he saved for himself and rolls it at her. Eevee was happy and started eating the apple. Fast.

"I guess you must've been hungry." He watches Eevee eat, growing appreciation for the Pokémon while doing so. "You know, you're a lot cuter in person compared to the other Eevee I've seen." He compliments.

Eevee likes the compliments and blushes. Eevee fishes up the apple, devouring every bit of it, leaving none left behind. Eevee barks again, thanking him. Davey notices Eevee was saying thanks and smiles back at her. "So I assume that was your way of saving thanks…" Eevee nods. I know this is weird, but I feel like I can understand Eevee. This has never happened before. Davey sits on the ground and begins thinking. Eevee sees an apple tree and barks. "I take it, you want some more apples?"

Eevee nods. Eevee shoots electricity at the tree, and a few apples fall onto the ground. Eevee runs towards the apples and starts eating them one by one. The move surprised Davey. "What the hell? How can you use an Electric-type move?" He asks. "The only way an Eevee can use an electric-type move is if it uses Copycat or evolves into a Jolteon." Davey pulls out his Pokédex to see if there was any more information about Eevee using electric-type moves, but he couldn't find anything.

"This is weird! And scientifically inaccurate!" This makes Davey freak out even more, and he pulls his hair. "First that fake viral video and now an Eevee using impossible elemental moves, what is going on?" His worldview was shattering as every minute moved on the clock.

"If only Ashley was here-" He had to stop himself as he began missing Ashley. "Maybe, I can call here." He takes out his Rotom Smartphone, only to find it had died from not being charged up. "Shoot, I knew I should've brought my charge!" He sighs. "What are we going to do now Eevee?" He asks. Eevee tilts her head and raises one of her eyebrows up.

Davey and Eevee walk around the forest trying to look for Ashley. They had been walking around for nearly thirty minutes with almost no sign of Ashley. He tries everything he could to find her. He looks left and right again, but unfortunately she was nowhere to be seen. "Ashley, where are you?' he asks. He looks down at Eevee, hoping she could have an answer. "Eevee, do you by any chance know where Ashley is?" Eevee didn't know and shook her head. Davey snaps. "Dang it!"

The two come across a large bush nesting in the middle of the road. "Uh oh Eevee looks like we stumbled across a cut bush." He examines. Eevee wants to impress Davey. So she surrounds herself in flames and tackles the bush. The bush ends up catching on fire for a quick second before disintegrating. All Davey could do was stand there, and it shocks him. "Did you just use a Fire-type Move?" Eevee nods.

"That's incredible! First an electric-type move, now a fire-type move. You really are quite the mysterious Eevee, aren't you?" Davey observes and Eevee laughs. Seeing Eevee and watching how happy she was made him the happiest person to be alive right now. "I'm going to try and do this." He says.

He gets a tad closer to Eevee and gets down on his knees, looking Eevee in the eyes. Davey lifts his right hand up. He wants to attempt to at least mess with Eevee's hair. Davey reaches for Eevee's hair, closing his eyes in the process. After a while, he finally does it, touches Eevee's hair. He smiles, as it was a nice feeling. Wow, I can't believe it! I'm actually touching a Pokémon, and it feels nice. "Wow." He says. He closes his eyes and realizes what he was doing, which made him panic and run away. "I'm so sorry Eevee!"

Davey runs into the chest of an Eevee, but he didn't see it coming. This enrages Ursaring, causing it to roar. Davey swallows his spit, turns around and starts running. "Run Eevee!" He warns. Ursaring starts chasing after Davey, but Davey wasn't going to back down. Eevee starts shooting water bubbles at Ursaring, which hit it quite hard. Eevee absorbs the water and restores its health, while knocking Ursaring out.

"Was that a Water-type move?"

Ursaring gets back up. Ursaring was even more furious. Ursaring lashes out by trying to claw Davey and Eevee. Luckily, Davey has fast reflexes from always being frightened. Him and Eevee start to run, with Ursaring chasing after them in the background. The two were scared for their lives. Ursaring attacks them with a powerful beam, using its energy from the inside of its mouth. The attack causes a blast, forcing them to fly into the air and off a nearby cliff. Davey and Eevee both screamed, but Davey was more frightened than Eevee.

Everything goes black.

Several hours later, Davey woke up - but it was very slow. He was resting on some grass near a creek. The evening sun cast shadows all over the area, giving a warm yellow tint in the skies with no clouds in sight. The sounds of Kricketot chirping gave the area some life as a herd of Stantler drank from the river. Three Yanma flew by, and several Volbet and Illumise used their bubbles to create an illuminating green light. Davey was covered up in some leaves. But the only question on his mind was who rescued him.

Davey sees Eevee carrying some leaves with a wide variety of berries on top. Eevee puts the berries in front of Davey, insisting he eats them. Eevee barks. Davey gets up. He smiles when he sees the berries, but due to him being stubborn, he rejects them. "I'm sorry Eevee, but I'm not hungry." Davey's stomach growls, catching him in the act of lying. Eevee frowns.

Davey blushes. "Well, I guess I can eat one." Davey grabs one of the Oran Berries and chews them. "Wow, these are delicious!" He starts grabbing berry after berry, devouring them one by one, almost like a real version of the game Hungry Hippopotas. He finishes up eating all the berries and burps. "Ooops." He blushes from embarrassment, but Eevee laughs, which causes Davey to laugh.

"So I take it, that you were the one to rescue me?" Eevee nods. "Thank you!" Davey looks around. "It's starting to get late, I wonder where we are?"

Davey tries to reach for his smartphone, but remembers it was dead. "Damn! My phone is dead, so I can't find Ashley. I hope she's okay…" Eevee didn't know what Ashley was and was confused. So she tilts her head. "Oh right, Ashley is my best friend! We've been friends since Kindergarten, and we both attend the Pokémon Academy."

Eevee still had no idea what Davey was talking about, but understood a bit. "I guess you wouldn't know what a Pokémon Academy is, huh Eevee? Well, it's a school for Pokémon Trainers, teaching them about all things when it comes to Pokémon. It also teaches and prepares them for a career they're interested in, whether it be a Pokémon Trainer, Pokémon Ranger or Pokémon Coordinator. It's a fun place! Everyone there is aiming to achieve their goals, except for me as I don't know what I want to do…" Davey starts looking sad talking about his goals, and Eevee related to that.

"Zac wants to become a Pokémon League Champion, Cole wants to become a Top Coordinator, Ashley wants to become a Shiny Hunter, and me, well… I don't know what I wanna do! I get asked all the time why am I enrolled at a Pokémon Academy if I don't know what I want to do after I graduate, but the thing is I love Pokémon, exploring the world and learning all there is to know about it, and for me that's enough!"

Eevee nods her head in agreement with Davey and rubs her head up against Davey, which Davey likes. Davey pets Eevee's fur. "I guess the world of Pokémon is in a way, also a Pokémon Academy, not just the school. Huh, it's like what Professor Moss told us earlier."

Eevee starts barking, telling Davey that she understood how he felt. But Davey wasn't getting it due to the language barrier between people and Pokémon. "Are you trying to tell me something, Eevee?"

Eevee sighs. Eevee looks around to see if she could paint a better picture. Eevee sees some rocks and uses the rocks to demonstrate what she was saying. Using the rocks, Eevee creates an Eevee surrounded in a circle with question marks on top and seven arrows surrounding the circle. Eevee was finished, tired, and passed out for a quick second before getting back up.

Davey analyzes what Eevee had drawn and puts the pieces of the puzzle together quickly. "Ah I see! You don't know if you want to evolve!" Eevee nods and wiggles its tail. "Ha, I guess that means we have a lot in common then…" Davey pets Eevee on the head, and she enjoys it, wagging her tail even harder. I can't believe I'm with a Pokémon and enjoying it. Oh no! I'm touching a Pokémon! Davey freaks out and backs away from Eevee yet again. "Let's see if we can find Ashley…" Eevee was confused again, but went along anyway.

Davey and Eevee search the forest again for Ashley. Davey was starting to get tired. "Come on Ashley, just show up already."

Davey laments his next strategy in finding his friend. He then hears loud footsteps brushing up against the rocks, which catches both him and Eevee's attention. They watch as they see a Summer Formed Sawsbucks drinking from the lake. "That's a Sawsbuck!" A few moments later, a Summer, Autumn and Winter form Sawsbucks appear and also drink out of the lake, which surprises Davey! He couldn't believe what he was seeing. "No way!"

The scene was almost something out of a painting. All four seasonal forms of Sawsbuck were right here, right now, all drinking out of the lake and appearing together, which was almost impossible. "There's no way this is happening!" Davey wanted to take a picture with his phone, but he couldn't because it was dead.

"Shoot! Why does my phone always have to die at the worst time?" Davey looks at Eevee, and the two get up. He starts thinking about everything he's said today about the video not being real, and starts to rethink everything. "So that video was real?" He asks himself. "I guess that means there's some things science can't explain or there's a reasonable explanation to all this…" He wasn't ready to give up his beliefs entirely, but simultaneously he couldn't deny what was going on right in front of him. Eevee was just as shocked to see what was going on.

All of a sudden, the mysterious fog returns, filling up the area and trapping Davey and Eevee inside of it. Davey has now found himself trapped inside the fog. He was confused about the entire thing. "What in the heck is going on?" Luckily, Eevee was right next to him, so they were both in this together. The two look around as the fog gets thicker. It spiraled around like a circle, reminiscent of a tornado. The mystery of it all scares both of them, and they shake.

He suddenly starts to hear the sounds of a familiar voice, calling out his name. "Davey?"

Davey squints, and sees the silhouette of his best friend. "Ashley?" He asks. The fog dissolves, and he sees Ashley running towards him, with Piplup in her hands and Deerling running alongside her. Davey smiles when he sees her, with tears starting to form.

"Ashley!"

"Davey!"

Ashley and Davey hug. Reunited at last, two start crying. "I missed you!" Davey reveals from the bottom of his heart.

"I missed you more! I searched for hours for you!" Ashley responds.

"I'm so sorry for calling you a lazy, messy and train wreck!"

"And I'm sorry for calling you a smart alec, know it all, even though it's true!"

"Hey!" He felt insulted. But shrugs it off. "I'm glad you're okay."

The two break the hug. Ashley notices Eevee standing right next to Davey, and is puzzled. "So who's your friend there?" Ashley bends down and pets Eevee. Eevee enjoys being petted by Ashley, animating Eevee. "Aww Eevee is so cute! I'm surprised to see you standing next to a Pokémon though." Ashley gets up and lets Piplup down. Eevee, Deerling and Piplup play around.

"I am too! It caught me by surprise. But I'm able to understand Eevee, we both get each other!" Davey looks back at Eevee and smiles. Eevee stops running around and looks at Davey. Eevee runs up to Davey and rests its head on his thighs, barking.

Ashley was happy her friend finally found someone he can relate to, and recognizes the strong bond you two have. "You know Davey, if I'm not mistaken, I think Eevee wants to come along with you!"

Davey thinks about it for a quick second. "That makes sense." Davey turns around, bends down and looks at Eevee. Eevee looks straight up at Davey. "So Eevee, I've been thinking. How would you like to come, along with me?" Eevee gets super excited over that offer and nods her head. Davey smiles back at her.

Davey reaches into his pocket and pulls out a Great Ball. Davey slightly taps Eevee on the head, with the Great Ball, and it opens up. A red light captures Eevee, and she goes inside the ball. The ball closes and begins shaking as Davey holds it in his hand. The ball shakes three times before stopping. Three stars surrounded the ball, which means Davey successfully caught Eevee.

Davey was thrilled. "I caught an Eevee!" Davey thrusts the ball into the air and jumps up high. He lands back on the ground, staring at the Pokémon, believing this was a dream. He shook it off and let Eevee out. "Eevee, I choose you!" Eevee is released, and Davey hugs her. "Let's both figure out what we want to do with our lives together!" Eevee nods and the two cuddle.

"So you finally caught your first Pokémon, I guess this means we're both Pokémon Trainers now."

"I guess so."

Ashley wraps her arm around Davey. "I guess we can finally search for those Sawsbucks, huh?"

Davey almost forgot. "Oh snap, I actually saw them! All four forms of Sawsbuck."

Ashley was in disbelief. "Wait, what? No way! You're lying!" She winks.

"No! I did see them with my own two eyes!"

Ashley giggles. "I believe you, I'm just messing with you." She tricks him. "Were you able to get a photo?"

"No, because my phone died." Davey replies. Davey reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. But the strange thing about it was that Davey's phone was now charged up. Which surprised him. "What? I swear my phone was dead! Something weird is going on…" This whole situation scares Davey.

"Maybe it had something to do with that fog?" Ashley points out.

"You're right, it was strange… The fog came out of nowhere, swept me away, my phone died, and I saw all four Sawsbuck. It was quite the episode." Davey tried to piece it all together, but he was still confused. "What is going on? There's no scientific explanation behind it all!"

"Welcome to the world of Pokémon." Ashley winks and the two laughs. "Oh by the way, now that you can touch Eevee, does that mean you're still scared of all Pokémon?"

"I'm not sure…"

"Piplup." Ashley nods at Piplup. Piplup understood what she had to do. Piplup jumps up on Davey's right shoulder. It didn't take too long for Davey to freak out, he grabs Piplup and runs away. Ashley returns Deerling into her Pokéball and grabs Piplup. She starts chasing after Davey. This whole time, the legendary Pokémon Xerneas watches from the bushes, grinning the whole time. It was Xerenas, who was the cause of the mysterious fog. Xerenas gallops along and disappears into the forest.

"Goodnight, Yuki!"

"Goodnight, Celine!"

Yuki and Celine were two other students who went to the Pokémon Academy along with Davey and Ashley. These two were upperclassmen who were assigned research task partners and tasked with coming to the Lental Region. BUt their reasoning for coming to Lental Region differed from Davey and Ashley. The two upperclassmen were getting ready to go to bed in their tents. They had made themselves a little campfire, because the Pokémon Center was far away from where they were.

Celine's Sliggoo was resting on the bottom of her sleeping bag as Yuki's Blastoise was supposed to be keeping guard out of the tent. But it had fallen asleep. Meanwhile a rumbling sound was going on, caused by some bushes nearby. The sound of the bushes wakes up Blastoise, distracting it even more. Blastoise follows the noise. Suddenly a metal rod Pokés out of the bushes. A shadow aura surrounds the rod and shoots Blastoise, surrounding it in a purple aura, corrupting it. Blastoise eyes turn red as it becomes consumed in darkness.

Blastoise roars loudly, shaking the ground and causing Yuki, Sligoo and Celine to wake up. "What's going on?" Yuki asks. Yuki wakes up, and so does Celine too. Worried about what was going on, the two rushed outside, they were shocked to see what was in front of them.

"What the hell?" Celine asks.

Yuki shows concern for his Pokémon. "Blastoise, what is going on with you?" He asks. He tries to step in front of Blastoise hoping that his Pokémon would sense the connection between the two of them, but it doesn't. Blastoise turns around and tries to attack the duo by tackling them, but it fails. But the damage was done as Yuki and Celine's campsite was ruined by the powerful tackle. Yuki watches in horror.

"We have to go!" Celine tries to grab Yuki by the arm, but he couldn't stop watching as Blastoise goes on a rampage. Celine had no choice but to use her full strength, dragging her away with Sliggoo running away.

Blastoise shoots out a wicked blase of air from its canons that hit both Yuki, Celine and Sliggoo fall on the ground for a quick second and they run off faster. Yuki couldn't help but turn around out of concern for his Pokémon. "I'm going to save you Blastoise, I promise!"

It took six long months, but it's finally finished! Thank Arceus! Looks like the story is finally starting to pick up! Bet you didn't expect Shadow Pokemon of all things to appear tho. Man, the next chapter is so big, it's one of my favorites! I'm working really hard on it. Also, yes, what Davey saw in the fog was meant to be vague. It was on purpose, it's meant to be left up for interpretation. I know the answer, but I won't reveal it! Thanks for the reviews and support, it really keeps me going! Also thanks to Void eyes prominence dragon for submitting Yuki and SerpentFeather for submitting Celine.

Sorry, I've been gone so long. I've been busy with life! But I'm back (hopefully). I've also been playing Legends Arceus, and it's a good game. One of my favorites! Love the new Pokemon, exploration and fresh new coat of paint it gives to Pokemon.

Next time - "Beach Blanket Blastoise'' - Yuki and Celine have taken refuge behind a nearby rock to save themselves from Yuki's rampage Blastoise. But during a conversation between the two, Blastoise approaches them and launches an attack. Can Yuki get through to his Blastoise?

ShadowWolf223 - I know, it's so cute!

Rowlets and Oshawotts - Well, this chapter and the next will definitely have a lot of plots. I'm also waiting to write the first trainer battle, because I want it to be a big deal.

MaMcMu - Yes, I'm back.

electriuser - Haha Utah's very awkward, but he has a good heart, very, very, deep inside of him.

SerpentFeather - I kind of thought about that too. I was on the fence about how to handle exactly HOW Sawsbuck changes forms.

Question of the chapter: Do you think Davey actually saw all four forms of Sawsbuck, or was it an illusion caused by Xerneas?