Chapter 7: Jimmy Jimmy

Rain...great. Not exactly the greatest fresh start, thought Vulpixtwo to herself as she rushed to find a good tree. She had just touched ground not half an hour ago and already she was experiencing bad weather. Sure, she was a little more naturally immune to it due to her strength, but not as much as Ninetalestwo was. Heck, he was so impervious to it that he could swim in it, no problem! Quickly, Vulpixtwo found a tree that almost no water was getting under and ran beneath it for cover. Once she did, she did her best to observe the land around her through the darkness and the rain that was starting to pick up quite a bit. Ideally, she would have liked to immediately start looking for a place to make a den for herself and also find some food. Which reminded her: she was hungry. She didn't know how long she was in the air after she and the others left Mt. Quena, but she needed to find some-

Her thoughts were interrupted by a yawn. A rather large one, too. Vulpixtwo actually hadn't realized until now how tired she was. Who knew flying via psychic energy could be so tiring? Evidently it was because before she could think of food any more, her eyes began to close and she had trouble keeping them open. No, she thought, I need to stay awake to make sure...*yawn, nothing comes out to try and...hurt me...

Before she knew it, she was fast asleep to the sound of the water falling on the leaves above her.

Vulpixtwo's nose twitched slightly as it picked up a sweet scent. As she opened her eyes, she was met with the source. There was a small pile of berries right in front of her. Where did these come from... she thought to herself. She looked around to see if there was anyone or anything potentially waiting to jump out at her. After scanning with her eyes, nose, and ears, she sniffed the berries for a moment to make sure there wasn't anything in them. Once she determined there wasn't, she finally dug in. She actually hadn't realized how hungry she really was. She was famished. She quickly devoured every berry set before her. She didn't think twice about it. However her thoughts, or lackthereof, were interrupted when she heard a voice from some nearby bushes.

"Man, I figured you were hungry, but wow! You smashed those berries!" Vulpixtwo quickly turned her head to see a small Pokémon about her size poke its head out. It had black fur all around its body except for its belly and muzzle. Along its back ran two grey ridges and four rings of the same color were wrapped around its ankles. On his face, he wore an amused but also welcoming smile. He then began to introduce himself. "Hi, sorry if I-"

"What do you want from me?" Vulpixtwo asked as intimidatingly as she could. "Was it you who left the berries for me? Are you and your Trainer trying to lure me to catch me or something? What's your deal?" She was not about to let herself become the slave of a human. She knew some were good, but she knew some were also very, very bad. And seeing as she had just gotten her true freedom, she didn't know who she could trust out here.

"Woah, woah," the Pokémon said, holding one of its paws up defensively. "I promise, I don't wanna hurt you! We were just walking around, searching for some berries for dinner when we heard your stomach growl like a Charizard. You looked like you were asleep and we didn't wanna wake ya', so we left some of the berries we found for you to eat when you woke up!"

Vulpixtwo looked at him closely, examining his expression for any indication that he was messing with her. After a few silent moments, she sat down and bowed her head gratefully. "Well, thank you, I truly appreciate tha- wait, who's 'we?'"

"Oh, my Trainer and I! We were-"

He was immediately tackled to the ground and was met with a pair of eyes angrily starting into his. "I knew it!! I knew you were trying to capture me!" Vulpixtwo yelled. "Well, that's not happening! I will not be the pawn for some human!"

The Pokémon pinned underneath her, slightly alarmed by her sudden attack and outburst, tried to reason with her. "N-no, we weren't trying to catch you, I promise you!" He stared up at her with slight fear in his eyes. "Really, we just wanted to help a Pokémon who seemed to need it! We would never try to force a Pokémon to join us against their will!" Vulpixtwo still didn't quite believe him. She stared deeper into his eyes, waiting for even the slightest hint that he was bluffing. She noticed his expression grow from nervous to a little more serious. "But there are people who do take Pokémon by force. Really bad people. Greedy people, with only the foulest intentions in mind." That concept was all too familiar to Vulpixtwo. It wasn't very long after she was "born" that she was taught that humans were the enemy, and any Pokémon that chose to work alongside them were no better. Of course, everyone had learned to put aside their differences once that boy sacrificed himself and was brought back to life by everyone's tears. But still, the danger that humans could only want Pokémon for personal gain was very real. And she wanted to be ready for it, as would all of her fellow Clone Pokémon. However, the strange Pokémon's next sentence caught her full attention.

"And my Trainer, our friends and I are training to stop those people who only want Pokémon for personal gain." Upon hearing this, Vulpixtwo's expression softened. The furious face she was previously giving the strange Pokémon changed to a serious but curious one. She finally got off of him and they sat next to each other.

"What do you mean, 'training to stop those people?'" She asked him.

The strange Pokémon sighed and began to explain. "There's a group full of these people. They go around capturing Pokémon, seemingly at random. Big or small, strong or weak, common or rare, doesn't matter. Pokémon are just collectibles to these people. As far as we understand, there's a bigger motivation for all this. What it is though, we're not 100% sure. All we know is that it's something that needs to be stopped."

"But why are you and your team doing this? You said you're still training, and to me, it seems like they're pretty threatening."

"They're a huge threat. Which is why we need to be ready if we ever encounter one of them. We battle other Trainers, scrimmage against each other and we're currently participating in the Sinnoh League. Every little bit of training helps. We don't plan on taking this whole group on alone, mind you. But we're willing to do whatever part we can to stop them. And maybe, just maybe, get Ruster back, too." He immediately realized what he had said and let out a quick gasp before covering his mouth with the back of his paw.

All of this was starting to make Vulpixtwo's head spin. "W-w-wait, what's this 'SIN-no leeg' thing? And who's Ruster?"

"Ooh, boy..." the strange Pokémon said. "Ok, I didn't mean to say that last thing, it's not my story to tell. But, I'll explain the League to you..."

Vulpixtwo was having a hard time processing all of this information. Heck, she had just begun life as a wild Pokémon and already she felt like her head was about to explode. The strange Pokémon had just explained the League to her and how it would help them when it came to fighting this "group." She didn't press further on who this "Ruster" was, as it seemed to be a touchy subject for him. Otherwise, she had learned about Gym battles, the Champion, teams, and rules. She had to admit, she found this whole thing rather intriguing, if also a total information overload.

"So, yeah. That's just about everything you need to know." He said to her as he scratched behind his ear.

"Got it," she responded. I hope I do, at least. "By the way, where's the rest of your team?"

"Oh, they're probably still asleep. It's still pretty early in the morning, so I thought I'd get up before them to swing by and check on you if you were still here."

"I see," Vulpixtwo said, looking down at her paws. "Well, thank you. You're very kind." He hasn't seemed to notice anything different yet. I don't know if there's anything besides my strength that would give me away, but if not that's good. The less he's able to tell, the better.

"Of course! Well, I should probably get back to my friends before they wake up so I'll be heading out. It was great talking to you, Vulpix!"

Vulpix... she thought to herself. No "two" at the end...

She then looked up to see him about to walk into the bushes from which he came. "Wait!" She called out to him.

He stopped and turned around to face her. "Yeah? What's up?"

She walked up to him and took a deep breath before looking him in the eyes. "I'm sorry for attacking you and getting angry. I was just a little...on edge."

"No need to apologize, Vulpix! It's ok, really!" He said while smiling at her.

"I want to come with you. I want to join your team."

...

"You what?"

"I want to help you guys. I promise, I can be a good asset. I've had less than great experiences with humans in the past, but after hearing you and your team's goals, I want to be able to help. Please."

The strange Pokémon couldn't believe his ears. One minute, she was attacking him for thinking he wanted to get her to join his team, and the next minute she was asking to join him. He wasn't quite sure what to think. But, this girl seemed to really have a desire to help Pokémon and keep them out of the hands of ill-intentioned humans. So, he gave her the best answer he could give.

"Well, we do have one spot left on the team. But, that's for Pine to decide, not me. I can bring you to him and I'll ask him. Or, at least the best I can since he can't understand me."

That was all Vulpixtwo needed to hear. She couldn't help but smile. "Thank you!" she said cheerfully. "Wait, who's Pine?"

"Oh, Pine is my Trainer. And there's also Snap the Heracross, Arbor the Turtwig, Axel the Nidoran and Nina the Mareep. Which reminds me, my name's Ignis, Ignis the Houndour! Sorry, I didn't think to introduce myself properly sooner. But still, it's great to meet you!"

"Likewise, but I'm just Vulpix," Now, that is gonna take some getting used to. "Did Pine give you all names?"

"Yep! Some Trainers like to give their Pokémon their own nicknames. Some do, some don't. Pine does though, and we're all really happy with our nicknames!"

"Will he give me one if he lets me join you guys?"

"Probably. But he'll only call you one if you like it. If you don't want a nickname, he won't force it."

"I wouldn't mind one."

"Alright, well what are we waiting for? They're probably about to wake up, so let's go see them!"

"Alright!" Vulpixtwo said rather excitedly.

After a short walk, they made it to their campsite. There, Vulpixtwo saw a boy crawling out of some kind of bag and four other Pokémon lying down but slowly getting up themselves with yawns escaping each of their mouths. The boy, whom she assumed to be Pine was about the same height as the boy who had helped save them from Team Rocket, but had lighter skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. He turned to see the duo walking towards him. "Hey, Ignis. Is that the Vulpix you helped yesterday?"

"(Yeah, it is! Pine, I think we've found our sixth member!)" Ignis said, trying to communicate via his Pokémon tongue as best he could.

"(Yes, I'd like to join your team! I want to help you!)" Vulpixtwo added. She hoped they were getting through to him.

Pine looked at the two of them trying to talk to him. After a moment, he guessed what they were trying to tell him. "Ignis, are you saying this Vulpix wants to join us?"

"(Yeah!)" They both said together.

"Are you sure, Vulpix? Did Ignis tell you what we're doing?"

"(Yes, and I'm sure I want to join. I want to help fight these people in any way I can!)" She said while looking him dead in the eye, so he knew she was being truthful. By this point, the other Pokémon had woken up and had walked over to see what was happening.

"Alright, well if you're absolutely certain and if Ignis trusts you, then..." Pine turned to the other Pokémon who were smiling at him with looks of approval. They wanted to meet this Pokémon and were curious about her. "Welcome to the team, Vulpix!" At that, Vulpixtwo, Ignis and the rest of the Pokémon cheered. Vulpixtwo was especially happy. She was already finding a new life for herself, and even thought she didn't know any of these Pokémon, she was already excited to get to know them. But most of all, she could help in fighting against people who wanted what that evil man Giovanni wanted - to use Pokémon as a means of gaining power.

"Now, do you want a nickname, Vulpix?" Pine asked. "Everyone else has one, but it's up to you."

Vulpixtwo nodded in response. She wanted to have some other name that would maybe help her fit in more amongst the other Pokémon. The real Pokémon.

"Alright, then. Hold on a second.." Pine reached for his bag and got out a small machine.

"(That's a PokéDex. It can show data on Pokémon and even read the stats of a specific one on the team!)"

"(Really? That's incredible,)" Vulpixtwo complimented. Then again, I was made in a lab so I guess this isn't that shocking.

Pine then finished reading and spoke. "It says here that you're a girl, Vulpix. Is that right?"

"(Yep!)"

"Ok..." Pine thought for a minute about a nickname for her. "How about Calida?"

Calida...I like that, Vulpixtwo thought to herself. "(Alright! I like that name!)" She said cheerfully.

Pine understood, and took out a Poké Ball. He held it out in his hand and offered it to her. She knew what to do. She ran to it and tapped the button, after which she was absorbed into the ball. Once the ball successfully caught her, she was immediately released back out where he was greeted by Ignis. "Welcome to the team once again, Calida."

"Thanks, Ignis!" Everyone cheered once again.

"Now, who wants some breakfast?" Asked Pine.

"(I do!)" Said one Pokémon.

"(Yeah, me too!)" Agreed another.

As the food was served and everyone began to eat and talk, Calida was in her own thoughts.

Today is the best new start I could have asked for. Pine, Ignis, everyone. I promise you. I, Calida the Vulpix, will do everything I can to help you.

A/N: Thanks for reading this far into the fic! This is my first fic ever, so any reads and reviews mean a lot to me.

If you're wondering about the seemingly random title name, it's a reference to the song "Jimmy Jimmy" by Gorillaz featuring AJ Tracey. I was listening to my playlist and I was struggling to think of a title, then this song came on and I thought a few of the lyrics kind of felt appropriate. So, there you go. Also, this isn't the only chapter whose title was inspired by a song title or lyrics.

Chapter 1's title is a reference to "House Wren" by Owl City.

Chapter 2's title is a reference to "Butterfly Wings," also by Owl City.

Chapter 3's title is a reference to "Sailboats" by Sky Sailing, an old project of Owl City's.

Chapter 4's title is a reference to "You Picked a Real Bad Time" by Billy Joel.

Chapter 5's title is a reference to "Kelly Time" by Owl City.

Chapter 6 is, so far, the only chapter whose title is not inspired by a song title or lyrics.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and until next one, catch ya'll later!