Wow! It really has been a while, hasn't it? Here's the next chapter, hope you'll enjoy it.
Responses to Chapter 27:
Pinkflamingwarriorofjustice - I think doing a One Piece story would be interesting, but I don't think I could write another story right now whilst juggling with the currents ones. Maybe if I have more time in the future.
pokemonking0924 - Indeed they do and perhaps we can see them again some time in the future and hopefully they have grown stronger together. How Flo is going to rotate her team is going to be interesting, because, as you say, perhaps Tyrian would like to stay behind with Azure, but I quite like to involve the two nidoran more in future chapters. I think I need to think about it more.
I like that you enjoyed the Kangaskhan Kid cameo; that was...quite an odd episode if I remember correctly.
Thank you so much for the suggestions and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Djinn - Thank you so much, I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much.
Kunoichi69 - Thanks so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Interesting that you brought up the thing about cubone wearing the skulls of their ancestors; I never thought of it that way. It honestly makes much more sense than them wearing the skulls of their mothers and (I'm speculating here) does this mean that their is some sort of ritual among cubone and marowak or do the Pokemon have a particular location when they die; like an elephant graveyard. You know what, this is turning depressing; I want to talk about how the baby kangaskhan can much trouble it can get into. You have just given me an idea for a chapter based on Baby's Day Out, but with Sneak, Tyche and Hurricane.
Thank you for the suggestions and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
Sonic07 - Now that you mention it, yes they do seem quite similar. Both are ambitious, although a little clumsy. I'm glad you enjoy the extra things I added about the Safari Zone, I thought it would make sense considering it was a protected area.
I have to agree with you about the kangaskhan. There are some things you can't think too much about otherwise the wonder of it all disappears. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Lovely - It's great to hear from you again, I'm glad your continuing to read the story. The team's journey through the Safari Zone is going to be interesting with plenty of challengers for them to face including the tauros Charles caught. Let me know what you think of the next chapter and thank you for reading.
Marcus - That's so wonderful to hear, thank you so much. You have to forgive me for the mistakes (I blame my mild dyslexia), but I'm so happy to hear you enjoy it nonetheless. It is reviewers like yourself that inspire me to continue to write and I am so humbled by everyone's response. Thank you so much.
SkullGreymonX - Haha! He would very likely do so. Thank you so much, I thought it would be fun to have a cameo from Tommy considering he only appeared in one episode. Thank you so much as always and I deeply sorry for the late update. I just saw when you posted the review and I realised how long it has been. I hope you did have a wonderful New Year and I wish you all the best.
wellingtonlucas282 - No problem, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Guest2 - Thanks so much, I'm glad you enjoyed the comedy of the chapter. Thank you also for the name suggestion and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Guest - Please don't remind me about the stampede scene from Lion King [wipes tear from eye] But Atlas is a total bro and he would do anything for his bros...even if it means throwing them into danger.
Guest - Probably, but Clayton tends to get carried away with these sort of things. Thanks for reading.
Guest - Sorry about that. I must have accidently counted both kangashan as two rather than just as one. Thanks for letting me know, I have fixed the problem.
FartNinja - Haha! Glad you to see you enjoyed it. I think Clayton should leave the medical stuff to the Joy family.
aguilarfederico05 - Hi, I'm sorry to say that I never seen Yu-Gi-Oh or played any of the games so I would have to do a lot of research on it. Even if that's the case, then, unfortunately, I'm not in a position to write anymore stories at the moment other then the ones I have currently. But thank you so much for your interest. My Demon Slayer story should have updated a while ago, but I'm planning the next chapter right now. Thanks again.
FanSuperAnime - Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. Thank you also for the suggestion for the One Piece story and thank you also for understanding about needing to finish one of my other stories before I could continue. However, I do agree about starting the story later in the cannon. Maybe before the Alabaster arc or at least after they entered the Grand Line. I recently just started and I've only got up to episode 97. Thanks again for reading.
Guest - Thank you so much for the suggestions; they sound great.
joma. varo13 - Brilliant! Well done for noticing. I think your the first reviewer to point that out. I like to come up with little hidden messages like that; makes it fun to write.
Guest - Right, thanks so much. Both mistakes have been fixed.
Responses to the New Year chapter:
MBS41 - Thank you so much I hope you'll continue reading.
djinn - Thank you so much.
pokemonking0924 - Thank you so much. Sorry it took a while, but I hope you'll enjoy these new chapters.
Guest - Yeah, I probably should have done, but never mind. I'm glad you like the new chapter ideas and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter just as much.
Kunoichi69 - To you too, sorry it was so late. I'm glad to see you interested in the new chapters and I can't wait to publish them. The sick Flo chapter is definitely going to be fun to write. Hope you'll like this chapter.
SkullGreymonX - I hope not. My schedule is becoming less busy so I can writing much more than I have been for the past couple of months. I'm glad to see you excited for new chapters and I do hope you'll enjoy them.
Sonic07 - Thank you so much. I know it's been a while, but now I can finally reveal if you're correct or not. Haha! I can't reveal too much, but I will say that Flo, Alice and Leaf will try their best to put Charles in a maid uniform. But he won't go down without a fight. Thanks for reading and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
Guest2 - Thank you so much. I did plan on having the newest caught Pokemon being the four Pokemon plus Benny and Marina, but I don't want to give away too much. Thanks again for reading.
Guest - Thank you so much for the suggestions; they sound great.
FanSuperAnime - To you too, sorry it took so long. Thank you so much for the suggestion; I'll see what I can do since I've never done it before. Perhaps you can explain more about it. Thank you also for the anime recommendation; I've heard of it, but I haven't got around to watching it. A slice of life fanfic would be a change of pace to what I usually write about. Thanks so much again and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
Guest - From what I could remember, cleffa wasn't introduced in the anime until much much later which may have influenced the writing of that chapter. I didn't write chapters as long as the ones I do now so I didn't elaborate on the clefairy colony as much as possible. Maybe I can involve the cute Pokemon next time. Thanks for reading.
Guest - I had planned them to be in that order, but I could do some surprise chapters. That would be interesting.
Guest - Thank you for the recommendation. I'll be sure to check it out.
Guest - Weird complaint, but thanks for trying anyway.
WolfTamermaster - Thank you so much and very good predictions. I have some idea of how legendary Pokemon talk; it varies depeneding on the different personalities of the Pokemon. For example, Mew would sound more childish than the wise Suicune. Thanks again for reading and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
Thank you all for reviewing, now onto the story. Hope you'll enjoy it :)
Chapter 36: Feeling The Press-Fur
Camp, Safari Zone
It was the end of another day of exploring the wildness and the team and their Pokemon were at their camp. They had dinner, played a few board games and watched the starry sky above their heads before deciding that they should be heading to bed; after all they needed to be up and ready for the next day of travelling.
As she brushed her teeth, Flo looked down at her pokeballs on her belt and could not help, but smile happily. She, in particular, had a great day with her newly caught kangaskhan. The first thing she did that morning was name the mother and daughter duo; after consideration, she had named the mother Ruth and the daughter Dorothy; sweet names for sweet Pokemon. She had a lot of fun showing Dorothy all the sights of the Safari Zone and playing games in the tall grass along with Ruth. Although, the two had lost Dorothy at least a dozen times due to her wondering off somewhere, they were able to forgive her by being too cute.
Flo had just finished brushing her teeth when she noticed Alice humming happily to herself in her tent; brushing her hair whilst looking into her handheld mirror.
"You seem to be in a good mood," Flo commented as she climbed into her own tent.
Alice gave a small shrug as she put her hairbrush down, "I know. It's just been a nice day, that's all."
"Really? Nothing special happened."
"Precisely," Alice sighed, "No travelling, no battling trainers, no Pokemon problems we have to deal with. Don't get me wrong, I like all of those things, but it's nice to just have an uneventful day ever so often."
"You do realise we still have about four left of the day," Flo pointed out, "Something can happen."
"Nah, it's too late for anything like that," Alice said with a dismissal wave of her hand before she looked over at Charles and Benny sitting by his tent, "Are you turning in as well, Charles?"
Charles did not respond at first and continued to stare into space as he petted Benny's head.
"Charles?" Alice repeated a little bit louder, snapping him out of his daze.
"Sorry, what were you saying?" he apologised.
Alice cocked her head to the side and frowned in concern, "Are you okay? You've been doing that all day."
"Are you still thinking about that tauros you caught?" Flo asked, "You know you didn't have a choice, right?"
"I know," Charles sighed, "I guess I never thought I would actually catch a Pokemon without inviting it. I feel really bad about it."
Alice and Flo shared a look before offering their friend a comforting smile.
"Maybe the tauros won't mind," Flo suggested, "And if he does then you can always release him."
Alice reached into her bay and pulled out her map, "You know, we could take a day trip to the Safari Zone HQ. It's not that far away. You can talk to him there and then head back to camp."
"Really?" Charles uttered before he looked down at Benny.
The shiny pikachu nodded, ("Yeah, why not. We can catch up with Azure and Tyrian while we're there.")
Charles gave a small smile, "Well, if you all don't mind."
"Course not," Flo chirped before she gave a small yawn, "But if we're travelling anywhere then we need to get some rest."
"Agreed," Charles said as he and Benny climbed into their tent, "Goodnight you two."
"Goodnight," the girls chorused.
The children zipped up their tents shut, turned off their lanterns, climbed into their sleeping bags and they slowly drifted off to sleep; listening to the beautiful sounds of the Safari Zone.
…
…
…
…
BOOM!
DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA-DAKA!
SQUEAAAAKKK!
The peaceful night was interrupted by an explosion of light that flooded the area and the sound of a rapidly turning propeller right above their heads. They all shot up straight in the sleeping bags in fright and confusion as the sound of a loud speaker squawked before a familiar voice spoke through it.
"CHARLES ROBERTS! IS THERE A CHARLES ROBERTS HERE!"
While Flo, Charles and Benny scrambled out of their tents to see what was going on, Alice sighed and glanced at her alarm clock.
"Three hours and fifty eight minutes till midnight," she sighed, "So close."
Outside their tents and blowing sticks and dirt into the air as it hovered over them was a white helicopter with a red cross painted on the side. The bright spotlight that hung from the bottom was blinding, but they managed to see a silhouette of a person inside looking down at them with a megaphone up to their mouth.
"ARE YOU CHARLES ROBERTS!?" the figure asked once again.
"Yes!" Charles responded, shouting over the sound of the helicopter blades whilst holding Benny close to his chest, "Can I help you!?"
The spotlight flicked off, much to their relief, and they were now able to see who had woken them up. Their eyes widened in surprise to see Nurse Joy wearing a pair of aviator shades looking down at them from the helicopter door while in the cockpit, somehow flying the helicopter with her stubby arms, was a chansey also wearing aviator shades adapted for her large head. They both had stern expressions on their faces as they looked down at them.
"WE NEED YOUR HELP!" she called down through her megaphone before she lowered down a rope ladder that unfurled right next to them, "GET IN NOW!"
("Get to the chopper!") Chansey shouted from the cockpit.
"Huh? What's my mother's second cousin's grandmother's niece doing here?" Flo wondered out loud, earning a look from Charles and Benny.
("Big family,") Benny commented.
"Very," Charles hummed in agreement, "Is she from a nearby Pokecentre, Flo?"
She shook her head, "Not quite. She runs the Pokemon medical ward at the Safari Zone HQ. They use the helicopter for emergencies and rescue operations only."
"This doesn't look much like a emergency to me," Alice commented before she shouted up at, "What do you want with us!"
Nurse Joy shook her head and raised the megaphone to her mouth, "CLIMB UP! THERE'S NO TIME TO EXPLAIN!"
Inside The Helicopter
Five Minutes Later
...
...
...
...
"...Okay...so maybe we do have some time to explain," Nurse Joy admitted, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
The team, who had rushed to get dressed before ascending the rope ladder, were now flying over the wild Safari Zone; the darkened forest landscape zoomed by right outside their windows in a blink of an eye. They were currently sat in passenger seats in the back compartment while Nurse Joy and the chansey, who were still wearing that aviators, sat up front into two separate seats near the controls. The Pokemon was, surprisingly, very good at flying the aircraft; turning left and right and avoiding any obstacles with expertise; this allowed Nurse Joy to turn her seat around and gave a sheepish smile.
"I'm really sorry about this, but we really do need your help," she told them kindly as she leaned in her chair, "According to reports, I heard that you are able to communicate with Pokemon. Is that right?"
"Yes it is," Charles confirmed, earning a sigh in relief from Nurse Joy, "Although, I have to ask...what reports?"
"Well, to be honest Charles, you haven't been really keeping it a secret," Alice told him.
Charles raised his eyebrows in surprise, "I haven't?" Flo, Alice and Benny nodded, "Oh...ah well, too late now. I'll do better in the next region," he said with a shrug, "So, you want me to talk to a Pokemon?"
"Yes."
"And what do you want to know?"
"What's wrong with him."
"No offence," Flo spoke up, "But isn't that your job?"
"It would be if there was something physically wrong with him," the nurse sighed, "This Pokemon is, by far, the most difficult patient I have ever met. He was found by a trainer a week ago wondering the streets of Gringey City. Once the local Pokecentre couldn't help they decided to send it over to me for specialised care. He is in a state of distress and I fear that his mental state is completely unstable. He yells at anybody who gets close to him. None of the chansey at my ward nor I can calm him down and his been disturbing the other patients throughout the week. His stress and anxiety has become so bad that he's now pulling out his own fur and this started before he arrived at my ward."
"Arceus," Flo muttered in horror while the others shivered in disturbance, "That's horrible."
("I don't think I've ever been so stressed that I started pulling my fur out,") Benny murmured, ("This is very serious.")
Charles looked down at his shoes and gripped his trouser legs tightly, 'I've never heard of something like this,' Charles gravely thought, 'It wasn't completely impossible I've heard of Pokemon pulling out their fur before due to stress, but it mainly settled down after a few days. What could he be so disturbed by.'
Alice frowned in concern and leaned forward in her chair, "What Pokemon are we talking about? Is it dangerous?"
"Not at all," Nurse Joy sighed before she reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a notepad and pen and began to write something down, "I'm writing the Pokemon's name down, but can you do us a favour and not say it out loud."
"Why?"
"Just please don't," she begged before she showed the page to them.
...
...
...
Suddenly, the two girls squealed in delight and pumped their fists in the air.
"An eevee!" they cried happily, "You have a cute, little eevee!"
"WHAT DID I JUST SAY!" Nurse Joy yelled as she held her head in her hands. They felt the helicopter shudder slightly as chansey flinched at the Pokemon's name. They both rubbed their heads as if they had a migraine, "Great, just great! And I just got it out of my head as well!"
Flo and Alice gulped and sheepishly smiled.
"Sorry...we couldn't help it," Alice apologised.
Nurse Joy sighed in pain, "It's fine. It's just that, no matter what we do, he's constantly yelling eevee! Eevee! Eevee! When I try to feed him, when I'm trying to work, when I'm trying to relax, when I'm trying to sleep..."
"Even when you're sleeping?"
"Especially," she confirmed, "It's driving us mad. Neither I or my staff had got a wink of sleep in four days because of him," she said before she removed her aviators. They grimaced when they saw the dark rings around her eyes and how exhausted she looked, "Why do you think we've been wearing these?"
"Because they looked cool."
"...Well, yes. Partially. But mainly because of my eyes."
("A little dangerous to wear them whilst piloting a helicopter at night,) Benny commented.
("We're here!") the chansey called out from the cockpit.
They looked out the window and saw they were nearing the edge of the Safari Zone; hovering over a large building complex which served as the HQ for the entire area. They could see several long wings sprouting from one central building which they assumed was the lobby of the building. This was the place where rangers could monitor, study and conserve the Safari Zone and all of its inhabitants and to trace any trainer who wishes to enter and catch Pokemon. The helicopter landed on a helipad on top of the medical wing of the HQ; once they were back on solid ground, the chansey stopped the propeller and the engine before nodding at Nurse Joy.
"Right, there's no time to lose," she said as she opened the door to allow them out, "The faster we can figure out what's wrong; the better chance of helping this poor Pokemon."
The team shared uneasy looks before they leapt out of the helicopter and followed Nurse Joy into the building.
Hospital Ward
The hospital ward was huge and filled with the latest technology that the Kanto region was able to obtain. There were plenty of rooms with beds used for treating sick, injured or recently caught Pokemon who had to go through some tests before they could leave with their new trainer. However, as they walked down the corridor to the last room, they could all see how tiered and exhausted both the Pokemon patients, the chansey and the human medical staff were. Some of them were leaning against the walls or furniture as they tried their best to not fall over and sleep; while others were accidently bumping into things or other people as the groggily walked on by. Charles and the others frowned in concern; it looked like nobody has got an sleep in ages.
Nurse Joy glanced sadly at the others in the ward before she sighed wearily, "It seems like he's stopped...for now. Hopefully, you can find out what's wrong with him, Charles."
"Is the eevee really that bad?" Flo pondered out loud as she saw one medical staff trip over their own feet, "How can such a small Pokemon cause this much damage?"
Nurse Joy looked at her wrist watch, "You'll see in 5...4...3...2...1..."
"GRRRRRRR! EEVEE!"
The team clutched their ears as a loud roar rippled down the corridor; Pokemon and nurses alike groaned in despair at the noise.
"Not again!"
("I don't know how much I can take!")
("Please somebody shut that eevee up!")
"GRRRRRRR! GRRRRRRR! GRRRRRRR! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE! GRRRRRRR! GRRRRRRR! GRRRRRRR!"
The growls and yells of the Pokemon kept on coming without stopping; it was so loud that they thought they were going to go death. They quickly headed to the last room in the corridor just in time for a chansey to come out and sigh tiredly.
("Just gave the patient his meal...he still doesn't want it,") she muttered miserably before she waddled off in search for something to block out the sound.
"This is his room," Nurse Joy said before she looked down at Charles, "Please find out what's wrong. If we don't then my entire ward is at stake and I don't want to make him leave."
"I'll do what I can," Charles assured her before he took a deep breath and looked up at Benny perched on his shoulder, "Ready?"
("Let's do this,") Benny said with a confident nod before they entered the room with Charles closing the door behind them.
The room was quite cosy. There was a comfy bed in the corner, a few toys for the Pokemon to play with, an table for Nurse Joy to perform any medical examinations and a water fountain which sprouted clean water for the patient to drink from. The white walls were decorated with bright posters of the countryside and calming landscapes and, in the far end of the room, there was a window that would look out over the Safari Zone. It had everything that would make any Pokemon who reside in it very comfortable...any Pokemon but this one.
Sitting in the middle of the floor and glaring down at a trey with two bowls on it, one filled with Pokemon food and the other with berries, was a Pokemon that resembled an eevee. Instead of being the fluffy and cute creature it should be; the eevee's fur was littered with patches all over his body. His white collar was almost gone, his front legs and hind quarters looked like it had been roughly shaved showing off pink skin underneath and his tail was thinner and small than it should have been. The only places where his fur hadn't been ripped off was on his head and on the back of his neck, but Charles and Benny guessed that was because he could not reach it with his mouth. The brothers were a quite shocked by his appearance, having never seen a Pokemon in such a state before, but they shook it off and focused on the problem at hand. The eevee growled aggressively down at his bowl before stopped to look up at them curiously, cocking his head to the side cutely.
Charles cleared his throat, "Hi, my name is-"
("GRRRRRRR!") the eevee suddenly growled, gritting his teeth and shaking with anger, ("YOUR HAT! FIX IT!")
Charles and Benny blinked in surprise, "I'm sorry?"
("YOUR HAT IS LEANING EIGHT DEGREES TOO FAR TO THE LEFT! FIX IT! FIX IT NOW!") he demanded.
Benny looked up at Charles' hat; sure it was tilted slightly, but it was barely noticeable, ("Err...does it matter?")
("OF COURSE IT MATTERS! IF IT'S NOT ON PROPERLY THAN IT'S NOT RIGHT! IF IT'S NOT RIGHT THEN IT FRUSTRATES ME! IF IT FRUSTRATES ME THEN I-") he stopped mid-sentence as he lifted up his paw and began chewing on a patch of fur that was still left over, ("GRRRR! GRRRR! GRRRR!")
"Wait, wait stop!" Charles urgently cried as he reached up and tilted his hat slightly to the left, "Is that better?"
("GRRR! TOO FAR THE THE LEFT!") Charles moved it gently again, causing the eevee to give a exasperated sigh, ("Better. BUT YOUR CLOTHES! THERE'S TOO MANY WRINKLES! FIX IT! FIX IT! FIX IT!")
"Okay!" Charles cried as he began to straighten out his clothes, "Sorry, I got dressed in a rush."
("AND YOU!") the eevee shouted, glaring at Benny who jolted in shock, ("SOME PATCHES OF YOUR FUR ARE LEANING AWAY FROM THE REST! FIX IT NOW!")
("Huh?") Benny cried as he looked down on himself, ("How do you know that!")
("FIX IT!")
"Benny," Charles urged.
("But Charles...") he sighed before using his paws to straighten out his fur, ("You should be more worried about your own fur") he grumbled in annoyance.
Charles cleared his throat and, while trying to rid of the wrinkles, looked down at the Pokemon, "Anyway, while we're sorting things out, Nurse Joy mentioned that you have been...quite upset. Is there something wrong?"
("IS SOMETHING WRONG!?") the eevee yelled back, ("GRRR! OF COURSE, SOMETHING IS WRONG! EVERYTHING IS WRONG! LOOK AT THE POSTERS!") he snapped his head to the walls, ("THE FOREST POSTER NEEDS TO BE NEXT TO THE WINDOW WITH THE VIEW OF THE FOREST! THEN IT HAS TO BE THE COUNTRYSIDE AND THEN THE SEA! YOU CAN'T HAVE IT ANY WAY ELSE! THE EQUIPMENT ON THE DESK IS CROOKED AND NEEDS TO BE PROPELRY POLISHED! THE BED IS TOO SOFT AND NEEDS TO BE MORE FIRMER! ALSO IT'S IN THE WRONG PLACE! GRRRRR! THIS ENTIRE ROOM WAS DESIGNED TO TORTURE ME!") he then growled down at the trey in front of him, ("AND THEN THEY BRING ME THIS! THERE IS EXACTLY 287 PELLETS OF POKEMON FOOD IN THIS BOWL! I NEED TO HAVE AN EVEN NUMBER OF PELLETS! AND THE BERRIES; DON'T GET ME STARTED! NANAB BERRIES CAN ONLY GO WITH SITRUS, PECHA, MAGO OR PERSIM WHILE ORAN BERRIES CAN ONLY GO WITH CHESTO AND RAWST BERRIES! THEY NEED TO BE FIXED RIGHT NOW! GRRRR!")
Charles and Benny sweat dropped at the explanation, 'This is the problem?' they both thought.
However, when they saw the eevee attempt to chew his fur again, Charles stepped forward, "Wait! Wait! If we fix...everything. Will you promise that you'll stop yelling."
The eevee looked up at him with a scathing look, ("Sure...but it better be perfect.")
He sighed before turning around, opening the door to see Flo, Alice and Nurse Joy waiting for him.
"Is everything alright in there?" Nurse Joy asked.
"Yeah...but I'm going to need a ruler, a set square, measuring tape and a spirit measure," he told her, "Oh and this is probably going to take all night."
A Few Hours Later
The morning sun peaked through the window of the hospital room; illuminating the inside with its warm light. On any occasion, Charles and Benny would have enjoyed to see such a grand sunrise…but they were too exhausted to do anything of the sort.
The human and Pokemon were mere husks of themselves; dark rings were under their droopy eyes, they were slightly slouched and both were finding it hard to keep awake. They had been up all night 'fixing' the eevee's room; this involved taking down and rearranging paintings, cleaning, organising the equipment on the desks, getting new beds and a lot more other stuff in order to appease the patient. Both of them looked as if they were going to fall down at any moment with the Pokemon's angry complaints ringing in their ears. However, for the first time since they met the eevee, he had finally stopped his shouting and growling.
He looked around the room; gazing at everything with a small, thoughtful hum before he looked back at the other two.
("This is…satisfactory,") he told them, causing them both to groan tiredly. He looked back at them and frowned in confusion, ("Wait, who are you guys?")
("For goodness' sake,") Benny moaned, ("We've been here for hours.")
Charles, despite the exhaustion, offered the Pokemon a small smile, "My name is Charles and this is my brother Benny-"
("GRRRR!")
"-I…I mean this is Benny and my name is Charles," he repeated, but now in alphabetical order.
The eevee stopped his growling. He looked down at his paws and cringed slightly when he saw the patches of fur on them. He frowned and his ears lowered sadly, ("Oh…right. I did it again, didn't I?") he said shyly, ("I'm…I'm really sorry.")
The brothers shared a look at the sudden change in personality. Charles kneeled down to the eevee's height and began to gently pet his head, being sure to not disrupt his fur too much.
"Why don't you explain why you need everything to be in a certain way. Perhaps we can understand your thought process more."
("Well, I…don't know how to explain it. It seems to make sense to me, but not to anybody else. If I see something dirty or not in the right place then it just irritates me. It nags away at my nerves; growing stronger and stronger until it's put back in place. It happens all the time; even with things that is out of my control,") he gave a mournful sigh, turned around and stepped into his bed, ("Thanks for your help, but…there's no helping me,") he curled up into his bed whilst looking wearily up at the ceiling, ("I've already come to terms with being a freak.")
("Hey, don't say that,") Benny said, ("You can't help it. If you let us maybe we can find a way of helping you.")
The eevee didn't reply and continue to stare up at the ceiling. Charles sighed sadly and stood to his full height and nodded at the door behind him to Benny; it was becoming clear that he was not going to be cooperative. Charles opened the door and were about to leave when suddenly they heard the eevee call out to them.
("Wait, before you go...") he said, making them both look back at him.
"Yes?" Charles asked eagerly.
("...GRRRR! YOUR CLOTHES ARE WRINKLED AGAIN WHEN YOU KNEELED DOWN!") he shouted, ("FIX IT!")
Charles and Benny sweat dropped and sighed wearily.
Waiting Room
Charles and Benny met up with Alice and Flo in the waiting room of the hospital ward. Nurse Joy had given the girls spare rooms where they can stay for the night; they felt fresh and rejuvenated after the unexpected event the previous night in contrast to the exhausted state the brothers were in; they looked like zombies in comparison to them. However, while Benny slept in his lap, Charles still explained to them the situation, making both the girls frown in concern.
"I see," Alice hummed, "I guess Nurse Joy was right, this isn't a problem that can be solved medically."
"Conditions like this are usually caused by past trauma," Flo added, rubbing her chin thoughtfully, "This isn't something that can be 'cured' per se. I can't see what we can do other than make sure everything in his life is in perfect order. Meaning we have to keep him monitored 24/7 just in case, which, of course, is impossible."
"I know it seems like unreasonable. Personally, I would say that this is just his quirk and everybody Pokemon and human has, but you should see him. He's clearly suffering and wants to change," Charles told them, "I don't know how much we can do with our limited experience but we have to do something; even if it's something small. If we do it right then maybe we can put him on the right tracks to recovery."
Flo and Alice shared a look before slowly nodding in agreement.
The young nurse frowned in concentration, "If I remember correctly from my relatives books on Pokemon psychology-"
"You read about psychology?" Alice questioned in surprise.
"I dabble," she admitted, "I read 'The Psyduck Test' and 'Snover Organum'. I'm far from an expect though. Anyway, they say that finding the root of the past trauma makes it easier to finding the problem. So, if we find out what happened to the eevee-"
"Then we can help him," Charles finished, earning a nod from Flo, "I think Nurse Joy said that they found him wondering the streets of Gringey City. Didn't we bypass it on the way to Fuchsia City?"
"For a reason," Alice said with a small shiver, "I spent a weekend there with my aunt one time and it was horrible. I've got some old clothes that still smell like raw sewage and smoke. I can see if I can contact the police station there and see if I can find any leads."
"Great," Charles said, "I think it might be best to take the eevee out. Being in a cramped room all week must be making his stress worse. I can take him down to the village nearby."
Flo gave him a firm glare, "I don't think so. You've been up all night and as a nurse-"
"You're not a nurse," Alice pointed out.
"-as a future nurse who has more medical knowledge then both of you put together," she corrected herself as she shot Alice a warning look, "I must insist that you and Benny get some proper rest and maybe a shower," she ordered before her face lit up happily, "I'll take the eevee out. Maybe get some parfaits, get him to try on some cute clothes, give him cuddles-"
"Flo...I think your ulterior motive is showing," Charles said, rolling his eyes in amusement.
Local Village
After some convincing and promises, Nurse Joy gave Flo permission to take the eevee out of the hospital and down to the nearby village. It was a nice, peaceful place located on the edge of the Safari Zone and was the last place trainers can stay and pick up supplies before the enter the wilderness. It just happened to be even quieter than usual to which Flo was thankful for.
She carried the Pokemon in her arms as she walked down the main high street, relieved to finally got out of the HQ. It wasn't a great start; she had to iron out her clothes before the eevee would stop yelling at her and then had to endure and sheepishly apologise to the hundreds of busy workers who were not up to the eevee's standards in some shape or form. However, once they had left the building and headed down the paved road towards the village, the eevee had calmed down tremendously. He even seemed to be enjoying himself with the walk through the small part of countryside which she was grateful for.
Eventually, Flo came to a stop and looked down at the eevee with a warm smile, "So, where do you want to go first. Are you hungry? Do want to do some shopping? Or maybe-"
"GRRRRR! GRRRRR! EEVEE! EEVEE!"
"Huh?" she uttered in confusion when he saw the eevee gritting his teeth and glaring at something. She followed his line of sight to a nearby rubbish bin; lying on the ground next to the bin was a ball of scrunched up paper which somebody intended to throw away, "Oh, right. Hold on, I'll fix it now."
She jogged over to it, picked it up and tossed it into the bin; almost immediately the eevee stopped his growling, making Flo sigh in relief.
"Fine, why don't we-"
"EEVEE! GRRRR! GRRRR!"
"What now?" Flo said as she saw him growling at the mismatched contents of the bin. She gave a deadpanned look, "I am not organising trash."
"EEVEE!"
"Absolutely not," she firmly said as she turned away and walked a little further down the street, "I am not stooping that low," she sighed before she spotted an ice cream van not too far away, "Hey, why don't we get some ice cream? Have you ever had ice cream before? They got a lot of different flavours that can mixed together," the eevee furrowed his brow suspiciously, "I...I'll be sure to get one single flavour. Plain and simple."
The eevee nodded definitely.
Flo approached the van and looked up at the elderly lady behind the counter. The vendor smiled warmly down at her and tilted her head to the side.
"'Ello there, dearie. What cannae get for ya?" she asked cheerily.
"Hi, can I just get a single-"
Flo jumped in surprise when the eevee began to growl and yip at the vendor, making the elderly lady back away slightly.
"GRRRR! EEVEE! GRRRR! GRRRR!"
"Sorry about him," Flo apologised in embarrassment, "I don't know what's wrong with him today."
"Err...it's...it's fine," the vendor said nervously, "Ain't he a cutie, eh?"
"GRRRR! EEVEE! GRRRR! GRRRR! EEVEE! EEVEE! EEVEE!"
Flo frowned curiously when his barks seemed to grow fiercer; that's when she realised what it was, 'Wait, is he complaining about how she speaks!?' she thought in astonishment, 'His condition must be really bad.'
She decided to give up on ice cream and just continue walking down the high street; trying to find anything to sooth the Pokemon's nerves. They still had plenty of time left of the day and she wanted the eevee's experience to be as good as possible. However, she stopped when she heard a familiar prideful voice from behind her.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't one of Charles' girls. What's wrong, did he dump you?"
Flo sighed miserably, "Not now Thackery," she muttered "Can't you see I'm busy."
"IT'S THACKERY! NOT FAT HAI- oh, wait you said Thackery."
She rolled her eyes and turned back to him, "If you want to battle Charles then can you-"
She stopped mid-sentence when she noticed what he was wearing. Thackery was currently wearing the most ugliest jump suit she has ever seen; it was a mixture of blues, greens, pinks, purples and other colours that did not fit in or blend well at all; it looked like an explosion in a paint factory. Thackery, however didn't seem to mind or care about it and even seem to be proudly showing it off proudly.
"Ah, I see you are enticed by my Safari Zone suit," he smugly said as he began to pose for her, "All the best trainers wear these. It set me back a few hundred pokedollars, but I deserve the best. The seller in the shop told me so."
Flo stared at the jump suit for a few seconds before she went deathly pale in realisation. She looked down at the Pokemon in her arms and saw the little eevee physically tremble as he glared daggers at Thackery.
"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" the eevee began to growl.
Flo gulped, "Thackery...run...now."
"Why should I?" Thackery sniffed, "I have every right to be-"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" the Pokemon yelled as he leapt from Flo's arms towards Thackery, his teeth bared and his claws out.
For the next few minutes, the peaceful village was filled with the terrified screams of Thackery, the roars of a small Pokemon, and the sound of violently ripping cloth. Thackery's jump suit would not survive, but the tatters of cloth that used to be it will be in neat, colour organised piles on the pavement.
HQ Lobby
Meanwhile, Alice was talking to one of her relatives over the video phone the Ranger HQ provided. She had been on hold for a while now as the Officer Jenny of Gringy City searched for the right files on the eevee they had found and was staring into space in sheer boredom. Gringy City, from what she could recall, was not the greatest city in the whole of Kanto; in fact it was better to avoid it all together. It used to be the industrial capital of the region, but now it has become more or less a ghost town filled with dirty factories, filthy alleyways and the water in harbour was polluted. The only Pokemon who reside there are grimer, muk, and magnemite who didn't mind the smell.
The fact that it's the only city in Kanto not named after a colour really says it all.
However, Alice had heard that the citizens were staring to take action and clean up the city, but getting rid of years of pollution and squalor is not going to be easy.
She was suddenly brought out of her thoughts when Officer Jenny appeared on the screen again.
"Sorry it took so long, A couple of grimer had got into the filing room and…you know what, you don't need to know details," she said, flicking a bit of greyish goo off the file she was holding before she opened it and began searching through it, "Let's see…a Pokemon, later identified as an eevee, was found on the streets with no evidence of any trainer. First responders say that they thought the it had been injured during a battle, but we soon learned that it was self-inflicted-"
"Sorry to cut you off, but we already knew that," Alice politely interrupted, "Have you any idea where the eevee could have come from?"
Much to her disappointment, Officer Jenny shook her head, "Not really, we've got no records of the Pokemon and nobody has come to claim him. It is possible that he's wild and happened to accidentally wonder in the city limits."
Alice leaned back in her chair and frowned slightly, 'From what Charles told me, he doesn't seem wild. Wild eevee are weary of humans, but he was comfortable being with Charles and Flo,' she thought before turning back to her relative, "Is there really nothing else you can tell me?"
"Sorry kid, but I've got nothing. If there is any clues then it'll be already lost in an alleyway somewhere."
"Really?" she sighed.
"Gingey City is not a great place. We see the sun twice a weak, the streets are constantly covered in smog and our best and only tourist attraction is our hydroelectric power plant. Our city's motto is 'Yeah we know, try living here.'
Alice chuckled in amusement at that.
…
…
…
…
Her eyes widened in realisation, "Oh, that's really your city's-"
"Motto? Yes, yes it is," Officer Jenny sighed. However, she the frowned thoughtfully as if she remembered something, "Wait a minute, I wonder if this is connected to the other case?"
Alice cocked her head to the side, "Other case?"
"A while ago, we found a Team Rocket hide out storing stolen or poached Pokemon in an abandoned warehouse. We arrested all the culprits and saved all the Pokemon…but it might be possible that one of them escaped while we were making the arrest."
"Huh, interesting."
"After interrogating a few, they mentioned a few freelance Pokemon hunters that they associated with. Let me see if we have the list of associations somewhere," Officer Jenny said as she moved off screen.
Alice hummed with a small frown, "Pokemon hunters," she muttered, "Why is it always Pokemon hunters."
Charles yawned as he exited the small bedroom Nurse Joy had given him and smiled in satisfaction as he began to walk down the hallways with Benny on his shoulder. They had been asleep for a few hours; resting after a long night of arranging furniture and being shouted at by a Pokemon. He rubbed the back of his head as he reached the main foyer of the hospital ward where Nurse Joy was busily working.
"Hi Nurse Joy," he greeted, getting her attention, "I was wondering if Flo's returned with the eev-" she saw her flinch, "I-I mean the Pokemon."
The nurse smiled tiredly, but shook her head, "I'm afraid not. I think she's still out. She might be back within the hour or so."
"Oh," Charles muttered, "I guess we can wait here until she gets back."
("Wait a minute, Charles,") Benny piped up, ("Since we've got nothing to do, why don't we check in on the tauros you caught. That's what the original plan was anyway.")
"You're right," he said before he turned back to Nurse Joy, "For Pokemon captured in the Safari Zone where do you keep them until trainers are ready to pick them up."
"It depends on the Pokemon," she answered, "smaller Pokemon who can don't mind being indoors can stay in one of our rooms, Grass, Bug and Rock, Flying and Ground types have their own sanctuaries outside..."
"What about a tauros?"
"Larger Pokemon will have their own stables outside. I can use your pokedex to find which Pokemon is registered to you."
"If you don't mind," he said, handing her his pokedex so she can search her database.
As she was searching, Benny looked down at his brother, ("Still worried about meeting him?")
Charles hummed in confirmation, "I was kind of hoping to have a bit more prep time...what's a good way of saying, 'Sorry for capturing you against your will, but you were going to trample on a few baby kangaskhan so you had it coming, so are we cool'?"
("Probably anyway but what you just said. If he's fine with it then there's no problem; if he's upset with it then we can release him; if he charges...well, we'll find out when the time comes.")
The trainer couldn't help but chuckle at that, "I suppose it's kind of like Schrödinger's Delcatty," he murmured before he gave a confident nod, "Alright let's do this."
("Great,") Benny chirped happily.
Both we unaware of the stretcher being pushed behind them carrying a trembling Thackery; he was currently in his underwear and vest with parts of his former jump suit hung around his neck and wrists.
"W-why c-c-can't I-I-I be t-treated i-in t-t-t-the human hospit-t-tal?"
Stables
It did not take the too very long until they found the stables that Nurse Joy was telling them about; it was a long wooden building outside the hospital wing of the HQ; the treeline that acted as the border for the Safari Zone was not too far away and was primarily separated by a strip of slightly muddy grassland where the Pokemon were free to roam as long as they do not stray away.
They smelt fresh hay as they approached entered the stables and walked down the corridor and past each stable door. Nurse Joy had told them that the tauros they were looking for was staying at pen No.076 and eventually they had found it. They saw the tauros, with its back to them, munching on some Pokemon food from a large trough; he has not seemed to notice them yet which Charles was slightly relieved about.
He took a deep breath and clutched the tauros' pokeball that Nurse Joy gave him earlier in his hand, 'You can do this,' he told himself before he knocked on the pen door.
The tauros' ears perked up at the sound and turned its head towards them. He gave a confused confused moo as Charles waved to him and a nervous grin.
"Hi!"
("Hello,") Benny greeted as well.
The tauros blinked at him before he quickly spun towards him, scraped his hoof along the dirt ground and lowered his head so his horns pointed at him.
("Aha! Thought you could sneak up behind me and catch me with my trousers down, eh!? Come at me and fight like a real gentleman, you yellow-livered coward!") he bellowed enthusiastically.
The brothers were slightly surprised by this. His words did not sound like an angry threat, but rather like a bold declaration filled with bravado and machismo. Charles cleared his throat and put his hands up in defence.
"Oh no, I'm not here to fight-"
("You're not?") the tauros said in genuine surprise as he lifted his head up, ("Oh my dear apologies, my boy. Why didn't you say so earlier. You can't fight a gentleman not looking for a battle, that would be quite ungentlemanly of me,") he narrowed his eyes at him, ("Hold on a moment, my boy. I feel as if we already met.")
"Yes, that's right," Charles said, "I was the one-"
("No, no. Don't tell me, my boy,") the tauros cut him off as he hummed thoughtfully, ("Did we meet by that lake that one time?")
"Err..." Charles stammered.
("Oh no, that was that primape chap, wasn't it? Did we bout that one time by the twin palm trees?")
"I don't think..."
("No, no, no. That wasn't you either, my boy. Now don't tell me. It'll come to me,") he said as he dug his hoof into the ground in thought, ("Let's see, let's see, let's see...")
Benny and Charles sweat dropped, ("We really do meet the most strangest Pokemon, don't we,") Benny commented in slight amusement.
His brother chuckled in slight amusement, "Benny, I am human who talks to Pokemon and you're a pikachu with golden fur...we're just as strange."
("You have a point,") Benny admitted.
As the tauros continued to ponder and mutter to himself, Charles opened his pen door, stepped inside and rubbed the tauros' head gently. The Pokemon was surprised by this, but was not infuriated by it.
"My name is Charles Roberts and I was the one that caught you in a pokeball during the stampede a few days ago," he told him, "I jumped on your back and caught you before I could even talk to you," he gave a small sigh, "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have done it without your permission. If you want me to release you then...you're more then welcome to leave."
The tauros fell silent for a few seconds and Charles was prepared for the worst. The Pokemon stared up at him before he eventually uttered a few words.
("That...was you...my boy?") he asked, causing him to nod nervously.
He fell silent for another few seconds before he did something that neither he nor Charles was expecting...
...
...
...he reared back his head and roared with laughter.
("HAHAHAHAHA! Of course! That was you! I knew we tussled once before! I never forget an opponent's face, you see!") he boldly declared.
Charles and Benny shared a look, ("You're not...angry at him?") Benny asked cautiously.
("Angry!") the tauros barked, ("Of course not! Why would I be angry?")
"Because I caught you without asking for permission. As a trainer, I promised myself that I would never catch a single Pokemon and will always ask them if they want to join by their own choice. And I broke that promise...I'm really sorry."
The tauros hummed and cocked his head to the side, ("Hmm, while it is rather ungentlemanly to break a promise; it is even more ungentlemanly to not to ask for forgiveness, I say. Do not fret, my boy. I forgive you.")
"But-"
("As for why I'm not angry at you for the capture; the answer is twofold. One, you were doing it for a good reason. It's a shame to admit, but our species are known for their stampedes which I believe is rather ungentlemanly. I remember the event well...I was spooked by the cubone which caused me to ungentlemanly charge which spread to the rest of my herd and ultimately caused the stampede,") he gave a small saddened sigh, ("We have a good relationship with the kagaskhan herd and it upsets me to think we could have harmed them. However, you and the rest of your human herd, my boy, did everything to help thwart that dreadful event, did you not? That takes courage, my boy. Courage to put your lives on the line to help others in need. If there's one thing that I admire most as a gentleman is courage,") he said with warmly, ("Secondly, I pride myself as the strongest and most gentlemanly tauros in the herd. No other Pokemon has beaten me in combat before...until you came along, my boy. And with that...I give you my respect.")
"Respect?"
("We are gentleman. We meet, we fight, one of us wins, we celebrate the victory and possibly have another fight. Isn't that how real gentleman act?")
("Yeah, we kind of skipped a few of those steps,") Benny commented with a sweat dropped.
("You have gained my respect as a saviour of the innocent and as a gentleman, my boy,") the tauros continued, ("Now tell me...what is your purpose?")
"M-my purpose," Charles uttered, "Well, I'm a trainer. I collect a team of Pokemon and we compete in gym battles and travel the world-"
("Say no more,") the tauros cut him off, ("That sounds quite sporting. I am excited to join in your travels.")
Charles took a step back in surprise, "You will? Just like that?"
The tauros gave a content moo, ("My boy, if you are talking of battles and bouts then you have my fullest attention. Besides, it's ungentlemanly to keep asking my herd for a fight. If I am to prove myself a gentleman then I need to fight the strongest. Bring it on, I say! Let's prove who's the real gentleman!")
Charles was a little stunned by this, but soon a relieved smile spread across his face, "Thank you...I feel much better now."
("Think nothing of it my boy,") the tauros proudly declared.
"This also means we have to give you a name," Charles said before he frowned in thought, "What do you think of the name Hoss."
("Hoss, hmm?") the tauros pondered, ("That's sounds like a strong, fighting name fit for a gentleman,") he agreed, ("Splendid. Now if either of you two lads want another fight then look no further. I'll give it my all.")
Benny chuckled before he jumped off Charles' shoulder and stood at his hooves, ("Well, why don't we start now. I haven't had a battle in ages. Let's...") he trailed off slightly as he looked up at the newly named Hoss, ("Are you alright?")
Much to their surprise, Hoss was shaking as he stared down at Benny. His eyes were wide and his ears were flat against his head as if he was afraid of him; he moved back into his pen and away from the pikachu as possible.
("D-don't come near me,") he uttered in fear, ("Stay away from me, I say.")
The brothers looked at each other in bafflement; where had all the bravado he was proud of gone.
"Hoss, what's wrong?" Charles asked as stepped closer, noticing that the tauros was keeping his eyes on Benny, "You were fine with Benny a moment ago. What's wrong with him?"
("H-he was fine earlier when he was on y-your shoulder, but now he's s-smaller than me. Just like that c-cubone,") Hoss stammered whilst still trembling.
Charles frowned in confusion, "Smaller?" he said before his eyes widened in realisation, "Hoss, do you have microphobia?"
("Micro-what?") Benny asked.
"A fear of small things," he explained.
("N-not necessarily, m-my boy,") Hoss stuttered, ("pebbles and other st-urdy objects are a w-walk in the park...but anything smaller then me like other Pokemon or flowers...well, they're fragile. I'm not the most graceful of P-Pokemon...I can hurt them; it isn't gentlemanly of me to hurt smaller opponents.")
"Might explain why Silver freaked you out," Charles muttered, "So as long as they are above your head then you're fine. Like Benny on my shoulder."
("Hey!") Benny cried in offence, ("Don't think I'll let you get away with calling me fragile! I'm much stronger than I look-")
Benny made the mistake of getting closer to Hoss, making him bellow in fright and rear back onto his hindlegs.
("Get away from me!") he cried before he charged forwards over the pikachu and around Charles and out of his pen, heading straight for the stable doors, ("I don't want to hurt you!")
"Hoss, come back!" Charles cried out as he saw the tauros charge out of the door, "Benny, come on. We have to go after him!"
("But he called me fragile.")
("BENNY!")
The pikachu yelped in fright before he leapt back onto his shoulder; Charles ran out of the stables as he quickly pursued the charging tauros.
Outside
Meanwhile, Flo was carrying the eevee around the back of the HQ to where the stables were; her relative had told her that Charles and Benny had gone around to it and decided that she should meet them there. The trip to the the village was not successful; there were several incidents after the run in with Thackery and it was becoming clear that the Pokemon was getting more and more stressed no matter what did.
She thought it was best to give up for the day and take him back to Charles. Maybe he could do something about him or maybe Alice had found something about his past.
"We're almost back to your room," she said warmly, "We just need to find Charles at the stables and then we can go back."
"Grrrrr!"
Flo sighed, "I know, I know, but I'm sure that stables is very well managed and clean. There's nothing to be stressed abou-"
BANG!
("Get away! Get away!"_
Both of them jumped as a large tauros burst through the doors of the stables, kicking and bellowing wildly as if he was spooked.
"What the-" Flo uttered before she noticed him charging blindly towards them, too shocked to move.
Charles, with Benny on his shoulder, sprinted out of the stables; his eyes widened when he saw what was happening as he lifted his pokeball up, "Hoss, watch out!"
The tauros opened his eyes and yelped in shock as soon as he saw Flo and the eevee. He stamped his hooves into the ground as he tried to skid to a halt, but he was going too fast to stop. Just as his horns was about a foot away from them, the pokeball in Charles' hand opened up and a beam of red light shot out and hit the tauros. The Pokemon disappeared into the pokeball not a moment too soon, however, when his hooves dug into the soft ground it flung a small tidal wave of mud that hit Flo and eevee. Flo was hit on the chest, neck and face, causing her to sputter and spit out some mud that had got into her mouth; but the eevee took the majority of the wave. He felt himself covered in mud; in what little fur he had left, his his mouth, in his ears and nose; it was everywhere...
...and he felt his anger and stress boil inside of him.
("GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! IT'S ALL OVER ME! I HATE IT! I HATE IT! I HATE !") He yelled as he he shook violently in Flo's arms.
The young nurse was surprised by him flailing, "Hey! Stop that! You're going to hurt yourself!"
Blinded with rage, the eevee opened his mouth and bit down hard on Flo's hand, causing her to scream in pain and drop him onto the ground. As soon as he hit the muddy grass, the eevee sprinted off towards the treeline and into the forest, yelling in fury as he did so. Flo's eyes widened as she prepared to follow him whilst clutching her bleeding hand.
"Wait! Come back!" she cried but stopped when she felt somebody grab onto to her shoulder.
"Leave him, Flo," Charles told her, casting a worried look at the forest.
"But Charles-"
"We need to focus on your hand, right now," he calmly told her, "We'll find him later and bring him back."
Flo looked as if she was going to protest, but reluctantly stopped what she was going to do, "I...tried my best."
"I know you did," Charles told her, "Let's get back to the-"
"Hey guys!" all three turned when they heard the shout and saw Alice running towards them with a piece of paper in her hand. She stopped short when she saw the state Flo was in, "Are you alright? What happened to you? " she asked in worry.
"The eevee..." Flo said gloomily, "...I..."
"We'll talk about it later," Charles told her, patting her shoulder comfortingly, "Right now. We need to patch up Flo's hand."
"Right, I understand," Alice agreed as they made their way back to the HQ,, "But I found something on the eevee. My aunt said that they discovered a Team Rocket hideout that were keeping stolen or poached Pokemon. She said it might be possible that the eevee was one of them who managed to escape."
"No wonder, he was upset," Flo sighed, "That must have been very scarring on him."
"It gets better," Alice continued, "After interrogating the grunts, they found that they were using Pokemon hunters as sources. She sent me the list of them," she said, showing them the piece of paper, "Recognise anybody on there?"
They looked down the list of five or six hunters before they eyes landed on one very familiar name; somebody they had run in before.
'Leslie Humperdinck ' A.K.A: Striker'
("Charles...you don't suppose...") Benny said, earning a nod from his brother.
"It must be," he murmured, "I need to contact the corral right now."
Riverside
After a while of searching and asking a few Pokemon in the area if they've seen a almost bold eevee, he finally found him deep in the forest in a small, slow-moving river. He was frantically trying to wash the mud out of his fur by dipping himself under water, shaking his fur and scratching some muddy chunks off of him, but it was not coming out. He growled and spat as his anger grew more and more and there was nothing he could do about it."
("I HATE IT! I HATE IT! I HATE IT! GRRRR! WHY WON'T THIS COME OFF!") he screamed in fury, ("SO ANNOYING! FRUSTRATING! CAN'T FIX IT!") at the final yell he stopped his shaking and slumped into the water so that his head was just above the surface. His ears were lowered against his head and small tears began to deep from his eyes and drip into the water, ("Can't fix it,") he whimpered, ("Someone…help me…please…help me. I don't like it.")
He continued to cry and whimper in despair; he felt completely hopeless; he could nothing and nobody was going to save him.
He was completely and utterly alone.
However, that's when his ears pricked up at the sound of splashing coming towards him. He then felt two gentle hands lift him up from the water and let his head comfortingly.
"It's alright. I'm here," Charles softly said, "would you like me to wash your fur."
The eevee sniffed, ("Yes…please fix it.")
Charles sat by the riverside and washed the mud out of what little fur he had, using a comb that he always kept in his pocket just in case. The eevee simply allowed him; having given up on doing anything, but hang his head in despair. After a few minutes and a quick but observant look over, Charles carefully sat him down on the riverbank and stoked his fuzzy head.
"There you go. You're all clean now," he told him, "You have nothing to anxious about."
The eevee did not respond, but simply watched the river pass by with a longing look. Charles frowned slightly at the silent response before he looked down at the river as well; all that was heard was the gentle trickling of the water as it flowed by. Eventually, the human decided it was time to speak up.
"I know you didn't mean to bite Flo. She's not angry at you."
("She may not be, but I am. I've never bit anybody before,") he muttered sadly, ("Why am I like this?")
"It's not your fault; it's just the way you are."
("But I don't like the way I am,") he said as tears formed in his eyes, ("I want to be calm, but I just can't. I want to have friends and enjoy everything, but everything I see...I just see everything that's wrong with it. It's like I'm drawn to seeing imperfection and it stresses me out.")
"Do I stress you out?" he asked making the eevee look up at him in intrigue, "I, a human, am able to communicate to Pokemon. That's not natural."
The eevee cocked his head to the side in thought, ("Now that you mention it...that doesn't stress me out. But I wouldn't say that's strange. It's kind of like...kind of like this river,") he said, nodding towards the water in front of them, ("A river winds and twists through the land; goes over waterfalls, rushes through creeks and gently runs over rocks. It should stress me out because of all the changes and inconsistences...but then I remember that is what it does. It starts from the source and ends up to the sea or a large body of water no matter how many turns it does. It's quite comforting. It's kind of like you. Your a human at the start and, no matter how many unusual traits you have, you end as a human...and that doesn't stress me out.")
Charles frowned as he decided to take a different strategy, "Ok, how about this. How does it feel once everything is in order, categorised or clean?"
("I feel relieved...like everything makes sense again and I know where I am in the world,") he lowered his ears to his head, ("I wouldn't say it feels great, but it makes everything way less confusing and scary.")
"Confusion can be scary. A lot of people fear the unknown. But it becomes easier to manage if you are among friends and family who can help share the burden."
("I have neither...not any more.")
A bright smile spread across his face, "I don't know about that. I think you have someone."
The eevee frowned in confusion before he felt something gently wrap around him. He looked down and saw, to his bafflement, a white ribbon like thing slide around him and embraced him warmly. He followed the ribbon to behind him and saw a Pokemon he had never seen before; she was bright, beautiful and she emitted a soothing aura. She looked perfect; not a single strand of fur out of place, her colour scheme was just right and the fact that she had even amount of bright bow was amazing. The eevee may not have recognised her by sight, but he certainly knew her scent. It was familiar in a nostalgic way; like a childhood memory or feeling of bright joy that suddenly emerged in side of him. The scent brought him back to a den beneath a fallen tree miles and miles away where his mother and brothers and sisters were born and raised; it brought him back to long summer days playing with his siblings in the grassy fields; and most of all, it brought him back to cold nights where he snuggled up to his mother to keep himself warm.
It was a scent that he had not remembered in years and it brought a tear to his eye.
He knew exactly who this Pokemon was.
("Sister?")
Titania smiled as tears formed in her eyes, ("Hello brother.")
The eevee rushed to her and wrapped his paws around her leg while Titania leaned down and wrapped her other ribbon around him as the both shared a familial embrace. They wept happily into each other's fur; overjoyed by the reunion.
("I missed you so much,") the eevee sobbed, ("I thought I would never see you again.")
("Neither did I,") Titania sniffed.
Charles watched on in silence a warm smile on his face. They hugged each other for a few more seconds before they pulled apart. The eevee inspected the new evolutionary form in wonder.
("You look...different.")
("That's rich coming from you. I thought mum told you to stop chewing your fur,") she looked up at Charles, ("It was a bad habit he developed when he was younger.")
("I'm stressed, I can't help it,") he defended himself, ("Don't change the subject...what are you?")
("I go by Titania now and I'm a sylveon...they're more common in another region,") she explained before she frowned seriously, ("Brother, do you know where our other siblings are?")
The eevee frowned slightly, ("I...I don't know exactly. Four of us and mum went to different regions while you, me and sister and brother stayed in this region. You were the first to be sold off, then sister and then brother. That hunter couldn't sell me, because of my appearance and so he sold me to some organisation who I escaped from.")
"So, there are two more of you that we need to find in this region," Charles hummed, "Tracking the others down in other regions will be tricky."
The eevee's ears pricked up in surprise, ("Tracking them down?")
("That's right,") Titania told him with a small smile, ("Charles is helping us reunite and we need your help as well. I know you barely know Charles and the rest of the team and that might be stressful for you, but I would really like you to join the team.")
"You don't have to compete in any battles if you don't want to. I mean I have two gloom who prefer cheerleading.")
Titania rolled her eyes, ("As annoying as one of those gloom are...she is somewhat bareable...at time,") she muttered before she gave a pleading look to the eevee, ("Please brother.")
The eevee frowned as he looked from Charles to Titania. However, to their disappointment, he shook his head.
("You're right...the thought of being around new Pokemon, going to new places and potentially seeing messy things...I don't think I can do it. It sounds too stressful,") he said, bowing his head as he began to tremble, ("However...the thought of our family...not being complete,") the both jumped in surprise as he reared back his head and gave the loudest growl with his teeth firmly shut, ("GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! THE THOUGHT OF OUR FAMILY BEING INCOMPLETE IS EVEN MORE STRESSFUL! I HATE IT! I HATE IT! I WANT TO JOIN! I WANT TO FIX IT!") he roared into the sky.
Charles and Titania blinked in surprise before they smiled as a new member joined their ever growing team.
Hospital Ward Lobby
Charles took Titania and the eevee back to the HQ where they were greeted by their relieved friends and explained to them what happened. The moment he set the eevee down on the floor, he trotted over to a now clean Flo; cringing slightly at the bandage on her hand. He looked back and saw his sister nod encouragingly at her whilst waving her ribbons. He took a deep breath, turned back to her and gently patted her foot.
("I'm sorry for biting your hand,") he shyly apologised.
Flo smiled, kneeled down and gently patted his head, "Aww, are you apologising for earlier. It's fine. I understand that you were feeling stressed and accidently lashed out."
Charles watched happily as the eevee and Flo made up. Meanwhile, Alice walked up to his side and Benny leapt onto his shoulder also watching what was going on.
("So everything is sorted?") Benny inquired.
"Yep, eevee will be joining us from now on in search of his and Titania's siblings."
("It's going to be a lot of work,") his brother pointed out.
"If everything was easy then is it worth doing," Charles replied, earning a small nod from Benny, "Thank you Alice. You were the who actually discovered that the eevee was actually Titania's brother."
Alice rubbed the back of her head and smiled in embarrassment, "It's really nothing," she said before gave a look of determination, "What's important is reuniting the family no matter what it takes. Have you come up with a name for the eevee?"
"That's a point," Charles hummed before he walked over to the eevee, "So, since you're becoming part of the team, we have to pick you out a name."
("A name?")
"Of course. You didn't think we're just going to keep on calling you 'the eevee', did you? What would you like to be called?"
The eevee frowned in thought, ("I don't know. What's a name that means calm and relaxing. Because that's what I want to be.")
"Calm and relaxing, huh?" Charles hummed, "We can always look in the thesaurus."
Flo quickly found one in her bag (for some reason she had one) and quickly skimmed though the pages, "Let's see, there's 'quite', 'serene', 'peaceful', 'halcyon', 'tranquil'..."
("Halycon?") the eevee said, cocking his head to the side, ("It starts and ends with a soft sound and in the middle there's a hard sound. It's in perfect order,") he realised before he nodded, ("I like to be called Halcyon from now on.")
Benny sweat dropped, ("That's the reason you're going with?")
"Halcyon," Charles repeated, "I think that suits you perfectly."
The newly named Halcyon smiled happily before he looked over to his sister. He trotted over to her and shyly bowed his head.
("I know that we've just found each other, but-")
("You want to travel with Charles rather than come back to the corral with me,") she guessed, earning a small nod from him, ("It's fine. You go on. We've got all the time in the world to catch up.")
Halcyon smiled and hugged his sister, ("Thank you. I want to change for the better the next time you see me. I want to make you proud.")
Titania gently hit him on the head with her ribbons, ("I'm always proud of you, you moron.") she said in amusement, earning a small chuckle from him.
Soon, Charles returned Titania to her pokeball and, after receiving his pokeball from Nurse Joy who just arrived, he was able to return Halycon to his pokeball.
"I shall register eevee's pokeball to your pokedex in a bit. Just to say that you have taken ownership of him," Nurse Joy said, earning a grateful smile from Charles, "Thank you kids so much for all your help. I honestly thought we wouldn't find a way to help him."
"It's our pleasure, Nurse Joy," Charles said.
"You can count on us to help," Flo added.
Alice nodded in agreement, "And with no reward necessary," she said proudly.
"Oh really, that's a shame," Nurse Joy said, "I was going to give you free passes to the HQ buffet down in the cafeteria for all your hard w-"
WHOOOOSH!
Before Nurse Joy could finish her sentence, Alice sprinted as fast as she can out of the ward leaving only a dust cloud in her wake. The nurse was astounded at such speed while her friends just rolled their eyes.
("Wow, I thought that only happened in cartoons,") Benny muttered as he watched the dust cloud disappear.
Charles shot Nurse Joy a sheepish smile, "We have to go after her. Thanks for everything," he said as he and Flo ran after her.
"Alice, come back!" Flo yelled, "You don't even know where the cafeteria is?"
Nurse Joy watched them leave with an amused giggled and turned to one of her chansey who waddled up beside her.
("I'm so glad everything is sorted out") the chansey said happily.
"I'm guessing your happy that everything is back to normal," Nurse Joy said to her partner with a content sigh, "With the eevee gone we can finally have peace and quiet around here."
"Nurse Joy!" cried a young boy as he ran up with an eevee in his arms, "Do you mind healing my eevee?"
...
...
...
...
Nurse Joy and the chansey face faulted and sighed in despair.
"You have got to be kidding me," she muttered, earning a confused look from both the boy and the eevee.
That's it! Hope you enjoyed it!
Over the winter, I decided that I was going to do two updates in a row with every story. I thought it was a good idea at the time, but I then life (in general) was becoming more and more busier. It's starting to ease up now, but it meant that some stories (such as this one) hasn't been updated in ages. My poor Professor Layton story hasn't been updated since November!
Anyway, that's the reason why I haven't updated in while and I'm really sorry.
Now that's out of the way, I would like to say a special thank you to all who suggested names for the newly caught Pokemon. Ruth, Dorothy and Hoss are all amazing names for great Pokemon.
Thank you and see you next time :)
Potential Pokemon List:
Charles
Gastley
Drowzee
Goldeen
Aerodactyl
Onix
Grimer
Hoothoot (Johto)
Octillery (Orange Islands)
Pinsir
Salamance (Hoenn)
Metagross (Hoenn)
Dewgong
Elekid (Johto)
Poochyena (Hoenn)
Chikorita (Johto)
Flo
Psyduck
Cubone
Jolteon
Shellder
Weedle
Igglybuff (Johto)
Exeggcute (Orange Islands)
Qwilfish (Orange Islands)
Slugma (Hoenn)
Snubbull (Johto)
Miltank (Johto)
Beautifly (Hoenn)
Alice
Rattata
Poliwag
Spearow
Lickitung
Mr Mime
Spinarak (Johto)
Umbreon (Johto)
Rhyhorn (Johto)
Wobbuffet (Johto)
Nosepass (Hoenn)
Swinub (Sinnoh)
Smeargle (Johto)