Pokemon Center

Viridian City, Kanto

"How is he, Nurse Joy?"

Tai is anxiously leaning on the counter as he gives Nurse Joy a worried expression. Yuuki can be seen outside the center with the mummified trainer, Officer Jenny, and her Growlithe.

"The Eevee is stable." Nurse Joy says as Tai lets out a sigh of relief. "But, it seems that our Abra has detected mental trauma. The poor guy has gone through a lot that the Abra had no choice but to cut off their mental scans."

"T-that bad?" Tai mutters in horror before gripping the counter tightly. "Does it involve that sorry excuse of a trainer?"

"No, the mental scars came before he gained ownership of the Eevee. From the record, it seems that there's a trainer before him who owns this particular Eevee." Nurse Joy pauses, a bit hesitant. "Although...the previous trainer's ID seems to be a fake..."

"So, a possible illegal Pokemon hunting?" Tai mutters as Nurse Joy merely nods.

"I can't spare much about the details because you're just a newly registered trainer." Nurse Joy says as Tai nods solemnly. "Would you like to see him?"

"May I? I mean, I'm not his trainer." Tai says.

"Yes, but you are his savior," Joy says as they both walk into the patient room, ignoring the seeming scream outside the Pokemon Center. As they entered the patient room, Tai saw a silver-furred Eevee covered in bandages from head to toe. Tai's heart was twisted witnessing the scene, especially when the Eevee let out a scared whimper seeing him.

"He's so scared..." Tai mutters sadly as Joy nods.

"Indeed...and to make it worse, it's not the first time this ever happened," Joy says sadly. Tai knows that very well, especially when he sees both sides of humanity, its good and its bad. More specifically, there is an increase in abandoned pets and old folks adopting them out of pity.

"Hey..." Tai says gently as he approaches the poor guy, who seems to quiver in fear. Tai hesitates a bit before approaching him again at a slower pace.

"No need to fear...that man will not hurt you anymore..." This gains Eevee's attention as he stares at Tai, a hesitant look in his eyes. "I'm not lying, you can hear him wailing outside, getting arrested by Officer Jenny."

Eevee lifts his ears and sure enough, he can hear a muffled scream from the outside. It sounds familiar, but at the same time, it doesn't. He has heard that scream every single time, but this time, instead of filling with anger and frustration, it was filled with panic and fear, a feeling he is familiar with.

"As you can see, the man. No, the monster that tries to harm you isn't going to do it again anytime soon." Tai explains as he slowly approaches Eeevee, who seems to be less scared, but still wary. Tai extends his hand, causing Eevee to close his eyes out of fear, expecting pain.

But the pain never comes; all he feels is a gentle touch. Eevee opened his eyes as he saw Tai's gentle smile, petting his head softly. He felt the warmth from his touch as Eevee instinctively leaned into his hand, nuzzling it as a few tears escaped his eyes.

When was the last time he ever felt such warmth from someone? His packs left him because of his fur coat. He was hunted down by a man with mysterious power and scarred physically and mentally. He was sold to a trainer who only wants him because he's rare and beats him because he loses a fight. He believes he is unloved and will only receive pain, hatred, and anger from everyone he meets.

The warmth from Tai is something he never felt, but it was so comforting that he wanted more of it. He didn't want the warmth to disappear, so he desperately clung to it.

Tai watches the Eevee react to his touch and feels concerned. All of those emotions just from a single gentle touch? Does he never feel kindness from everyone? Boldly, he immediately switches into a hug, causing the Eevee to flinch before he melts and nuzzles his chest. Tai made sure he didn't wrap his arms around Eevee tightly as he looked at Nurse Joy, who could give Eevee a pitiful look.

"Tai..." Nurse Joy says. "A mentally scarred Pokemon will be brought to the Pokemon rehabilitation center for proper care."

"So, we need professionals to help this poor Eevee?" Tai asks as Eevee clutches his paws on Tai's shirt, showing he isn't willing to go.

"That was the supposed standard procedure. But, separating Eevee from you might cause more harm than good." Nurse Joy admits. "I know I ask a lot, but would you take care of that poor Eevee?"

"Yes," Tai says seriously, using a tone that doesn't fit a 10-year-old boy, which caught Nurse Joy off guard, but she is relieved that the boy understands and is willing to take responsibility, causing her to smile.

"Then, I believe that from now on, Eevee is under your care." Nurse Joy exclaims as Tai lets out a small smile and nods.

"Yeah..." Tai says before he receives a nuzzle from Eevee. Tai smiles wider as he pets the poor thing. He can't help but reminded of the wild baby fox who he used to take care of but got killed because he was chased off by the violent bullies and got crushed under a car's tire.

"Tai...are you okay?" Joy asks hesitantly.

"Y-yeah..." Tai says in a shaky voice, wiping some of the tears off his face. He hates how easily he shifts into a crybaby, then he remembers that he was a crybaby when he was a kid back in his home world. How he wishes he was never one in the first place.

Later

"So, you decided to adopt this little kit?"

Yuuki looks at the silver-furred Eevee, who quivers in fear as he sits next to Yuuki. It wasn't a surprise since Yuuki's a Legendary Pokemon, a being beyond mortal's understanding and is held in high regard by any mortal, humans, or Pokemons.

"Yeah," Tai says with a smile. "I hope you don't mind."

"You are officially a trainer, Tai. Getting new Pokemons to your party won't affect you too much. I ain't a mere mortal who will be jealous over such small stuff." Yuuki says while raising his head high.

"Yet, you are gluttonous enough to devour my food like a vacuum cleaner," Tai replies in a deadpan manner as Yuuki is flustered by his words.

"S-such accussation!" Yuuki stammers as Tai can't help but chuckle. The Eevee could only stare at his new trainer in utter disbelief. How was he able to tease a Legendary Pokemon so nonchalantly and live to tell the tale!?! What kind of being Tai is!?! Is Tai secretly a higher being descending to the mortal realm and living amongst the mortals?! Is he saved by divine intervention!?

Tai can't help but be nervous at Eevee's awe expression, staring at him with starry eyes. He can see literal sparkles coming out of Eevee, like how Shiny Pokemon do whenever they are summoned to the battlefield in the game.

"A-anyways, how's that bastard of a human?" Tai asks as Yuuki growls. Merely mentioning that sorry excuse of a trainer left a bitter taste in their mouth.

"You can rest assured that the Officer will make sure he won't see the daylight anytime soon." Yuuki growls. "The poor kit isn't the only Pokemon he has bought, abused, and even to the point 'killed by accident.'"

"...I wish I go for a punch first before you mummified him," Tai says before his expression turns dark. "Then, I could rip his balls off, stir fry it, make it into his last meal before killing him off as he went to the afterlife, still remembering the taste of his deep-fried dick."

Yuuki and Eevee stare at Tai with wide eyes and horrified expressions; their jaws drop to the floor like a ton of bricks. Of all the things they expect from Tai, that is not one of them. Tai displayed a lot of emotions, but none were expecting him to show a ruthless side since he looked like a normal kid, except for his scar.

"Umm." Tai finally realizes that he says all of that in front of his partners and starts to blush in embarrassment. He wishes he could turn back time and take back everything he has said, but alas, it was impossible for him.

"Voi..." Tai looks at Eevee giving him a concerned look. Tai smiles before petting his head, earning a purr from the silver fox lookalike. Tai may hate his isekai life at first, but he thinks he may be a bit too harsh on his opinion.

He won't say it's not bad, since he'll Jinx it.

...and now he realizes he had accidentally made two Pokemon puns and he hates himself for it.

To be continued