Shout-out to Lovwipurthe, who loves this story so much that they're translating it for Chinese readers! Talk about a compliment!

If certain elements of this chapter sound familiar, it's because I took some inspiration from "Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers." I was originally going to use the Waterfall Cave storyline, and there is a reference to that if you squint.

Vaporeon and Sylveon

"I'm gonna write from personal experience, from emotion, from whatever the hell I'm feeling that day." - Melanie Martinez

Pikachu

There once was a young water-type named Vaporeon. He was a cheerful 'mon with a lot of energy and a fierce passion for the world around him. He lived in a cave near a big river, sharing that cave with his friend, Mr. Mime. She was a kind, nurturing 'mon who made sure her rambunctious friend took care of himself, as he would often forget to do that-

"Um, Pikachu?" Eevee interrupts.

Night had fallen by the time I perfected my story, and the PokeSquad and I are seated around the small fire we'd made to ward off the chilly spring night. Thank you, Thunderbolt.

At my questioning gaze, Eevee says, "I don't know what a Mr. Mime is."

Wobbles's hand shoots to her forehead. "Mr. Mime: the barrier pokemon. A psychic- and fairy-type. It is capable of creating invisible walls strong enough to act as shields."

To my surprise, Absol joins in with an amused look. "And, if you interrupt its performance to pester it about how those walls are created, it uses Double Slap."

Wobbles glares at him. "Hey, it was one time!"

"And, five slaps!"

We all laugh, even Wobbles a little bit. It feels great after the day we've had, especially seeing Absol in higher spirits. His leg seems to be doing okay all things considered, and we changed its dressing not long ago so he'd have a fresh one for the night.

"I can use a different pokemon, Eevee," I tell him once we quiet down.

"Are you sure?" Eevee asks.

"Of course. This story is for you, after all. What pokemon do you want it to be?"

Eevee thinks for a moment. Then, "A Spearow!"

I swallow a laugh at the irony of that. "Okay. Vaporeon's friend was a Spearow. Moving on…"

Today was a very important day for Vaporeon. You see, his dream was to join a horde of explorers. But, these weren't just any explorers. This group was made up of incredibly powerful pokemon, and Vaporeon was lucky enough to get picked! When he arrived at the meeting spot, he and the other recruits would pick a 'mon who would become their partner, as no one was allowed to go out alone for safety reasons. Vaporeon was so excited that he could barely sleep the night before.

Which posed a problem, come morning.

Spearow came in from gathering fresh bedding and found Vaporeon still curled up in his nest! The sun was getting higher and higher in the sky. He should have left by now! Was something wrong? Could her friend have fallen ill on the most important day of his life?

Spearow dropped the bedding and rushed to her friend's side. She rubbed her beak against Vaporeon's neck and was relieved when he blinked his sleepy eyes at her.

"Vaporeon, what are you doing?" she asked.

Vaporeon stretched his whole body. "I was battling a horde of Mankey…"

As relieved as Spearow was that her friend wasn't sick, she was now worried for a different reason. "You know what today is, don't you?"

Vaporeon only blinked at her before his brain started waking up. He bolted for the cave's entrance, saw where the sun was in the sky and cried out a panicked, "Oh no! I'm late!"

Sprout giggles. "Vaporeon sounds kind of silly."

I scratch my head with a nostalgic smile. "Ha ha. Yeah…"

Meanwhile, at the meeting spot, Alpha Chatot, the leader of the explorers, was pacing restlessly. Vaporeon wasn't present, and he was getting worried. Not just for that new recruit, but for another as well.

The other recruit was Sylveon. All the other new recruits had chosen a partner and were off on their first missions. Not her. You see, fairy-types weren't something you saw in that area, so pokemon were put off by her. Sylveon sighed and rested her head on her paws. She felt so unwanted, and she knew that this "Vaporeon" wouldn't want her either. Maybe she'd get lucky, and he wouldn't show up. She didn't mind exploring on her own. If that wasn't allowed, maybe Alpha Chatot could be her partner. He seemed to be the only one who wanted her here.

At last, Vaporeon spotted a large Chatot, about his size, up ahead. Vaporeon ran up to him, crying, "Alpha Chatot! Alpha Chatot!"

Alpha Chatot calmly approached the young male, who had to stop and catch his breath. "Vaporeon," the alpha said, "you're the last recruit to arrive. I thought something had happened."

"I-I'm sorry," Vaporeon panted. "Please tell me there's someone for me to pair up with! I'll take anyone!"

Alpha Chatot shook out his feathers. "Well, there is someone. She isn't a typing you see in this area, but like you, she did evolve from Eevee."

This knowledge brightened Vaporeon's spirits. "Awesome! That means we already have something in common!"

Sylveon rose to her paws when the alpha pointed her out. She inwardly cringed at the surprise on Vaporeon's face. It was better than the outright disdain that the other pokemon showed her, but she knew that reaction was coming.

And yet, Vaporeon's face lit up almost instantly. "She's so pretty! She's the best one!" He ran up to her, his long tail swaying merrily behind him. "Hi, Sylveon!"

"Uh, hello," Sylveon stammered. After all that rejection, she wasn't prepared for that level of enthusiasm-

That was it, she thought. Vaporeon could see that she was the only option, so he was simply masking his disappointment.

"No way!" Eevee squeaks. "I bet Vaporeon really did like Sylveon!"

"Of course he did," I assure. "Sylveon just hasn't figured that out yet."

Wobbles throws her hands in the air. "Can everyone stop interrupting? I wanna hear about their first mission!"

Eevee's tail wags. "Yeah, where'd they go, Pikachu? Tell us!"

I honestly don't mind the interruptions. Seeing the reactions and hearing the thoughts of the listeners is part of the fun of storytelling. "I guess I can skip ahead to that part."

Vaporeon and Sylveon trekked through a lush forest. The forest was strange in that, no matter what time of year it was, the trees were always covered in vibrant green leaves. Almost every tree grew an apple of some kind, another aspect that ignored changes in temperature. Because of this, the forest was known as the Apple Woods.

Our heroes' mission was simple: head into the deepest part of the forest and collect a special kind of apple that only grew on the largest and oldest of the apple trees. These apples were called perfect apples. For you see, it was said that no other fruit in the world was as crispy or juicy, and know matter your preferences, the apples themselves seemed to alter their flavor so that you would love them!

Our heroes carried backpacks to help them carry back as many apples as they could. Being the odd one out of the new recruits, Sylveon was eager to do a good job. Vaporeon wanted the same thing, of course, but he wasn't quite as happy about the assignment.

"Is this really all we're doing?" Vaporeon lamented. "Just gathering food? I thought being an explorer would involve discovering unknown places and fighting bad guys and stuff."

"It's only our first assignment," Sylveon reminded. "Alpha Chatot probably doesn't want us to do anything too tough until we have some more experience."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Vaporeon said. They were stopped suddenly by a loud growl. Vaporeon's face went hot when he realized it was his rumbling tummy. "Sorry. I skipped breakfast, and all these apples aren't helping."

Sylveon swallowed a bubble of laughter. "Why don't we grab a snack, then? I'll admit, I was pretty nervous about today, so I didn't eat much."

Vaporeon perked up at that. Now was his chance to prove that he liked Sylveon! "I'll do it! What kind of apples do you like?"

He was trying too hard to be nice again, Sylveon thought. But, she tried not to let her sadness show. "I'm not picky, so anything's fine."

On that note, Vaporeon bolted for the nearest tree but stopped at the base and looked up at it. It just occurred to him that, despite being close friends with a flying-type, he'd never climbed a tree before. But, Sylveon was watching, and he wanted to please her.

He dug his claws into the trunk and started to pull himself up. But, he lost his grip and stumbled on to his paws. He tried again with the same result. A growl rumbled in his throat.

"Do you want me to do it?" Sylveon asked.

But, Vaporeon was determined. "Maybe if I get a running start," he said, backing up.

Once he was far back enough, he sprinted to the trunk and leaped. Claws extended, he made it a short way up the trunk…

…before losing his footing again.

With a startled shout, he landed hard on his back and laid there in a daze.

"Vaporeon!" Sylveon called worriedly. She ran to his side. "Are you okay?"

Blinking the dizziness away, Vaporeon said lamely, "Turns out these paws were made for swimming, not climbing." He rolled over and rose to his feet. "I hope the next mission involves an underwater cavern or something."

The words struck Sylveon, who couldn't keep the hurt out of her voice. "Then, what would I do?"

Vaporeon flinched. "I-I didn't mean it like that-"

Sylveon was in the tree before Vaporeon could finish talking. He watched enviously as the fairy-type hopped from branch to branch without even trying. She knocked two large red apples out of the tree, and they landed beside Vaporeon. He sheepishly thanked her when she climbed back down, and the duo sat down and ate in silence. But, neither of them could really taste the sweet juices of their snacks, for they both had other things on their minds.

After they ate, Sylveon was the first to speak. "Listen, Vaporeon. You don't have to keep pretending to like me."

"Pretending?" Vaporeon barked, aghast. He hopped to his feet. "What's it gonna take for you to realize that I genuinely like you, Sylveon? I don't care if you're a fairy-type. I think all pokemon are great!"

Sylveon rolled her eyes, thoroughly exhausted, and stood up. "Vaporeon, you seem like a kindly 'mon, but I've been going through this whole song and dance since I evolved. Nobody back home likes fairy-types. When I got recruited to Alpha Chatot's Horde, I thought that folks would think differently. But, all they do is look at me like I'm some kind of charity case!" Sylveon's voice was shaking at this point. "Don't act like you're any different. Let's just get the stupid apples and head back so you get a better partner."

Vaporeon didn't know what to say. It was true that fairy-types were unusual back home, but he didn't think they were outright hated. He remembered how excited he was when he finally decided on his own evolution and obtained a water stone. He couldn't imagine being shunned just because of what he chose to evolve into.

A scream broke into their thoughts. "Help! Someone help!"

Our heroes looked at each other, thinking the same thing, and took off in the direction of the scream. The source of that scream turned out to be a Ninetales, who stopped her panicked cries when she spotted our heroes' approach.

"What's wrong?" Vaporeon asked.

"It's my son!" Ninetales exclaimed. "These awful pokemon attacked us, and my son got knocked into the river!"

"Oh my goodness!" Sprout shouts suddenly, startling the rest of us. She hovers around in circles. "A fire-type in the water! Oh my goodness oh my goodness!" And, so on and so forth.

Coming from anyone else, I'd think they were mocking me. "Uh, Sprout," I say, "you know these characters are fictional, right?"

Sprout stops, her face darkening in embarrassment. "I guess I got into the story."

That has to be the most awkward compliment I've ever received. Sprout sits back down, though with her new Weepinbell body, it looks more like she's resting the lower half of her head on the ground.

Once everyone is seated around the fire once more, I continue my tale. "You're right, though. It's always bad news when a fire-type gets wet, especially in poor Vulpix's situation."

Eevee twitches his ears. "I don't like getting wet either."

"Fire-types don't just 'not like it,' Eevee," Wobbles explains. "They can get really sick if they don't dry off quickly enough."

I nod and a memory surfaces. "Like my friend, Charizard. He once spent a whole night sitting in a lake. You should have the state he was in after. But, that's a story in and of itself."

Absol shifts his legs, wincing when he moves his bad one. "Let's get back to this story, then. Vaporeon is a water-type, so I assume he got that swimming adventure he was talking about."

"Certainly not the kind he wanted," I say, "but yes."

On the way, Ninetales explained that she managed to fight off the attackers, but her son, Vulpix, ended up getting knocked into the river. He was able to pull him up on to a rock, but that left him stranded in the middle of all that water.

Luckily, the river was calm, so there was no danger of Vulpix getting thrown back in, but that didn't make it any less scary for him and his mother.

Vaporeon threw off his backpack, dived into the water, and swam as fast as he could. When he reached the rock, he pressed his forepaws on it and hoisted himself up. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Vulpix was shaking and whimpering too much to speak, so he only nodded.

Vaporeon gave him a reassuring smile. "My name's Vaporeon. I'm gonna take you back to your mom, but you're gonna have to get wet again. Sorry about that."

The rock was too small for Vaporeon to climb up there, so Vulpix had to carefully climb on to Vaporeon's back. Once he felt the hatching clinging tightly to him, Vaporeon dove back in. This time, he made sure to swim as close to the surface as he could, though he knew Vulpix was still getting soaked. But, it was certainly better than the alternative.

The moment Vulpix was back on dry land, he started crying and his mother knelt beside him and wrapped him in her long, fluffy tails.

"There there, sweetie," Ninetales cooed with tears of relief in her own eyes. "It's okay now." She breathed a gentle Flamethrower over her son, dying him instantly and calming him somewhat. To our, and now her and her son's, heroes, Ninetales said, "Thank you. Thank you both so much!"

Sylveon sheepishly groomed one of the feelers attached to her head. "I didn't do anything. Vaporeon's the one you should thank."

Vaporeon grinned and tapped her tail with his. "Hey, you would've helped if you could. Like, if Vulpix was stuck in a tree. You're an awesome climber. When you got those apples for us, man, I was so jealous!"

This time, now that Sylveon was really paying attention, she could see that his praise was sincere. "Speaking of apples," Sylveon said, turning to Ninetales, "Vaporeon and I heard about the tree that grows perfect apples. Now that the danger's passed, maybe you could point us in the right direction?"

Ninetales frowned deeply. "If you're heading that way, be careful. Those pokemon who attacked us, they're looking for the Perfect Tree, too."

That didn't bode well for the rest of the journey.

Ninetales went on. "That's why they attacked in the first place. As you can imagine, we're all very protective of that tree. They asked me where it was, but I could tell right away that they were bad pokemon. I refused, so they tried to force the answer out of me."

"That's horrible!" Vaporeon exclaimed, shrugging back on his backpack.

Vulpix's head poked out from between his mother's tails. "Mommy made them go away, but they pushed me in the river! I think it was an accident, but it was scary!"

Like her partner, Sylveon was fuming. "Accident or not, how could anyone just leave a child like that!"

Ninetales shook her head, not having an answer. "Since you two are obviously good pokemon, I'll tell you where the Perfect Tree is, but be very careful. Especially you," she added to Sylveon, "because both of those pokemon were poison-types."

Vaporeon saw the way his partner's fur stood up. "Is that one of your type weaknesses?" he asked.

"Yeah," Sylveon confirmed. "Let's hope we don't run into them."

But, little did the group know…they were being watched.

Eevee gasps. "Was it the bad pokemon?"

A mischievous grin pulls at my mouth. "You'll see."

Our heroes followed Ninetales's directions and soon found themselves standing before the famed Perfect Tree. Its trunk was a deep shade of brown and was ten times thicker than any tree they'd ever seen before. The leaves were long and even more vibrant than those of the rest of the forest. And of course, the main attraction, the apples it grew! Even from way down below, our heroes could see how plump and red they were, and the smell alone was making their mouths water!

"Is anyone else getting hungry?" Wobbles mutters. We ignore her.

"It's beautiful!" Sylveon exclaimed. She took in a long whiff. "And, it smells amazing."

Vaporeon hummed and rubbed his belly. "You think anyone would mind if we sampled a few before we went back?"

Sylveon was about to agreed to the idea, when suddenly a huge cloud of smoke appeared out of nowhere and surrounded them! The sweet smell was overshadowed by a putrid stench that made them cough and close their watering eyes.

"What," Vaporeon coughed, "what's going on?"

"I think it's Smokescreen," Sylveon rasped.

As the smoke began to dissipate, they heard laughter. Not the kind of two creatures having fun, but the kind of wicked beings who thought they were getting away with something.

"I knew it!" Eevee squeaks. "It's the bad pokemon!"

"Oh my goodness!" Sprout shouts. "Sylveon's type weakness!"

Wobbles is less concerned. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

"All these interruptions are making it hard to focus," Absol says. "This sounds like it might be the climax."

"Sorry," the others say.

I shake my head fondly and continue.

"Hey," Vaporeon shouted, "who are you?"

Two figures began to appear from the smoke. The female was a long, purple, limbless pokemon. The male, also without limbs, was a grayish purple and levitated and appeared to have an extra head attached to him.

"Prepare for trouble," the female called.

"And, make it double," shouted the male.

"To present the world with devastation."

"To unite all ruffians within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the skies above."

"Arbok."

"And, Weezing."

"Team Venom will take you down day or night."

"Surrender now, or prepare for a fight."

"Arbok: the Cobra pokemon. A poison-type," Wobbles announces. "Its serpentine body is incredibly strong, enough that if it really wants to squeeze the life out of you, even a steel-type wouldn't stand a chance."

"I don't want to know how you know that," I say, thoroughly disturbed by the mental image.

Wobbles is nonplussed. "No, you don't. Weezing: the poison gas pokemon. Also a poison-type. It inflates and deflates its two heads to mix and strengthen the gasses inside of it. There are rumors that it's possible for Weezing to have three heads, but I've never seen one like that, so I can't confirm."

"Since we're in the middle of an interruption," Absol says pointedly.

"You know I can't help myself!"

"I have to ask. Does anyone else think that motto sounds familiar?"

"Uh, what do you mean? I made it up," I say before anyone can ponder that. "Now, where were we?"

"You're the jerks who attacked Vulpix and Ninetales, aren't you?" Vaporeon shouted, baring his teeth.

Arbok's fangs glinted in a smug grin. "And, we thank you for making life easier for us."

Weezing chuckled. "Who knew all we had to do to find the Perfect Tree was spy on a couple of do-gooders?"

"Arceus!" Sylveon cursed, stomping her paw. "They followed us!"

Vaporeon growled and reared back. "We won't let you hurt this tree!"

"Hurt it?" Weezing repeated, aghast. "Are your heads filled with fluff? Have you never tasted the majesty of a perfect apple?"

Arbok flicked the tip of her tail toward the tree. "We're claiming this tree as our own. From now on, anyone who wants an apple needs our permission."

"You can't do that!" Sylveon snapped.

"We won't let you!" Vaporeon agreed.

Weezing sneered at them. "I smell a challenge, Arbok."

Arbok sniffed the air. "Mm-mm! It smells divine! How about this, twerps. We'll have a battle right here and now. The losing team has to hit the road." Her smirk widened when she locked eyes with Sylveon. "Shouldn't be too hard, should it?"

Sylveon didn't let herself flinch under the poison-type's gaze.

Vaporeon noticed his partner tense up and whispered, "We got this."

The words weren't much, but they were a comfort to Sylveon. "Okay. You want a battle? Then, let's battle!"

"Strong words from someone who's about to get her tail handed to her," Arbok taunted.

The battle began.

Both members of Team Venom opened their mouths and shot dual Sludge Bombs. Our heroes leaped out of the way. Vaporeon shot a Water Pulse at Weezing, who didn't see it coming and got thrown back by it.

Arbok hissed and charged at Vaporeon. But, Sylveon jumped in the way and nailed her with Take Down.

"Nice move," Vaporeon praised.

Sylveon smiled at him and felt her tail wag a little.

But, they couldn't relax yet.

"We need to up our game," Weezing said.

With that, he unleashed a huge blast of smoke from his pores, aimed directly at our heroes. Visibility was almost completely gone for them.

Vaporeon saw something lunge at him, but it was too late to dodge. Arbok had her long body coiled tightly around him in a Wrap attack. His limbs, his tail, all but his head were bound. He struggled and struggled, but he couldn't move. Due to the position he was in, he couldn't even turn his head to shoot water at Arbok or bend down enough to Bite her.

"Now, Weezing!" Arbok called.

As the smoke cleared, Sylveon saw her partner in jeopardy and ran in to help. Which means she didn't see Weezing hovering behind her.

By the time Vaporeon could call out a warning, Weezing shot a mass of purple sludge at Sylveon. Sylveon cried out and tripped and rolled over the grass. She tried to get up but flinched at the sharp soreness all over her. The move that Weezing used was Toxic, which means that Sylveon was now badly poisoned.

Vaporeon called her name in distress. Arbok whirled her tail to throw him out of the way, but Vaporeon caught the tip of her tail in his mouth and bit down hard. Arbok cried out in pain and slammed him into a tree trunk.

Vaporeon watched in horror as he was too late to stop Arbok from shooting Venoshock at Sylveon. He knew that since Sylveon was already poisoned, Venoshock would hit extra hard. And with her type disadvantage…

"Aw," Arbok cooed viciously, "poor little fairy-type."

Sylveon had her eyes narrowed and her teeth bared. There was still fight in her, but it was a struggle to stand.

"Let's finish her off," Weezing said.

"No!" Vaporeon shouted.

Quick as a flash, he leapt into the fray, crouched between Sylveon and Team Venom.

"A knight in blubbery armor," Arbok hissed. "How cute."

"I'm not cute!" Vaporeon snarled. "I'm Vaporeon of Alpha Chatot's Horde. Mess with me and my partner, and you'll be sorry!"

Even as it was happening, Sylveon couldn't believe her eyes. No one supported her decision to become a fairy-type. She had so lost many friends just because she was different. Now, this water-type - a type that could be found almost anywhere - was defending her when he could easily let her get hurt.

She'd been so cold with him all day. It was time to fix that.

"Nice speech," Weezing taunted, "but it means nothing for twerps who try to play hero!"

Team Venom prepared an attack. Vaporeon braced himself.

Suddenly, there was a flash of pink at the corner of Vaporeon's vision. Sylveon jumped in the way and unleashed a Dazzling Gleam so powerful that Vaporeon could feel the heat from it and had to shut his eyes against the light.

"So bright!" Arbok shouted.

"I can't see!" Weezing cried.

This gave Vaporeon the perfect opening! Listening to his opponents' pained cries, he aimed in that direction and put all his energy into his next Water Pulse. It was a direct hit, and Team Venom was sent flying back. They struggled to get up and barely had the chance to react when Sylveon fired a huge Moonblast at them.

Realizing that they were being overpowered, Team Venom fled, calling, "Team Venom will be back again!"

Vaporeon watched their retreating forms with a wide grin. "We…we did it!"

"Yeah," Sylveon agreed before her legs gave out. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, she was really starting to feel the poison.

Vaporeon put his paw on her shoulder, silently asking how she was doing. They gazed into each other's eyes, and something clicked. A connection had been made. In that moment, they realized that it was no mistake that they had met. They were destined to be partners.

They were brought out of their thoughts by the sounds of pokemon cheering. All around them, the denizens of the forest, including Vulpix and Ninetales, had come out of hiding. They had watched with rapt attention as our heroes defended their sacred tree from those bullies. As a reward for their good deed, our heroes not only had their wounds and poisoning treated, but were given permission to take as many perfect apples as they pleased and to come back whenever they wanted.

Vaporeon and Sylveon thanked everyone and returned to Alpha Chatot's Horde with their heads held high. They had completed their first mission, and it had left them with a story to tell and a new appreciation for each other. And, they knew there would be many more stories to come.

"The end," I conclude.

Wobbles claps. "Not bad, Pikachu. Not bad at all."

Sprout gives her leaves a pleased shake. "I liked it, too! It was a really fun story!"

"How did you come up with that, anyway?" Absol asks. "You can't tell me that you just made it all up."

I smile and swipe at my ear. "Well, to be honest, it started out being based on a true story, but then I started playing around with it."

To be totally honest, the story was meant to be a play on how Ash and I met. But then I remembered that this is supposed to be about Eevee's parents. He should have his own story to tell. Moreover, certain aspects are simply too personal.

Absol accepts my answer. "Wish I had that kind of imagination. What did you think, Eevee?"

Eevee doesn't seem as enthused. He's looking down with a deep, thoughtful expression, and I worry that he didn't like his own story. He looks up when Absol says his name again. "Oh, uh, I liked it. It was a good story." His ears twitch and the tip of his tail flicks back and forth behind him. "I guess I just wish it was real."

Of course. I wondered if he would regret asking me for the story. He wanted to have something to say about his parents. But, his parents might not have been a Sylveon or a Vaporeon. For all we know, his father might not have been in his evolution chain at all. We truly don't know anything about them.

"I'm sure your parents don't mind if you don't know their real story," I assure. "Wherever they are, I know they only care that the fire that took them away couldn't hurt you."

Eevee lifts his head a bit and makes a thoughtful sound as he stares at our campfire. I hope my words gave him at least a little comfort.

"Here's the main question," Wobbles says. I regret sitting next to her when she lies on her belly so we're at eye level and grins at me. "Who's your Sylveon?"

I tilt my head. "Who's…what?"

"You said it was based on a true story."

"Yeah, part of it, but-"

I lean back when Wobbles props herself on her hands to get too close for comfort. "This story is about two pokemon who come to fall in love, right? You're obviously Vaporeon, so who's Sylveon? You didn't tell us you had a mate."

Arceus, help me. I back up further and wave my hands in front of my face. "Whoa, whoa. There's no mate. I do not have a mate."

"So, someone you're courting, then. Who is she?"

"I'm not courting anyone! I am happily single, thank you very much."

Absol chimes in with no shortage of exasperation. "Wobbles, leave the 'mon alone. He never said it was based on one of his stories."

Wobbles considers this for a moment, then she hangs back. "Oh, yeah. My bad."

"Eevee, what are you doing?"

Our heads swerve at Sprout's cry. She had leapt in front of the hatchling, who is reared back with his ears flat against his head.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

Sprout turns to him and flails her leaves. "He was gonna touch the fire!"

The rest of us stare at Eevee in shock, and Absol barks, "Why would you even do that?"

"Well, uh," Eevee's voice is real quiet, the way little kids speak when they know they've done something wrong, "Pikachu said that the fire couldn't hurt me. I…"

My pelt prickles with guilt. "Oh, Eevee, that's not what I meant! I was trying to say that you made it out of there in one piece. Of course, fire can still hurt you!"

Wobbles climbs to her feet. "Only fire-types are immune to fire, Eevee. Even if you had a type-advantage over them, you can't just stick your paw into an open flame!"

Eevee rises on to his haunches. He stares at the fire hard enough that I worry he'll try anyway. "I see," is all he says.

Sprout cautiously moves aside, giving me a better view of the normal-type who is fixated on the crackling orange flames. His brow is low, his jaw is set, and the spark in his brown eyes has nothing to do with the fire he's staring at so intently. That's a look I've seen before on some of my other friends.

I hop around Wobbles so that Absol doesn't have to move to hear me. The two females get closer as I whisper, "That's a Flareon in the making."

Absol scoffs, "If you think being stupid makes someone a fire-type-"

"No, I know what he's saying," Wobbles whispers. "It's that look. That kind of…longing determination."

Sprout nods. "You can always tell when a 'mon figures out what they want to be."

Wobbles and I agree, and Absol hums in thought and resumes watching Eevee. "Guess that's another evolution thing I don't understand. Think he'll change his mind this time?"

Eevee speaks before anyone can answer. "Hey, you guys? Do you think I'd make a good Flareon?"

We all smile at each other. I say to Eevee, "We think you'd make a great Flareon."