《The Crest of the Watching Sun (Pokemon)》 Chapter 1 Anya was running away inside a forest where a blazing inferno was slowly following her, trees on fire falling down all around her. She was running away with all she had, but the forest fire was gaining on her spreading faster and faster, she tripped and soon was hit by a falling burning branch. She jolted awake in distress, Only to find a calm forest around her, no wildfire, no falling trees, only serene quietness of a forest with the occasional animal sounds heard every now and then. Her mind calming by each passing second. Finally calm enough to stop lying in the grass she pushed herself up only to instantly lose balance and fall down. Baffled by the sudden fall, she noticed that something felt weird, she just could not figure out what. She knew that she was not the most fit girl on the planet but standing should not be so hard and somehow her butt felt extra heavy. ''have I gained some weight?'' she idly wondered and used her hands to make her sit. ''Something is not right'' she thought while pulling her hands in front of her. What she saw was two leaf-green sickle-like appendages. The sickles moved in front of her in panic as her mind came to a realization that these blades were now her arms, she started hyperventilating and crying. ------------------- Hours passed as Anya finally had calmed down enough to move again. She slowly inspected her whole body, piece by piece not to startle her own mind too much. Afterwards she now knew, why her butt felt heavy, she had a large bug-like abdomen. ''I''m a monster'' she thought. True to that Anya had become a monster of sorts with coloration of yellow and leaf-green. Anya sobbed for a while more until her stomach caused a small pang of pain. When was the last time she had even eaten anything, she did not know, her memory somehow blurry for the past few days. She struggled to her stubby feet and wobbly staggered towards a nearby tree for support her mind still screaming ''unnatural'' about her own new body. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.''It is like walking with peg legs'' she thought while slowly getting used to balancing with two pointed feet. Slowly moving through the forest, using trees as a support she stumbled upon a tree full of blue round fruit, she eagerly took a single low hanging fruit, only to accidentally stab her single digit through it and causing the fruit to fall to the ground... she cautiously looked at her ''hand'' again only for her eyes to shake in terror as the ''hand'' was extremely sharp she slowly looked behind her as she noticed that she had been stabbing the trees she used for support, only now noticing the cuts she had accidentally made to the trees. What if she had cut herself accidentally she thought. Her stomach hurt again causing her to fall to her knees in pain. Good thing she already was near some most likely edible fruits. Anya refocused her effort and carefully extracted a single blue fruit from the tree with her two ''hands''. She was surprised now that she had another look at the fruit, its a roundish blue fruit that have a thin cherry like peel covering its insides. Another pang of hunger hit and she carefully chomped on the fruit letting the sweet citrusy tasting juice flow into her mouth and her whole body washed in relief. First time since she had woken up she had relaxed her body. After finishing a few more fruits Anya felt full. She looked around as she heard a small crack nearby, startled, she hid behind the nearby fruit tree and looked around carefully. After a while something approached the tree, what Anya saw was something she could never mistake but something that she knew would be impossible. A small red brown fox was happily munching the fruit Anya had dropped earlier. Anya looked at the nearby fox in silence as her body vibrated in excitement. She knew what a vulpix was with all of its 6 tails and a fluff on top of their heads. She looked absolutely adorable to Anya. Wanting to hug it and smother her face but... her arms were deadly blades... she could not risk harming something so precious even if she got the chance to pet her. So she longingly just looked at the vulpix. As if noticing Anya''s looks, the vulpix jolted and alertly looked around and finally caught the eyes of Anya, the fox curiously trotted a bit closer towards her without breaking eye contact. "I think that is close enough" Anya said somberly while leaning against the tree. Noticing that her voice sounded odd. The fox stopped only a feet or two away from her, curiously sniffing around and tilting her head. They both stared at each other silently for a while until another crack of a twig caused both of them to jump up. Startled the fox quickly ran into the bush where it came from. Minutes passed yet nothing happened in the forest around her has grown quiet yet again. Anya was sitting on her knees under the tree thinking. She had seen something magical just a few monents ago ''A real live Vulpix'' she thrilled, after a moment or two she came to a startling revelation. Either Pokemon have lived on earth all this time or... This is not earth anymore. She wasn''t sure which of these were true but the most important thing was. Pokemon are real! and she had become one of them. Chapter 2 A lone pokemon was wandering around the dark forest following the sound of a stream trying to locate the nearby water source, that pokemon was Anya. The sun was already setting, as Anya still wandered the woods, this time her mood was much more cheerier than before. Anya has always been an avid fan of pokemon she had played almost every single pokemon game in existence her other hobbies include cosplay and plushies, she also could draw and sketch but mostly she has ever drawn are different pokemon. Before becoming a pokemon herself Anya was studying to open her own tailor shop that mainly sold plushies and did some odd jobs like costumes and such. Anya had finally arrived at the small stream, at first she dipped her ''hands'' into the water and forgot that the sickle arms cannot be cupped like human hands could. So she did the next best thing and went to all fours and dunked her head into the stream to drink. She lifted her head from the water feeling refreshed. The sun had finally passed the horizon, the whole forest turned pitch black. She was suddenly getting really tired, she could not see that well and just crawled under a nearby tree and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the ground. This time the dream was not a nightmare about a wildfire, but a beautiful dream where she peacefully sold fabrics and crafts to other people, there was something odd with this dream, she just couldn''t figure it out, as the dream went on for a while she saw a glimpse of herself in the mirror, what greeted her was not her human form but that of a pokemon, she looked down, her hands slowly warping to green sickles, she wobbled to stay upright as her legs transformed, a group of angry people storming her store each and every single one of them glaring at her in hate and screaming obscenities. Tears fell from Anya''s cheeks ''this was not a dream, this was a nightmare''. Morning came, Anya still laid on the ground, awake, sobbing quietly. She still inhabited the body of a monster, this time she knew which one, as the dream vividly playing in her mind, the hollow stare of red eyes glaring back at her from the mirror. She somehow knew it to be true as even without a mirror the signs were there she just had ignored them before. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Why had she become a pokemon, why couldn''t she stay a human or.. or why did she become a bug of all things, why couldn''t she have become a cute fox like the Vulpix from yesterday or the elegant and beautiful Gardevoir. Even some other gimmicky pokemon would have been much better, but no, she was a bipedal bug with blades for arms... The only good thing was that she was still ''humanoid'' in some way. Anya shuddered when she thought that she could have started as a Sewaddle... Time went by and Anya had found a rhythm. She would wake up tired near the stream, forage for food, use her spare time to get used to her new body as she had slowly become accustomed to her new senses. Eat food, clean up and go to sleep crying to face another nightmare. Days went by and Anya had noticed that the local pokemon are either extremely scarce or are actively avoiding her, she had only seen some glimpses of others every now and then. One morning she woke up suddenly by a new feeling burning in her throat she did not know what it was, but something needed to be done quick so she did the first thing that came to her mind when something was burning, she drank the cold stream water trying to alleviate the pain, the burning reduced but was replaced by a sudden unbearable urge to sneeze. The feeling lasted for a while, until somehow it finalized in a massive sneeze, covering the ground in front of her in sticky white silk. Anya''s throat felt sore from the sudden forceful release of silk and had some silk hanging from her mouth connected to the pile in front of her. When she noticed the results of her recent action and slapped her head, she had totally forgotten that her body was that of a Leavanny and Leavanny seems to be capable of producing silk. She sat down on a larger stone took a deep breath and... started fondling around the back of her mouth carefully with her ''hands'' inspecting the odd sensation inside of herself by prodding, rubbing and what ever one could with sickle like arms do, looking for the source of the silk. She found that at the back of her mouth was a small hole that still had a small amount of silk hanging there. She hooked her sickle gently and pulled. Her whole body jolted in an odd feeling but she found out that she had accidentally pulled too hard and the silk could be gently guided out. One thing was for sure, the burning had disappeared entirely. After a whole day of playing around with her silk she found that the silk she produced was of a good quality, it only needed to be boiled to truly find out if it works like silk on earth. To test that out she would first need a pot and a fire... which there are none around. Chapter 3 It has been a week since Anya had produced her first silk. The forest pokemon have been actively avoiding Anya, this one she knew for sure. There has not been any sighting of Humans as of yet either. Anya was still in need of a source of fire and a pot to process her silk. The past week she had been studying, slowly accepting of her new body and getting used to her new living environment, even her nightmares have calmed down in frequency. So she could at least get good night sleep once in a while. Recently Anya had found a new hobby by using her voice, she knew that pokemon could make noises that sounded almost like words and the more animalistic sounds that fit animals and insects alike, so she had opened her voice once again, the only time before was that one where she met the Vulpix at the berry bush. Her melodic chirping echoed through the forest as she sang, she couldn''t pronounce words but she could at least hum the melodies. Also playing with her voice and a bit of practice she had managed to spell her name... For some reason all of the required letters of ANYA was inside LEAVANNY. She pondered that if that was the reason for her becoming a Leavanny she giggled when she thought that a person named LENNY might also become a Leavanny. Anya sighed, she felt lonely. None of the forests pokemon were here, oh how she wanted to snuggle into the flank of that Vulpix. That night she sat on a rock her feet dangling in the stream, she looked at the rising moon and sang somberly in a gentle melody. "I was the light- behind- the door" "Could have been sealed- forevermore" "Weak as I was-" "My light would seal- my misfortune" "Again- I walked- the path- that burns" "No matter how much it''s gonna hurt" "Because in the end" "The nights are many" "The lights are lone-ly-" As Anya finished her song she heard a small rustle nearby, barely audible. At that moment she knew she had audience, at least someone had liked her song or curious enough to come looking. She then stood up and headed back to her ''camp''. She smiled happily the whole way, arriving at her camp she laid down my her makeshift lean-to bed made of sticky silk, branches and leaves it was more comfortable than the solid floor and having a some cover from the wind and rain was better than none. -------------------- Next morning Anya woke to a small surprise, someone was sniffing around her makeshift camp, most likely a pokemon looking for her food stash. Unlucky for them, she didn''t have anything left from yesterday. Anya slowly stretched and yawned, turned towards the middle of her camp, there she spotted a pokemon, struggling stuck in her pile of leftover silk and leaves. Anya noted that the pokemon was a big purple rat with large buck teeth, a Rattata if you will. Anya slowly walked towards the struggling rat. The Rattata noticed her approach and went into a full blown panic, Anya decided not to do anything and wait for the Rattata to calm down. Few minutes later the Rattata collapsed while panting, tired from its struggling. It was then that Anya went closer. The rats eyes widened in panic as Anya''s sickles closed on its face as the rat closed its eyes in resignation, waiting for the finishing blow... that never came. Only a silent cutting sound was heard as the Leavanny cut the sticky silk strings around it. A moment later the Rattata was free and confused. Anya watched for a while as the rat dashed and disappeared deep into the woods. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. After cleaning the small mess, Anya also decided to get something to eat, she approached the nearby oran berry tree, kind of hoping to eat something else, these blue berries were slowly losing their taste. While plucking the second berry from the bush after eating the first, She heard a small yip in a nearby bush. Calmly she continued to eat the second berry. The rustling continued for a while a nearby bush shaking all the while, then all of a sudden, three pokemon came stumbling out of it in a pile. It was a surprise as of the three pokemon she recognised two of them, the Rattata from earlier today and the Vulpix from all those days ago the last pokemon was totally a surprise as a brown furred with a bushy grayish mane, pair of brown diamond shaped ears and a bushy tipped tail was no other than the evolution pokemon, Eevee. The group all stared at the surprised leaf bug pokemon and she stared back astounded. ------------------------ A while earlier The Rattata ran as fast as his leg allowed him to run, he had made a big mistake on a stupid dare he had made with his friends, he never should have let his friends talk him into sneaking into the giant bugs nest to look for stuff. He knew better than that, that bug-type pokemon are extremely territorial and dangerous, look at all the beedrills flying around decimating anyone who get close enough. He mindlessly ran with no immediate destination, he knew these forests like the back of his paws, so no matter where he ran he could always find home. The Rattata soon came to a stop, his two friends waited for his return at the meeting spot. He was supposed to go inside the giant bug nest and take something from it, preferrably a berry. Alas he had nothing on him to show when they met up. He told Eevee and Vulpix about how the giant bug did not attack him even though he was trespassing its territory. Vulpix had said earlier when he had met it before that it was extremely aggressive and marking its territory with enormous sharp things? easily cutting into the hardest of trees, he himself had seen these marks before they were truly terrifying, oh how strong it must be. "Hey, hey, hey, if you didn''t find any berries there, then maybe it is going to the berry bush today!" Vulpix yipped excitedly "I don''t know, it looks so big and scary" Eevee countered. "Don''t be a wuss now, you need to show everyone how brave and mighty you are" Vulpix encouraged. Then they both looked at the last member of their small group, Rattata, he gulped as he was left with the deciding vote. "Come on Rattata, let''s go!" Vulpix coaxed cheerily. "Okay..." the Rattata answered overwhelmed. ------------------------- "See I was right" Vulpix whispered to his friends while peeking through a bush. "It haven''t seen us yet?" Rattata questioned quietly "Maybe, we should just get out of here" Eevee called timidly in a low voice The trio watched the bug as it munched on an oran berry. "Okay, maybe we have seen enough" Vulpix said while backing away suddenly only to bump his tail into his friends snout and causing Eevee to sneeze suddenly and make them all jump in surprise, but as they were retreating Vulpix stumbled and fell out of the bush with the other two following suit. Now in front of the giant bug monster, all tangled together in a pile limbs they stared at each other. -------------------------- "Well... hello there...?" Anya asked in bafflement, her head tilted to the side. The trio stared at her in a growing panic. a while passed where nothing happened, when suddenly a majestic large white furred fox appeared in a nearby bush with its nine tails gently swaying upright in the air. The fox whom Anya identified as Ninetales had quickly inserted itself between the three and Anya. Taking a low prowl stance blue flames leaking at its mouth. This caused Anya to panic and raise her hands above her head, quickly flinging the berry on her ''hand'' through the air. The Ninetales growled. Anya took a step back. The Vulpix yelped behind the Ninetales. The Ninetales turned its head to look at Vulpix who it was protecting, when it turned back only to be blindsided with a sudden hit to its face. The color left Anya''s face as she noticed that this might be taken as an act of aggression. The Ninetales was fuming, the juices evaporating into the air. The Ninetales pounced, at the same time Anya had decided surrender. Before the Ninetales got to her she shouted "I''m sorry!" and crashed to the ground in a melodic whimper. Chapter 4 Ninetales saw his kit and his friends fall out from the bush, his heart stopped for a moment. He was sure that the unknown bug-type will kill them all for getting too close. He dashed as fast as he could and inserted himself between the kits and their adversary, he sighed a relief when nothing had happened yet. The bug being surprised by my appearance went into a bizarre fighting stance raising its bladed weapons to the sky trying to look more intimidating. "DAD! You came!" his kit shouted "Everything is going to be all right" he tried to reassure them, knowing well that his life might end here. Something hit his face suddenly, he didn''t even sense his opponent moving, was his opponent so much stronger that he had imagined. Maybe it was a warning shot, it did not hurt him at all only took him by a surprise. He focused a bit of his attention and found that he had been hit by a berry. ''A BERRY OF ALL THINGS!'' He thought angrily. ''Is it telling me that I am not strong enough, that I need to be stronger to challenge it.'' He growled while gathering all of his energy to show how strong he really is. He pounced to attack the other pokemon, flame leaking out of his mouth. Just as he was about to hit the bug-type. It shouted in a distorted voice "I''m soray!". He stopped, the meaning behind these words were fully caught in their truest sense by his mastery of reading other pokemon. Ninetales was baffled, he had never seen such a weak display of fighting spirit in all of his many of years of life. He knew that the giant bug as his kit had called it was strong, which was evident on the deep markings it had made into the trees he had seen before. He also could feel a high amount of energy emanating from it but... If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.He had been following this giant bug from the first day he had felt its presence near their nest. But now, looking at the quivering sobbing mass in front of him made his powers deflate in embarrassment. How could he not see, he had been following this bug for many nights and days. It had never shown any aggression towards anything. Only quietly munching on oran berries in its own nest and spreading some silk around. Ninetales was deeply ashamed of its immature actions and casually nudged the whimpering bug with its paw. The bug in question tensed for a moment all motion and sound stopped after a while it looked up with teary eyes to meet his gaze. Ninetales looked at the eyes of the bug, in those wet unblinking red orbs he could see the level of intelligence, that he had not seen in a wild feral pokemon before. Looking deeper into her psyche, lost in those eyes he saw intelligence, not seeing any signs of cunning and deceit, but instead he saw something else that he could not place. --------------------- Anya stirred as something softly nudged her on the side. She tensed as if waiting for something to end her miserable existence of a life. But seconds passed by, nothing happened, she finally found the courage to look up, her eyes were met with the chocolate brown eyes of Ninetales. She tensed again. Ninetales was studying her and she let him, there really wasn''t anything else she could do now that she had surrendered, she just hoped they would just leave her alone. After a while Anya felt something bump on her again this time she slowly turned her head to its side causing the Ninetales also to stir. On her side she found the Vulpix sniffing at her, soon joined by the Eevee. Their muzzles poking all around her body, only when they went near her arms did she jolt and quickly threw the arms away from those curious noses. Ninetales also jolted from the sudden action made by Anya, fearing worst that it had suddenly attacked the young kits. Only to find that the bug in question tried to keep its sharp weapons away from the noses of the curious kits. He chuckled a bit in realization, whatever it was it meant no harm. --------------------- The sun had reached zenith and Ninetales barked a short order. The kits tensed and joined him even the oddly placed Rattata had scurried along out from somewhere. Before they turned to leave Anya heard the first words ever spoken to her, since she turned into a pokemon. "Dad says, you can come too" Vulpix cheered merrily. Anya stared at the Vulpix tears flooding out of her eyes again. She had finally found something or someone to talk to. Ninetales turned to walk away with the trio of young pokemon following it. Anya stood up and followed after and shouted happily "I''m coming!" Chapter 5 Their destination was not that far from the berry tree, a hole in a hill hidden behind a bush. Anya cautiously followed few feet after the group, the tunnel was quite dark, Anya had some trouble seeing even if her night vision was better now compared to her human one. The tunnel slowly slanted upwards, she could finally see some light ahead. They had reached their destination, the space opened up as she found herself in an open area where the ground was cluttered with twigs, leaves and dirt to soften the floor making it a bit more comfortable to lay on. "You may lay down anywhere you like" Ninetales said calmly, "We know it is not much, but we really don''t have much to offer" he said while offering Anya a berry, this however was not like the berries she had eaten earlier. It was a huge, pink and looked like a peach. Anya took a bite out of the pink berry, her mouth was filled with a juice so sweet that it tasted like pure sugar. She forced the mouthful down her throat and put the rest of the fruit down. "It is way too sweet for my taste" she said while shaking her head. Ninetales nodded knowingly and the leftovers were quickly nommed on by the trio of three young pokemon. "I apologize for my earlier aggression, we do not get any friendly bug-types, around here, those pesky Beedrill are ever so slowly expanding their area and anyone unfortunate enough caught inside will..." Ninetales quieted down to a silent mumble. Suddenly something poked her from behind, her body tensed in surprise as her head slowly turned she saw that Eevee had approached her fidgeting timidly. "Uhm, ummm, wh-what are y-you?" she asked, Anya looked around finding that all of them were looking at her direction waiting for her answer. What should she say? Should she tell them that she was a Human? a sense of dread rose up what if they think she is a monster? the others noticed Anya''s abnormal uneasiness. Just as Ninetales was about to say something, Anya spoke up. "Do you know what a Human is?" Anya questioned back The three small pokemon all shook their heads but Ninetales nodded and answered "Humans are an odd species of pokemon, they look similar to Machoke, Cannot understand any other species and do not fight right. However they are extremely aggressive with expanding their territories by destroying nature around them driving most species away from their nests and habitats." "T-that is t-terrifying..." Eevee stuttered "Sounds about right..." Anya said while taking a deep breath. She saw that none of them had immense hatred towards Humans, which she was glad off. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "I have lived my whole life among Humans and my species is that of a Leavanny, but you can call me Anya as it is my Human-given name." Ninetales stirred a bit before laying down again closing his eyes. "What is a name?" the Rattata squaked "What are the Humans like?" Vulpix continued "Are you s-strong?", Anya slowly composed herself in the barrage of questions. "Name is a Human-made term for knowing who is who" she said at first "That is stupid, we can easily identify each other by their scent!" "Well, Name is more than just that, also the Human sense of smell isn''t that good either, let''s say this room is full of Rattata and you see one of them doing something interesting..." she though for a moment before continuing. "After a while you tell Vulpix here about that one Rattata, Vulpix wants to also see that Rattata, but you have no time to help, you need to go." "If that one Rattata had a name you could have told Vulpix to look for a Rattata asking about the name, instead of going a Rattata to Rattata to ask them if they are the Rattata that did a thing" Anya waited for a moment before continuing. "It also works the other way around, If for example there were a lot of my species around, Leavanny and one of you wanted to get my attention without bothering everyone else, Just use my given name to call me and I instantly know someone is calling me directly." "I could go about this a bit more, but let''s answer the other questions first" "It was something about Humans?" Anya questioned Vulpix "Yes, yes, what are they like?" he bounced up and down in excitement while Anya thought for a while. She wasn''t sure how Humans were here. "Humans... are different and many" "They can be as scary as they can be kind, Humans love bonds, be it between themselves or between someone else entirely" "I''m.. not exactly an expert on Humans but know this, do not waste your image of Humans as a species over a few bad individuals and thread each and every one of them differently. The more you interact with them the more you notice things" Anya sighed "One more question right?" she looked at the Eevee who had been eagerly listening her tales. "Y-yes, are you s-strong?" "No" she said without hesitation. Should they know, she learned to walk just a week or so ago... This time the young Vulpix shouted in surprise "But Dad said you are strong and dangerous! You can even easily cut trees! We even saw your territorial markings!" "I..I''m not strong at all" she said while slowly shaking her head while also wondering what were the markings they were talking about, she knew she had accidentally ruined some trees considering how sharp her arms were. Ninetales ruffed to calm the Vulpix. "You say, you are weak but do you mind telling us why you would think like so. Most pokemon I know are proud of their strength, meanwhile you, are claiming otherwise with so much power behind your aura." Anya steeled herself and opened her mouth "Few days ago, I went to sleep at a place I called home, When I woke up I...I found myself in an unknown place in an unknown body, those trees, were an accident, I was using them as a support to learn how to walk using these" she said while pointing her legs. "... You were abandoned by the Humans the moment you evolved?" "..." Anya sat in silence. The nest was slowly getting more and more darker as the sun rays have disappeared. "It is getting late, You are welcome to stay the night with us." Ninetales said and Anya happily agreed to stay. Chapter 6 The morning rays have finally reached the eyes of sleeping Anya as she slowly stirred, her body extremely stiff as the floor was much harder than her own bed at her ''camp''. She looked around the burrow, but couldn''t find anyone else inside, she found a pile of something that looks like gathered junk to her eyes. On this pile a single pot catches Anya''s eyes. Without thinking too deep, she started to rummage through the pile trying to release the pot from underneath all the other junk. A loud yell sounded behind her as she was lost in digging "Stop! Stop! Stop!" a soft voice said in panic. The whole pile has already been disturbed when Anya noticed that someone was shouting at her. She looked around and saw the distressed Vulpix behind her. Anya tilted her head and asked "What''s wrong?" "Da-dad is going to be pissed, you just touched his stuff without a permission, even I am not allowed to touch those." Not soon after, the Ninetales in question had entered the burrow, looking around and seeing Anya holding a pot on her hands while talking to his kit. He did not like that someone had without a permission rummaged through his stuff, but before anything happened he soon relented when he saw the happy smile on their guest''s face, it seems like she knew the true value of what he had collected over the years. "Well, what do we have here" he said in a playfully mad manner "Thieves looking through my stuff huh?" "Umm, umm I tried to stop her dad, please don''t be mad, she did not know" "Even without knowing, going through other people''s stuff isn''t honorable" "Excuse me, mister Ninetales, where did you get this?" Anya holding the metallic pot in front of her without catching on to his mood. "I found it few cycles ago, just some curios left behind by Humans" This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.It was Vulpix'' turn to be surprised, "These are from Humans!?" Vulpix voiced out. "No wonder they are weird" he continued "Yes, most of them are from Humans" he confirmed "Most of that... is useless junk..." Anya told warily "I know, even if they weren''t, I could not use any of these myself" "Sooo, why is that thing not junk?" the kit asked curiously "Well, it is a quite normal metallic pot, but I can use it to make stuff." "I just need one of your help at one point." "I''ll help!" the kit said overjoyed ----------------------------- After a while of setting up a fireplace near the stream, all four of them had gathered around Anya, curious to look at what she was doing. She lifted the pot carefully when it was full of water, it was not easy thing to do with two chopsticks of arms. The pot was inserted on top of the makeshift fireplace, some wood had been collected. The moment of truth. "Now if you could light this on fire", the young fox warily looked at his father who nodded in encouragement. Soon after there was a nice fire going. She had been preparing for this moment for a while, she fidgets and uses her hand to reach for her spinneret and slowly pull a thread of sticky silk out of it. The young pokemon were all surprised by her action and were giddily and curiously looking at her, causing her to blush in the sudden attention. Moment of truth, the water starts to boil and Anya uses her hand to dip the fresh silk into the boiling water while using her other arm to collect the boiled silk onto a smooth stick rolling it over a multiple layers. The moment she noticed that the silk was actually much heavier and more thicker than the silk she had used before... duh she was the size of a small human, how did she not notice that before. ------------------------------ After an exhausting beginning of a day, Anya had started to weave the silk strand into a cloth of sorts, even as the silk was much thicker than she had anticipated, she still managed to create something as her hands naturally found the correct strands and made the knitting a bit easier. By the end of the day she had a sheet the size of her armspan, during the production she had found that ''her'' silk was much stronger, more durable and thicker than any cloth she had worked with before, even her hands had trouble cutting it, only when using the tip of her blades could she manage to cut it. She neatly folded the fabric and went inside the burrow. Anya was greeted by a tired Vulpix and Ninetales. Eevee and Rattata already down for the count. It took her longer than intended. As Vulpix laid down to rest, Anya walked towards Ninetales and showed him, her results, The golden fox was surprised by the softness of her fabric and questioned her more about it, which she happily obliged, it was quite late before both of them went to sleep. The last thing she asked Ninetales about was if it was okay to stay with them, to which she got a positive answer. Chapter 7 ----------------------------------- Ninetales - Leavanny N: What is that you have made? L: It is called fabric, it can be used to create stuff, like a cloth to sleep on for example N: Really, Would you mind creating some? L: I can at least try ------------------------------------ Eevee - Leavanny - Vulpix E: I have heard you singing before, it was beautiful L: Thank you, Eevee V: SING US SOMETHING! L: Maybe someday ----------------------------------- Leavanny - Ninetales N: What is that supposed to be? L: This? I wrapped some silk around my cutters to not accidentally cut anything. N: Interesting ----------------------------------- Rattata - Vulpix - Eevee R: This thing is awesome V: Yeah, it is so soft E: I can''t believe she could make something like this V: She called it a pillow, it is filled with tall grass and leaves, I helped her collect some! The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. R: That is so cool! ----------------------------------- Ninetales - ??? N: Yeah, she is staying at my place for now ?: Isn''t she scary with those sharp cutters of hers N: You should have seen her, she is nothing like any bug I have ever seen, it is like she doesn''t know anything about being bug, she is kind and gentle with the kits. Only her looks are a bit on the intimidating side. ?: So where is she from and what species she belongs to? N: She said something about living with Humans before and her species is known as Leavanny or at least the evolved form is known. ----------------------------------- Ninetales - Vulpix - Eevee N: Have you noticed anything weird about our guest? V: Silly dad, she is totally weird N: Not like that, I mean her behavior has been odd for the past few nights. I was just asking if any of you have noticed anything. E: I think she is lonely and misses her home. V: Whaat! I haven''t noticed at all. She smiles all the time. E: It''s not about the smile, it is about the eyes. I sense some sadness in them. N: I have also noticed that there is something odd with her eyes. V: You seem to stare at her quite a lot these days. she is harmless! N: I don''t stare at her. ------------------------------------ Rattata - Vulpix R: My mom is going to pick me up after a few nights V: So we have to make the best out of this time we have left R: Yeah!... But this means we can''t see each other again. V: oh yeah... the migration V: I wonder what Anya is going to do during the winter, does she sleep like the Beedrill? R: I don''t know? We could ask her? -------------------------------------- Leavanny - Vulpix - Rattata - Eevee V: Are you going to sleep through the cold? L: No? E: Why not, all of the other bugs sleep through the cold season. V: You will freeze, if you go outside R: Maybe she will move for warmer places? L: I don''t know... I think I would like to stay if your dad allows it. V: Yippee! ------------------------------------- Leavanny - Ninetales L: I have been truly stupid... N: What is it this time? L: Well, it seems like when I am nervous, I... I have been subconsciously sharpening my cutters... N: Really? I though you knew... L: I can''t really control myself that well ------------------------------------- Chapter 8 It was the first cold night of the year, the start of winter. Anya has been shivering in her sleep as cold air invades the burrow. Anya slowly woke from her slumber as she suddenly felt a cold breeze invade her core. She noticed that all three of the small pokemon were huddled under the warm looking tails of Ninetales, she was a bit envious but not enough to visibly show it. As Anya rose from her pillow, only then did she really notice how cold it actually was. Determined to actually do something that day, she quietly left the burrow, only to find the grass outside with a layer of frost on top of it. She moved to the nearby stream, knowing well the nearby area. Refreshing herself at the cold stream might not have been the best of choices as the cold water clung to her skin and causing her to shiver when the cold wind blew past her. Today, she was supposed to start making cloth again. There hasn''t been any other flare ups after the first one, seems like it won''t happen again. She shivered again and told herself that making clothes for herself might be a good idea, like the ''gloves'' she had made earlier for herself. On a plus note, her skills as a tailor had come in handy and her ability to knit silk has increased tremendously, right now her speed in making the cloth has become so good that the kids are all entranced by her. At midday the burrow had a visitor, A Raticate had entered and the Rattata gleefully shouted "Mom! You came!" "Yes dear, I am here now" Raticate looked around the burrow and its eyes met with Anya''s, They both stared at each other for a while until Raticate was interrupted by Ninetales. "It is good to see you well" Ninetales said "Thank you for looking after my child this summer, I really had some important things to do. I really can''t thank you enough" "It is fine, if anything, his company was nice bit of change around here" Raticate then eyed at the Leavanny who calmly knit silk at the corner of the burrow. "Who is that?" she asked Ninetales "Some lost one we found few weeks back, she has been quite nice to us. Even making our nest a little nicer place to sleep, with these things" the Ninetales said while pointing at the nearest cushion. "Some odd move?" The Raticate asked curiously "None that I know of, but it doesn''t seem to even be a move, it doesn''t seem to use any aura energies" Raticate looked around again and said a quick few words merrily. "Come darling, say goodbye to your friends we need to get going" "Yes mom!" Rattata then went to nuzzle Eevee and Vulpix saying their goodbyes and wishing them a good winter. "Goodbye guys, keep safe" Rattata chirped as they both exited the burrow. Anya focused more on her silk and continued to knit. She was sure it was going to get colder, she needed to prepare better if she wanted to survive. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. While knitting peacefully, Eevee and Vulpix both came to join her while dragging their own pillows nearby and then loafing on them. Anya didn''t see any problems with such an act and continued to knit. She opened her mouth and threw a question in the air in curiosity "I didn''t know that Rattata was a temporarily here, does that mean that your mother or father comes to pick you up too Eevee?" Eevee jolted up from her pillow in surprise when being talked to so suddenly. "...I...My..." "Her parents are both gone" Anya heard an answer from the Ninetales "Oh... I''m sorry, I shouldn''t have asked" "It''s, it''s okay, you couldn''t have known, Ninetales has looked after me most of the time" Eevee stuttered. Anya struggled for a while to change the subject to a more livelier one, then she had an idea. "Hey, what do you want to evolve into?" Eevee stupedified answered as a matter of factly "Flareon of course!" "How so?" "Because Eevee evolves into Flareon like Vulpix evolve into Ninetales. Everyone knows this!" This baffled Anya, she knew that Eevee had at least eight different evolutions to evolve into, so she decided to question her deeper. "Are you sure? In my knowledge Eevee has eight different options to evolve into" "E-e-eight?!" Vulpix stuttered nearby in surprise. "Is that true!?" he looked at Eevee expectantly "N-no" Eevee answered "Eevee evolves into Flareon" Ninetales had risen from its bed and walked slowly towards them. "I am not sure about eight different evolutions but I have seen three forms myself" Ninetales said. "But if you know something about Eevee, then do enlighten me, I am raising one myself" His mouth turned into a smirk. Anya took a deep breath, she wasn''t sure how much of her knowledge was correct, but so far it has not been exactly wrong either. "Do you mind telling me first which of her forms have you seen before?" The fox nodded "The one I am most familiar with is the form of Flareon as Eevee''s mother was a good friend of mine, then I have seen the yellow one with white collar and is spiky all over and lastly I have seen the black one with glowing yellow circles all over its bodies." "So you have seen a Flareon, a Jolteon and an Umbreon." Anya nodded "So that leaves, Vaporeon, Espeon, Leafeon, Glaceon and Sylveon" She counted. Anya then asked a question meant for either Ninetales or Eevee. "Do you know the conditions of Eevee''s evolutions?" "Conditions?" the Eevee parroted her "Only Flareon, they need to be exposed to a strong fire aura for an extended period of time" Ninetales said Anya racked her brain as the information Ninetales gave her did not match any of her knowledge ''does this mean that the evolution stones from the games and anime were just condensed type aura, maybe they aren''t even real?'' she cleared her head and gave them what she thought was right. ''Or possibly with a stone with condensed amount of fire energy?'' she then continued "I''ll skip Flareon as you might know about it the most, next is Vaporeon, a water-type pokemon capable melting into a puddle of water that are evolved using a water stone or exposed to a large amount of water energy? Aura? As you called it, their body has a large fin-like tail. Jolteon, electric-type extremely fast and is capable of easily releasing lightning and thunder, evolved by using a thunder stone or electric aura." "Then its going to get a little odd, we have Umbreon the moonlight pokemon, capable of using dark-type energy and is attuned to the moon, evolved when... attuned to the moon and is happy? friendly? Next Umbreon''s counterpart, Espeon a purple twin-tailed sun cat which is capable of using strong psychic energies, move stuff with their mind and talk to others directly into their heads, Evolves like an Umbreon but attuned to the sun instead of the moon." After each of these explanations Anya could see the face of the Eevee shifting more and more, she chuckled. "I know I am not doing that great of a job to explain these, but are you still with me? " she asked to let the poor pokemon''s mind rest a bit. But the Eevee resolutely nodded "All right, We have three left, First one of them is Leafeon, which is a green grass-type pokemon with a sharp tail and can survive just by being in the sun, is evolved by exposing an Eevee to a leaf stone or a high concentration of grass-type aura? Next up is Glaceon an ice-type pokemon with icy blue fur, capable of instantly freezing and cooling its surrounding, they are evolved by exposing an Eevee to either ice stone or a high concentration of ice-aura." "Last but not least, we have Sylveon, a mystical fairy-type pokemon with pink and white body. Capable of moving a ribbon like appendages at will and its mysterious fairy energies to feel feelings and bring peace to aggressive opponents, evolved by knowing how to handle fairy aura and... love?" The whole burrow was dead silent for a moment, before Anya coughed and continued. "So which of these sound the best?" Anya asked Eevee "You can ask me anything, I''ll try to help as much as I can" Chapter 9 After a busy morning, explaining to curious Eevee about all of her potential evolutions and knitting the rest of the day, she was finally done for the day. Now wearing a white multi-layered silk cloak which protected her from the cold air, she had made even more layers, for when it would inevitably get even more colder. The day slowly turned dark, Vulpix and Eevee were softly snoring huddled together on a pillow. Ninetales looked at the sleeping kits, fondness displaying in his eyes and a soft smile on his vulpine muzzle, he gestures to Anya, to follow him outside. Anya sees Ninetales leaving the burrow and follows him. Ninetales was waiting at the entrance, moonlight reflecting from his golden coat, making the sight just that much more beautiful. Anya shudders as the cold night breeze hits her, she looks at Ninetales and asks "What is it that you want to talk about?" She knew this had to be something important, otherwise he would not have waited until his own son had fallen asleep and would have just asked her during the day. Ninetales looked at Anya, His red eyes meeting hers a moment later, Ninetales spoke "I know you have been hiding something" Anya tensed, this did not go unnoticed by Ninetales. He pressed on, "I do not know what, I do not even need to know, just tell me that, whatever it is that you are hiding does not bring us any harm or danger" Anya breaks the eye contact, the silence lasts at the burrows entrance, her mind wondering what could she do. She had few options to choose from. first, she could tell the Ninetales the whole truth how she had been a human before coming here, this of course might be risky as Ninetales attitude towards Humans wasn''t that positive. Second, she could just promise that what ever she was hiding shouldn''t bring any trouble to anyone. And finally, she could just leave the burrow and make her way alone in the forest. She gave her answer to Ninetales "I a... I promise that whatever I have weighing on me should not. Will not bring any harm on this burrow nor anyone interacting with me..." This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Ninetales eyes still focused on Anya, "I believe you, just so that you know, I have felt your emotions for these past few days, but chose to not say anything. I have seen that whatever weight you hold in your soul, distances you from everyone else" "Even though we have only known each other for such a short time, I already consider you as a friend of mine and it saddens me to see you so cold and lonely..." Anya stared at Ninetales, His graceful visage, eyes that have seen many things along the years reflecting her own gaze back to her. "I, uhm, I''m not sure how to say this ,but here goes, I uhm, used to be a Human, hailing from a totally different world" her gaze went to the stars illuminating the skies above. "Where I come from, this world is only a story meant for the children, an entertainment so to say." A moment of silence before Anya continued "I loved this world, I still do, ever since I was a kid, I dreamed to be in one... Now that it happened, this, this was not what I expected." she said somberly while waving her cutter in front of her. "I have wanted to be a pokemon trainer, a Human using the powers of pokemon to travel the world and see all there is to offer, the sights, the unique and rare pokemon even just meeting different people..." Ninetales sat next to her slowly wrapping his warm tails around Anya and continued listening to her in silence. "But... alas, I have become a pokemon myself, why couldn''t I be a Human... or even a pokemon that actually had arms... oh what could I give for an ability to grab things" tears falling from her eyes while she stared at her ''gloved'' cutter "I only have these blades and I fear that I accidentally cut someone when I get too close" her body crumbled underneath her and she fell down sobbing. "It must have been so tough for you..." Ninetales said soothingly "But you do not have to endure it alone anymore, I am here for you, just like I am there for my own child and just like I am there for Eevee too." "We will figure something out" he said while licking her tears off her face. They stood by the entrance in silence, Anya burying her head in the body of Ninetales "It''s just not fair" Anya exclaimed in a muffled voice "Life... Never is..." "You know Anya, you have a gift, maybe not the one you wanted, but a gift either way" Said Ninetales soothingly "I know..." Anya answered and separated from Ninetales'' soft fur, soon after, they both have moved back inside the burrow and where the continued speaking in a soft quiet voice as they did not want to wake the sleeping ones. "I am going to keep quiet about your past, you can tell them when you think you are ready, it is your choice after all, but I don''t think either of them would hate you for knowing, they are smart like that" he gave Anya a Vulpine smirk. "Thank you" "I still have many questions, but those can wait for another time" Chapter 10 ----------------------- Leavanny - Ninetales - Vulpix L: Why didn''t anyone tell me that winter was coming! V: ??? N: Everyone knows without being told, we could feel it coming for days before it actually happened L: ...that.. makes sense? I guess? V: Daaaad, she is being weird again! ----------------------- Ninetales - ??? N: She is totally harmless, I have adopted her into my pack just like Eevee ?: That is a mistake, she is the harbinger of doom, an omen of the ends N: As if, she might act weird but she is not a bad pokemon. You should know that I have a reputation to uphold. ?: Yes, yes, the cast away taking in others of the same status, we are still watching you. When the pack moves, she is not welcome. ----------------------- Leavanny - Ninetales - ??? N: So, mind telling me in more detail about yourself? L: Uhh... sure... where to start? N: Tell me about who you were, where were you born and such L: Okay. My whole name is Anya Anastasia Holt, my family being one of the largest forest owners in the whole world. My world. I had to travel all around following my parents who were making deals and such so I really hadn''t had a place to call home until I turned old enough to start studying independently. L: I wanted to be a tailor... a maker of cloth and the handler of fabrics. My dream was to open a store to sell handcrafted plushies, cloth, fabric and do special commissions. L: But before I got to graduate, I found myself here... N: ...I still don''t really see a problem here L: What do you mean? N: Well, from my observations your current body is capable of being a tailor, right? You have already made something. L: !? Y-you are right, how didn''t I see it before? N: *chuckle*... one question though? What are plushies? ?: Daaad!, why are you two hiding in a place like this? ------------------------- Leavanny - Ninetales N: You have told me before that our world was a story in yours. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. L: Well... It goes a bit deeper than that. Not just a story but a collection of stories, games and shows. N: Please elaborate? L: Well, in my world, a franchise known as pokemon had been released, it consists of a world well written and inhabited by pokemon such as me or you. At first there was only 151 pokemon in existence. The original generation 1 pokemon. L: After years of expanding the universe we now have over a thousand different pokemon numbered. For example Vulpix and Ninetales are generation 1 pokemon so they are numbered below 150 while a Leavanny like yours truly, is a generation 5 pokemon, somewhere below 600th as each generation adds around 100 to 200 new pokemon. L: Eevees on the other hand are spread out between generations as Eevee, Flareon, Vaporeon and Jolteon were Generation 1, Umbreon and Espeon generation 2, Leafeon and Glaceon generation 4 and Sylveon came out in Generation 6. N: Quite peculiar L: Did you know that you have another sister species in existence which is known as Alolan Vulpix and Alolan Ninentales. Vulpix being an ice type and Ninetales being fairy and ice dual type. N: ... L: Although I really do not know of what I know is even true, I might be in a world where only some of the pokemon I know exists. L: Everything I know is just speculation as nothing is proven yet... I have been wrong before. ------------------------- Leavanny - Ninetales L: Hey, I have been wondering for a while, where are we? N: In a forest? L: Yeah but do you know which forest this is? Where this forest is? the name of the nearest human settlement? N: No, I do not know, why? L: I would have liked to at least place myself on the map, I remember quite well about the world of pokemon, I can''t remember where, what pokemon is found though. N: Sorry, I could not help L: It''s okay -------------------------- Leavanny - Ninetales - Eevee L: I noticed that there isn''t that many pokemon around us? Is that normal? N: Yes, this forest has numerous aggressive Beedrill colonies, so many wild pokemon keep their distance from this forest. Before winter, the colonies start to hibernate and this whole forest becomes quite nice place to live for a while. E: But they are slowly expanding, last summer some hives had their territories too close to each other and it was intense. N: I think, this is our last winter in this forest. E: But... I like our current home... N: I know, I do too, especially now that it is filled with these soft cushions L: Aww, you make me blush --------------------------- Leavanny - Ninetales N: So... You said before that there is over a thousand different pokemon? L: Over a thousand different I know of, there might be more, there might be less, the point is, my knowledge is up to a bit over a thousand and might be unreliable. N: Say.. you wouldn''t happen to know what species a pink floating feline with a extremely long tail belongs to? L: ...There is three pink cats that come into my mind, Only two of them are capable of levitating, Did it have a red jewel on its forehead and tail split in two at end. N: ...no and no L: Then.. the only one that is left is Mew, the origin pokemon, known as the father of most known pokemon species... N: ... L: Yes, they are numbered 150 being the last of the generation 1 pokemon... and 151st might not even exist yet, now that I think about it. --------------------------- Ninetales - ??? ?: Hello again, it has been a while N: Yes, it has been some time ?: Is something wrong? You are unusually fidgety N: I apologize, I would like to ask for your advice. ?: I do not think any of that is required. N: B-but she knows what you are! ?: And? My species isn''t exactly a secret either, we are just hiding while keeping the world peaceful. N: She could bring calamity! ?: You have been talking to that old fool again... Ask yourself this, do you really think your ''visitor'' is capable of this great destruction. N: ...No, she isn''t, if anything its the other way around. She has this calming effect. ?: See, there we go, you should embrace her gifts they might bring you that which you need the most. ---------------------------- Chapter 11 The winter is in full swing, the forest is coated in a deep layer of snow and frost. Anya had decided to take a stroll and was moving along the stream, she had no destination in mind as she just wanted to better her walking abilities. Even though it has been around two months with her new body, her walking wasn''t exactly as stable as she would have liked having to every now and then to catch her balance. She hummed a happy tune as she walked through the snowy painting like landscape. With her latest tumble she actually tripped on something, an odd mound barely covered in snow. Getting up she noticed that the mound was softly moving up and down, breaking the snows surface every now and then. It didn''t take long for her to realize that she was looking at a human, a shivering human. Anya''s body jolted, her mind raced and she knew she did not have much time. The human would be dead if nothing was done, Anya took of few layers of her silk coat, she bundled them up and tied them around the human''s armpits, and started pulling as much as she could, noticing that the human was either lighter than she though or she was stronger than she thought thanks to her pokemon physicality. In all of the hustle, Anya took the human to the burrow and dragged it deep inside, at the end of the burrow she found Ninetales, Eevee and Vulpix all staring at her dumbfounded, Ninetales growled a bit and shouted "YOU BROUGHT A HUMAN TO MY HOME!" flames flickering in anger out of her mouth. This shout jolted Anya out of her panic and she realized she had made a mistake. "I am sorry!" she shouted back "I just couldn''t leave him! He would have died in the cold!" The body still shivering even in the shelter of the burrow, something needed to be done. An idea popped in Anya''s head, She carefully removed the humans wet backpack and used her silk to coat the Human with multiple thick layers of sticky silk, she knew it would at least warm him some. "Ninetales, could you please start up the fireplace, he needs warmth" Ninetales did not respond as he glared at the human, ignoring everything else around him. Suddenly the fireplace was lighted, Anya looked at Vulpix who looked proud to lit the fire. "Thanks Vulpix" She then looked at the backpack. -------------------------- Samuel was exploring the nearby forest, he used the stream to keep track where he was at the time, he knew the forest were very dangerous during the summer as the local Beedrill hives were super territorial. The only time the forest could be easily traversed is during the winter when the colonies were hibernating. Even a strong trainer like himself did not want to fight hundreds if not thousands of angry Beedrill, there is only so much he could do. Deep in his thoughts, Samuel had slipped and hit his head, causing him to lose consciousness. Samuel woke up momentarily when someone was dragging him, his blurry vision only managed to see a moving white silhouette against the darkening sky. Next time he came to, he was greeted with an open flame of a small campfire in a cave of sorts, he could not move his body at all, he could only look around, he saw a Ninetales glaring at him, hatred flashing in those red eyes. In the flickering of the campfire''s dim light Samuel also recognized a Vulpix and an Eevee hiding under the tails of the Ninetales. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Listening closely he could hear the rustling of paper and noticed that a person in a snow white cloak was facing away from him and reading something. He opened his mouth to thank the person. "Hey, thank you for rescuing me, If you would be so kind and untie me, this position isn''t exactly comfortable to lie in." Samuel had also noticed the pure white cushions spread around the room, each and everyone of them slightly different in size and shape. The white figure slowly turned towards him, his shock was indescribable when red orbs met his own eyes. ''It is a pokemon!'' his mind shouted. An uneasiness spread through his body as the bug slowly walked towards him. It had his journal on white cloth covered cutters. It looked deeply into his eyes, Samuel captivated by her gaze. After a while, it finally made a clear melodic noise "Lea-Leavanny!" while pointing him with one of its arms. "I am sorry, I do not understand you" Samuel answered, his knowledge of its expressions is non-existent. The bug shook its head and opened his journal in front of him. It opened a page and pointed to a series of letters in Unown script ''HURT'' while gesturing with its other arm at him. Samuel was so shocked that his mouth was open in surprise, this, this was the first known pokemon to be capable of reading words! ''This is revolutionary!'' he thought. Soon he came to his senses and told the bug "No, I am not hurt" while shaking his head as much as he could. The bug type visibly sighed in relief or that is what it looked like in oddly exaggerated motions. The Ninetales ruffed "Ni-Nine" and the bug nodded its head "Vanny-Nya". The bug then put his journal back into his backpack and walked towards him. This time it took a piece of cloth from somewhere, it had multiple layers to make it thick. It then sadly gestured the cloth, his eyes, its eyes and lastly the burrow like cave. Not knowing what it meant Samuel shook his head and told "I do not understand what you mean". The bug crept closer and covered his eyes with the white cloth, his world went dark and soon enough there was a tug on his back. Surprised about the sudden contact in the darkness, he let out a grunt, he wished he had his trusty pokemon with him. After few bumps during the dragging, he was hit by a sudden cold breeze, they were outside again... Samuel wondered and thought hard, he had no idea where they were taking him. After an undetermined amount of time they stopped, the cloth was soon take out of his eyes and he could finally see again. What he saw was the familiar stream in front of him. He also could hear a ripping sound and a sudden wave of coldness invading his backside. Then all of a sudden he was free, the cocoon opening in front of him. He slowly got up and looked around, His eyes met the red orbs of the bug''s. It was carrying his backpack and dropped it gracefully, taking a few steps back and most likely gesturing him the direction which to go. Now that they were outside, Samuel could see that the white layers on top of the pokemon seemed not to be part of the pokemon itself and were most likely made to or by her to survive in the harsh coldness of winter as most bug-types were unable to stay awake in the cold. Samuel took a look in his backpack and noticed that everything was still there even if slightly different place than before, he then put it on his back and looked towards the weird bug, who waved at him, acting surprisingly human for a pokemon. Samuel waved back and left. -------------------------- ''That was nerve wracking'' Anya thought while watching the human leave. Who would have though that she would stumble upon the one and only Samuel Oak, the world famous pokemon professor or at least he was going to be. Anya had read through Samuel''s journal and noticed that he isn''t yet THE pokemon professor but a recently retired world class pokemon trainer who was wandering and exploring the Kanto and Johto Regions to become a professor. Judging from the journals latest entries it seems this forest is near Pallet town, Oak''s current home and future laboratory location. This opens up a lot of options for Anya''s future, as the world is still young and information about pokemon is scarce, She could be the missing link, She could help the young professor and gain everything she needed through him. Anya smiled while watching Samuel''s back slowly disappear into the horizon. Chapter 12 Weeks have passed since Samuel Oak had left, the spring had broken through and snow was melting all around the forest. Anya was in a good mood today as she had finished her biggest project yet. "It is finally done!" Anya shouted in relief, this drew the curious eyes of her burrow mates, Vulpix being the most curious of the bunch answered her call first. "What is it?" He questioned "This, my friend is a plushie" she said while presenting him a white copy of himself, albeit there being some minor differences, mainly it being pure white, having a weird swirly fluff on its head and its eyes were a piece of carved wood. "What''s a plushie?" Vulpix asked "A plushie is a soft and huggable replica of a real thing!" "This however is modeled after an Alolan Vulpix!" she answered gleefully "See?" she said while putting the rough looking life-sized Alolan Vulpix plushie on the ground for the young Vulpix to see. Vulpix got closer, sniffed, poked and licked the plush before chomping on it and happily dragged it away to show it to his father. Ninetales sneaked a curious peek at Anya while listening his own child in amusement. ------------------- Later that day, Ninetales met up with Anya outside the burrow, "That, plushie you called it? It was quite impressive, even with only white and shades of gray, you managed to make it quite a Vulpix" he smirked "Thanks, I did my best, it also helped to have a real life Vulpix around to work out the details" "So, that is why you have been looking at him for the past week or two" Ninetales said when he came to a realization. "Guilty, I think, I could have done so much better if only I had dyes..." "And what might those be?" "They are stuff that is used to color the fabrics" Anya answered "As from before they were readily available, so learning how to make one was not as important to me as learning how to sew, knit and the works." Ninetales nodded and said. "I know this comes out of nowhere, know this, I am truly thankful for you being here, looking after Eevee and Vulpix when I am gone. But due to recent happenings in the forest we must leave the burrow, I suggest you do the same, preferably before all the snow is totally gone" "Wha-why?" she sounded shocked "I got the news from the pack, the local Beedrill colonies are starting to wake up, earlier than estimated... We will be leaving on the day after tomorrow" "I can''t come with you?" pleaded Anya "No, I am afraid the pack is not willing to take any outsiders, Eevee can only come because her mother had once helped the pack and they owe her a favour. You, on the other paw have nothing to do with the pack..." Anya nodded in understanding, Ninetales silently walked past her, out of the burrow. Few minutes later Anya felt something nudge into her from the side, burrowing through her dirtied cloak, she saw the head of Eevee gently poking her. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author."Hey, what''s up?" Anya called Eevee looked up at her face, most likely sensing her masked sadness, she moved on top of her lap and said. "I heard we are leaving and you can''t come with us..." She said sadness echoing in her voice "So did I..." Anya responded while carefully petting Eevee''s fur "Buut, I wanna stay with you!" she said resolutely "I...So do I, but I-It''s not safe, I can''t keep you safe, I am weak, Most likely one of the weakest pokemon on the whole world..." "I''ll protect you then!" she countered "I''ll be the strong one!" "I appreciate the thought, I really do, but you must go with the pack, grow strong, evolve even, become strong enough to survive alone and maybe, maybe then you can find me and stay with me if you want to." "But..." "Be a good girl Eevee, I could never forgive myself if something bad happened to you because of me." Eevee went silent before asking "Can you teach me everything you know about my evolutions before I have to leave? So I know what I want to be" "Gladly" Anya answered smile flowing on her face. She continued to pet Eevee and begun telling her all she knew about every single one. ----------------------------------- When she was finished it was already getting dark, Eevee drowsily nodded on her lap, trying to keep awake. "Whatever you end up choosing, choose it for your own sake, not because you think it helps someone else, not because someone else said what you should or shouldn''t be, follow your own heart, that should lead you to the best result" Eevee quietly yipped in a drowsy confirmation before falling completely silent. Anya gently wrapped Eevee in her arms and cradled her inside the burrow. That night they slept cuddling each other. ------------------------------------ It was the day before departure, Anya was loitering around, now that she knew the burrow would be left empty in a day, she had lost her motivation to do anything productive, she was listlessly petting Eevee, that was sitting on her lap, who was currently enjoying their final moments together. The burrow was silent, no one talked, everyone was just waiting for tomorrow to arrive somberly. Many times Ninetales was about to say something but chose to stay silent in the end. Anya decided that it was enough moping around and stood up. Eevee, instantly made her displeasure known, as she was extricated from her lap. Anya started cleaning the burrow, gathering the leftover silk rolls and sheets. She started to prepare for her own journey, She knit some sheets together to make a makeshift sack which she filled with her stuff. While packing She asked Ninetales if she could have the pot, which he allowed. After having the sack filled mostly with her stuff and started to practice her embroidery. ''Better now than never'' she thought. Eevee clambered back on her lap to rest. Ninetales asked her "What''s your plan? Where do you plan to go from here?" Anya thought for a moment before answering "I''ll seek the nearby Human settlement" The vulpine was silent for a while "What if they don''t want you there?" "I will cross that bridge when I get there" ------------------------------------ The sun was rising on the horizon, Anya was still finishing her embroidery, the ground near her littered with failed attempts. The Eevee stirred at her lap and greeted her tired eyes drowsily. "Did you sleep well" she asked and the Eevee nodded shaking herself awake immediately afterwards. "You didn''t rest at all!" Eevee said in surprise. "Well, I had to finish this, I''ll sleep after you all leave, I will leave too when I wake up." "What is that even?" the Eevee looked curiously. "This, is a scarf, a farewell gift from me, to you" The embroidery on the scarf had a very picturesque embroidery. It was all of them happily together, A fireplace in the middle, Ninetales lying down with Vulpix sleeping under its tails, Eevee and Rattata playing by the lit fireplace and Leavanny sitting on the right side watching the fire. "I hope you accept it" "OF COURSE I DO!" she shouted happily while inspecting the embroidery. It was quite hard to see as it was done with a white strands on a white canvas but looking carefully she could see the image. "It is so pretty" she said afterwards. "Do you want me to put it on?" Anya asked "Yes!" Eevee answered immediately "Then could you turn away for a bit" Eevee did what was told and Anya carefully tied the scarf around her neck with a simple knot at the end to hold it in place. "There done" she said The Eevee turned and postured proudly, the white scarf contrasting against her brown fur. There was a shout a the entrance "Eevee, Vulpix it is time to go now" Anya escorted the group to the exit and said her farewell to Ninetales, Vulpix and the now sobbing Eevee. With a small push from Anya, Eevee started walking behind Ninetales with every few steps looking back at Anya who waved at them at the burrows entrance until she couldn''t be seen anymore. Chapter 13 Silence permeates the forest, the ground being slushy and being slowly absorbed by the growing plant life underneath, preparing to rise again when the warmth of summer comes. Anya awoke around noon, it has been hours since Ninetales and co. had left. She looked around in silence reminiscing these past months and she was already missing the company of the shy and clingy Eevee and the ever energetic Vulpix. She cleared her head and packed everything she had missed the day before. She strapped the sack around her shoulder on top of her silk clothes and left. Leaving the burrow she found herself following the nearby stream heading downstream towards the same direction as Samuel Oak had gone, hoping to reach Pallet town. Wandering alongside the stream, Anya could feel the serenity, the calmness of the forest. She could hear the sounds of pokemon every now and then. She wondered why she hadn''t bothered to listen before, the sounds calming her uneasy heart. The journey was proceeding without any significant problems, the forest was full of berries, most wild pokemon kept away from her, most likely because of her bug-typing with their infamous reputation thanks to the hyper territorial Beedrill colonies. It was a bit sad as every time Anya caught a glimpse of a wild pokemon, they were already running away from her. She could recognize the local pokemon quite well. Their appearance matching surprisingly well to the ''digital'' version from the games, only some minor details were missing that were unnecessary for the games. She still wasn''t sure if all pokemon came out of eggs or were they delivered depending if they were mammal-like or not. -------------------------------- Anya came across a grounded Pidgey, the resting Pidgey soon noticed Anya walking nearby and started screaming in panic. "OH NO, NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! Not like this!" It screamed, dread filling its eyes. Anya noticed that Pidgey''s left wing had been damaged and it looked to be incapable of flight. "Calm down" Anya said "If you wave your broken wing around like that, you might injure yourself even more" The Pidgey stopped, its body froze while its eyes were looking at Anya in disbelief. "Good, I think I might be able to help you heal if you want, but! IF you don''t want any, then I will be on my way..." Anya continued when she noticed the Pidgey calming down. "Please leave" the Pidgey quickly chirped in agitation showing on its voice. "Okay" she nodded and walked past the hurt bird "Take care..." She continued onward. It was getting dark as the sun had disappeared behind the forest, she stumbled upon the remains of a campfire, most likely Samuel''s she thought, The small amount of charred wood remains in the ring of stone all wet and cold from the melting snow. Anya decided to rest at the camp for the night. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Anya tied up some silk sheets around a tree, using her sticky silk to further reinforce its hold, she had made a simple hammock where she could sleep the night away. That night Anya barely got any rest, the noises of the nocturnal pokemon kept her from falling asleep. When the morning rays of the sun hit her eyes, she rose up groggily. Continuing her travels after a light breakfast berry or two she still had with her. ''I should restock some berries, when I get the chance'' she thought. Rest of the way went without any problems and soon she arrived into an open grassy plains littered with snow here and there, she had finally left the forest. The stream still continued through the plains, all the way into the horizon. As she had no clear directions to go she just continued following the stream through the grasslands. Her legs carried her forward, she curiously looked around as she spotted a pack of wild Growlithe running around in the plains chasing something small hidden in the taller grass, something that Anya couldn''t identify from this distance. ------------------- Anya heard a sudden growl and froze in place. She looked around and saw a single Growlithe growling at her all ready to fight. She put her hands in front of her and said "Hey, Don''t mind me, just passing by" trying to calm down the fire dog. The Growlithe barked "Fight me!". Anya was flabbergasted and asked calmly "Why?" It barked back "FIGHT! ME!" and dashed towards Anya and opened its mouth, showing its canine teeth, preparing to bite at her. Jolting from the sudden action Anya put her cutters in front of her face to block the direct attack. The Growlithe pounced to the side and bit her leg causing burning pain to spread from the point of contact, she screamed from the sudden pain. She subconsciously stabbed her cutters down to push her attacker away, A pained yelp later the Growlithe released its bite from her leg and backed away. She noticed that the pain had soon disappeared from her leg and her body was invigorated all of a sudden. Anya was surprised by the sudden energy welling all over her body and noticed something to activate within. She felt like she could do anything at the moment. Her eyes focused on the Growlithe, who snarled at her, flames leaking out of its mouth. Anya knew it was preparing a fire attack, she had seen these kind of flames from the young Vulpix from before, Her awareness of her cutters were also heightened as they were glowing in a faint white light. The Growlithe spit out a series of tiny fire balls, whistling through the air aimed directly at Anya, who quickly dodged to the side, evading the incoming attack. The attack wasn''t that fast Anya thought as the Growlithe spat another bigger singular ball of fire. This time just as Anya was about to dodge she stumbled and fell face first towards the incoming projectile. Anya screeched as searing pain flashed on her face, the pain only lasting for a moment, until another ball of fire hit her side. Her mind reeled from the sudden wave of pain, soon she heard the familiar whistle of another ball of fire coming towards her and she decided to push with her cutters as much as she could manage. Anya launched herself to the side with the sudden increase in force. Forcing herself upright and glaring at the hostile Growlithe, Anya took a sudden sprint towards her opponent, who flinched from her glare. Less than a second later the Growlithe braced for the incoming impact, it was thrown far away by the incoming attack as Anya had launched a football kick to its head disorienting it for a moment. The sudden increase in distance allowed Anya to flee from the fight and continued to sprint alongside the stream, luckily, the Growlithe didn''t follow after her. ---------------------------- Anya found herself panting as she had ran for who knows how long, lying on her stomach near a small pond where the stream passed by. ''So, that was a real pokemon battle'' Anya though as her head cleared, surprisingly her body was only slightly sore from the battle, barely feeling anything on her face or her side where the fire had impacted. She inspected her coat and letting her know about a blackened spots all around. There was also some holes and tears in the fabric. Looking around from her current location she noticed something in the distance, something that was resembling a building. A smile creeping to her face, she had finally found her destination. Chapter 14 Walking through the night Anya arrived at the edge of the human town, tired and not having slept at all after leaving the burrow. The golden rays of sunshine have started to peek from beyond the horizon. Anya drowsily stumbled around the townscape. She arrived at a place she could faintly recognize as a park of sorts with an open cut grassy plains, few trees and benches littering around. Tired and spent she sat down under a tree some distance away from the main path and somewhat hidden behind some bushed and fell asleep hugging her knees. --------------------------- Morning had arrived, the town was in chaos as the police were informed of a pure white ghost being spotted moving creepily through the town early in the morning just moments before sunrise. These news had reached the ears of many locals and travelers alike and caused some eager trainers to look for the unidentified pokemon located somewhere inside the town''s boundaries. It was always a big thing when something happened around small towns like these. The local officers were quickly mobilized to search and assess the threat, especially whenever an unidentified pokemon has been sighted. Handled incorrectly the pokemon might cause damage to the community infrastructure or cause unwarranted casualties. These news were also heard by the former champion, Samuel Oak, who at first dismissed these news as hearsay but as his eyes caught the piece of mysterious white cloth that once was used to blindfold him, he was reminded about his surprise encounter few months ago when he was exploring near the Beedrill territories during their known hibernation period. He also noticed that it was around this time of the year when the Beedrill hives become active again. He realised that his saviour might have stumbled into town to escape the aggressive Beedrill swarms, he looked at the local map on his wall where he dragged his finger along the stream marked on the map towards the town, his finger stopped at the edge of the forest for a moment while and soon continued tracing his finger through the plains still following the stream and finally the stream ending by the town entrance. He thought for a moment and wondered why, the odd pokemon didn''t just stop at the plains. Samuel figured that something had to have happened, his face contorted for a moment and he called for his friend, an additional might shed some light on things. The phone rang for a while and then there was an audible ''click'' noise, the call had connected. "Well, well, well it has been a while since we last talked, what do you want?" "Hey, do you have some time now?" Samuel asked "Yeah, sure, Is this about the new ghost pokemon spotted near your place?" "Heh, leave it to the ghost expert to sniff every possible ghost sightings, but" he answered "But what?" the other continued "I believe, I might know the pokemon in question. I was wondering why is it so far from its home and would like to hear your opinion" "Sure, Tell me what you know" "Remember, around 2 months ago I told you about the mishap near the Beedrill territory" "Yeah, You told me you slipped and lost consciousness, but you managed to wake up before anything happened." "Well, about that, that''s not exactly what happened. I did slip and fall, but I didn''t wake up by myself..." "And that has something to do with the mysterious ghost spooking around?" "It...it''s not a ghost, It''s a bug-type. A *wild* bug-type saved my life Agatha." There was a moment of silence on the phone when Agatha spoke again. "You sure? Wild and untamed bug-types are known for being extremely hostile and aggressive towards anyone not of their own species. Hell, Even I have had my fair share of Beedrill ambushes or accidentally stumbling on a Butterfree mating grounds only to find myself instantly paralyzed." "Well, this one is different I tell you, It dragged me to its nest, a burrow in the ground, cocooned my body and-" Was all he could say when Agatha interrupted him "COCOONED YOUR BODY! Hold on am I missing something? Why would you say that it is a good thing!?" Agatha questioned Samuel "I was getting to that, The cocoon was made to insulate myself from the cold air, it even started a fire to warm me up slowly..." "A bug starting a fire?" "No, the burrow I was taken had a Ninetales, young Vulpix and an Eevee living together. They even had a fireplace to prevent the fire from spreading, and a hole in the ceiling to let the smoke escape" Samuel corrected "That''s..." Agatha was in a loss of words "Incredible I know, I think, the pokemon are much smarter than we actually realized... or at least this one in particular" "Do you know what would happen if this goes into the public!?" Agatha said "There would be riots, the pokemon league is already threading a fine line with the ''forced battling'' clause as it is. If, if they found that the pokemon were as intelligent or even close to the same level... Who knows what could happen..." she continued. "Ahem, well that was not my point right now, I asked your help figuring out why this pokemon had left the Beedrill territory and headed towards the town instead of staying at the plains." "Oh, yes, We went a ''bit'' out of tangent. So, our bug-type has left its own nest for some reason?" Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! "Yes, but the reason is likely the re-activation of the Beedrill hives, making the forest practically a deathtrap to almost anyone living there." "So you asked me why it did not stay on the plains between the town and the forest?" "Yes, I looked through the information I had on the plains and came to a conclusion that there should be enough food, water and cover for a new burrow or a nest in the plains." There was a soft noise of paper pages being turned heard from the phone. "You, idiot... Do you know why the Beedrill population doesn''t expand to the plains?" "''Cause there are no trees?" "Wrong, its because the plain is full of Growlithe packs with few Arcanine seen every now and then" A while passed as Samuel connected the dots "Ah ha, You think it couldn''t stay because the plain''s Fire-types are extremely aggressive towards the Beedrills and hate any bug-types by default?" "Yes, Now that your problem solved, nice talking to you" Agatha said before hanging up the phone. Samuel soon went outside, looking around, he saw many local trainers that he recognized running here and there, most likely searching for the mysterious ''ghost'' pokemon. Samuel chuckled a bit as it has been a while when he had seen the town so lively before. Even if the news were ''bad'' in nature he could see that many of the people around had a smile on their face, a true smile, a smile of excitement and of conviction to brace the unknown that is required to be a pokemon trainer. As Samuel strolled around the townscape, he overheard many rumors about the mysterious pokemon, each more exaggerated than the last, of how the pokemon had left deep gouges on the side of some building or how some holes were poked through the walls. These rumors seemed quite true as the sides of the buildings had some odd markings left on them. Samuel had wandered for a while and had decided to eat his lunch at the local park. Waiting on his turn at a food stand and walking to the park afterwards, he sat down at a bench next to a young boy around the age of seven. The boy looking at Samuel with bright eyes as he had recognized him. "Hey, there, mind if I eat my lunch here?" Samuel asked the boy, who just shook his head. "Thanks, how has your morning been? Looking for that mysterious pokemon?" He asked between bites of his sandwich. "I have been looking all over the town" answered the boy eagerly "I don''t think it exists" he continued downcast. Samuel gently laughed "It does exist, but it is not a ghost my boy. It''s a important friend of mine" The boys eyes lit up again as his idol comforted him. There were few bites remaining on his sandwich when he heard an unnatural shriek nearby, alerted, he took a quick look around to see multiple trainers having gathered around a tree, near the edge of the park. Samuel hurriedly took of, clutching his remainder of a sandwich in his hand. When he arrived near the trainers, he could finally see what the ruckus was about. A familiar white cloaked pokemon was engaged in a battle against a pair of Growlithe, a Pidgey, a Rattata and an Ekans. The beautiful white cloak was already dirty and in tatters, black spots, holes and tears dotting the outfit, the trainers laughed while giving commands to their pokemon. Tears seemingly streaming down the bug-type''s face and clearly in panic. The more Samuel observed the more he came to a conclusion that this was highly unsporting. The trained pokemon attacking in turns against their opponent, who seemingly is not even fighting back, only evading by sheer reflex. The pair of Growlithe pelting the pokemon with multiple embers where every hit caused it to visibly jolt in pain. Samuel was surprised by the sheer amount of endurance the pokemon had, not yielding at all. Samuel clenched his fist, squishing the remains of his sandwich. Not feeling the ingredients bursting between his fingers. He summoned the first pokemon that came to his hand and threw the pokeball in the air. A huge Dragonite appeared in front of everyone and the fighting ceased. Samuel said out loud his voice cracking. "Protect that one" It didn''t take long for the massive pokemon to recognize who he had to protect, he gently scooped up the wounded barely conscious pokemon in his arms and put it on top of his shoulder. "HEY! What gives! That was our catch" Shouted one of the trainers "You can''t just use your pokemon to strong arm the situation" shouted another "That pokemon was rightfully ours" The third one shouted in clear agitation. "Is this how you elite trainers honor the rules" spat the fourth The fifth one took a look at Samuel and quietly recalled his Ekans and left, clearly not wanting any trouble. The situation escalated and the police was called to intervene. The four remaining trainers holding their grounds against Samuel. The bug-type still being held by his Dragonite. "What seems to be the problem here" the police officer said. "This trainer took our catch!" the first one spat with hate while pointing at Samuel "Is this true?" the officer looked at Samuel, recognizing the former champion instantly. "I wouldn''t call it a catch" Samuel said while shaking his head "It looked like bullying when five trainers use their pokemon together to unnecessarily beat up another pokemon" he continued "The pokemon league rules state that the one who starts the battle has the first rights to catch the pokemon" The officer stated and the trainers nodded in agreement. Samuel grunted, he knew he was in the wrong, he was the one who made these rules. The League rules and conducts are simple and fresh, only stating about the Trainer''s rights and not including anything about pokemon welfare. He sighed and threw a question at the trainers. "Which one of you was going to capture it? Who had the right to claim it?" None of them spoke up at first, they looked at each other doing some kind of eye based communication. Soon after one of them walked forward. "I, Jeremy claim the rights of capture" "Put it down" Samuel told his Dragonite and the gentle giant hesitantly put the now unconscious pokemon down. "Now please proceed to catch that pokemon" He gestured Jeremy put his hands into his pockets, searching for something. Some time had passed and he still couldn''t find a single pokeball, he turned towards his pals and asked "Hey guys lend me a pokeball will ya?" One of the three told him that he didn''t bring any with him, the second one told Jeremy that he couldn''t find it even rummaged through his backpack, the last one emptying his pocket fiercely. Calling out that someone had robbed him. Due to sheer happenstance, Dumbfounded, Samuel looked at the officer who was patiently waiting for the situation to resolve peacefully. "Since they cannot capture that pokemon, then I have the rights, right?" he asked the officer "Yes, since the first party is incapable of capturing the pokemon they forfeit their rights to the next party in line" the officer answered as a matter of factly. "Thank you officer, I want to take this pokemon without a pokeball as I want to officially ask it to be captured by me." "Understood, I will escort you both to the station, there we will let the pokemon rest all by itself and wait for it to wake up. During that time I would like you to give a full statement of the situation from your point of view." Then the officer looked at the other trainers and asked them "Do you want to come to the station and give a statement on your side of this situation, if you do not come, you will automatically forfeit all and every claim you have on this pokemon." Most of the young trainers shook their head and Jeremy even said "Keep that pokemon, it was too weak anyways, I only would have liked to have the reward for registering a new species" "All clear, please follow me to the station" The officer said "You must either use a smaller pokemon or carry it yourself" he pointed at the still unconscious pokemon. Samuel thanked his Dragonite and recalled it back to its pokeball, then he easily lifted the pokemon in question, surprised at how light it was. Weighing less than he expected, even though it was over half of his own height. He followed the officer and carried the unconscious pokemon around the town and arrived at the police station, He though ''What a day'' when entering the police station. He heard the surprised murmurs from the side as the young trainers finally found out who Samuel really was. Chapter 15 Arriving at the station''s waiting area, the officer told Samuel to wait for a moment while he goes to make a short report. Samuel laid the unconscious pokemon on a chair and sat next to it. The wait did not take long as the officer, followed by a young female dressed in a police uniform. "This here is officer Jenny, she will take over from here. Goodbye" the officer said and left without bothering to wait for an answer. "Greetings, I am officer Jenny as officer Morrison, I will take over from here to get your side of the situation and officer Morrison will make his own detailed report about his own views of the situation later" she said cheerily. "It''s not often that you need to make a report about the former champion" the officer quipped teasingly. The officer looked at the pokemon sleeping next to Samuel, Noticing it''s white coated body full of holes and burn marks, she also saw some yellow and green peeking through the blackened white cloth-like skin or whatever this pokemon had covering its whole body. She wasn''t an expert on pokemon biology, it was the job of the researchers to study the intricate designs of pokemon, not officers like her. One thing she was sure of was that, this pokemon is... was responsible for the early morning ''ghost'' sightings and the cause of widespread rumors that disturbed the town. "Greetings officer" Samuel answered "I am Samuel Oak, a pokemon trainer" he introduced himself cheekily "Alright mr Oak, please follow me to the office, you will give your statement there" she said with a smirk "What about this one?" Samuel asked while nodding towards the pokemon next to him. "Just recall it to its pokeball?" the officer said as if it was only natural "There isn''t one, yet" Samuel "The whole situation is about not capturing it against its will" "So you are telling me that you brought a wild pokemon inside a police station?" "Yes" He nodded seriously "Alright, we''ll put it into a holding cell for the moment and have a police trained Growlithe keep watch so that it doesn''t cause any unnecessary damage." "That sounds like a plan" Samuel agreed. Samuel lifted the pokemon and followed after the officer, He laid the pokemon on the bench while the officer released her Growlithe and gave it its task. The no longer empty cell was locked and the Growlithe was left to guard on the outside. Samuel and Jenny both left for the office to make his statement. --------------------------------- Anya stirred from her forced slumber, a uncannily familiar ceiling greeted her. She calmly rose to a sitting position, her eyes still waking up, causing everything to be a bit out of focus. ''I''m back home? no, something feels off'' she though, soon after her more recent memories flashed back into her mind and she sighed. The hazy memories of the recent ''fight'' came to her soon enough. She had been forcefully woken up from her sleep as a purple snake had bitten her, the sudden pain causing her to wake up instantly. Even after the pain was gone, a nauseous feeling still stuck inside her with a stabbing pain in her stomach every now and then. Before she could recover a bunch of pokemon started attacking her, biting, scratching, clawing, pecking and occasionally hitting her with fireballs that burned her, without a way to effectively fight back. Her body jolted a bit when she came to a realizations that she might have been captured. She was surprised how long it took for her to actually go down, not giving into the state of unconsciousness. As if that happened, she was sure she would die. Her knowledge about pokemon battles were quite different as normally a four times effective moves could easily decimate their opponent in a hit or two, even with a noticeable level disadvantage or if there was another factor that didn''t translate into the game mechanics she knew of. Sitting in a tired stupor, she ignored everything happening around her. The now vigilant Growlithe who was glaring at her standoffishly, but was ultimately ignored by Anya. "Hey, You!" The Growlithe shouted arrogantly trying to get her attention. "Stop daydreaming and look here!" it continued, its barks growing louder "Stop ignoring me!" it smacked the steel bars with its paw, causing a loud ping sound, which alerted Anya. Her attention found its mark and she noticed the Growlithe outside her cell, Her eyes widen in panic and soon she huddled herself into the corner of the room, trying to be as small as she could be. "Oh, boy" The Growlithe said as it rolled its eyes, clearly not amused by the reaction it got from the other pokemon. Its ears perked up as she heard a faint sound repeating the same four words all over again between sobs. ''please don''t hurt me'' was what it heard, definitely not what the Growlithe expected from the odd pokemon its master told it to guard. The Growlithe thought that they had brought a super dangerous and aggressive wild pokemon, which was locked behind the cell to prevent it from causing harm to the people in the city. This wasn''t what the Growlithe had in mind at all, the pokemon it supposedly identified as ''dangerous'' one was crying in the corner, begging to not be hurt... the Growlithe thought ''I might have made a mistake'' and sighed before adopting a more formal posture that it had been taught before. Still following its master''s order the Growlithe stood in front of the cell awkwardly as it silently kept its eyes on the sobbing mess of black, white and other various colors in the corner. Soon, the crying and pleading had stopped and been replaced with a soft barely audible snoring which the sharp ears of the Growlithe could hear easily. The Growlithe no longer vigilant of the ''prisoner'' was comfortably sitting on the ground, resting its eyes. It would have looked like it was asleep but its constant twitching of ears told otherwise. An hour had passed, the Growlithe stood up in readiness as the door for the room was opened and a tired looking Samuel and the ever energetic Officer Jenny stepped inside. The officer asked the Growlithe some simple questions which it answered by either shaking left and right in denial or bobbing its head up and down in affirmation. Samuel looked at the cell and noticed that the pokemon he carried there had moved from the bench at the back wall to the furthest corner of the cell. He thought about the reason why this had happened and slapped his head as he remembered that the bullies had used two Growlithes to harass it. "I think, the pokemon woke up and was scared by your Growlithe over here" Samuel said to the officer. "Huh? Why would anyone be scared of him?" she asked in disbelief "Remember, there were two Growlithe attacking this pokemon. It might have gotten some sort of instinctual fear towards them" "...A pokemon having a PTSD from battling... Never though about that before, It somehow doesn''t seem possible. I have heard that some pokemon feel ''uncomfortable'' towards certain species but never outright fear..." The officer mused This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. "I''m not sure but this one is a bit special, it''s not like any other pokemon I had ever seen before, even its eyes had a mysterious depth into them." Samuel said "Seems like you have some past with it I presume?" "Yes, believe it or not, that one saved my life just a few months ago" "Aha" The officer confirmed and went on her knees and pet the Growlithe. "Okay, Growlithe. Did you scare that pokemon?" She asked her pokemon, which nodded in turn. The officer''s eyes opened a bit wider and the Growlithe drooped its head in shame. "Was it on purpose?" she asked and the downcast Growlithe shook its head. "An accident then?" she continued and was got a nod in response. "You did nothing wrong" she said comfortingly while giving it a few scritches before returning it to its pokeball. "Okay!" Jenny shouted psyching herself up "So we have an unknown species of a pokemon who, possibly is suffering from PTSD whenever it sees a Growlithe and possibly Pidgey, Rattata and Ekans. Those were the seen pokemon right?" Jenny directed his question to Samuel "Correct, Now, if you would be so kind and open this cell door." said Samuel "Gladly" the officer inserted the key to the cell and with a click the door opened with a creak. Samuel went inside the cell and went on his knees and gently nudged the sleeping pokemon. The pokemon groggily woke up and cautiously lifted its head and looked around, its piercing red eyes soon meeting with the brown eyes of the future professor. ---------------------------- Anya''s eyes wandered around the unknown room, recognizing it to be a cell of some kind her eyes cautiously taking a peek at the face of Samuel, who was calmly waiting for her to do something. "Last time it was you who saved my life, this time its me saving yours" he said with a gentle smile on his face. "It seems like we are even now" he chuckled. After a few minutes the expression on Samuel''s face hardened and he soon spoke out loud. "I have a proposition for you, Would you allow me to capture you?" he took out an empty pokeball from his pocket. Anya recognizing the pokeball was filled with dread, she did not want to be a glorified battle slave... and violently protested with words, Shame that Samuel only heard "Lea-ny-Van-Van-Leavan-NY!" "Whoa there, calm down, I can''t exactly understand what you said but, I can still see you don''t want to be captured." to which Anya gave an exaggerated nod. "Hear me out first, IF you let me capture you, you will be registered to my Trainer''s account, which will prevent anyone from ever capturing you again. In theory..." "Simply put, Be mine, so others can''t take you." Anya blushed a bit and looked away shyly as that last sentence sounded bit like a... "Oh my" The officer chuckled while holding hand in front of her mouth. Samuel''s face also went totally red as he realized what he had just said, the reactions of the other two didn''t help at all. "N-Not like that" he protested. The situation didn''t go any forward for a while. There was a small ping on the officers radio and she checked in. "I am deeply sorry but, I will have to go now" the officer said "I hope you can take care of this without me, just remember to check out at the entrance and then you are free to leave" "Thank you for you time officer and have a nice day" Samuel said "Likewise, bye" And then she was gone, leaving Samuel alone with Anya. "So... maybe we should try to negotiate? I know for a fact that you are a smart pokemon" Samuel asked awkwardly to which she responded by lifting both of her elbows in an odd imitiation of a shrug. "Why don''t you want to be captured?" he asked her curiously. Anya shook her head and used her silk covered cutters to point first at herself then at the pokeball in his hand followed by shake of her heads and crossing of her cutters. "You, Pokeball, No" Anya nodded while she continued to pantomime different things "You, Me, Happy?" Anya shook her head and repeated the gesture only changing the final step a bit. It was hard to make an okay sign without fingers. "Not happy? Approval?" to which she nodded "This means you are fine being with me?" she nodded "But not want to be captured?" she shook her head. "No? You want to be captured?" she still shook her head and gestured again, this time a bit different. "You, approval, pokeball" to this she nodded and continued gesturing "You, No, Belt. You don''t want to battle?" She shrugged and tapped a pokeball on his belt twice then crossing her arms. "I think I get it" Samuel said This type of communication continued for way too long in both of their opinions. Anya''s arms were beginning to tire with the amount of waving them around. "You are okay for being captured" to which he got a tired nod in response "Then, you are okay with battling and traveling with me?" which also got another nod and a shrug in addition. Not exactly what she meant but good enough for her. "and lastly, you, do not, want to be inside a pokeball?" she wasn''t sure how he got to that conclusion but, she nodded furiously as that was exactly what she wanted. "You know, this could have been easily solved if you could spea... WAIT, that''s it. YOU CAN READ! I''ve seen it before! I have been an idiot..." He massaged his head while berating himself as he could have just simply used a pen and paper. "At least we can easily communicate with each other in the future." He said while activating the pokeball in his hand, preparing to capture Anya. "Welcome to the team... umm... what should I call you...?" he stopped mid motion. Anya shrugged in response while saying "vA. NY. vA." and repeated it twice more. Something about those words felt odd and unnatural to Samuel but he could not see what "Maybe we could ask for a pen and paper?" Samuel suggested, to which Anya nodded. Finally leaving the holding cell, the two of them arrived at the front desk and asked for a pen and a paper before checking out. They walked to a nearby cafe, during the walk, Anya noticed how damaged her clothes were as the cold early spring air seeped in through every hole, only making the point even more apparent. The holey, black and white cloak was almost unusable and she had no time to patch it up nor make a new one. Reminded of the cloak she noticed that her bag was also missing, she couldn''t remember where she had lost it, it could have been inside the town or even at the plains before the town. They arrived at the cafe entrance and went inside. The door bell sounded with a ring, and the whole cafe quieted down. All eyes were on Anya and she instinctually froze when a dozen or so pair of eyes focused on her. By reflex she bowed deep and said "Leavanny" ''Excuse me''. Samuel found a table to sit at, just as he was about to move, Anya grabbed hold on his shirt. Puzzled he turned to look at Anya, who fidgeted under the stares of the other cafe patrons. Samuel sighed and carefully pulled Anya behind her, She stumbled few of her steps as she was being moved. They arrived at the table and the waiter soon arrived, she was young girl with brown hair barely past 15 years of age. "I am sorry, but please recall your pokemon, it is disturbing the other customers." She said shyly, she was still young and it showed. "No need for apologies, I checked quickly from the outside and couldn''t see any signs stating that pokemon were not welcome." Samuel said "W-Well, it-it''s true that there isn''t a sign, b-but, but" she stammered "Okay Suzie, I''ll take it from here, go wait those other tables" a male voice came from behind her "M-Manager, y-yes sir." and she was gone even faster than she came. A burly man in a suit stood at the other side of the table. Waited a while and opened his mouth he said "Leave, this is not a place for ''PETS''. We do not serve ''ANIMALS'', This is a reputable establishment, please do not sully our fine image by causing a ruckus" The table was quiet, Anya was totally dumbfounded by the mans attitude. Even Samuel had gone quiet and his normal content expression was replaced with an irritated one. Samuel couldn''t understand at all why people continued to disrespect pokemon, calling them animals of all things. He just sighed and calmed himself, stood up and said. "We are leaving" he then forcefully grabbed hold of Anya''s cutter and dragged them out of the cafe. All the while the cafe manager smiled victoriously, the door opened, the bell rang and Samuel glared at the manager one last time before exiting the cafe along with Anya. Samuel moodily dragged Anya towards somewhere, Anya was also quite upset, Never in her life had she been treated like an animal and in such a way that made her extremely uncomfortable. Anya had been dragged for a while now and she noticed that the cover for her left cutter was slowly staining in red. Alarmed she jumped at Samuel''s back, the surprise causing him to let go. Still brooding, Samuel turned, only to find an alarmed Anya cutting a part of her cloak, taking out a clean-ish strip of white cloth. His eyes caught on the stains on one of her cutters, left one in particular. Only then did he look at his own hand. Realizing he had hurt himself by forcefully grabbing on the sharp appendage, only by realizing he was hurt did the pain register and causing him to flinch. Anya, took hold of Samuel''s bleeding hand and wiped the excess blood away with a separate piece. Then she bandaged it as best as she could, pulling it tight. She was glad she had taken a small course in first aid when she was still a student. The bleeding stopped, Samuel stood still all in utter disbelief as she expertly used her skills in first aid, he was taken by surprise. ''They called her, an animal, a pet. but by the father of all, were they wrong'' Samuel thought, still in a daze. Anya worriedly looked at Samuel who finally managed to recover his senses and continued their way. "Here we are" Samuel said as they stopped walking "Home". Chapter 16 Arriving at the home of Samuel, Anya was surprised to find that it wasn''t the large pokemon lab building that was shown in the games and the anime, but instead lived in a simple wooden red and white two story house. Keys rattling and soon the front door was opened. They entered the house, Anya noticed that the insides were quite spacious and brightly lit, the living room kitchen combo took most of the first floor, with a bathroom being the only other room on the floor. Wooden stairs leading to the second floor we at the other end of the room. It seemed like a nice house to live in, it was something that she had dreamed of owning at one point in her life, but knowing that it was an impossibility due to economical situation of the world without using her family''s funds. She walked around while Samuel went to the medical cabinet located in the bathroom. Anya saw him disinfecting the wound on his hand and putting a clean bandage on the wound. The kitchen table was full of dirty dishes and there were multiple takeout containers and food packs that look like convenience food littered across every single solid surface. There were piles of dirty clothes littering the wooden floor and something resembling a blanket on the sofa. Anya shook her head, ''it seems like the world famous professor, lived like a piece of trash... who would have thought'' she thought, she mused as somehow the external appearance is so different compared to her living standards. Speaking of which. Samuel exited the bathroom a new bandage tied around her hand. "Yeah, Sorry about the mess, Haven''t really been expecting any visitors lately." he said embarrassed. ''At least he is conscious about it'' Anya thought amused. "Now lets get started" He pushed some thrash aside and cleared a small space around the table where he put a piece of paper and took out the pen given to him at the police office. He hold the pen in expectation toward Anya who stared at the it dumbfounded. ''This guy can''t be serious'' she thought. After a while he said "Come on, just take it" to which Anya raised her right cutter and pointed at it with her bloodied left cutter. "Oh, right, no hands... I forgot, Maaaan, I''m out of my game today" His shoulders slumped and he retracted the extended hand and said. "We will continue this later, I am way too tired to think of anything, better just get some food and maybe a cup of coffee." "I''m hungry, last I ate was..." he looked at the clock "Over eight hours ago, when... Oh crap, You haven''t eaten anything today have you?" he asked Anya in realization, to which she responded by shaking her head. "Okay, okay, I''ll fix something up quick. You can eat meat right?" Anya shrugged "Haven''t tried eh? First time for everything" he said while taking a clean bag out of the freezer, Something inside it that looked like a heavy slab of meat "This is the good stuff, I was saving it for the summer barbecues but what the heck" he said cheerily. The whole thing was not really a single piece but a pile of thin pieces of varying thickness all frozen together. Samuel took out a mallet and broke of few pieces of meat, which he fried on a pan. Few minutes later they both had a plate full of meat, Samuel had started to eat his share but Anya was still a bit hesitant, She wasn''t sure if her stomach could handle meat at all, so far she has survived only by eating berries. She uncovered her cutters and cut the meat into tiny pieces, pierced it with the other and brought it in front of her mouth and she carefully chomped on, her taste buds activating and her face relaxed. She chewed for a while and swallowed, afterwards she sighed in relief, She was somewhat omnivorous. Her small throat made it hard to swallow large and solid pieces, so she had to either chew properly, eat smaller pieces or mince the meat into a paste. Samuel had long since finished eating, he left the table and went to the bathroom, judging by the sound of running water he was most likely taking a shower. He finished his shower, drying himself with a towel and put on clean underwear and a t-shirt. He exited the shower while drying his hair, his bare feet leaving wet spots on the floor. He looked at the still eating Anya and wondered how long does it eat. Making a mental note to either getting salad, fruits or berries for his new guest. He told her, that he is going to take some notes and she is to do whatever she finds comfortable, she can even commandeer one of the rooms upstairs. He warned her that those rooms haven''t been in use for months, except for his office. She shrugged and continued to slice the meats in front of her. Samuel glanced and noticed that the uncovered cutters were actually green in color reminding him of Scyther. It didn''t even take a minute for Samuel to start snoring loudly at the sofa near Anya. Anya enjoyed the rest of her meal in peace. Soon after finishing eating, she found out that she had a huge problem, she did not have anything to do and was quickly getting bored. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. She looked around the dirty living room and decided that, if she were to live here, she would want to live in a clean place. Even the burrow was never this dirty and it consisted mostly of dirt! Anya started collecting the dirty clothes around the room and piled them all in front of the bathroom, it didn''t take too long for her to finish gathering all the clothes. She opened the bathroom door and was surprised, the bathroom was clean, there weren''t any stains on the floor, walls, ceiling, even the toilet was clean she mused. All surfaces, except the ceiling were covered with blue-ish ceramic panels with a small carpet next to the tub to prevent slipping when leaving it and the ceiling had wooden boards. The bathroom was quite spacious, had a toilet, sink, washing machine and a bathtub with a shower and curtains, there even was a litter box, Anya wasn''t sure who the litter box was for but, she would never use it herself, that would be embarrassing, even doing the deed in the forest had been awkward for the past months... Good thing she knew how to operate flush toilets. Filling the washing machine with dirty laundry and using the correct amount of washing powder, which she found in a cupboard under the sink along with a bag of stuff she assumed was for the litter box. Measuring the washing powder was a chore to do with her cutters but she somehow managed in the end by vomiting a small amount of sticky silk to stick the measuring cup to her cutter. Even though she filled the machine as much as she could she still estimated there to be at least 1 to 2 loads left. She left the bathroom for now and started to clean up the trash, filling empty bag after bag with leftover foods from who know how long ago. She stacked the filled bags near the entrance so they would be easy to take out. Now that all of the trash had been collected she focused on the next thing, which was dishes. She sighed, how did one man manage to produce so much trash. Anya soon gave up on the dishes in frustration, she checked the laundry and set up the drying rack in the living room. Filled the rack with the clean laundry and filled the machine with dirty ones. Anya found that there was a small problem with doing the laundry, There was only a single drying rack and two sets of clothes still on the way. She though for a while before coming up with a solution, she used her silk to make simple sticky ropes that went across the room, She then covered the sticky silk with her cloak silk clothes to prevent sticky-ing the clean clothes with her silk, even though her cloak was disappearing rapidly. She knew it could get everywhere, her mind wandered to a single situation where she accidentally messed the fur of Vulpix back at the burrow, it took quite long time to get his fur clean. While the machine was still washing the clothes she used a cloth she found in a cabinet, where Samuel store his cleaning supplies and used it to clean all of the surfaces she could reach, she was glad she was at least tall enough. She didn''t know how tall a Leavanny could grow but, she had the impression that she was taller than they normally should be. She still was a bit shorter than Samuel only reaching up to his neck, even with her antenna, she was still a good 10-15cm shorter than him. It was finally getting dark, the final cycle of laundry rolling in the machine. Anya was cleaning the stairs as the whole first floor had been handled by her already, looking totally different than before. Not accounting for the laundry hanging on the makeshift ropes and the dirty dished near the sink, the room looked so much better, the only place where she didn''t touch was around the sofa where Samuel was snoring peacefully. Finishing the stairs and proceeding to the second floor, she flicked the light switch and saw a single path surrounded by room on either side, she counted five doors, five rooms. She opened the first room and was attacked a sudden burst of dust. She sneezed, something white spraying into the room from her mouth. She had felt a familiar feeling during her sneeze but couldn''t figure out what at first. Flicking the light on the room she entered she noticed that the second bathroom she was in was now covered in sticky silk. "Oh" she said out loud. After being stunned for a moment or two she sprang into action, cleaning the mess she had made and started cleaning the bathroom, it was a bit smaller than the first one and was missing the washing machine and the litter box unsurprisingly. She was glad she had another source of water as going up and down the stairs wasn''t something she was not yet used to. Once the cleaning of the second bathroom finished, she continued to the next room, these following room were quite easy to clean as they only had dust, dust and more dust in them. Of the five rooms 4 of them were bedrooms, one of them being used as a storage room of sorts and the last one was once used as an office space which was surprisingly clean as it seemed that Samuel had regularly used the old computer, the room had piles of papers all around, Anya took a look and noticed that these were pages of a written pokedex. She put the clues together and knew that Samuel was working on the digital pokedex. The last machine full of clean clothes was hanged on the makeshift ropes, proud from a job well done she went into the upstairs bathroom, she stripped the remains off of her from her dirty, holey, black and white silk clothes and entered the bathtub and took a long hot bath, she really needed that as she floated on the tub for a long, long time, the warmth relaxing her body. She had soaked her own ''clothes'' in the tub after she was done, causing the water to turn noticeably more dirty, she left the clothes to dry on the tub''s edge for a while, when she went to set up another makeshift clothesline for her own clothes in one of the bedrooms. Taking out the still moist clothes and squished them as much as she could for a while to get most of the water out before hanging them from the clothesline along with her towel. Her body being tired from all the exertion she had done, she knew that pokemon were supposed to be quite enduring but she haven''t really exerted her body this way before. As in the forest the most laborous thing she had done was dragging the unconscious Samuel to the burrow. Now her body felt sluggish and her mind started to wander, she laid on the bed thinking of her life and soon she was asleep. Chapter 17 Samuel woke up few hours later from his afternoon nap. He stretched wide, while looking around he was struck by confusion, his whole room looked different he realized. He rubbed his eyes for a moment and looked around in daze. "What in the name of all that is pokemon happened here" He only had one answer. He checked the fridge for a quick snack, but found nothing and decided he should go shopping. A quick trip to the local market to get some foodstuffs and snacks, he found himself back on the sofa, snacking on a sandwich. A moment later. His new guest awkwardly hobbled down the stairs having a large towel wrapped around its body with the ruined silk cloak underneath. The steps it took were uneven showing its unfamiliarity in moving down them. Samuel did wonder about the uncanny familiarity his guest had with Human stuff. -------------------------------------- Waking up suddenly of stomach pain, Anya quickly slipped out of bed and hurried to the bathroom. ''It must have been the meat...'' She thought while awkwardly operating the toilet. While taking her time, she pondered about her new-ish body, important and relevant things like her true capabilities of eating meat, she really didn''t want to give up on that unless absolutely necessary. Other things she thought of were ideas on how to write comfortably, shame that computers weren''t that popular here, or maybe ''now'' was the better term. She had noticed while cleaning, that Samuel had an old school type landline phone with an odd rotary dialing system, the only reason she knew it was a phone was that it looked like the ''phone'' icon she had on her smartphone. Still she had no idea how to use it... Even though she was still tired, she made a decision to not go back to sleep and took a quick refreshing shower, the taps in Samuel''s house were all lever type that could be operated by pushing it up for more, down for less, left to warm and right for cold water, not being rotary was really a godsend? Arceussend? Anyways she imagined the horrors of using a wet, slippery twin rotated taps with her cutters that barely had any grip at all. Showering done, she shook her body to get most of the water off, noticing that there weren''t any towels left here. She stood at the bathtub, using her cutters to remove the excess droplets on her body, she did not want to accidentally damage the wooden flooring on the hallway. Now mostly dry she stepped out of the bathroom. She went to ''her'' room and inspected her ''clothes'', they were mostly dried. She had been quite tired after cleaning the whole house, that she didn''t notice exactly how bad of a shape her ''clothes'' had become, only now when she looked at them did she see, the holes from scratches and bites, the blackened marks from the fireballs and the tears she had made when cutting it herself. Anya sighed and left them hanging on the clothesline for now, she had grown used to wearing them and now without the cloak covering her, she felt bare, exposed and embarrassed for some reason. ''Pokemon are supposed to be naked'' she tried to reason with herself, without success. In the end she still wore the broken cloth, but arranged them a bit differently this time by quickly rotating the layers a bit so that most of the holes did not match, hiding a bit more of her bare body and wrapping a large towel around her. Clothed and decently covered, she went downstairs and saw Samuel quietly eating something at the sofa from the stairs. Samuel also noticing her as she awkwardly moved down the steps. "You were upstairs? You seem to have been quite busy, did you clean the whole place?" Samuel greeted her while chuckling a bit. "Imagine my surprise when I woke up and I saw that, hanging in front of me" He said while casually pointing at a white shirt hanging from the makeshift clothesline Anya had made, causing her to chuckle a bit. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "Anyways, I am thankful for what you have done but, how in the name of the first one did you manage to clean the whole huge house and know how to use the washing machine and the other equipment..." "Next thing you tell me you use the toilet as well, instead of the litter box?" Anya looked away cheeks flushing. "No way..." "Ye-yesterday you said that you were not a trained pokemon, was that a lie" he said after composing himself. Anya just simply shook her head, she had made a mistake she thought, ''who would have thought that a pokemon acting like a Human wasn''t the best choice of action'' she berated herself. It was not like she was intentionally deceiving him. Anya mentally shrugged, what is done is done. Hopeful that her mistake doesn''t cost her, her life... She went to the fridge and opened it, it seems like Samuel had went to the store and had bought some ''actual food''. Anya gently pulled a bag of pokemon berries out of the fridge and carefully removed a pair of Oran from it, before putting the rest back inside the fridge and closing its door. She carried the Oran berries to the table and carefully munched on them, trying her best not to get the juices all over the place. All the while Samuel was detangling his thoughts. Samuel was thinking hard, an unknown, never before seen pokemon had suddenly appeared in his life and caused much of his previous knowledge about pokemon and their intelligence to be totally demolished. All of this because of a single bug-type? His thoughts soon went into a different direction, maybe this pokemon was actually one of the never seen before legendary or mythical pokemon of the world. There were multiple new discoveries about pokemon in the yearly release of pokedex. He warily opened his mouth and asked his new companion a serious question, one which he deeply hoped to be not true. "Are you a legendary pokemon?" his face hardened, Anya looked at him, made eye contact, his body went stiff, it was only a couple of seconds but to Samuel it felt like a lot more. In the end the bug-type shook its head, He wasn''t entirely sure if Anya was actually lying or not. He continued his question "If not a legendary, then are you a mythical pokemon?" ''better'' he thought in relief. Anya shook her head again in denial and waved her in dismissal, her mind currently occupied. ''Something''s fishy'' they both thought almost at the same time. Anya thought that Samuel acting weird and asking odd questions was suspicious, but understandable considering the situation. Samuel on the other hand had a feeling that Anya was hiding something important about herself, be it her being a legendary, mythical or something else entirely. Finished eating the berries and feeling content at the moment, she decides to try out one of her ideas of how to communicate with Samuel. She stood up and went to the kitchen counter where she had left the piece of paper and the pen from the police office. Holding a pen with a sharp cutter proved to be quite difficult task for Anya, the notion of not having any fine movements on the tip of her arms, not to mention the lack of an opposable thumb or a pincer to hold on to things. Samuel curiously looking at her doings curiously, from the sofa. Anya put one of her cutter into her own mouth and coughed by accident when she pushed too deep, after a moment of calming down she tried it again. "What are you doing?" asked Samuel, who had silently crept closer. Anya looked at Samuel while holding her right cutter inside her mouth, blinking few times. Not getting anything else from her, he came closer and looked at the table in front of him, which held a piece of paper and a pen. Curiously he looked at Anya again, inspecting her action. Anya being a bit disturbed by the constant staring, causing her to be a bit more nervous than she would have liked. She used her cutter to cautiously prod inside her mouth trying to hook the silk. Soon she found the spot inside, while pressured caused her to feel like something sticky was slowly running into her mouth, she compared it to the feeling of having snot falling on her nostrils as a Human but, instead from the nose it came from somewhere inside of her mouth. She stopped pressuring the spot and twirled what came out around her cutter before taking it out, sure enough her cutter was thinly covered in sticky white silk. Carefully grabbing the pen with the now sticky cutter trying to align the tip with the tip of her cutter for maximum coordination. All the while Samuel looked at her with a burning fascination and excitement flaring in his eyes. Done at last, she was quite pleased at her set-up, moving the pen to the paper showed no problems but the moment she tried to write something, she noticed a glaring problem, her silk was way too flexible to hold the graphite pen steadily in place when applying pressure, causing the lines it made to be very uneven and most importantly not straight enough for writing. She tried applying more silk around the cutter to better the hold but the problem still persisted. A bit downcast from the first idea, she still had another in mind, It would still require her to attach something to her cutter, but didn''t require pressure to write anything. She stubbornly continued to practice, it took her a while to get used to maneuver the pencil across the paper smoothly to make some barely ''coherent'' letters and symbols. It wasn''t the most comfortable position to write in she noted. All was not lost as she still had other ideas for communication. Chapter 18 The Crest of the Watching Sun Chapter 18 "You know, there is something quite important we must do before heading out" Samuel''s voice echoed at the entrance. Putting his shoes on, while Anya waited next to him, tilting her head. "This" he said while enlarging a pokeball which he unclipped from his belt. A hesitant look appeared on her face and she unknowingly took a step back, to which Samuel grinned carefreely and said "Don''t worry, I''ll release you as soon as I can, I promise" he comforted, the nervous bug-type. Anya steeled her nerves, took a step forward and cautiously poked the pokeball with her cutter. The pokeball opened and in a flash of red light, nothing happened. Anya still stood there, mentally prepared to be absorbed inside a pokeball. "Huh? Interesting" said Samuel. Causing Anya to jolt in surprise. "May be this one is broken? It did activate, hmm" Samuel put the pokeball away, and took out another one, which he offered to Anya. Anya warily poked the pokeball again, the ball opened again, a red light flashed and nothing else happened. Without any real explanations they decided to shelve capturing Anya. "Well, that didn''t work out, let''s just head out" She stretched her body and motioned towards the door, obviously wanting to get going. Samuel obliged, seeing that the pokemon was okay now. "You know, it is weird to look at you without the hood" he said jokingly, while exiting the house, trying to lift the mood. Anya just shrugged, her lips rising a bit in amusement. It was not like she could just magically make a new hood, her supplies were missing. She would need to create new sheets again. A sudden though, she had lost her pot! The day has been so hectic that she had totally forgotten that she had a small pot with her, her mind wavered again and she frowned that she would have to get a new one somewhere... Walking around town with Samuel was odd, almost everyone knew him, most of the townspeople greeted him and he greeted back. She too was getting a lot of stares and glares, even some kids tried to pull at her holey silk cloak either trying to do a dare or simply being too curious. They arrived at the ''shopping'' street as Samuel had called it, it was a single wide street littered with small stores and stands on either side of it. In the middle there was barely enough space for two cars to pass each other. Speaking of cars, Anya was surprised by the amount of cars in a small town like this. The games didn''t really have any and her memories of the anime were spotty at best with occasional jeep or bike driven by a Jenny. But here there were roads, cars and trucks seen every now and then. While thinking about cars, Anya and Samuel had passed many different stores, each selling this and that. Walking past a certain store caused Anya to pause, she stood still while curiously looking at the things being shown on the display. She could recognize a tailor shop when she saw one. "Huh? Interested in clothes" she heard Samuel say while walking back towards her "Should have guessed" he chuckled "These clothes are made by REAL professionals" he sneered. Anya being offended by the implication that she was a faker started to pelt him with her knowledge, forgetting that the only thing he could hear was "Leavanny" in many different parts of the sentences. Samuel raised his hands in surrender and said "I cannot understand you at all, but clearly, you are upset about something I said" Anya nodded and her head flushed a bit. Anya looked at the store and noticed that a ''closed'' sign was hung on the door. She looked at Samuel and pointed at the sign while tilting her head. "Right, right, the store is closed, as today is Sunday, most of the local small shop owners are closed, having a day off." Anya nodded in response but, Samuel wasn''t sure how much she really understood about his explanation. They continued their walk through the street, As Samuel had said most of the shops were closed. Anya stopped again, poked at Samuel to get his attention. Samuel jolted from the sudden poke and looked at Anya, gaining Samuel''s attention, she went inside and Samuel curiously following after her. The shop they entered wasn''t really a store but a small arts and crafts school, teaching young trainers how to survive in the wilds should they ever become lost in the woods or wanted to explore. There was a small group of trainers sitting on the stone floor trying to create fire while their partner pokemon looked nearby. There also was a Golduck and a Poliwhirl standing watch. ''Smart'' Anya thought. The walls were filled with different kind of tools and guidelines how to make them and use them correctly. While inspecting the room an older lady stood up while looking at them, She joined them, greeted Samuel and asked "Why are you here?" Samuel just shrugged and casually pointed at Anya, "We were just walking around and got dragged in for some reason, I have learned all of this already." He puffed up his chest a bit. "Oh, I though I might have someone older to teach for once" She smiled gently Anya looking around, spotted something on the wall that she might be looking for, it was a make-do brush and a pile of natural colorants used to mark trees and rocks in the nature. She looked at Samuel while chirped happily, causing him to stop his conversation with the older lady and look at her. This time he knew what she wanted, of everything that she stood in front of, the brush caught his eye instantly. He confirmed his thoughts by asking "Painting?". Anya chirped again and nodded vigorously. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. The lady asked curiously "She interested in painting?", Samuel nodded and answered "And tailoring, I think". "Now that I look at her, she seems to cover almost her entire body with cloth" "If you ignore the towel, everything else is made by her" Samuel and the old lady talked for a while before she was called away by a student of her who managed to get a fire going. They said their goodbyes and left the school. Entering back to the streets Samuel finally had a destination to go to, The paint store. Arriving at the paint store Samuel grimaced while looking at the familiar sign hanging from the door, ''Closed'', it was still Sunday. Anya tapped his shoulder to bring his attention away, Samuel yet again looking at her, she motioned with both of her cutters at her open mouth and then touching her mid section. Samuel not needing any more information started walking towards a certain shop and said "Food, I know just the place, they even allow pokemon..." He grimaced while he was reminded of the Cafe from yesterday. It took a good while to arrive at a restaurant. Entering the shop, they both were greeted with a plethora of smells, Anya''s new pokemon senses were going haywire as she had to get used to the amount of new scents in the air. It was the first time it happened, she wasn''t really sure why, compared to the cafe where she had smelled coffee and fresh bread. Here she smelled grilled meat and many other ingredients she couldn''t identify, she never knew her sense of smell had changed so much. The restaurant was a long bar counter filled with high chairs without back rest. Many customers were eating and happily chatting with their friends. Samuel and Anya found a pair of empty chairs next to each other at the counter, the male chef/waiter on the other side of the counter came to take their order. "Hey! Sam, it has been a while. You haven''t visited for months!" "Hey Nick, I have been busy. The pokemon league and all that. But, right now I''m on a long needed break, while the new building is being retrofitted." Nick nodded and said "Aight, good to have ya back pal" Nick was a tall fit person with a short upright blonde, a real lady killer look, Anya thought amusingly, he was wearing a buttoned white long sleeved shirt and straight black pants. "So who''s this? Your new teammate? It doesn''t look that strong" Nick''s attention now on her. "She''s... not part of my main roster, I kinda picked her up yesterday. You know, the unknown ghost sightings thing" "Her? I heard the rumors were looking for a pure white from head to toes" Nick said while peeking over the counter to get a better look and took out some beer refill orders. "She had a white hood on top of that cloak at the time" Samuel explained. "Cool, I think I can imagine it, A tall white shape appearing just before the break of dawn. Scaring the crap out of anyone who saw it" Nick said while grinning "I think I''ll take the house special and..." Samuel said while looking at Anya, who looked back and pointed at the menu "The Phirb Salad, your names are still odd" he continued. "Only makes them more unique, A house special for Sam and a Phirb Salad for...her?" Anya nodded and sighed, opened her mouth and chirped "vA. NY. vA." Still sounding unnatural for anyone who heard it. "That doesn''t sound like any natural sound pokemon make, it sounds a bit.. distorted" Nick observed. "Yes, She has made these sounds a few times before, they sound nothing like her normal speech" Samuel confirmed "But, she is an odd pokemon in any case..." Nick turned around and shouted "POPS, A HOUSE SPECIAL AND A P-SALAD, SAM''S HERE!" He turned back and asked happily what they would like to drink. "I''ll take a beer, and water for her? or do you want a berry juice?" Samuel looked at the downcast Anya who shrugged. "Okay, berry juice then, with a straw" He said while taking a peek at Anya. He saw no objection from her, that was good. Nick soon arrived with two glasses one filled to the brim with beer and had a foamy layer on top and the other had ice and was filled with a purplish red liquid. Nick then placed a straw on her drink. Few minutes of Samuel chatting with Nick while they waited for their food, Anya had moved her glass closer to the edge, so she did not have to lean forward awkwardly just to take a sip from her drink, the counter was a bit high for her. A group of rowdy well dressed people entered the room, businessmen, Anya thought. The leading man''s eyes scanned over the counter looking for free space, they sat next to Anya, one of them still missing a seat. Nick went to greet this bunch. The left out one glared at her, expecting something to happen, Anya just glanced at the man and ignored him. A minute later and he opened his mouth in annoyance. "Move over" he said in a commanding tone. Anya ignored the man, not really knowing she was being talked to. The man''s gaze went from Anya to Samuel, his voice still booming loudly with a hint of superiority. "You!" he pointed at Samuel "You are its trainer! You should teach some manners to your pokemon! It should follow orders as commanded!" Samuel''s eyebrows rose a good amount, how could anyone expect another person''s pokemon to follow some strangers orders he thought. Before he could even answer the rowdy businessman had already opened his mouth again. "MOVE! YOUR! POKEMON!" he shouted angrily, one could imagine steam coming out of his head as it was getting more and more redder by the minute. "No" said Samuel tiredly, causing the businessman to glare at him. "You can just take another chair from there" he told the man who angrily spat back "DON''TCHA KNOW WHO WE ARE!" with veins popping on the mans neck, to which Samuel answered "No, I do not, I am quite tired, hungry and have zero interest who you are right now. If you could just quiet down and eat like a decent person I might even give a care" silencing the man for a moment. "You, YOU, YOU!" the man repeated, each one louder than the one before "I WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE A LIVING HELL, IF THAT THING WON''T LEAVE THE TABLE", the man suddenly deflated having expended his aggression, breathed deep and said "Pokemon have no place on the table of real men, they all should be..." Before the man could finish someone tapped his shoulder causing him to turn and glare at the sudden interloper, only to meet the eyes of officer Morrison. "Okay, buddy, I heard all of your shouting from the other side of the street... I''ll have to give you a fine, for disturbing the public order. I would have left it alone only if you wouldn''t have shouted out threats. So let''s go, few hours at the station will clear your head and give your Sunday an unique ending." Morrison was quite surprised when he saw Anya watching the situation unfold. He said "Nice meeting you here, Didn''t think I would see you so soon again." To which Anya just shrugged, "You too mister Oak. I am sorry I wish I could chat a bit more but I need to get a certain somebody to take a break at the good old cooling chambers." he chuckled. The rowdy man was quickly escorted away, his friends looked quite dumbfounded but soon just laughed it off. "Sorry about that, he has had quite a rough day. Here let me buy you a drink, champ" Clearly indicating that the group knew who he was. Samuel chuckled goodheartedly and accepted the offer. Food arrived soon and Anya found the Phirb-Salad to be surprisingly tasty, though she still envied the burger Samuel got. Stuffed with food, saying goodbye to Nick and on their way to home, darkness encroaching the roads it was getting late and almost no one was outside anymore. Getting home, taking a shower and going to bed was the plan they both agreed on. Chapter 19 Anya woke up early, she had finally felt really well rested. Laying on her bed, her mind still on the dream from last night, it wasn''t really a nightmare she mused. Her whole body felt refreshed, she stared at a familiar ceiling, her dream of being a pokemon felt so real. Her mind wandered on how different her life was as a pokemon compared to a human, she still vividly remembered how it felt to be treated as a pet, as an animal, hurt by bites, scratches and balls of fire. Many details still clear in her mind, she wondered if it was some kind of super lucid dream. Her arm moving to grab her smartphone from the nightstand next to the bed without looking, nothing entered her hand after a while of reaching, she looked on her left and realized... the dream was still going strong. "Nooooo, this can''t still be happening" her breathing roughed and she looked around, trying to make sense of her situation. The past months had felt more like a dream, she never really was rested well enough to have the feeling of clarity. The idea of waking up one day as a pokemon had been a novel dream she had held ever since she was a kid, this however was not what she had in mind, she had never thought of the small intricate details of pokemon biology, behavior and ecosystem could be so game changing experience. Hell, the time period she had transferred was really bad, the general population were still unwelcoming towards free roaming pokemon and the treatment they get is even worse. They are treated either as glorified pets or rabid animals to be thrown at threats, even the pokemon league is just fresh out of the oven. The only saving grace was that she happened to meet the young would be professor, who had a real respect and interests towards pokemon wellness and sense of their being a person, he treated his pokemon well, like one would treat a friend. He was indeed the expert on Human-Pokemon relationships. -------------------------------- Short existential crisis later, Anya clambered out of her bed, put on her ragged cloak and went downstairs. She would have thought that, Samuel would be at the sofa, to her surprise the whole house was empty. Noticing a piece of paper hanging from the fridge door by a magnet, she looked at it. It was a message meant to her written in Unown. "Morning, Sorry, I have something urgent to do today, I''ll be back late afternoon. ps. You can eat anything you find edible in the fridge. pss. Please do not leave the house as people do not like to see a pokemon walking around without a trainer alongside them. psss. If you really want to go outside, use the door under the stairs, behind the curtains, it goes to the backyard." Alongside the message there was a hastily drawn clock pointing around 4pm. Anya had read the note and opened the fridge. She took out some fruit that resembled a banana and a thin piece of precooked meat, her salad from yesterday... The P-Salad had some kind of meat inside of it, the taste and texture was like chicken, but had a hint of something else in it. The salad did not cause her stomach to hurt, so she was still optimistic about meat. Eating without a hurry in the world she looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It was a bit past 9 in the morning... She still had long time to go. Finished eating she cleaned up the table she had used. Wondering what she could do while Samuel was away, she decided to check the backyard. But before doing that she took all of the now dried clothes hanging around the room and fold them neatly into stacks. It didn''t take long to clean up the clothes, she went to the stairs. No wonder she hadn''t seen the backyard door while she cleaned, there was a tall pile of storage boxes under the stairs filled with what she could see were books of different kinds. As she moved them out of the way and checked behind the blue curtains. ''there really was a door...'' she hummed happily. She opened the door and used one of the boxes to hold it open, she wasn''t sure if the door would lock automatically when closed and she didn''t want to find out. The yard was quite large, the width was the same as the whole house but the area stretched for quite a bit longer, There even was a small dirt field on the other end, most likely meant for battle training. The edges of the whole yard was surrounded with over two meter tall overgrown hedges, grass growing everywhere where the snow was melted enough, the entrance to the house had a small wooden patio with a table and four chairs around it, there was even a small gas grill with an built in igniter tucked under a tarp. A path of stone slabs continued from the patio towards the other end of the yard, one could also see tall trees growing behind the far end hedge wall, his house was near a forest. While looking at the grill Anya had an idea, she went inside and got herself a small pot full of water. She carefully carried it to the middle of the battle area, she then went to get the grill, She awkwardly carried the grill next to the pot of water. Adjusting the position of the grill and putting the pot of water on top, she carefully tried to operate the gas valve. It was unimaginatively difficult to turn the valve with her cutter, eventually she used her silk to get a better grip on the valve. The gas was flowing and Anya pressed the igniter, the grill flared to life. Anya went quickly back inside she had forgotten to bring something she could coil her silk with her and quickly rummaged through the house. She only found a bucket and hurried back outside, she went back to the grill and noticed the water was starting to boil, She looked around and saw that in the rear end of the yard, where the hedge met the forest, there was a piece of branch. She quickly took hold of the branch, focused on her cutters and thinking about sharpness the cutters began to emanate white light. She then tested her cutter on the branch and easily cut a piece of it off. She then quickly stripped the brand and cut it to pieces, in the end she had a pile of crude but usable sticks. She calmed her cutters and hurriedly carried the sticks to the grill. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. As she arrived back at the grill. She had forgotten to reduce the amount of gas, wasting precious fuel. At first the silk she produced was thin but soon she found out that she could vary the properties of her silk by focusing on what she wanted to produce. Experimenting around she found out that modifying the silk she produced for a long time tired her surprisingly quick. In the end she decided on a thicker more durable silk to fix her clothes. ------------------ After filling all of the sticks with as much of silk as she could, she turned off the grill. Carried the bucket full of sticks with coils of silk, she had a lot of knitting to do. She was quite proud of her working speed, still remembering the first time she awkwardly did this, an errant thought arrived at her mind, one she didn''t like that much, one that hinted at her lost of humanity and the appearance of the senses of a pokemon, a Leavanny in this case. She shivered at the thought of her walking at the forest happily munching leaves and... and... becoming a pokemon in mind and body. She shook her head, and resolutely said "I might be a pokemon in body but always a human in mind! The moment I lose my humanity I lose everything I am...was..." Slapping her face twice with the flat side of her cutters, she cleared her head and put her mind into making cloth. She had decided to show Samuel how great of a tailor she was, ''BEWARE the techniques of the FUTURE have arrived!'' she thought while chuckling. Using ''kaketsugi'' mending to fix the multitude of hole in her cloak, cutting of the blackened parts and replacing them with a new piece of silk sewed into the cloak, she finally separated the cloak into the thinner layers. Oh how she wished she had this kind of working speed when she was a human, she still wasn''t as fast as a loom or a sewing machine, but somehow she still was multiple time faster than a normal human by hand. Her enhanced senses and the accuracy of her cutters with the pokemon''s natural ''hand'' eye coordination. The pieces of cloth were joined together by a masterful display of her skills and soon she had completed the first piece of her outfit design, It was a shame she couldn''t draw or measure anything right now, she had to do everything approximately what her eyes told her. Occasionally testing the clothes and re-making them to fit a bit better, Her abdomen section also brought her some trouble, as she was used to make clothes for the human body. Her own body was generally human-like, she had two jointed arms, two straight jointed legs, a very small torso and the most inhumane part of her, the abdomen which made things a bit difficult, she couldn''t wear pants unless specifically designed to fit and had to have a hole around the midsection of the abdomen, tightened from the back instead of the front... Also her natural-ish leaf-like ''coverings'' cause some design problems, but for now they have gently allowed themselves to be bent without damage. Her mind wandered a bit on the pants design, while her hand automatically continued her work. Somehow she didn''t have to concentrate too well, it was like a part of her body ''wanted'' to do this. She took a mental note of it but it was going to have to wait for now. She also took interest in her own leaf-like ''coverings'' she had dubbed them. By gently rubbing her cutters on it did she find that the ''covering'' in itself had a sense of touch and it felt extremely weird when she touched the inner walls of her abdominal cover. Even the ones around her head had some odd functions, they too were sensitive to touch and had a capability to sense vibrations in the air. It seems like when she came to this world, she had not awakened everything immediately like she thought, she had noticed when she came to town that most of her ''new'' senses were slowly becoming more and more active, It just happened so slowly and naturally that Anya hadn''t really even noticed when she started using them. Only some things like her ability to produce silk from her mouth had forcibly been awakened. She wondered about ''What else had she missed changing in her body''. It was getting dark outside and Anya had finished her new clothes, she looked at the clock and saw that it was already well over six in the evening, past the time Samuel said he would be back. Putting her new clothes into the washing machine and taking a quick shower, she dried herself and went back into the living room, wearing two towels around her, covering most of her body, Samuel was still missing, she mentally shrugged and went to the fridge to get something to eat. While having her supper, she heard the door rattle, her body froze. ''Did someone want to sneak in using the front door?'' The rattling continued for a while before a sound of a woman was heard. "Heyy, got the key? the door is locked" A short jingle later the door opened. Anya stared at the doorway, seeing two figures entering the house, she recognized one of them to be Samuel, the other being a woman who was wearing Samuel''s jacket, Anya released her breath she didn''t know she was holding in relief. Samuel and the unknown woman both wobbled into the room together, messily taking their shoes off and jackets, leaving them at the entrance. The woman looked gorgeous, a well endowed body with a tight butt, ''all natural'' Anya thought, her hair was long, straight and ginger, height only a few centimeters shorter than Samuel, eyes sparkling bright green, she wore a long green one piece dress and had star shaped earrings swaying as she moved. Moving forward, Samuel dropping his backpack and a plastic bag filled with stuff at the kitchen counter. He didn''t even seem to notice Anya as he stumbled past her to the sofa, the woman following shortly afterwards sitting on top of his lap and initiating a deep kiss. "Oh, Sam, How, I, had, missed, you" the woman said in between, Samuel just enjoying the moment and caressed the woman''s hair and body. Anya shocked at this sudden situation, emptied her plate into the trash, she had totally lost her appetite. She hurriedly went to the bathroom and removed her clothes from the washing machine and quickly rushed to the stairs, her speed going up even faster when she noticed a piece of female clothing littering the floor next to the stairs, the woman''s daring purple underwear. She went to her room and closed the door when the moaning started downstairs. She put her clothes and towels on the makeshift drying rack, before going to bed. ''Someone''s gonna have a hell of a morning tomorrow'' Anya thought lying in bed, while listening to a rhythmic thumping noise reverberating through the walls, her newfound senses ''enjoying'' the exercise of finding new vibrations and sounds to spot. The ''deed'' went on for a while before quickly becoming silent, Anya could finally get her sleep in peace... Even though she wasn''t really tired, she just did not want to go downstairs before tomorrow. ''The later, the better'' she thought. Instead of sleeping she started examining her body to see if anything else was new, changed or plainly just different... Chapter 20 The morning came fast and Anya lied on bed. Due to her ''different'' body shape, her legs part of her abdomen, she couldn''t really lay or sleep on her back as if she did her legs would be propped a upwards and cause odd straining like forcibly bending your legs the wrong way. She tried to distract herself from what she had seen yesterday evening. The pair being most likely intoxicated by alcohol and ignoring her existence, which most likely was a blessing in disguise. Anya restlessly spun around the bed, her mind wandering around the room for something to do. Her eyes landed on her fixed clothes, hanging from the makeshift clothesline. She had forgotten to clean up the unused sheets and had left the grill in the middle of the yard. She had had enough idling, hopefully the people downstairs had the decency to sleep with clothes on, though she too was sleeping ''naked'' herself... Grabbing the hanging clothes and towels she went to the bathroom again. She took a quick shower, cleaned her up and wore her new set of clothes. Now properly fitted, instead of wearing only a cloak to cover her body, she though she looked quite nice in the mirror, only wishing she had more variety of color to use. She had made a simple long hemmed, long sleeved silk shirt and a long dress that she had some difficulties putting on, it was designed so that it would not fall off and instead of being tightened around the waist it was just a loose piece that had a hole big enough to allow her head to fit through but small enough to get stuck at her abdomen right on top of her thighs. She went downstairs and carried the used wet towels with her. From the stairs she could only see the sleeping Samuel, the woman from yesterday nowhere to be found. ''She seemed to have left very early'' Anya though and went to the bathroom and put her towels on the washing machine, then she went to the fridge and took out two berries to eat. Eating at the table she found the bag Samuel had dropped to the table, curious as she was she opened the bag and saw that Samuel had brought her a small brush, some paper canvas and bags of different colored powder what she assumed to be the paint dyes. She wondered why he had bought the other colors. Rummaging through the bag she at the very bottom she found a small angular glass object filled with black liquid, ink. The powders weren''t for painting, she mused. Her curiosity sated she munched on her breakfast happily, soon done she heard shuffling noise appearing nearby. Samuel had woken up, he slowly shuffled towards the toilet while holding his hand on his head, there was a thump as the door closed and soon after the shower went on. -------------------- "Aggh, my head" Samuel grunted silently as he woke up, ''why did he have to drink yesterday'' he thought. His head still not working correctly he slowly sat up on his sofa to soften the nausea caused from the reduced blood flow to his head. His head slumped as he rose up, slowly shuffling towards the bathroom. He reached his destination and let himself into the bathtub, undressed and activated the shower. The moment the water hit his skin he jolted wide awake, it was refreshingly cold he thought and he screamed as soon he was hit with a wave of steaming hot water. Had he accidentally propped the tap into the wrong direction, he wasn''t really sure. Exiting the tub now feeling refreshed he noticed that there weren''t any clean towels in the room, only two already wet towels inside the washing machine. He walked out of the bathtub, still wet and most definitely still naked. The moment he left the bathroom his eyes were met up with the eyes of his new ''roommate'', the pokemon looked at him starting from his legs and slowly going up to meet his eyes before shyly turning her head around in what he could only describe as embarrassment. It wasn''t the reaction he had hoped for, his face flushed red and he went back inside the bathroom. Closing the door while saying "Can you please get me a dry towel from upstairs". He heard a quiet clack and sighed in relief. He wasn''t really sure how he had forgotten about her, She had lived with him for the past few days. He also was quite curious about the almost human reaction she had when she saw him, none of his pokemon ever had shown such a reaction, not a single one of them had any trouble with him being without clothes be they male or female, they were more disturbed by the addition of clothes at first but his team took it as a quirk of being a human. Just like Machokes gaining ''pants'' during evolution for some reason, so human wearing clothes is treated the same as any other peculiarity amongst pokemon. There was a knock on the bathroom door, Samuel still in his thoughts did nothing, soon the door opened a bit and a cutter holding a towel was showed through, nothing happened, there was a loud and clear chirp of annoyance his guest had made which caused Samuel to wake up from his short daydream. He took the offered towel and the door quickly shut after. Samuel, now dry, wrapped a towel around his waist and walked out of the bathroom. He noticed a neatly folded stack of clean clothes next to the door. Had she left a set of clean clothes for him, he was speechless. Samuel looked around, trying to spot the peculiar bug-type, but couldn''t see her nearby. He took the offered clothes and went back inside and put them on. Now finally able to leave the bathroom, he looked for his guest, whose actions had surprised him almost every day. He noticed a small draft of cold air permeating the room, noticing that the backdoor was open and his best bet was that the bug-type was there too. He opened the fridge, took out a bottle of juice and went to the back yard. There he saw Anya lounging on the snow free patio, happily basking in the sunlight, legs and arms pointing skyward moving around, as if drawing something. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Hey" Samuel said, causing Anya''s feelers to flicker. She rose to a forward sitting position, using her abdomen as a support, soon her face contorted a bit in unpleasantness and stood up. Samuel hugged his body as outdoor temperature still wasn''t warm enough for only a t-shirt. He had caught a glimpse of her earlier, but hadn''t really noticed the new style of clothes she was wearing. "Those look good on you" he complimented to which she just giggled in a happy chitter while waving one of her cutter. "Aren''t you cold out here?" He asked and got a small nod in response. "Let''s go inside, then..." ----------------------- "I got you something" he said while taking the stuff out of the bag. "A brush, some canvas and ink" the he took out the five small and clear bottles full of different colored powders. White, Black, Red, Green and Blue. "These are dyes, by mixing different colors together you can get other colors, like mixing red and blue you get purple" Anya was overjoyed, she could finally get rid of the pure white aesthetic she had, even though she was becoming quite attached to her white visage. "Now, we can finally start" He said while taking a sheet of canvas, the brush and the ink and set them up on the table. "We can finally try to let you communicate correctly" "I''ve been thinking, you don''t really talk too much?" Which caused the Leavanny in question to tilt her head and open her mouth, She said "Lea le le le va nny va le" and pointed at her own mouth and then carefully tapped at Samuel''s ear. Samuel answered "I don''t understand either way..." Anya''s head slumped, she carefully coated her cutter with sticky silk and picked up the brush. She motioned towards the ink bottle and Samuel opened it. She dipped the tip of the brush into the ink and brought it to the canvas. Samuel leaned closer and... nothing happened. At first Samuel though that something was wrong, but Anya lifted her head and looked at him and said "vA NY vA vanny" and carefully drew her first letter. Samuel''s eyes widened as his mind finally broke the coded message, this was absolute proof that pokemon were more intelligent and sophisticated than he had ever thought. The first letter being an English capped ''A'', looking a bit crude as her skills with the brush weren''t too great, at the very least her hand eye coordination was superb, problem being that the silk still gave in a bit causing her letter to be a bit sloppy looking. But it couldn''t really be mistaken as anything else, she had noticed that the written alphabet is not exactly the Latin alphabet from earth but a variant of it using the Unown lettering, which she could still read fluently as long as she went with the flow of reading, the moment she stopped to inspect the letters her brain stumbles and causes her to lose the ability to read the script. "That is ''A'' Right?" to which Anya nodded. To this the future professor hurriedly took out the pen and paper that was still left on the kitchen counter. He wrote all of the alphabet in ''Unown''? ''Kantoan''? or ''Johtoan''? language... and mimicked the design Anya had drawn next to the local counterpart. She had forgotten that one of the local language was made of Unowns. The whole morning went by as Samuel and Anya compared the letter and made a simple sheet of paper which showed each of the letter side by side, Anya noticed that the local Unown language didn''t have the lower cap versions of letters. The basic alphabet were done, now that they finally had the common ground for understanding she finally wrote awkwardly on a blank canvas. ''MY NAME IS ANYA'' was written in all capped Latin alphabet. Samuel stared at the fresh canvas filled with a series of understandable letters. Before he could ask her any questions she continued to slowly draw more letters. Samuel let her continue undisturbed, he still occasionally looked at the translation sheet in fascination. ''SPECIES LEAVANNY'' intentionally skipping some unnecessary words as her cutter fell tiredly to rest at the table. Samuel quickly translated the text into the Unown script even though he could easily read the mysterious written language the pokemon was using to communicate. It''s similarities with the internationally understood Unown script was unbelievable, ''maybe pokemon really have their own written language'' Samuel though. The pokemon, he now identified as Anya the Leavanny, cut the silk holding the brush, put the brush on the holder, stretched her arms and legs. She had been standing for hours without really moving and concentrating heavily not to make any glaring error''s in her writings, the amount of pressure increased when she noticed that Samuel was curiously copying her crudely made up letters and most likely making the mistakes part of the real translation. Which was not ideal for her. Anya walked around and decided to go to the back yard, somehow being in the sunlight energized her and her body felt content. Basking in the last lights of the day, she wondered if she could photosynthesize as she ''is'' grass type and ''has'' green leaves. The forest she lived through the winter was too roofed to get noticeable sunlight or her senses to sunlight weren''t active at the time. Both reason''s could be true and she had no way of knowing. -------------------- "Agatha, I''m scared" Samuel said on the phone "What!? Where did that come from" "The pokemon are smart, too smart in fact" "What are you talking about? My Gengar is stupid as a truck" "Maybe... He is faking it?" "No. Way. I''ve been with him since he was still a Ghastly, I know his limits" "Okay, okay, Maybe not all of them are super smart..." "Remember the Bug-Type I talked about last time..." "Yeah, the white cloaked ''ghost'', who saved your life, who could forget" "She has lived with me for a few days, she knows how to operate showers, toilets and washing machines. Just today she left a clean set of clothes in front of the bathroom when I forgot to bring any." "That... sound quite odd" "and that is not all. Today she showed me a new set of clothes" "and?" "They were made so well, I could have though it was made by a professional tailor. Except th-there weren''t any seams, the whole long sleeved white shirt was a singular piece all fused naturally together, she had even made a long skirt..." Agatha went silent, Samuel just continued "Finally, you shouldn''t tell anyone, I mean ANYONE about what I am going to say next. She knows how to READ and WRITE, with a script I have NEVER seen before..." "Okay..." The heavy air around both ends of the phone call stilled the conversation, They both stood in silence for a moment before Agatha finally said something "Sam, I would like to meet that bug-type myself, Be a friend and take her with you to the Indigo League when you have your official ceremony. It should be in a few days right? Are you prepared?" "Her name is Anya and yes I have been ready for the past week" "Oh, you named one of your pokemon?" Agatha questioned, it was odd of him, as he had never done that before. "No" He answered "She told me herself" "... You know, you need to bring her with you. I gotta go" The line abruptly cut off. Chapter 21 Currently Anya was sitting on a chair sideways, a brush stuck to her cutter and a blank piece of canvas in front of her. She looked at Samuel who was standing next to her, who expected her to answer his question of ''What is the origin of your written language?'' and ''Why hasn''t anyone ever seen another pokemon read or write before?''. Anya pondered, deep in thought, what can she tell him? She came into a conclusion, she shrugged her arms and shook her head. She did not know, it was the truth, she really didn''t know that many pokemon either, let alone ones who could read or write. Anya started drawing something and Samuel''s curiosity was once again reignited. This time Samuel was shocked, the new sentence was quite simplified and couldn''t not be misunderstood, it read ''I SELL INFO''. Stumped he asked her "What do you want from it? and What kind of information?" Few strokes later he got his answer, ''MONEY'' and ''POKEMON''. "Can you give me a sample?" Anya would have raised her eyebrows if she had any. She sighed and wrote. ''EEVEE EIGHT FORMS'' Samuel''s eyes opened wide yet again, it had lost its impact to Anya, she had seen it many, many times in the past few days already. "Eight forms... There only has been a confirmation of five, Flareon, Jolteon, Vaporeon, Umbreon and Espeon... if what you say is true then..." Samuel had calmed down, and muttered something that Anya couldn''t hear. "You know the condition for the evolutions?" he asked after a while. Anya gave a curt nod in reply and left the table, intent on not giving him anymore freebies. ---------------------- Later that day, Anya was practicing her skills in drawing different letters. Samuel had found her, no matter how many times he looked at her writing, he couldn''t believe it. He had known that the final evolution of the Abra line, the Alakazam could use telepathy to communicate with their trainers. He mulled over his thoughts and opened his mouth "What would you use the money for?". The brush stopped, A line was made separating the canvas, She started writing. Samuel intently following each and every line that was made. ''TYPEWRITER'' ''MY LETTERS''. "You want a typewriter? You know what a typewriter is?" Anya nodded twice, at least she didn''t have to write ''YES'' every time. "Is that all you want?" Anya shook her head new letters soon appearing on the filled canvas ''WORK''. "You don''t need to work, You know that trainers are supposed to take care of their pokemon?" Anya huffed, she wanted to do something to earn her stuff, She wasn''t a battler. ----------------------- A new page was turned, Anya had written all of the Alphabet yet again, This time she had the addition of clumsily made lower capital letters next to the capital letters. Samuel had left her alone and she finally took a break. She sighed and sit on the sofa, she had made a new batch of silk and was quietly knitting it together, she started to hum at first, soon it had escalated into a sad, melancholic song. "The gentle touch- of- tomorrow Is all, I ever wanted Memories- of my past Haunting- me- sorrow All- alone a candle Amongst- the brilliant stars- The friends alike so far Far, far away- Light- it moves on- But- I still remain The past now ahead You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.But- I- Still- Remain- Alone- All- alone a candle Amongst- the brilliant stars The friends alike so far Far, far away- Songs reaching the heavens The lights dim away The candle now forgotten All alone- in. the. dark-" The song ended, her eyes moist, tears about to form. She wiped her eyes with the hem of her shirt. She was a grown up woman already but she still missed company, friends the only one she had right now was Samuel, who hadn''t even introduced his team to her, she had only seen his Dragonite. Communication with Samuel is a chore, writing on a canvas only goes so far. --------------------------- That night when Anya was sleeping in her room, a visitor suddenly popped inside out of nowhere. It sat on Anya''s bed next to the sleeping Anya and gently touched her, the visitor muttered in a quiet voice. "I am so sorry Anya, it wasn''t supposed to be like that, I''ll do anything I can to help you, but I really have no idea why it happened like this. I. I''ll give you a gift, hopefully you accept it, this... doesn''t absolve me of my mistakes, but I hope you find your purpose" A quick blink of soft light later the visitor was gone. -------------------------- Next morning Anya woke up refreshed and full of energy. Her core was active and a burst of energy escaped her body, Startled she quickly stood up. She wasn''t sure what was going, a huge amount of energy rolled around her body like a flood about to overflow. But just as it was about to overflow, a sphere rolling with a myriad of colors appeared in front of her, all the excess energies inside her was absorbed by the odd sphere. The sphere too seemed familiar to her, she just didn''t know why. She looked at the floating sphere and touched it curiously. Taking it as approval the sphere disappeared, absorbed inside, she felt something inside her body change. "Huh, what the hell was that" she though out loud. Her rooms door slammed open all of a sudden, a serious looking Samuel stood there panting, his eyes warily looking around the room, his other hand had an enlarged pokeball ready to release. Anya covered her body with the blanket out of reflex. "Y-you are okay?" Samuel asked in surprise "Lea?" he heard a curious reply with a head tilt. "The pokeball broke all of a sudden. I don''t know if you know but that only happens when the pokemon in question is either A dead or B released." Catching his breath he took out two halves of a broken pokeball from his pocket. "This was the one we tried to capture you with..." He said while holding the halves openly. "Everything seems alright, I''ll head downstairs. Come soon, we need to talk." He said while leaving the room and its confused inhabitant. --------------------------- Downstairs, Samuel was looking at a pile of broken pokeballs. They had been trying to re-capture her but the moment the ball touches her it breaks in half. "A design flaw.. or something else entirely?" Anya just shrugged, there really wasn''t anything else she could do... ''Was this part of the strange ball?'' Anya thought a weird thing indeed. "There''s nothing else I can do about that. This means you cannot be easily registered and will somewhat limit your battling, but I don''t think that is going to be a problem" Anya nodded in response along with a cheery "Van" sound. "Anyways the real reason I wanted to talk to you about is that my entitlement ceremony is in the day after tomorrow and I need to prepare for it." Anya gestured ''go on'' "I would like you to come with me to the summit. A friend of mine will be looking after you there, only when I am occupied by the act itself or other boring stuff like interviews." Before Anya had given her answer, Samuel already had another way of persuasion ready. "I''ll get you the custom typewriter after, but only if you come with me" Anya didn''t need to think about it. She agreed instantly, the communication using painting was fine at first but, the amount of work for so little made it quite inefficient to use proficiently. Not like she could explain the intricacies of anything with a sheet that could barely hold the 28 alphabets and their lower capital versions. it was like barely over 50 letters for a whole page. There was something else that Anya was really looking forward to, it was about meeting new pokemon and having a real conversation with someone. It has been a week or so when she last really spoke to anyone. Chapter 22 It was the day of the ceremony, Anya and Samuel had arrived at the venue entrance, where they were ambushed by an overabundance of energetic fans, shouting and screaming towards their idol. Recalling his Alakazam which was used to teleport into the indigo plateau. Anya didn''t even get to exchange a single word with the psychic type after their quick introductions before he was gone. Samuel casually walked forward and the human tide parted their ways, obviously being used to such madness. The noise stopped and was replaced with whispers and murmurs, as many of the onlookers finally noticing the new Pok¨¦mon at Samuel''s side and pointing their fingers at her. Anya could hear a word from here and a word from there. From what she found out, many of them were judging her from her appearance of not looking strong enough to be here. Being overwhelmed by the amount of attention on her caused her to slowly lose her pace and eventually getting separated from Samuel. Samuel not noticing Anya''s predicament calmly walked towards the reception the encirclement of humans closing behind him. The receptionist held her smile through the situation. Samuel arrived in front of her and she greeted him. "Greetings Mr. Samuel Oak. Everything is in order, we are on time" Samuel nodded and confirmed "Alright". "Please proceed through these door on my right and follow the signs to the main prep room" she held her right hand out and motioned towards the door next to her. He nodded and was about to walk through the doors when he noticed that a certain someone was missing and his surroundings unnaturally quiet for some reason, only some insults were heard coming from the entrance of the room. ''Anya'' he thought while quickening his pace back outside. ------------------ Forcibly separated from Samuel, Anya''s emotions roiled in panic. The wave of humans kept a short distance away from her, but not parting like they had when Samuel walked through. Only staring at her emanating hostility, she didn''t know who it was but someone said it first "Get out". It was obviously directed at her, this first shout out opened the floodgates and insult after insult was thrown at her. ''You don''t belong here'' and ''get out'' was the most common ones she heard. Each fanboy and fangirl not wanting their favorite Pok¨¦mon to be replaced by Anya shouted at her, the voice level rising by the seconds. Anya''s emotions went to overdrive and she curled herself into a ball, eyes watering and droplets of tears falling down one after another, never before had she felt such unfair and baseless hostility towards herself. A loud roar was heard as an angry Samuel stomped towards her. He shouted, anger evident in his voice. "What the hell guys!" he addressed his fans. "I thought you guys were civil enough" his anger faded "Bullying an innocent Pok¨¦mon for being with me? Without knowing anything about her!?" Samuel''s voice had silenced the crowd. He went to his knees and wrapped his hand around Anya, trying to comfort her. Someone in the crowd voiced out "A Pok¨¦mon like that shouldn''t be allowed to be with you!" another shouted "Yeah! A bug-type could never replace any of your great Pok¨¦mon!" Samuel''s head whipped towards the direction of the voice "Who said she was a replacement?" he said in a calm and clear voice obviously trying not to frighten Anya even more. A low murmur had started through the crowd. "Let me tell you, I do not approve of your actions towards my friend here." "Anya here is a good friend of mine and I brought her here to see the whole show today" The crowd had gone silent. "Anya here" Samuel started while calmly rubbing Anya''s back "Has a gift, nothing like I have ever seen before, And I swear none of you have seen it either". He stood up and gently lifted Anya from the ground. "What is it?" someone asked curiously. a smile appeared on Samuel''s face "Tailoring" he answered, the crowd still silent, taking that as a sign to continued. "She is smart enough to make her own clothes, These silky white clothes she is wearing are in fact 100% made by her" he said while taking hold of the long seamless sleeve. "And she was a wild Pok¨¦mon just a few days ago, Any of you read about the ''ghost'' of Pallet town?" There was a nod here and there, some grunts of approval too. "For those who haven''t heard, She was the ''ghost'', her story of being chased out of her home forest by the awakened Beedrill colonies." "Did you find and capture her during that day?" someone asked from the crowd "No" Samuel answered, while shaking his head "I saw a bunch of beginner trainers using their Pok¨¦mon to bully her. She did not fight back at all, just took multiple ''embers'' from a pair of Growlithe all the while a group of other Pok¨¦mon attacked at her." There was a short silence, Samuel sighed. "I sent out my Dragonite to stop the fight, shielding her from the damage. An officer was called and the situation escalated" "Wait? You helped a Pok¨¦mon you had never seen before in your whole life? Why? You knew it was theirs to capture" someone asked in confusion Samuel sighed shook his head in resignation "I had a debt towards her, she had saved my life once before" This caused a wave of shock and surprise in the crowd. Their hero being saved by a bug-type wasn''t something they were expecting to hear on day like this. "The thing was, I knew the other party had the rights of capture as stated in the Pok¨¦mon trainer rulebook, the officer being there enforcing the rules. I was prepared to buy her off from the other group of trainers, just so I could repay my debt." "That sounds like you didn''t have to? They gave it to you?" "No" Samuel chuckled "They didn''t have any pok¨¦balls with them for some reason, they had to forfeit their claim, I got my chance to take her away. We talked for a while and she decided, she was okay to live with me and allowed me to capture her." "What was this about it saving your life?" a person wielding a microphone asked, pressing for more information. Suddenly the room went dark, many were surprised, someone touched Samuel''s shoulder, he understood right away and they were gone when the darkness faded. ----------------------- "I really don''t like to travel through shadow sneak" Samuel said annoyed towards the only other human in the room. "Yeah, it needs some time to get used to it" He was answered "Anyway, thanks for the assist Agatha. You too Gengar" "No problem. I sent Gengar to keep an eye on you. Imagine my surprise when you both just appeared next to me." She said while recalling her Pok¨¦mon. "Yeah, about that, Anya? are you okay?" Anya has been calm for some time already, but she has been quite embarrassed to be held princess style and had quieted down. Waiting to be put down. Anya was feeling a bit disoriented due to the sudden shift of location, she nodded weakly at Samuel and was promptly put down. Anya stood up and looked around, she could see the studying look on the oldish lady''s face. Samuel introduced them soon afterwards. "Anya, meet my good friend and rival, Agatha" Anya nodded and made an awkward curtsey, lifting her dress'' hem while making a small bow and bending her knees and saying "vA NY vA" in a distorted and unnatural voice. "You weren''t kidding about her being smart, she could spell own her name, even if it sounds a bit odd and unnatural. But now that I know I hear it clear as day" Agatha stared at her in a mild shock. Agatha looked at the clock on the wall and said "You took way too long time in the lobby, we barely have any time to catch up now. You should hurry to the preparations room and prepare as best as you can, get into the right headspace and so on. I''ll look after her and you''ll see us in the front row seats." Samuel nodded and said "Right! I''ll see you guys soon, keep her safe Agatha, she doesn''t seem to do well with masses." He said while he hurried away, leaving Anya with Agatha. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. The room was awkwardly quiet for a while, Agatha not being used to chat with unfamiliar Pok¨¦mon, just curiously observed Anya. Noting the dress'' interesting design and how she fidgeted under her watching gaze, actively avoiding eye contact. Agatha chuckled and said "We too better get going" she said and Anya cautiously nodded. ---------------------------- We arrived at the front row seats, the stadium was packed full of people, each and everyone with their own reasons for coming. Thousands of people had gathered, all to watch the entitlement ceremony of Samuel Oak. The whole event started quite formally but soon turned to a snooze fest when the current president of indigo league started to drone out an never ending speech listing out. After the 30-ish minute speech ended. "... it pleases me to be the first one to congratulate you. Congratulations! Professor Samuel Oak!" After a loud clap, white smoke filled the arena, a hatch opened on the other side and Samuel was confidently standing on a platform which was slowly ascending. The crowd went wild, Professor Samuel Oak was welcomed with a thunderous applause and cheering. The cheering lasted while the platform was reaching its apex, next to the president. With a clear click the audience stopped their cheering and settled back down. Thousands of people were waiting for Samuel as he slowly reached for his microphone. "I. t-*Screeech*" an ear piercing screech ran through the speakers, soon following a series of thumps and a few audio tests by some technical assistants. Anya let out a small giggle as somehow this fit on a certain trope which was popular all around. "Apologies, As I was saying. I thank everyone for coming here to witness my entitlement, I do not have any fancy speech to share with you all, but I think most of you have had your fill of droning speech" he chuckled at the end. "I will give my thanks to the Champion, his elite four and the whole of Pok¨¦mon league for their support. I would like to thank my friends, my family and my fans for standing by my side no matter what. Lastly I would like to thank the Indigo Research Institute for their help during my research to make this possible." The ceremony soon ended with the president giving Samuel a hat, a decree and a handshake. To which Samuel bowed afterwards. Now that the ceremony was over the host called out "We will now take a fifteen minute intermission to have the exhibition battler ready themselves" -------------- "Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen, to the exhibition match of the freshly baked Pok¨¦mon professor SAMUEL OAK versus the last season''s battle hardened elite four contender PAUL" The announcer''s voice boomed through the stadium. "We are using the standard 5 on 5 singles league showmatch set rules, which means no items, one substitution only allowed in case of knockout and otherwise recalling your Pok¨¦mon means the Pok¨¦mon is no longer allowed to battle." The announcer went through Samuel''s and Paul''s recent battling history and compared their fighting styles and previous team composition. Agatha sat next to me and scoffed, she then looked at me and asked "How much do you know about competitive battling?" I shook my head and made a shrug. "Don''t know? Want me to explain some rules?" Sure I thought and nodded "Each trainer can have up to six registered battlers, this match being a five on five singles means that each battler is only allowed to use five out of their six Pok¨¦mon. This allows for some situational variation of strategy. You still with me?" I nodded while she continued her explanation, she continued to talk all the way until the announcers voice boomed again. "Everything seems to be ready, please welcome our defender to the battlegrounds! He came all the way from Pallet town, winning most of his battles, completing the circuit in record time and becoming a Pok¨¦mon professor, give it up for SAMUEL OAK!" The audience loudly cheered as Samuel walked to the middle of the field confidently while waving to the audience. He seems to enjoy being in the spotlight, his head calmly turning around and his waves followed after. His eyes met mine and his smile widened, he stared at me for a while before continuing to slowly walk forward. The cameraman following his gaze and zoomed towards my seat. The large screen showing me and Agatha sitting next to each other, I didn''t really like the attention it was giving me, even the announcer talked. "What do we have here, here in the challengers reserved seats we have another top tier trainer, Agatha and what''s this? a Pok¨¦mon? sitting in the seat next to her. Unbelievable!" Agatha scoffed, she wasn''t amused at all, the joking manner the announcer was subtly downgrading. Or that''s how it felt to me. I took a quick look around, was I the only Pok¨¦mon I could see sitting in the seats? I couldn''t find any even if I tried to look for a while. The camera changed "Here let us welcome the challenger, the elite four contender, PAUL!" The audience boomed again in cheers and a man''s head with blond hair, blue eyes and a clean blonde goatee was shown on the camera. He winked at the camera and a loud fawning noise was heard. The camera panned outwards finally showing his whole figure, He was wearing a light blue open shirt his well toned six pack in the open, long blue pants with black stripes held by his belt that had six pok¨¦balls on it. The introduction lasted for a while. Agatha had scoffed again, she even mouthed that she did not like Paul at all, something about his attitude ticked her wrong. I didn''t really know him, so I couldn''t tell. Both battlers met in the middle, shook each others hands, said few words and walked back to their ''command podiums'' as Agatha had called them. The podiums rose to the air and both of them took out a pok¨¦ball on their hand signaling they were ready. The announcer boomed yet again. "Both battlers have chosen their first Pok¨¦mon, on release, GET SET, READY, RELEASE!" the audience loudly joining the announcer on the countdown. It was impressive, the unity of the audience made my heart go wild in excitement. Two Pok¨¦mon were released on to the battlefield my eyes following both of the released energies. "The Pok¨¦mon are in the air!" Two Pok¨¦mon, both which I could recognize appeared at the field. One a bulky tortoise with tubes coming out of its shell, a Blastoise and the other which oak threw out was the one I had seen before. "Paul had sent out his first ever Pok¨¦mon, Blastoise and Samuel Oak sent out his team''s strongest powerhouse, Dragonite. This battle is going to be wild right from the start" Both Pok¨¦mon stood out in front of their trainers intently watching each other. The announcer said "READY! GO!". The moment the announcer said ''go'' I noticed that both trainers had given an initial order beforehand. The ground shook quickly, sand dusting from the ground, I lost my sight as the Dragonite slammed the ground in what I would assume was ''Earthquake''. The dust settled soon, while jet of water was blasted upwards, the ''Earthquake'' had caused the Blastoises aim to falter. "A glorious beginning move from Oak''s Dragonite, the ground shook, Blastoise stumbled and missed!" The announcer confirming my deduction. The battle continued, both sides following their respective masters orders. The pace of the battle was moving faster and faster I noticed. Soon enough my eyes only managed to gain glimpses of the battlers every now and then. The stadium flashed and the crowd cheered loudly, I missed it?. "What a stunning mastery of acrobatics from Dragonite, Weaving through Blastoise''s signature twin Hydro Pump and landing a beautiful Thunder Punch at his opponent. Knocking it out and taking the lead!" "Oak''s Dragonite will continue battling, Paul must choose his next Pok¨¦mon" A flash later and a Lapras appeared, the audience boomed in cheers. "What''s this, Paul sending out his ace already, Seems like he needs to get rid of Dragonite as soon as possible" The battle continued, Lapras wasn''t fast moving but the amount and the speed of ice shards that stormed out from its mouth was insane. Dragonite had landed and intercepted the barrage of ice, a glow appeared on his scales, he shot out a wave of lightning afterwards, which at a glance didn''t do anything.'' I have no idea what is going on, the two Pok¨¦mon fighting is what I get but I can''t recognize half of the moves they are using. Suddenly the sky darkened and pieces of ice fell down, ''Hail'' I thought but soon afterwards, it was replaced with bright sunlight, causing me to jolt. A flash of lightning later the battle halted again. Listening to the announcer who called out "Dragonite is unable to battle, please select your next Pok¨¦mon." Soon afterwards "Challenger Paul has chosen to use his substitute to return his Lapras, Defender please release another Pok¨¦mon before the Challenger" Dragonite was down, from the looks of it he did a marvelous job. Taking out one and significantly weakening another. Samuel still got this. Samuel send out an Exeggutor, Paul took a moment and finally sent out a Tentacruel The announcer shout out the names and the battle continued. I tried to follow the fast paced battle of an Exeggutor who was running around the battlefield and shooting Tentacruel with purple psychic energies I believe. A benefit of having three heads I guess? Tentacruel was using its countless tentacles to jab at the fast moving coconut tree. A shout from its trainer and the weather changed yet again, now it was raining and the Exeggutor slowed down noticeably, so did my sight as the downpour hindered the visibility of the field. Tentacruel finally fast enough to catch the running Exeggutor jabbed its tentacle straight at the palm tree, suddenly in a flash of stars and darkness, the Tentacruel slowed down again, anger clearly showing in its eyes. Soon the Tentacruel was down, managing only to land a single attack. The Exeggutor looked to be in good condition and eager to battle more. Looking around I saw Agatha quietly looking at the battleground deep in thought. The rest of the match went by fast, Paul''s Poliwrath and Kingler couldn''t do anything to the Exeggutor and Lapras had barely put it down. The final fight between and extremely tired Lapras and a fresh out of ball Tauros was anticlimactic as Lapras went down after a single takedown. The battlers met again at the middle of the battleground shook hands. The defeated congratulating the victor before going separate ways. Announcer was blabbering nonsense about the match and we took our leave. We saw Samuel being mobbed by a swarm of reporters each asking him questions about his recent battle and his future plans as a Pok¨¦mon professor. Samuel calmly answered each and every question. Me and Agatha silently stood at the side, waiting for them to clear out. After the reporters left satisfied, Samuel walked towards us, he was yet again swarmed by his fans... many of them asking autographs and handshakes. Agatha held her head. I noticed something, if Agatha was Samuel''s rival, then shouldn''t she also have a group of fans following her around? I was still a bit puzzled, when Samuel arrived we left as fast as possible. Chapter 23 Sometime after the battle Anya, Samuel and Agatha all stayed at the small tourist town on Indigo Plateau. "That was some excellent battling over there, clearing an elite trainer two to five. I really liked the way you utilized the weather and, and the trick room was brilliant move." Agatha beamed at Samuel, who scratched his neck while his cheeks showed a small blush. Currently they were in a restaurant, waiting for their meals. Anya was happy that this restaurant also catered Pok¨¦mon, even though they initially was against it. Samuel just said to the waiter "We''ll take a private booth, so no one will be bothered when she eats and you can just treat her same as you would treat me." The waiters eyebrows rose but eventually she nodded. The waiter took them to a small private booth and had brought three menus in which they ordered. "She can read..." said Agatha. Still not believing what she had seen. "Maybe she just pointed at a random dish?" she rambled "You think? Looking through this multipage menu, she just somehow managed to land on one of the three salads by luck? The only one without any meat on it too." Samuel joked "You should visit sometime, so you could really see what she can do" "Like what? Tailoring?" "Exactly, look at her clothes will you. Have you ever seen such a technique, even the famous Johto Spinarak weave isn''t without seams." Anya''s eyes perked when she heard ''Spinarak weave''. "See" said Samuel while chuckling. "I have to admit, I am curious about her, if her intelligence is even close to as good as you said it was she could be a great source of information." "Well, about that..." Samuel flustered a bit "Sh-" They were interrupted as the waiter brought them their food, along with their drinks. Anya had water while the others drank juice. Eating and casually conversing the conversation naturally went back to Anya for some reason. "Anyway, as I was saying, She told me that Eevee has eight forms, EIGHT" Agatha was silent "Are you sure she isn''t lying?" "I... I don''t know" he said while looking at Anya who was quietly nibbling at her salad. "Anya?" His voice not entirely stable, Anya looked at him, most likely knowing what he is going to ask. "Can you... give proof about the Eevee forms?" Anya wondered for a while and came to a conclusion. Since he was going to buy her a typewriter, she considered the information already paid then. She nodded. Samuel released his breath that he was holding in expectation of an answer. "How do we do it?" Anya put the left cutter on her right elbow and her right cutter under her chin, in a thinking expression. Agatha and Samuel waited for a while, both of their foods getting cold already. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Anya thought for a while, she didn''t have the brush and paper with her. She had to rule out drawing. An idea struck her, she took out the menu, scrolled through the foods. All of them having a Pok¨¦mon themed name, she located the desserts and pointed at a single one in the list. ''Fluffy Eevee Pancakes'' "Eevee" Samuel said, reminded of their first time communications She looked around and found another menu item. ''Rock and Rollout pasta'' "Rock" said Agatha understanding the method of communication Then Anya just pointed at her glass "Water" they both said together. "A Vaporeon?" Samuel noticing the connection "Evolved into while exposing an Eevee to a ''water stone'', nothing new" Then Anya pointed at the candle at the table "Fire" said Agatha, evidently liking this puzzle like communication. "Fire stone, Flareon" To which Anya nodded. Next she pointed at the power outlet at the corner of the room "Electricity? a Thunder stone! A Jolteon" Agatha said happily "Then what about the others?" Samuel questioned Anya started to scroll through the menu and found the ''Sunny day latte'' "Sunlight?" Samuel said, this time stumped. "If an Eevee evolved only with sunlight there would be a lot more of those" Anya was looking through the menu for a while, she found one ''Happiny stew'' she pointed at the dish. "A Happiny? Why would they need a Happiny?" Agatha asked Anya shook her head, she covered part of the dish''s name. "Happinys, oh, oooh" She came to a realization. So "''Sunlight'' and ''Happiness'' but which one is it?" She then pointed again at the menu ''Moon biscuits'' followed by the ''Happiny Stew'' "So Eevee plus sunlight plus happiness is one and Eevee plus moonlight plus happiness is another?" To which Anya nodded. "I think the Moon one is Umbreon, which means the other one is Espeon?" Anya nodded again. "Three more to go" Said Agatha The next three were quite a bit harder to explain, how would one explain, what a moss stone or ice rock is... Not talking about Sylveon, whose condition for evolution is learning a certain attack... She tried her best but the two of them couldn''t understand what she meant, they got most of the keywords but couldn''t connect them together. The answer were as follow. ''Ice'', ''Eevee'', ''Energy'', an Ice-type Eevee ''Grass'', ''Eevee'', ''Energy'', and Grass-Type Eevee ''Eevee'', ''Affection/Love''. Both were silenced, at least they now think Anya knows something as she tried to explain it to them, without success. ----------------- Leaving the food gone cold behind they finally left the Indigo Plateau after picking up the injured Pok¨¦mon from the League health station. The Dragonite was happy to fly Anya and Samuel back to Pallet Town. On the way back Anya had a small chat with the Dragonite, who happily answered her, they had only introduced themselves on their flight here and were mostly silent that trip. "Hey, Dragonite, Your battle was great! You took out Paul''s starter and almost his ace as well!" Anya chippered. Causing the gentle dragon to chuckle happily "It was nothing, just following orders" he tried to downplay his accomplishment but was secretly proud and happy to get a compliment. They talked about how Samuel was like in the past and how long had they known each other, he told her about his home island and how Samuel had accidentally beached there. The story took a long time, before it could even finish they had already arrived at the house''s back yard. They said their goodbyes for now and hoped to hear the rest of the story from him at some point. They both went inside, Anya set herself up at the table and picked up the brush in a practiced fashion while Samuel went to take a shower. When Samuel had exited the shower now in clean clothes and freshened out he found a three pages of paper with a written text on them. ''GLACEON ICE CAVE, EXPOSE ICE ENERGY'' ''LEAFEON MOSS ROCK EXPOSE GRASS ENERGY'' ''SYLVEON FAIRY MOVE LOVE?'' Staring at the pages in front of him, he could understand most of what was written. The last page causing some problems, he understood each of the letters and words written there but couldn''t understand how it worked at all. He better get that typewriter to her as soon as possible. Chapter 24 Last of the canvas papers had been used and Anya hadn''t really talked with Samuel for a few days, him leaving before Anya woke up, coming back late extremely tired and going to sleep almost as soon as he was done showering. This continued for almost two weeks, during those days Anya had either stayed in her room producing cloth or making more silk outside in the backyard. A normal silkworm on earth produces around 1 kilometer of silk in 72 hours and is around 7 to 8 cm long and the strongest silk being around 1mm in thickness. Anya easily being over fifteen times longer than a normal silkworm on earth also means that her silk should be over 15mm in thickness and she can produce 1km of silk in less than 5 hours, in theory.** Wasting the uneventful days away Anya had time to experiment with her own silk and the dyes, she had managed to make another plushie. This time it being a fully dyed Eevee with a light brown fur with light gray mane and the tip of its tail. The plushie not being filled with anything lied flat on her bed, she did not know what she could fill it with. She had tried filling it with balls of silk, but it lacked the floatiness of real stuffing and was ruled out as a potential material for plush fillings. Anya has been feeling down these past days, the longer it went the slower she worked. After finishing the plushie she had just stared outside listlessly. On the eleventh day Samuel came home earlier than expected carrying a large-ish cardboard box with him. "Hey! Anya, I''m back!" Samuel shouted loudly when he opened the door, expecting her to come downstairs. A chirp was heard nearby. Anya, who greeted him, was sitting by the window in a chair that had been dragged from the kitchen. "Yeah, sorry for not being here for a while, the life of a trainer am I right?" Anya tilted her head to emphasize she did not know what he meant. "Oh, right, well... After my entitlement, I had to attend few events, interviews and such." He said "And this" he shook the box in his hand and put it on the table. "Wasn''t that easy to make, trying to explain the manufacturer that the keys need to be slightly modified symbols from the original Unown script" He opened the package and took out a barebones typewriter, there weren''t any fancy covers and the sharp edges were barely smoothed. He carefully placed the typewriter on the table and let Anya to look at it while he took off his backpack and jacket. She curiously looked at the keyboard and noticed that the keys were already in QWERTY layout, ''huh, didn''t think QWERTY was an interdimensional thing'' she thought obviously not knowing that the QWERTY layout was made specifically for typewriters to avoid the jamming of the keys. ''Not like I could use the 10-finger typing'' she mused. She was still eager to actually write something without it being a pain. Samuel had taken out a stack of white paper from his backpack and inserted the first one at the typewriter. He then pressed every key on it and with a clear ding the line changed. "Seems like everything works right now" Samuel said and made some space Anya chirped happily and began to type something. Her typing wasn''t fast as she had to adjust her cutters every now and then. ''THANK YOU ASAMUEL FOR GETTING ME THIS TYPEQWRIRTER'' Samuel chuckled "No worries, I promised I would get you one" The clacking starting once again. ''I CAN TRY TO ANSWER 1 QUESTION YOU HAVE'' Before Samuel could answer the clacking continued ending with another ding. ''AS A WAY OF THANKS, I UNDERSTAND, IT MUST NOT HAVE BEEN EASY DOING THIS TO ME'' Samuel was deep in thought he wasn''t sure what he could ask of her. "Let me think for a while, I''ll give you the question tomorrow." Anya nodded and began typing. ''I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE STUFFING'' Anya had typed "What for? Taxidermy? Beddings?" ''FOR PLUSHIES. SILK IS NOT GOOD'' "A what? What is a plushie?" Anya shook her head and began to type slowly while thinking of how to explain what a plushie is to a human. ''PLUSHIE IS USUALLY A SOFT AND CUDDLY TOY. MADE FROM CLOTH, FILLED WITH COTTON OR STRAW OR SOMETHING SOFT AND SQUISHY'' "Oh, so it is just another name for a ''stuffed toy''. Sure I can get you some" ''THANK YOU. I WILL PAY YOU BACK FOR IT'' Samuel just waved his hand in dismissal. "No need, It''s part of being a trainer. Taking care of their Pok¨¦mon is part of our job" ''I INSIST. I DO NOT WANT TO BE TREATED AS A GLORIFIED PET. WE ARE OF EQUAL STAND#'' the typing continued but the typewriter did not type anything more as the 80 character limit per line was reached. Each character after was hit on top of the 80th character making it a messy looking blob. The typing had stopped with a ding, Anya read what she had written and looked at the single line, she had forgotten to press ''enter''. She was a bit unhappy that her rant was cut off but all of the necessary information was already written on it. She did not bother to type again. "I see..." Samuel said after reading her written line. "How are you planning on earning money then?" ''CLOTHES AND INFOIRMATIONM'' he got her answer, she had accidentally misstyped again. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.Samuel was still intrigued "What kind of information?" ''POKEMON, EVOLUTIONS, MOVES, ABILITIES, LOCATIONS, RUMORS AND MORE'' "Oh, yeah, you had given me information about Eevees already, that was about evolutions? and that paid the typewriter" Anya nodded "So its around 500 pokedollars for a single piece of information?" ''DEPENDS ON INFORMATION, BUT ALONG THOSE LINES'' ''EVOLUTION CONDITIONS ARE MORE EXPENSIVE THAN JUST KNOWING THE POSSIBILITIES'' ''I AM ALSO CURIOUS ABOUT POKEMON MYSELF'' she typed ''WHICH IS WHY I KNOW A LOT, NOT EVERYTHING'' "I''ll at least keep you fed, you''ll pay it by keeping the house clean and doing the laundry. Sound good?" Anya nodded, she was okay being the housekeeper. For now. ------------------------------ Samuel eyed the paper in his hands, it had one side of the whole conversation from earlier. His other hand was around the phone many times he had started dialing only to stop a moment later. He wanted to call Agatha, but he couldn''t really know what to say to her. His mind mostly thinking of what to ask, which is why he tried to call Agatha. His mind went to another place and suddenly the phone was calling, a click later a deep male voice was heard. "Hello? Who is this?" he had finally made a call. But not to Agatha. "Hey, Dad" A surprised gasp was heard "H-Hey Samuel, You haven''t called for ages. We have been watching you on the television, congratulations!" his dad answered cheerily. "I have a bit of a problem" Samuel confessed "What? Stumped about your next opponent?" His dad chuckled "No, If you could ask any question about any known or unknown Pok¨¦mon. What, what would you ask?" "Huh, that is an odd question my boy...hmmh" he said obviously pondering his sons important question. "It can be anything about Pok¨¦mon too" Samuel clarified, the line was silent for a moment. "I- think" His father said slowly "That hmmh, that really is a hard question. There is so much to ask for, but only a single question" his voice quite serious, he had taken Samuel''s stupid question seriously and really was trying to help. They both chatted for a while when his father had to go, not before he gave Samuel an answer before parting. Samuel huffed, ''why didn''t I think of that'' he thought. ------------------------------ Next morning Anya slowly stumbled downstairs neatly dressed up. She noticed Samuel who was in the kitchen making an omelet. She chirped and got a cheery "morning" in response. Their spirits were risen as Anya no longer felt so alone, funny how it took just a few hours to pacify all that loneliness and anxiety. They both sat at the table, Anya sat leaning her side on the backrest and happily munched on her berry omelet "I think I have my question ready, but no need to hurry. I have the whole day off today" Samuel said and Anya nodded. Samuel told Anya about the last week or so why in more detail while they ate and Anya interested paid attention to what Samuel was talking about, inserting different types of chirps here and there. They both were done and they cleaned the table and brought out the typewriter. "Now the question" Anya waited for him to continue, she took her position in front of the typewriter, ready to give her answer. "How was your life before meeting me? Tell me about yourself." It was not a question Anya was expecting, Samuel had a gently smile on his face, obviously pleased that his question was an unexpected one. Anya''s head racked, what should she tell him, telling him that she had been a Human once doesn''t feel like a good idea. She slowly started to make a truthful narrative in her head where she removed some information. She finished her story and felt a bit bad about deceiving him. ''I WILL NOT WRITE EVERYTHING ABOUT MYSELF, BUT I''LL TELL WHAT I CAN'' ''DO YOU STILL WANT TO HEAR? EVEN IF IT ISN''T THE WHOLE TRUTH?'' Reading these two lines Samuel was not exactly surprised, but he still nodded and said "Yes, I am okay with anything you give me" Anya gave a nod and began to write. ''WHEN I WAS YOUNG, I TOOK INTEREST IN POKEMON'' ''I LEARNED ABOUT EVERY SINGLE SPECIES I COULD'' ''REACHING ADULTHOOD, POKEMON BECAME A HOBBY AND TAILORING MY FOCUS'' ''UNTIL BEFORE THE LAST WINTER WHEN I WAS SUDDENLY THROWN INSIDE THE FOREST'' ''I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE MY HOME IS, HOW I CAME HERE OR WHY ANYTHING HAPPENED'' ''I LIVED ALONE FOR A WHILE IN THE QUIET FOREST, SCAVENGING FOR FOOD'' ''UNTIL A GROUP OF THREE YOUNG POKEMON AND THEIR FATHER FOUND ME'' ''I SAVED YOU AT ONE POINT DURING THE WINTER'' ''MY FRIENDS HAD TO LEAVE DUE TO BEEDRILL, I TOO HAD TO GO'' ''ESCAPING FROM THE FOREST, I MET A GROWLITHE WHO ATTACKED ME IN THE PLAINS'' ''I KI DISTRACTED IT AND RAN AS FAST AS I COULD'' ''I RAN THE WHOLE DAY AND NIGHT, UNTIL I REACHED THIS TOWN AND TOOK A REST'' ''WHEN I WAS SUDDENLY WOKEN UP BY A GROUP OF POKEMON AND THEIR TRAINERS'' ''THEN YOU CAME, THAT IS MOSTLY IT'' There was a small pause, and Anya continued typing, obviously downcast ''I AM SORRY THAT MY ANSWER DOES NOT HAVE ANYTHING OF REAL VALUE'' ''BUT A QUESTION IS A QUESTION, I WILL HONOR MY WORDS'' "This, this is quite sad isn''t it" Samuel said while reading, Anya simply nodded. "Never thought that you just appeared inside the forest. I thought you came here with the help of a flyer or a water-type" Samuel pondered for a while. "Anyways, there are few questions I have, all about you, things which have been bothering me" Anya looked at Samuel, nodded and waited for him to continue. "How old are you? From your story I get the feeling that you have lived for some time" Anya nodded and took out a new paper and inserted it into the typewriter. ''I AM 17 YEARS OLD'' Samuel was quite surprised, she didn''t seem that old. ''Well, Pok¨¦mon life-expectancy study has been inconclusive during recent years...'' he thought, another question then popped into his mind. About recent events. "Huh, I am not a Pok¨¦mon expert but shouldn''t a Pok¨¦mon so old know how to battle especially if they have been living in the wilds?" There was a short pause, and the clacking resumed. ''MOST LIKELY THEY SHOULD, BUT I NEVER KNEW HOW TO FIGHT'' ''I THINK I HAVE UNCONSCIOUSLY USED SOME MOVES LIKE STRINGSHOT AND CUT'' ''BUT I HAVE NEVER ATTACKED ANYONE, ONLY RECEIVED'' Samuel looked at the paper and sighed, from what he knew it should be natural for a Pok¨¦mon to know how to battle. It was part of their nature. All of this new info just gave him a headache. He was going to have a long day ahead. Chapter 25 PoV: Samuel This is madness, how can a single Pok¨¦mon survive for so long without ever fighting in the wilds. No matter how much I try to wrap my head around it, she must be hiding something, something important, that is the feeling I get. I have been traveling the continent for years already, having seen many different areas, many different Pok¨¦mon, all of them ready for a fight the moment they see me. Fighting should be like instinct to them, yet why does she not know how? Even the breeding research program Pok¨¦mon had known how to fight without anyone teaching... Maybe a species trait? Not getting attacked but losing their own attacks in progress? No, that can''t be, evident of the wild Growlithe attacking her that she write about. Quite peculiar. I looked at the odd Pok¨¦mon, who was currently humming while knitting from a silk spool. She is resourceful, acting very human-like, never been a trained Pok¨¦mon, her pokeball just broke... Maybe we should try to capture her again? We will have to try when we have to leave... The humming stopped, I looked at her, she nodded and rose up. Following her movement with my eyes, I now noticed that her steps have a bit of awkwardness in them, why? Part of her species to walk like that? maybe? Recently Evolved and still getting used to her new form? Unlikely, she didn''t mention it on her note.. She went to the typewriter, and carefully used her cutters to press the keys to write something. A while later a ding sounded, a line was written. She stared at me, hoping I would come to her, which I did. I read the latest written line. I was surprised. ''I FEEL LONELY, NEED FRIEND TO TALK TO, ANOTHER POKEMON IF POSSIBLE NO GROWLITHE'' She looked at me expectantly. Now, what was I supposed to answer. I hadn''t really noticed her loneliness, but I really haven''t been here for the past ten or so days... Growlithe? Trauma most likely? My whole team doesn''t work at all, from my understanding, they really can''t stand other Pok¨¦mon for some reason, Dragonite being an exception. They all prefer to be in their balls all the time too. "Okay" I said "But, it will take some time. My current Pok¨¦mon are all too big to fit inside comfortably." I lied, still, I saw the light in her eyes brighten. Now, where would I get another Pok¨¦mon? and what species? "So, What kind of Pok¨¦mon would you want?" I asked her, she started typing again. ''SHORTER THAN ME OR ABOUT MY HEIGHT'' was the first sentence, I could understand. ''PREFERRABLY NOT A BUG, A FLYING, A POISON OR A FIRE TYPE'' Bug-type was a surprise, but I was still content I could manage. "Is there a specific Pok¨¦mon you would like to have as a friend?" I asked ''NOT REALLY, I'' The typing paused for a moment ''WANT SOMEONE I CAN HUG OR CUDDLE WITH'' "Hmm, It will take some ti-" ding ''IF POSSIBLE...'' "I''ll see what I can do" a soft smile on my face. ------------------ PoV: Anya That was embarrassing, I wish I could rewrite it, but these being typewriters and not a computer makes it quite difficult... Well, what is done is done, at least he said he tries to look for a one. Hopefully it doesn''t take too long. ------------------ It has already been a few weeks after Anya had asked for a friend. Samuel had kept his words and introduced Anya to a bunch of other Pok¨¦mon. At first Anya was happy to have someone to talk to but she quickly noticed that most of these Pok¨¦mon were missing something, a genuine spark of intelligence. These Pok¨¦mon were no doubt feral, caught straight from the nature. The first one was a Rattata, who attacked her the moment she tried to start a conversation, before being recalled by Samuel. They had tried four different Pok¨¦mon already and were visibly getting tired of these unfriendly ones. Anya suggested that she should come with him, so she could at least show which one was worthy. Samuel accepted, he tried to put Anya inside a pokeball but for some reason it didn''t react at all to her. They tried many pokeballs but none of them worked on her. They had to go outside without capturing her. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. First they went to a store, where Samuel bought them some food and rations for the trip. Then they left the town. They had planned this trip for a few days beforehand, They were supposed to go along the forest towards Viridian, stay there for a day and come back. The trip was supposed to take a week per direction. They left early in the morning, edged the forest and walked in a casual but somewhat brisk pace. During the trip, Anya tried to talk to many different Pok¨¦mon. But most of them being hyper aggressive towards her or running away at the first sight. Anya was really down after the first day around the campfire, the snow had all melted by now and the air was still fresh but had a hint of spring floating around. "Well, that was what we were expecting right?" said Samuel sitting alongside her, making a stew over the fire and comforting his downcast friend. "We still have many days to go" Anya nodded and chirped, her voice down. "Cheer up will you, we will find you a friend, I promise! Here have a taste" he said happily and offered a spoon full of stew. Anya Looked at the offered spoon and carefully took sip. It was too hot and had a minor taste of smoke in addition to the normal taste. ''the wonders of cooking in the wild'' she thought. ------------------- They arrived at Viridian City without success, they both were tired from the week long trek and immediately went to the local pokecenter and got themselves a room. They had to share as no one would believe a Pok¨¦mon wanting their own room. Anya had been too tired to actually complain and dragged herself to their new room, dropped her backpack and rummaged for a clean set of clothes. Anya went to the bathroom, put her dirty clothes to the washing machine and took a quick shower. She impatiently waited for the washing machine to finish its speed program and put the now clean clothes on the drying rack provided in each room. She came out and noticed Samuel who was talking on the phone with someone. She overheard him say "Don''t worry, we will figure something out, This is a nice change of pace from all the work I have been doing with my team." Someone answered him but Anya couldn''t really hear what so she casually strolled to the bed and sat at its edge. "Bathrooms free now, gotta go, bye" he said while closing the call and then turned towards Anya. "I know this seems bad but we''ll find someone, not all Pok¨¦mon are ''feral'' as you had said before" he said to her, Anya just nodded. "Sooo, we kinda have to share a bed. I hope it does not bother you too much" He grinned and went to take a shower. Exiting the bathroom, Samuel noticed the sleeping form of Anya, not on the bed, but on a hammock made out of silk. ''I forgot about that'' Samuel chuckled and went to the only bed in the room. -------------------- Next morning, Samuel woke up well rested. The comfortable bed beating the hard ground 100 to 1. His eyes wandered the room and landed on the still resting form of Anya. He though of their past week, how Anya had gotten more used to walking and most of the awkwardness in her steps were gone. Only a small hint of it still remained when she walked on some surfaces. He had also noticed that Anya didn''t really sleep that well in the wilds, she had always woken up before him every morning. This was the first time he had really seen Anya''s real sleeping form as she peacefully slumbered on her hammock. Her soft breathing being the only noise they could hear. Anya had once told him that she has had a recurring nightmare about a huge forest fire and her being trapped inside. They haven''t really communicated with each other that much during the trip. The typewriter being heavy and unwieldy as items go was left at home. Also Anya hadn''t really begun selling her information either for some reason these past weeks. There was an odd yawn before the hammock stirred and Anya propped her head over the edge, her sleepy eyes opening wide when she recognized that she had accidentally brought her face right in front of Samuel''s. Samuel gently smiled "Good morning, Slept well?" It took Anya a moment to clear her head and take a notice of the location they were in. She nodded and chirped a good morning too taking her head with her. She had slept with her clothes on and dropped down from the hammock and cautiously scrubbed the walls to remove the hammock without causing damage. Samuel didn''t see it yesterday but now he saw Anya''s thick cord-like silk strands that were being carefully detached from the wall. He leaned closer to see her technique better. He was too slow as Anya had quickly done her job and packed the hammock silk inside her backpack and went to the bathroom. It still looked unnatural to Samuel''s eyes no matter how much he had seen her, The clothes she was wearing and the backpack on her back made her look like any other human if not for her green and yellow coloured head. He imagined her wearing a dress that almost reaches the ground to hide her feet, a hood covering her head and a mask to hide her face. He thought, ''If only she could just talk, then...'' he couldn''t even finish the though as his body shuddered. Finishing at the bathroom she came out and looked at Samuel who had dressed up from his nightshirt to his ''trainer clothes'' as he would call them. They were a brown leathery jacket and dark green cargo pants. "You ready?" he said "We have the whole Viridian City to explore" a smirk rose on his face and Anya smiled and nodded her spirit lifted. Chapter 26 PoV: Anya We started our day by leaving the pokecenter and looked for a place to have a breakfast, it was quite hard for us to find any as most of them did not allow Pok¨¦mon to enter. In the end we still managed to find a remote cafe that had allowed us to enter, I was really surprised to see that the cafe master also had a Pok¨¦mon with him, a Persian. The cafe master introduced himself as Jacob and his Persian as Persimmon. I also bowed while Samuel introduced himself and me afterwards. We sat near the counter on a short coffee table I was brought a stool, which surprised me. I was grateful as I didn''t have to awkwardly sit sideways on a chair. We ordered our breakfast, I ordered myself a fruit salad, while Samuel got a sandwich. Persimmon approached me while we were quietly waiting for our order and listened calm jazzy music coming from the speakers. She then sat on a pillow near our table. So that is what they were for "Hey" Persimmon started talking to me "We usually don''t have that many Pok¨¦mon coming here so, I thought I could also greet you myself" "Oh, H-Hello" I greeted back awkwardly, still not totally used to talking with my own voice. Taking a deep breath I faced her again. "Nice to meet you Ms. Persimmon, my name is Anya as you might have heard from before." The Persian in question chuckled at her. "Now, now, No need to be so formal, Just call me Persimmon" the feline smiled gently "O-Okay, Persimmon" I also forced a smile. "Just relax" Said the Persian while stretching on the pillow. "I am not here to hurt you, just wanting to talk. I haven''t talked to anyone in days, It gets a bit boring here every now and then" I looked around the cafe and saw that even thought there were many customers there really wasn''t a single Pok¨¦mon amongst them. "It''s okay... I know the feeling, it has been..." I tried to count the number of days but didn''t know the exact number so I said "Weeks, over a month now, the last time I talked to someone" I said sadly. "Ho-? He doesn''t seem like a bad trainer to me" "He isn''t, he is great. He has been helping me a lot" "I hear a but coming? Is it because he can''t really understand you? I have that problem quite often with master" "No, We are capable of communicating to a great extent. The problem lies with him not really having that much time to be around me as he needs to prepare for his job as a Pok¨¦mon professor." The Persian''s eyes opened from her usual tired look. "He is the professor? Doesn''t look like one" She said while taking a look at Samuel, who was watching our interaction with each other, he waved at her. "He is, believe it or not." "Okay, okay, I still have some question for you but it seems like your food is coming" I looked at the kitchen door and Jacob came out of the kitchen carrying a tray with his hands. He came closer and put the tray on the table and said "Enjoy you food". Then he quickly left, Persimmon was also standing up. "You don''t have to leave" I said. "I-I really appreciate your company..." The cat smirked and laid back on the pillow. "Alright, since you asked so nicely" she said. "So what it is that you wanted to ask me?" I said before I started to eat. I slowly munched on the fruit pieces, enjoying their taste. Persimmon asked me a question "What are you? I haven''t seen one of your kind before" "I am a Leavanny" I said to her "They are not a native species of Kanto nor Johto" "Interesting" She said while smirking, her eyes crescent. I calmly continued to eat. "I have two more questions still" "Go ahead, shoot" "I saw you ordering that salad, I know our lists have pictures but you pointed at the text instead of the picture. Does that mean you know how to read human?" I was shocked, I didn''t expect the Persian to just calmly ask me about that, what should I answer her? It is not like it is a secret and from my experience back at the burrow wasn''t too bad. Before I could say anything Persimmon continued talking. "Okay, I''ll take that as a yes, but I understand if you do not want to talk about it" "No, I-I- It is not a problem, you just surprised me, that is all" "Really?" she clearly wasn''t convinced. "Y-Yeah, I can read some human as you called it. That language is really known as Unown Script and the letters come from the shape of different Unown Pok¨¦mon." "Uknown Pok¨¦mon?" "No, Unown, Un Own, not Un Known" I tried to explain "Oh, that is a thing?" she asked curiously "Yes, they are letter shaped Pok¨¦mon, or other way around, the letters are shaped after them?" "You don''t seem too sure?" "I am not, I don''t really know the answer to that" I said in defeat. "No worries" "You still had a question right?" "Yes, two more" "You said two before" "Yes, but I got two more now" she smirked again, her fangs peeking. She seemed to enjoy our conversation, so why not. "Sure, what is your second question?" "You said you could communicate with your trainer better. What did you mean?" "Hmm, Well, you know how I can read right?" she nodded "Well, what if I just write what I want to say to him?" "You will need hands, I have tried to hold the pen before" "Not necessarily, We have a thing at home that is called a typewriter, it writes the letters I want easily, I just need to press buttons around this size" I held a piece of fruit that was approximately the size of a single key. "That is so cool!" she purred excited. "One more right?" I said while I looked at my empty plate of salad, surprised it had disappeared so suddenly. I also looked at Samuel who was also done with his sandwich, He obviously noticed my look and said "No need to hurry, we still have some time. I am glad you have found a friend to talk to" while smiling happily. I nodded too. Persimmon noticed out that our brief exchange was over and asked her final question in excitement. "Can you teach me how to read?" The question was surprisingly simple. "I can try?" not sure if it would end well. I looked at Samuel for a moment, thinking how should I teach her. I could just open the menu and try to help Persimmon with that. Nothing better came to my head and I opened the menu again. This time Samuel was also curious, he just looked us silently. I put the book in front of Persimmon and opened the first page. "The Unown script has 28 letters, which the first one is A" I said while pointing at the ''A'' letter on the menu. Teaching her was hard, or so I thought. Somehow her mind couldn''t recognize the letter in front of her. From her description the symbol for ''A'' was a random squiggly which looked exactly like the other squiglies next to it. I sighed and tried to tell her that the letters were different and she should try memorize a part of it. None of it worked out and I didn''t know why, The word ''squiggly'' came to my mind and I had another idea. This time I took out paper from Samuel''s bag. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. I also took the menu and placed it in front of him. He was surprised. I looked at him and pointed at ''A'' letter, which became the usual word chain puzzle game. "Me, Pen, Paper, A" he said slowly and I nodded "You want me to write ''A'' on the paper?" I nodded again. He then wrote ''A'', the wrong one... I chirped and shook my head. He looked back to me "You, A" I motioned, His eyes flashed in recognition and he wrote a crude version of my ''A''. It would have to do. I took out the paper in front that had two ''A'' written on it. One in Unown and one in Latin, placing the paper in front of Persimmon, I said. "This here is ''A'' Letter, and this one is also ''A'' letter, one is in Unown script and one is not. What do you see? do you see the similarities?" The Persian in question studied the paper for a while and said. "Similarities? no? a bit?, This one" she said while pointing at the first one "is a squiggly, and this one is...''A''...!?" She froze, only her eyes were moving, back and forth between the two letters. She continued for a while before stopping, she said "I, I think I can recognize the ''A'' letter, it is somehow less squiggly than before" Honestly I was surprised, I thought she could at least recognize the Latin ''A'', but somehow managed to use the Latin ''A'' to overwrite the Unown ''A''. Most likely how I also could read the Unown script naturally but the moment I started to inspect the letters themselves they turned to hard to understand ''squiglies'' as she had said. We tested it out and took out the menu again. I asked her to point at an ''A'' letter. The first ''A'' she found was the same as the one I had shown her, I asked her to find another as this one could have just been her memory telling her that there is an ''A'' there. She complied. She intently looked through the menu for a while, Me and Samuel curiously looking at her. Samuel had also understood what I was doing and had written the rest of the letters in both scripts side by side. I wondered when had he learned the other one. After a while, A tear dropped down from Persimmon''s eyes and wet the menu in front of her, she hadn''t found any other ''A'' letter in the whole book. She still could find the one ''A'' I had shown her. Still, she was crushed, she tried so hard, yet failed miserably, I carefully put my cutter on her side away from me and gently hugged her, trying to soothe her with comforting words at the same time. It was already midday, but I didn''t mind at all. Neither did Samuel it seems. We both didn''t really have anything better to do. I just sat leaning to Persimmon and carefully pet her in silence. The pale tan colored cat had stopped her sobbing and leaned silently into my arms. "Why, can''t I do it?" her quiet voice directed to no one. I answered "It takes practice" my voice calm as I could. "If everyone succeeds on everything the first time, then the reward and satisfaction of doing something disappears", "Know this, The moment you can read, your world will be flipped upside down. Not in a bad way" I continued. "Y-you think I still can le-learn to r-read?" she said while lifting her head toward mine. "Of course" I smile at her "You have already taken the first steps" "I have?" she asked curiously "Yes, the willingness to try and try again is a requirement, no matter how many times you fall down, that is how I learned to walk, most likely you did too" I said with an awkward smile reminding me of my first days at the forest. I proceeded to explain the rest of the letters to Persimmon, how to recognize them and how to pronounce them. I gave the paper with the 28 letters to her and promised her that I would come to check out her progress some day and help her with her problems. Shame that I lived so far away. We had made another small test afterwards, where she had to locate the same ''A'' in another menu, which to my surprise she succeeded in. She was happy that something had succeeded. Even if it is in recognizing a certain letter from a certain booklet in a certain page. To me that is odd, the recognition of Pok¨¦mon brain works differently I see. She said resolutely that next time we meet she will at least find the ''A'' letter. I was about to tell Jacob about our deal but Persimmon stopped me, said that it was personal and she wanted to surprise him. ----------------------------- PoV: Samuel We left after eating lunch at the cafe, never would I have thought that Anya would start to teach the Persian how to read, but I also learned something fascinating. Anya has shown a different side of her that I hadn''t seen yet, her teaching and comforting the saddened feline who failed, was odd to see. She was very aware of her cutters and awkwardly used them to wrap Persimmon in a hug, while chirping comforting and motivational words to her. I had seen many Pok¨¦mon trying to teach others to do moves and maneuvers but intelligence training has never been one of them. Most Pok¨¦mon are smart enough to heed orders and learn quickly what to do when explained to. I haven''t really seen a Pok¨¦mon cry out in frustration, somehow it was totally heart aching. Me and Anya silently walked through the busy streets of Viridian and walked around. She showed some interest in the Gym building for some reason. We went to the local battle park where some trainers were battling, Anya was interested in a familiar looking middle aged man with a Persian who was decimating its opponents. Many young trainers tried to challenge me, but I had to decline, even using my weakest Pok¨¦mon would be an overkill. Anya too had many people interested in battling her, I just told them that she was a non-combatant and was only looking. She was intently studying the Persian and its trainer for some reason, the trainer had noticed her gaze and me standing next to her. He came over and asked us "Greetings professor, what do I owe this pleasure". "Greetings, don''t mind us, my friend here seems to find you interesting" I gestured at Anya Anya chirped something and the Persian next to him was alarmed. What did Anya say? Anya continued chirping something while gesturing with her hands and the Persian calmed down soon after and nodded to something, it came closer. She then crouched and carefully put her cutter on top of the Persian''s head and chirped something to it while petting it a bit. The feline purred and Anya nodded. She rose up and did something odd, she bowed deeply at the trainer before turning away. Both of us stunned, me and the trainer, there was certainly something off with Anya today. Maybe it was something that Persimmon had said to her earlier. We left the trainers and went somewhere else. We browsed through some shops and stalls, bought some snacks and went to a Pok¨¦mon friendly restaurant. We tried another one before this but was shooed away. I am growing mighty annoyed with the treatment of Pok¨¦mon, I hadn''t really even noticed it before as I usually had my Pok¨¦mon in their pokeballs and they were fine with their usual food stuffs I give them. The day was coming to an end and we went to bed, tomorrow we were on our way back to Pallet Town after a quick check up on Persimmon and a breakfast at the same cafe we should be on our way home. Chapter 27 The first couple of days were uneventful, nothing had happened and now they were sitting around a bonfire cooking some rations. Something stirred in a nearby bush, Samuel and Anya both ignored it. "I think this trip was a bust, We are almost at home and we couldn''t find a friend for you..." Samuel said sadly, Anya on the other hand shook her head ''It wasn''t a failure, we met Persimmon she wanted to say, but had no way of delivering it until they get back. They both ate their food in silence, it was some kind of watery mushroom stew. Samuel said he had accidentally put too much water into it. It was more like soup Anya mused to herself while eating. It didn''t really matter as she would either way have to eat it without a fork or a spoon. She held the warm cup and carefully sipped at the hot soup, her cutters making the whole thing quite annoying. They both finished their meals in silence, ready for bed when all of a sudden Anya heard "Target acquired" coming from somewhere, she looked around and couldn''t pinpoint the location she had heard. Samuel was also alarmed by Anya''s sudden reaction to something. Something was lurking nearby, Anya caught a sight of a purple blur before she was attacked all of a sudden, falling down suddenly. Samuel quickly pulled a pokeball into his hand ready to release the moment he knew what had attacked them. A moment passed and Samuel was still very tense and alert, he couldn''t see anyone moving around. He relaxed a bit and asked Anya if she was okay, only to hear a uncontrollable giggling coming near him. He went closer and noticed that their attacker was pinning Anya to the ground and furiously poking her face, Anya''s cutters being rendered unusable. Samuel stared dumbfounded at the odd situation, his eyes squinted and he could recognize the assaulting Pok¨¦mon in the dim light. The attacker was a purple feline Pok¨¦mon whose tail''s tip split in two, an Espeon he remembered, who was currently furiously licking Anya''s face, her breathing roughed as she couldn''t get enough oxygen between the laughs. Samuel grabbed a hold of the Espeon and lift it by the scruff of its neck, it dangled on his grip and flailed around a bit before surrendering in silence. Anya had managed to sit upright, she was still breathing roughly and Samuel could hear it clearly. The Espeon''s gaze was locked to Anya, even if Samuel was the real threat. Samuel finally noticed that the Espeon had a dirty white/gray cloth wrapped around one of its front paws. ''A Trained Pok¨¦mon? Maybe its trainer would be nearby?'' Samuel thought. Anya was totally out of breath by the sudden surprise attack, she wasn''t hurt anywhere, everything just happened so fast and now that she was calm, she looked at the attacker who had been pacified by Samuel. She noticed that her attacker was an Espeon, who was currenly lifted into the air by Samuel, the Espeon stared at her for some reason. "H-Hi" Anya began, the Espeon didn''t respond. It moved one of its front paws, the one with the cloth. Samuel was intently looking around, trying to find the Espeon''s trainer, Anya could feel some familiarity from the dirty white cloth, but couldn''t place her mind to it. "Where is your trainer?" Samuel asked and the Espeon started struggling on his grip. He knew that if the Pok¨¦mon wanted to it could easily escape from his grasp, so he released his hold. The Espeon now on the ground looked at Samuel and sighed, "It seems like you do not recognize me anymore..." the Espeon said sadly in obviously feminine voice. It was directed at Anya, Anya had never met any Espeons before but she had met an Eevee before, her mind wandered to all pokemon she knew of and she asked "You don''t happen to be Eevee?". Espeons eyes perked and a smile formed on its face. "You do remember!" she shouted happily and tackled Anya yet again and this time only snuggled at her side. Anya''s eyes widened and she embraced the Espeon. Samuel still looking at them puzzled. "Wh-what happened?" Anya asked "Are Vulpix and Ninetales nearby?". "No" was the answer she got "I had to leave the pack, I was only allowed to stay there until I evolved" she said her mood going down as she buried her head into Anya''s lap. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. "Sorry to burst your bubble here, but what is going on?" Samuel asked "I''ll take this for a moment" Anya said while carefully took out the white cloth off the Espeons paw. She was reluctant. "Don''t worry, you''ll get it soon back, I just need to show it to him" Espeon hesitated but allowed Anya to remove the cloth. She then looked at it. The embroidery a bit broken but it still had the basic shape in it. She showed the cloth to Samuel and pointed at the Leavanny embroidered on the cloth and then pointed at the Eevee too. Samuel being as smart as he was, noticed what Anya had meant instantly. He had personally seen the Eevee in question too, only that the reunion was with its evolved form of Espeon. He released his hold of the cloth and Anya tied it around the Espeon''s paw again, the piece being too small to fit around her neck anymore. There was a loud yawn and the gazes of both pokemon looked to find its source, Samuel who was taking out a sleeping bag out of his backpack. "What? I am tired, I''ll go to sleep. You guys do what you want. Good night" He hastily left leaving the two pokemon with themselves. "Huh, strange" Said Anya "What is?" questioned Espeon "Samuel usually isn''t that tired, especially after a surprise encounter like this" "Forget about him" Espeon dismissed him "..Sure, It has been a while since we last saw each other" "Yes, many moons!" "How have you been, I... I haven''t really done anything myself..." "What do you mean, You always do something interesting. Like look at these!" she said while poking at Anya''s dress'' hem. "or these!" she happily poked around her, starting with the dress, then continuing to the shirt and finally around her backpack. "You say you haven''t done anything but, these things make my evolution look boring!" "Right... How was it? Your evolution?" "It wasn''t easy, so many options you know!" she impatiently tapped her paws "Sorry" "No, No, No, don''t apologize, I didn''t mean it like that. I should thank you instead" "Why?" "Well, for the options I had. It is always better to choose than to be chosen for." Not exactly understanding her point Anya just nodded. "So.. Why Espeon?" "I felt it was the right one, the moon one trying so hard..." "Umbreon? What do you mean?" "Well, I could know when I was offered the evolution. I never accepted it, it kept pestering me every night." she said "Knowing that I could have Espeon during the Day changed my mind, If I was just suddenly offered to evolve, I would just take it. But knowing what I would become and that there wouldn''t be other possibilies if I took the first one offered." "I see, that doesn''t explain why you chose Espeon" "I... I wanted hands..." she said while staring at her own "I still remember the day where you made the Vulpix plushie with your cutters. I was smitten, absolutely, I wanted to create something, but having paws... didn''t make it easy." "Remember when you told me about Espeon?" she asked Anya, and she nodded "Espeon, the sun Pok¨¦mon. A strong psychic-type that is capable of moving and manipulating things with its mind." she said while mimicking Anya''s pokedex voice. "It was mostly then that I knew I wanted to be an Espeon" "That is nice... I never would have thought that my actions... would inspire a permanent decision" Anya said with a hint of guilt in her voice. "Don''t say it like it is a bad thing, If all else I think that this is the best choice I had ever made" She said happily "But... Never mind" she stopped "I''m glad" Anya smiled They chatted for a while talking about the days after they all left the burrow. How Espeon had followed after a pack of Ninetales to their new nest and how she was the only non-Vulpix allowed. How she was lonely as Vulpix had joined other Vulpix in playing and left her alone, how the other Vulpix were actively ignoring her. She told Anya how her life had turned upside down the days before her evolution. About moonlight how it reacted to her, wanting her to evolve into an Umbreon and how she denied it herself. Even of the pack of Ninetales offering to evolve her into a Flareon, which she declined. Sitting next to each other Espeon leaning at Anya she confessed about the unnaturalness of her own evolution. She had made up her mind about being an Espeon, but the hardest obstacle she had was the ''friendship'' requirement that Anya had told her before. She had to make a friend inside unfriendly pack, she tried many moons to befriend the young Vulpix but it didn''t work out. "I, really shouldn''t tell you this but, I think my ''friendship'' with you allowed me to evolve, I...I lied to myself... I imagined stories and events of us being together, dreamt of spending time happily with you." The end of the sentence blurred as the Espeon forcibly held back her tears, Anya just leaned back towards the Espeon and pulled her closer without saying anything. She continued after calming down. "The evolution happened, I got congratulated by the pack and was cast out instantly after. They said a moment later that ''the promise is now fulfilled, you must leave the pack at once'' without any signs of compassion, as if it was natural... I didn''t know! I didn''t know at all that I had to leave after evolving!" she shouted against her injustice and tears wet her eyes. "I just ran, ran as far and fast I could, I.. I found the abandoned burrow and... and..." she sobbed yet again. Anya didn''t really mind, she knew how it felt. To leave everything behind. Anya just silently pet the feline, wondering ''Why do so many Pok¨¦mon cry in my arms...'' It was already getting dark and Espeon had fallen asleep leaning on top of her lap, Anya didn''t dare to move and tried to get some rest herself too. Chapter 28 Waking up early in the morning Samuel looked at the two Pok¨¦mon sleeping peacefully, Not wanting to wake them up, he quietly sat around a tree and wrote on his journal, writing about yesterday, how they were surprised by an Espeon, who happened to be Anya''s friend. Samuel smiled, if the Espeon was willing to come with them, then the task they were hoping to achieve would be complete. This Espeon wasn''t a bad Pok¨¦mon at all Samuel thought, it was most likely extremely happy when it saw Anya and couldn''t control itself. Samuel casually sketched what he saw, how the Espeon was laid on Anya''s lap and Anya using her cutters to hug it closer to her own body. Espeon was the first one to stir, it casually stretched on top of Anya and noticed that she was held quite tightly by Anya. She managed to wiggle out of Anya''s grasp and her face met with Samuel, who still had a soft smile on his face. He said "Hey, sorry about yesterday" Espeon gave a nod in understanding and walked next to him, leaving Anya to rest in peace. "Thanks for being with Anya, she.. she has have quite rough days recently. I''m not sure if you noticed but she has been very lonely" The Espeons eyes glimmered and she stared at Samuel in surprise. "I''ll take that as a no, she tell you about this trip?" the Espeon shook her head embarrassed, she had been wailing on her own problems the whole evening and didn''t have any idea how Anya was doing herself, she felt like an idiot. "Also a no... The point of this trip was to go to Viridian City and back along the edge of the forest to look for a friendly pokemon to be a companion to her" Espeon raised its head in curiosity and tilted it a bit, she had learned the gesture from Anya. "No, not a ''MATE'' but a friend she can talk to and play with" Espeon''s ears perked and she smiled as she looked at Samuel''s eyes. "I, I was hoping you would be willing to be with her, I know she can be a handful sometimes but, she is as genuine being as one could be, even more than some humans I know of." he said and looked at Espeon, who was staring at him, their eyes met and Espeon''s eyes glowed for a moment. She then jumped on top of Samuel''s lap and laid there to rest, to show her trust and approval. "Alright then, Espeon it is good to have you" he chuckled while carefully put her hand on top of the Espeon, there was no adverse reaction and Samuel gently pet her and she let him. ------------------ Later on that morning, Anya woke up, her back and butt ached, she really didn''t like sleeping in an upright sitting position. She stretched about and looked around for Espeon, she noticed the split tails swaying calmly near Samuel and smiled. It was nice that she could trust an unknown human like that. "Morning" said Samuel upon seeing Anya struggling to get up. He chuckled at her antics, the Espeon also stirred on his lap, stretched again and jumped of. Greeting Anya "Good morning" she said with a smile "Morning" Anya countered "So, found your human already?" she joked. "No" she shook her head "I already have my human, you" and she smiled. Anya was surprised "Fair enough" she shrugged "If I am human enough for you, I''ll gladly accept this proposition" she said with a pompous flair, obviously acting in a jest. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. "Sure, sure, whatever you say" Espeon answered with a smile. They both ended up laughing, Samuel just stared at them dumbfounded, not understanding anything that had happened. "We should reach home before nightfall, We could also lift a ride with Dragonite, but I think it is not necessary" Samuel said Soon the trio was on the move, Espeon was informing Anya that she would come with them, Anya was overjoyed and smiled. Now that Samuel had told her about her being lonely did she notice the small tells she had, like just being unnecessarily happy being told that she would be with them. Espeon was reminded of the first days she had known Anya, how she was trying to look like everything was fine while with others, only for everything to crumble into nothingness when left alone.. She too was glad she could be with Anya, that has been the whole reason she was here after all. ------------------- They walked on for a while, Samuel leading the group and Anya and Espeon chatting a few steps behind him, talking about names. "I''ve been wanting to take a name, but couldn''t really figure out what I wanted to be called." "Huh, really? I figured you didn''t need names" Anya said puzzled "Yeah, about that, remember the small story you told about a lot of same Pok¨¦mon and not knowing which to talk about?" to which Anya puzzled a bit "I, think?" "Well, having over nine sets of paws of Ninetales'' and trying to find the one we were with was a pain... me being the only Eevee in the whole group made me easily recognizable, but talking to many similarly smelling Ninetales is a nightmare... only to locate the one you need. Since then I have been wondering about names" "I see, I do not really think I should give you your name, it would feel weird I think. I can help you narrow down or give you option though" "That.. Should be enough" she said hesitantly "I already have some ideas" "I was thinking of something ''Sun'' themed initially" "But?" "Came to a conclusion, that I know nothing of the sun" "Heh" Anya let out a laught "What is so funny?" "Nothing, just think its funny. I had once done research about my name too, the ones that stuck out most was Anya meaning limitless and favored by god. But I''m not entirely sure of the reason why my parents named me such" "That is so cool! It''s just like you too!" she said excited "Enough about my name, you said you had some ideas about your name" "... I lied, I really don''t have anything. I tried thought" She answered sadly "Aww, hmm, Did you know that the Sun is a star?" "No?, I did not? isn''t the sun the sun and the stars the stars?" she said puzzled "Yes, and no. The sun is the closest star that is in the center of our solar system" "Technically one could say that in every solar system the local stars could be called a sun, but I am not a space scientist so I have no real idea if it is true or not" "But naming you after stars could be an option too as they are a sun somewhere" Espeon''s face was frozen as her brain tried to understand the meaning Anya had just said. After thinking for a while she said. "No, I don''t think I want my name like that..." "I want something simple, catchy but unique all in one" "Hmm" Anya thought "What about Feysol or Faesol?" Anya voiced out "Hmmh? What''s that?" "Fae or Fey meaning a mystical or supernatural and sol meaning sun" "And it can be shortened to Fe? I like it already" "From now on you may call me Faesol" "Okay... Feef" said Anya jokingly and Faesol laughing happily at her new nickname The rest of the way went uninterrupted as Anya and Faesol chatted to each other. Even if Samuel was starting to feel a bit left out. Chapter 29 Arriving back at Pallet town just after dawn, Samuel left Anya and Faesol at the house before quickly rushing towards the market. "So, this is your new nest huh?" Faesol asked while they entered the house "Yes, come, I''ll give you the tour" Anya confirmed as they went deeper inside "This here is the living room, Samuel usually sleeps at the sofa over there" She said while pointing at the sofa, Faesol nodded. Over here is the bathroom, it has a bath, shower, washing machine, litter and toilet. You are to do your ''deeds'' in either the litter box, into the toilet or at the backyard." "By ''deeds'' you mean?" "Pooping and such..." "Oh... I see..." "It must be quite odd for you? If you use the litter box, then someone needs to clean it up every now and then. It will otherwise start to stink." Faesol walked inside the bathroom and curiously looked around, poking this and that. Anya tried to explain to her what everything inside is to best of her ability. Showing her how the toilet worked along with the sink and shower. Faesol was quite impressed by all of the complex yet useful things she couldn''t understand, she wondered how the water came flowing from the tap with such a simple action and how the temperature changed quickly depending if it was on the left or on the right. She was explained what the washing machine does and how to use it, but it didn''t stick that well to her mind. They left the bathroom and Anya showed her the kitchen, the stove, the oven, the freezer and the fridge along with how they worked and what their purpose were. Faesol had taken interest on the bulky typewriter on the kitchen table. "This is a typewriter, Samuel bought it for me so that, I can use it to communicate with him." "These things are called keys and each one represents a different letter, then I can use these keys to write something that allows Samuel to read it later" "You came up with something like this? You must be very amazing! These do not look like the squiggles the humans use, these seem more blocky" "Yes, these are from my world. When I was a human, it took us a while to have a custom built typewriter, but it is totally worth it" Anya smiled "But- but how?" Faesol was confused, Anya took out a pile of paintings from a pile on the table and showed them to her. "We used paintings before the typewriter" Showing Faesol her past paintings. "These are the human squiglies! And these are your blocky letters!" Faesol said while tapping at the canvas. Anya noticed that even Faesol had the same problem as Persimon. They couldn''t see the similarities between the scripts. "When we were at Viridian City, we met a Persian named Persimon, we tried to teach her how to read... she had trouble in recognizing the letters" Anya sighed "I could try to teach you, now that I have more time and the typewriter here." Faesol''s ears perked, she lifted her muzzle from the canvas and looked at Anya expectantly, her tail swayed in impatience. "Yespleaseteachmehowtoreadpleasepleaseplease" she shot from her mouth. Astonished, Anya had managed to understand the gist of her request and nodded. She wasn''t sure if it was going to work but she would try her best, she promised herself. "Not yet" she said and the Espeon visibly deflated "Tomorrow" Anya continued and Faesol lightened up. "We still have, the rest of the house to ''explore''" Anya smirked and led Faesol upstairs. "This is another bathroom, mostly used by me" She said while opening the door. She had forgotten that she had ''redecorated'' the whole room with her silk. "Whoops, well, I use these silks to prop myself to use the toilet more comfortably" "Huh?" was the only reaction Faesol had, when she saw the room. Anya''s explanation didn''t really help at all. "Moving on, the next room is ''my room'' or at least it is the room I sleep in" She opened her room, it was filled with piles of cloth. Faesol quickly disregarded the cloth and her eyes found a brown something on top of the bed, she curiously hopped on and took a look. It was an Eevee plush, upon closer look at the plush, Faesol saw the cuts and torn fabric of the plushie. Faesol smiled smugly, jumped off the bed and trotted away. "There is another bedroom, a storage room and a study room here. All unused at the moment" Showing each of the rooms. a sound came from downstairs. "That must be Samuel" Anya said "Let''s go down, I think we are done here" Samuel was refilling the refrigerator and noticed them coming from upstairs. He asked "Showing her the house?" to which Anya nodded. "Are you finished?" Anya shook her head and pointed at the backyard door. "You still have the backyard? Okay, I''ll start making some food, it will take a while so you can just go to the yard and play around" he said while taking out some ingredients from the now filled fridge. Anya gave him a nod and motioned Faesol to follow her, she opened the back door and said "This is the backyard, it is quite huge, here is the grill and on the other end there is a training area." They both walked to the other end and back to the entrance. "This is all so odd" Faesol said "I didn''t know that humans lived like this" "I always thought that humans lived like us, in some natural caves or such." "Wait? Was Samuel the first human you had seen?" Anya asked "No, I have seen few different humans, but I had not seen how they lived, I only had made some guesses on how they lived based on their looks" We went back inside, Samuel was still cooking something and Anya went next to him. "We are soon done. I forgot to ask but is your friend there capable of eating meat?" "Yes, I am" said Faesol and Anya nodded "Yes, phew, I thought I had made a mistake" he smiled. "Are you as odd Pok¨¦mon as Anya over here?" he asked the Espeon amused, Her expression showed puzzlement and Samuel laughed out loud. "Don''t want to say, ehh?" Faesol looked at Anya and asked "What does he mean by that?". "Most likely, its about me acting like a human. I think" "You acting like a human? but you are a Pok¨¦mon right?" "Well, I have been human for most of my life, I have some habits left from being a human... I don''t-" She was stopped by Faesol tapping her paw at Anya''s leg. "I don''t care" she said simply "You are my friend now, and and I am glad that you became a Pok¨¦mon". The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.Anya stuttered "B-But-But" and Faesol calmly continued "Without you, I would be all alone in the forest, most likely as a Flareon instead of Espeon. To me. You becoming a Pok¨¦mon was the best that has happened to me and I want you to-" They were interrupted by Samuel who told them "The food is ready now, go set the table" and Anya sprang to action. Samuel gently smiled at Faesol and asked "Do you want to eat on the table or on the floor?" Faesol gave her depiction of a shrug and went to the table. She jumped on top of it and lied down, watching as Anya carefully set the table. Anya pushed the typewriter to the side and placed three plates on top and placing a wooden trivet at the middle for the hot pan, she set a knife and a fork near one plate. Getting two glasses and a small bowl next placing the bowl near Faesol''s plate and set the glasses too. She went to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of milk, took it to the table and went to fill a jar with water. After everything was done she sat down at the nearby chair sideways and leaned her side to the backrest. "That, was quite interesting to watch" said Faesol as she had spectated Anya''s actions. Soon Samuel came to the table with a hot pan full of food and went to get a pot. He said to Faesol "See what I mean?" he smiled "A normal Pok¨¦mon, should not have any idea how to set up a table, hell they shouldn''t know what cutlery to even use" he chuckled. "You want water or milk?" Samuel asked the Espeon, "Milk" she answered, knowing well that he couldn''t understand and pointed towards the milk bottle. Samuel poured some milk into the small bowl that was set up near her. Anya carefully poured water from the jug, tried not to spill any. She still failed, not as badly as before but she still had some minor problems on regulating her strength. Samuel took the jug from her afterwards and poured some to his own glass. Samuel served the hot food to each plate, the food was minced meat steak and mashed potatoes, ''that explains the milk in the fridge'' Anya though as Samuel did not drink milk, he said it was for kids. Anya shrugged and Faesol ignored his remark. The dinner didn''t last too long as they all had hungrily devoured the food, Anya and Samuel had only eaten field rations for the past week and were glad to eat something else. Faesol also eating with vigor as she had never eaten ''cooked'' food before and found the taste delicious. During the dinner, Anya used her cutters to chop her own and Faesol''s steak to a more bite sized portions. At first Faesol was mad at Anya for touching her food, but having been explained to that the small portions were to prevent her from staining her beautiful fur, she relented and was happy for receiving a flattering compliment. And afterwards Anya used a piece of cloth to wipe Faesol''s muzzle and remove the stuck mashed potatoes and milk. Samuel quickly cleaned the table and went to take a shower, saying he was tired from all the walking and was happy to get clean and go to bed. He hinted for them to do the same. Anya and Faesol went back upstairs. Anya took off her clothes and fold them neatly, they were dirty from all of that traveling and was set aside. She took out another set from the drawer near the bed and put them on the bed. "More human things?" Faesol asked. Anya jolted, having totally forgotten about Faesol following her. She took out a pair of towels, covered herself with one unconsciously and went to the bathroom, Faesol still in tow. "Why do you cover yourself?" Faesol asked curiously "I have already seen your whole body bare before" she continued. "...A human habit...maybe?" Anya said meekly "instincts from my past?" Inside the bathroom, Anya put the towels on the toilet seat and went inside the bathtub, Faesol watching her all the while. She started the shower and wiped as much as she could reach for, before awkwardly sitting down. Still annoyed by her abdomen which propped against her back. "So, come join me?" Anya asked "N-no, I don''t like to be wet" "I''ll scrub you clean" she tried again "I can groom myself just fine, no worries" "Just try it, if it really is that bad, then I won''t ask again" Faesol hesitated, looking at Anya''s expectant gaze, she sighed "Okay, but you owe me" she walked towards the tub. "Sure" she said happily "You want me to lift you in or?" "No... need" she said while nimbly jumping over the tub''s edge and landing gracefully in the tub. Anya wondered how she didn''t slip, but same could be said about her too. Her feet should slip easily as it had low friction but an Espeon had pads on their paws to increase grip. Now that Faesol was in the tub she cautiously pulled her under the shower, at first it took her a while, but Faesol just said "stop" and forcibly walked underneath, getting her fur totally soaking wet and from her expression she didn''t like it at all. "You still look so pretty, even with wet fur" Anya was amazed. It wasn''t a lie, she did look nice. Faesol taking the praise and her mood lifted a bit. Anya used a sponge and shampoo to carefully scrub the soot and dirt from Faesol''s body, surprisingly she let her do whatever she pleased. Both now totally cleaned of all dirt and such. Anya inserted the plug and changed the settings of the shower, the room was filling with steam as the hot water poured from the tap instead of the shower head, slowly filling the pool. When it reached Faesol''s neck while standing did Anya put a stop to the accumulation of water. Faesol sat in the warm water while Anya floated on her back, not being hindered too much by her abdomen. "I don''t see any reason for this" Said Faesol "You don''t need a reason to relax" Anya countered dreamily, the water washing her fatigue away. "The water does feel nice, warming up my body quite well" she let her body relax while only having her head above the water. "I really haven''t had any warm water before to wash in, the waters from the stream was usually ice cold, even during the summer" "Un" Anya made a noise to acknowledge her words. They bathed for a while and left after Faesol said she was getting dizzy from the heat. Anya drained the tub and used the towels to dry each other. "Huh, your fur doesn''t even puff up much after dried, that is kind of cool" "It doesn''t? Oh, it doesn''t!" said Faesol in surprise not knowing it was a thing. Her fur still silky smooth and looking perfect, only a few small tuffs here and there. "I wish I had a brush" Anya chuckled "?" "Nothing" she smiled They both left the bathroom and arrived at Anya''s room, Anya sat on the edge of her bed and Faesol jumped after. "I like how light I feel now" Faesol said while bouncing up and down twice, to make a point. "That''s great! You had quite a lot of dirt on you, now that we have cleaned ourselves, where do you plan to sleep?" Anya asked puzzled. "Here? It''s spacious enough?" she said while tilting her head. "Hmm, I''m not sure, Evie here takes quite a lot of space, she might even get jealous if I sleep with another Pok¨¦mon" Anya smirked Faesol quickly catching on and slapped the Eevee plushie out of the bed. "Noo! Evie!" Anya shouted tiredly in a fake urgent tone. Soon they both laid on the bed. Anya asking Faesol a question but the latter had already fallen asleep, it can wait until morning she thought and snuggled under her blanket. Chapter 30 Waking up early in the morning before the sun had peeked from the horizon, to a headache wasn''t a pleasant experience to Anya, her beds new resident seems to have a habit of moving in her sleep. Anya watched Faesol''s movements as the Espeon slept, she wasn''t sure but the actions she made when she was unconscious weren''t normal, she thought. ''She might be having a nightmare or a dream of a battle?''. The actions were twitchy, had a hint of urgency and included no offensive actions, mostly running and rolling on the bed. Anya pondered for a while before taking her blanket and decided to smother the Espeon underneath, trying to calm her down. She somehow managed to wrap Faesol inside the blanket, calming her down a bit, or at least enough to simmer down her constant struggling. Anya being already wide awake. Stood up from the bed and put on her clothes, she opened the rooms door, left it open a bit and went downstairs. Silently stepping down the stairs, she heard someone talking in the living room. Must have meant that Samuel was already awake. "I can''t do this dad, what if she is like Anya, what if we have always been played by the Pok¨¦mon we have..." Anya heard Samuel say and was surprised that Samuels mentality was a lot different than she expected, she had always though that he, as a past champion, was the stoic figure he always showed to be. ''Anya, you idiot'' she thought. She was from earth, she knew that a lot of celebrities have ''another'' side to them. One for the fans and work and the other one for family and friends. She reached the final step and did what she thought was best for the current situation. Anya casually strolled to the fridge while Samuel was either ranting about his life and everyone''s expectations of him or telling some things he had found odd... about her, Even Faesol was mentioned once or twice. From what Anya could understand from his speech Samuel was talking to his father. Most things Samuel said was a truth about her, some more than others. Anya chose to ignore Samuel''s rant, she knew de-stressing was important, for all the intensive studying she had done when she was a human, she had a first hand experience what happens when you don''t. The fridge door opened with a silent creak and Samuel''s voice quieted. The room was quiet, Anya reaching inside the fridge to take out a bottle of juice and a berry. Only after closing the fridge and turning around did she notice that Samuel had gone quiet, he was looking at her direction, a phone held loosely in his hand and there was a voice of his father asking if something happened or was wrong. Anya stood still while holding the berry in her cutter, slowly the juice from it started to drip along Anya''s cutter. Noticing this and not wanting to mess the floor she hurried to the kitchen counter. "Ho-How long were you there?" Samuel said stuttering "A-and how much did you hear?" he soon continued. Anya made a quick shrugging gesture and wiped her cutter in the sink, the juice getting her cutter sticky and annoying. "It... it''s not like that..." Samuel said in panic "let me explain" he continued. Anya just waved at him in dismissal. She will deal with it soon she thought but first she needed the food. A shout of his name from the phone caused Samuel to stir and he put the phone near her head again and tried to ensure the other party that everything was fine. ----------------- Anya had eaten her food and sighed, she looked at Samuel who was nervously fidgeting his fingers around next to her. Anya sat up and switched to the seat that had the typewriter, she typed. ''WHAT DO YOU WANT?'' with a ding she was done. Samuel looked at the written message and opened his mouth before closing it without a word. Anya shook her head and typed more. ''DESTRESSING IS IMPORTANT'' ''I UNDERSTAND, THAT I AM ODD, BIZARRE, STRANGE, ABNORMAL, TOO HUMAN'' ''WHICH BOTHERS YOU, SAY THE WORDS AND WE LEAVE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE'' ''KNOW THIS, I HAVE NO ILL WILL TOWARDS YOU OR WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT US'' The lines stopped and Samuel took a look at the four lines of letters. His thoughts were interrupted by a soft thump hitting the floor, a blanket had appeared at the bottom of the stairs was wiggling and a muffled sound was heard inside it. ------------------ Faesol woke up, her body wasn''t sore like usual but she could not move her feet, tail and head at all. She had her eyes open and all she saw was darkness, ''still night'' she thought and tried to go to sleep again. Ever since her evolution she has been extremely aware of the position of the sun and naturally waking up at dawn was part of her nature. She tried to nap but something in her body didn''t allow it, annoyed by her current predicament she started struggling around. A twitch was all she needed to know she could move, maybe Anya could help her she thought, the Anya in her mind had a solution to everything. She struggled around wiggled her body around, causing something to move. After a while a feeling of falling came to her gut and soon it was over with a soft impact, she still couldn''t move correctly. She had fallen from the bed, she thought and continued her work. Soon enough she felt a series of thumps, thinking she had reached her destination she called for help. "Anya!" ------------------- ''An Espeon burrito'' was what could be thought of the thing in front of Anya, as the thing that fell from the stairs was Faesol who had somehow gotten stuck inside of her blanket. Anya helped her by opening the ball, she wasn''t sure how it even got like that, it seemed like an impossibility to her. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Heyyy! I can see!" shouted Faesol as she was extracted from the pile by Anya. "Of course you can?" questioned Anya "brr.. its kinda chilly in here" she said while ignoring Anya "Right" Anya said and left. Anya went to the fridge again and opened it. She wasn''t sure what she could give to the Espeon in question and looked at the dumbfounded Samuel and gesturing to him. He understood her meaning as everyone else had eaten already. -------------------- Anya put the sheet from her blanket inside the washing machine, it became dirty as it was dragged along the not so clean floor that was not cleaned for two weeks as they came back just yesterday, she also changed all of her other bed sheets. She took out new sheets from the closet and put them on. She went back downstairs when she was done. They were still in the middle of an important conversation. "This, This is... just sad..." said Samuel after managing to respond to Anya''s latest typing and preparing food for Faesol. Anya shook her head, moving back to the typewriter. "I am not going to kick you out" he said resolutely "And thanks for trying to cheer me up at least, I think I needed it" his lips curved upwards. ''Not so bad of a conversation at all'' Anya thought, a moment too soon though. "So let me get this straight? Your intelligence is not normal and you know it yourself? Like that Espeon over there isn''t like you?" he said while motioning with his head towards Faesol. ''YES, I AM SMARTER THAN MOST POKEMON, HOWEVER'' ''I DO NOT KNOW HOW SMART ALL POKEMON ARE, ONLY THOSE THAT I HAVE MET'' ''WHICH ISN''T A LOT, TO BE HONEST'' ''FAESOL OVER THERE IS A NORMAL ESPEON, INFLUENCED BY MY KNOWLEDGE'' ''I HAD GIVEN HER THE OPTIONS TO CHOOSE AN EVOLUTION FROM'' ''HER ORIGINAL EVOLUTION WOULD HAVE BEEN A FLAREON'' Anya kept typing and Samuel behind her reading every written line with care. He was obviously thinking something important. Faesol had moved on the table, curious about the thing Anya called the typewriter. She intently looked at the text on the paper, trying to make something out of these blocky ''letters''. In the end she could not read anything and will have to wait for Anya to teach her about them and how to use the typewriter. The continuous clacking sounds that came from the typewriter were satisfying like scratching an itch on a hard to reach place she thought satisfied. -------------------------- Anya had written quite a lot and her arms were getting tired, the conversation was also not going forward at a snails pace or if at all. Even Faesol had grown bored and started to explore the house alone. ''YOU CAN STOP MOPING AROUND THIS AND DO SOMETHING'' ''I PREFER NOT TO WASTE MY WHOLE DAY ON ENDLESS BICKERING'' ''I WILL EVEN GIVE YOU A FREEBIE, HOW DOES THAT SOUND?'' "I... Wait why?" ''TO CONVINCE YOU THAT OUR DEAL IS STILL VALID. ASK YOUR QUESTION'' Samuel hesitated, he didn''t have any questions ready and his mind was running blank. His plans for the questions were to first find out her prices and topics to make a list out of different things he wanted to know, sadly he had not yet started on the list as he had been quite busy. After pondering for a while Samuel asked his question. A question not many other trainers knew the answer of. "My question is, What legendary Pok¨¦mon do you know of?" ''AN INTERESTING QUESTION, BEING A BIT TOO WIDE OF A TOPIC'' Samuel read this and his face fell, before he could ask another question, Anya had continued to type. ''HOWEVER, I CAN LIMIT THE KNOWLEDGE TO THE LOCAL REGIONS OF KANTO'' ''AND JOHTO, IF THAT IS OKAY FOR YOU?'' "Y-yes" he stammered. Getting some information of their whole regions legendary Pok¨¦mon was great. ''ALL RIGHT'' Anya nodded and began to type, even though her arms were a bit sore already she endured. ''FIRST ONE IS MEW, THE ORIGIN OF ALL POKEMON'' ''THEN COMES ARTICUNO, ZAPDOS AND MOLTRES, THE ELEMENTAL BIRD TRIO'' ''THE LEGENDARY BEASTS FROM JOHTO, ENTEI, RAIKOU AND SUICUNE'' ''THE GUARDIAN BIRDS, HO-OH AND LUGIA'' ''THEN CELEBI THE TIME JUMPER'' ''AND''... there was a long unnecessary pause. Anya was thinking should she tell them about Mewtwo who isn''t even born yet, the M2 project hasn''t even started yet and Giovanni was part of the group that made it. She decided it was not worth it. ''AND WE ARE DONE'' the line continued a bit later. Looking at the paper in front of him, he knew them to be right. ''How does she know about Celebi?'' Samuel thought, the others he could understand but, knowing about Celebi and its connection to time was a great surprise to him. He remembered how he had met Celebi all those years ago and how he went to the future and met a young boy named Ash along with his Pikachu who helped him get back to his own time. Stuck in his thoughts Anya calmly waited for him to ask him any follow up questions. Samuel gaze was looking at the distance obviously reminiscing his past. Anya wondered about the reason and she remembered that ''Sam'' from the Celebi movie was Samuel Oak. That could explain why the list of legendaries had such an reaction to him. Anya typed again. the soft clacking echoing the room. ''HEY, CAN YOU GET ME A LETTER'' the paper read, she knew she was going to regret it but on the off chance something does happen, she wants to be ready. She poked at Samuel which caused him to wake up in alarm. Samuel scratched his neck sheepishly and said "Sure, I''ll go get you one..." he went to one of the boxes near the entrance to backyard and started to rummage through it. It didn''t take long before he found a bit dusty but found a pack of letters. He hadn''t needed these after phones were released to the public and his Dragonite could take him to anywhere he wanted in less than a day. He gave the letters to Anya who had typed something while he was looking. ''PLEASE WRITE THE NEXT LINE ON THE LETTER'' ''ONLY OPEN AFTER YOU TURN FIFTY YEARS OLD -ANYA'' Samuel did what was told and wrote her message on the letter, he wasn''t sure who it was meant to. Did she even know anyone who would be fifty years old soon? Even in the whole of Pallet town there isn''t that many old people as most of them perish well before turning fifty, he himself has ten years to go. An errant thought crossed Samuel''s mind, ''what if Anya is a Pok¨¦mon from the future brought to this time by Celebi? Also, the only person who can read her language is himself at the moment'' which supported his theory of her being a time traveler. "Are you a time traveler?" Samuel said out of nowhere. Anya looked at him in surprise, not expecting such a question right of the bat after telling him about different legendary Pok¨¦mon. A smirk rose on her lips and she typed. ''NO, BUT DON''T WORRY, I CAN KEEP YOUR SECRETS :P'' noticing that Faesol was waiting in front of backyard''s door obviously thinking something, she quickly escaped to the backyard while giggling. Opening the door and following after the eager Faesol. Yet again Samuel stared at the paper in front of his face. Utterly stumped, ''how could she know!? and what is that last line? Who or what is P?'' Samuel would have to wait for another day for the answer. He left the letter on the table and went to take a shower, he needed to cool his head. Too much thinking... Chapter 31 PoV: Samuel The legendaries on this list are correct, but I feel like there was something that Anya purposefully left out. Her hinting about my past is also quite peculiar, she claims to not have time traveled either. She definitely is hiding something, The Espeon on the other hand... Faesol was her name? She seems more genuine and acts more like a typical Pok¨¦mon. Even though I have not been with her that much, I can say that she is a good Pok¨¦mon, maybe a bit smaller than normal. I look outside from the window to the backyard, I see Anya cheerily chatting with Faesol about something and the Espeon in question jumps up and down excited. Continuing to look outside, I thought that I should get some money on hand to ask her some questions. She said that she would be selling information right? I opened the backyard door, went next to Anya, her smile stiffened and I said "I''ll be going outside, do what you want in the meantime" and walked back inside, picking up my bag and leaving the house. She waved me goodbye. ------------------------- Outside I strolled around the town, trying to take my mind of off Anya. I visited a cafe and sat down, ordered a sandwich and a coffee from the waitress. Waiting for my food to arrive my thoughts were interrupted by a hooded figure who approached me. "Greetings Samuel, may I join you?" the man said. "Do I know you?" I asked him "No, you do not know me" he shook his head and sat down opposite side of the table. "Then how can I help you?" I asked him, I was obviously intrigued "We... Have a mutual friend" he said "friends, yes friends, two of them I think." He corrected while looking a bit confused. "Maybe if you gave me names? Those usually help" I said "One of them you have met years ago in the forest" "The Ce-" I said in surprise but was cut off "Stop" He said while looking around. "Whose the other ''friend'' then?" I asked "You will figure it out soon enough" He said while standing up "What was it you want me to do?" "There" the man said while pointing outside the window, I followed his finger and saw nothing. "I don''t see anything?" I asked while turning my head back to him. He was gone, disappeared without a trace. I asked the waitress about the mysterious man, but she said that there wasn''t anyone with those descriptions inside the cafe. That was odd. --------------------------------- Pov: ??? Dealing with humans is difficult, what was I thinking trying to contact him... I think I said too much too... How stupid of me, another failure yet again. ---------------------------------------- Pov: Standard Anya waved her goodbye to Samuel who left, she turned towards Faesol. "Alright Feef, what do you want to do?" she asked "Umm, I have many things I want to do!" was her reply "Like? Give me something to work with" Anya insisted "I want to learn how to use my psychic abilities! or learn to read! or or..." "Okay, I can work with that. I am not sure how much I can help with the psychic thing as I have no deeper understanding what it does though or Pok¨¦mon moves in general" Anya said and Faesol deflated "However, I can still give you my opinions and help and as long as normal physics are working correctly I can help you with understanding them." "I did not understand half of the things you just said, But I am happy that you will try to help at least" "Which one do you want to start with?" "Reading, I think reading is cool!" "Alright" Anya said while chuckling at the Espeon''s over enthusiasm She went to get a book from the junk pile sitting near the backyard entrance, the book she managed to excavate from the boxes was a simple travel booklet meant for young trainers. It was old and dusty as Anya wiped the covers, it would have to do for a teaching materials. Next she went to the typewriter and typed each of the letters on the keyboard in an alphabetical order from A to Z, with some space between each letter. She took the paper and sat on the sofa, she gestured Faesol to join her. "This here is the Latin alphabet that I use from where I am from" she showed her the paper with all the typed letters. Faesol''s face hardened as she remembered that Anya was from another world entirely, which soon became a comfortable smile and she leaned casually at Anya''s side, comforting Anya with her own presence. "And this here uses the local Unown Alphabet" She quickly showed her the pages from the booklet. None the wiser to Faesol''s sneaky attempt at contact. Faesol looked through the pages and studied intently at the paper Anya had shown her. "These look completely different?" she asked a question "No, not really. They are actually quite similar in their basic looks. But what happened with Persimon the Persian we met in Viridian, She was unable to recognize the Unown letters but could recognize the Latin ones without a problem." "Do you think all of these letters look different from each other?" "They are all squiglies? None of them seem like the other?" "Even these four?" She pointed at the word ''LOOK'' in the first page. "Yes? Why?" "Because these two letters are identical as the word ''look'' is spelled as L, O, O and K. Which means the letters in the middle of the word should be same. If they still look the same, then there is something else going on." Faesol intensively studied the word Anya had pointed out, the two letters in the middle. The letters didn''t look the same at all, she could at the very least notice some similarities with the two letters. "They share some similarities, but otherwise they look different..." "I see..." Anya said while in deep thought. She was thinking about the nature of Unown and their lore in Pok¨¦mon. She remembered that the Unowns were mystical beings that could cause miracles to happen, like from the movie a girls father was brought back as an Entei or something along the line, she couldn''t remember the whole thing it had been years when she had seen the movie. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "I think I got it, I think the nature of the Unown pokemon has some effects on the words written in Unown script." She shared her conclusion. Faesol nodded, even though she had no idea what any of that meant. "It would explain why you could recognize the Latin alphabet and not the Unown alphabet" "I see? So I cannot learn how to read?" Anya pondered how to answer Faesol''s question, she didn''t want to disappoint her. "No, I think you are capable of learning to read the Unown script. It just might take a lot longer than I initially estimated. There are also additional methods to learn but those will have to wait until you get a lot better at being psychic" "How so?" "Well, I told you before. Persimon had managed to kind of learn a single letter in a day" "Kind of?" "Yeah, she managed to recognize the letter A, like this one here, on a specific spot on the cafe''s menu. She was distraught at the revelation, I promised to visit her soon to check up on her progress. Next time I would have real teaching material with me, like this paper here" "You really like this kind of stuff don''t you?" Said Faesol, Anya blinked few times. "Huh, you seem to be right, it seems like I enjoy teaching others?" "Anyways, let''s continue" ---------------------- Late into the evening, Samuel came back, he entered the living room and saw Anya lying on the floor, using a pillow to prop her upper body a bit higher. Next to her was Faesol who was sitting and pawing the booklet that Samuel had recognized to be his trainer''s guide. He chuckled, "Seems like you guys are working hard" Anya''s attention was taken by Faesol asking her a question and she only glanced at Samuel. Around them both were few sheets of paper in which Anya had typed some sentences from the trainer''s guide. Samuel went to the kitchen and started preparing food. "I think, it is a good time to stop for today" "But, but, I haven''t learned anything yet" "I know, but you did great to try to memorize the alphabets already and we haven''t eaten anything since morning" Anya then rose up, dusted her dress and went to the typewriter, she typed a sentence on the paper and delivered it to Samuel. ''WE HAVE DISCOVERED THAT THE UNOWN SCRIPT MESSES WITH THE POKEMON MIND'' ''FAESOL COULD EASILY READ THE OTHER ALPHABET AND HAD NO TROUBLE IN'' ''RECOGNISING THE LETTERS FROM EACH OTHER'' ''ON THE OTHER HAND, THE UNOWN SCRIPT SEEMS LIKE SQUIGLY LETTERS TO HER'' ''RIGHT NOW I AM TRYING TO MAKE HER IDENTIFY THE LETTERS FROM THE BOOK'' ''THE PROGRESS SEEMS SLOW BUT, SHE IS A BIT FASTER THAN PERSIMON FROM'' ''THE CAFE. TRANSLATING THE UNOWN TO MY ALPHABET SEEMS TO HELP HER'' ''IN UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SPOKEN AN WRITTEN LANGUAGE'' Samuel looked at the offered paper and read through it a few times just to see if he did in fact read it correctly. He did, his surprise to the Unown script itself being detrimental to a Pok¨¦mon''s ability to read was paramount. It is not like the script was originally created by humans as a language that no Pok¨¦mon could read, at least without spending a long time learning it. Or was it? thought Samuel. There still was one question that Samuel did not get an answer from that paper. How did Anya learn to read the Unown script? If it was so hard to learn as a Pok¨¦mon? He remembered the odd dude who came to talk to him at the cafe earlier today. Is he connected to all of this? Is Faesol or Anya the other friend we have in common? So many questions and nowhere to get the answers from, ''maybe Anya could help?'' Samuel thought ''She has proven that she knows a lot about legendary Pok¨¦mon'' Eating together at the same table, where an Espeon was sitting on the table, eating from her plate, a Leavanny was sitting sideways on a chair using her cutters to pierce and cut the food she ate elegantly and a human, who was casually using a knife and a fork like it was everyday occurrence. If someone would see this situation they would cry in outrage, as during this time the Pok¨¦mon were not considered as a ''clean'' pet who were allowed to eat at the table along with humans. They ate from the bowls on the floor in normal households. All of them were tired, Faesol being the most mentally exhausted, Anya''s arms were sore from all the typing she had done and Samuel just not getting enough sleep last night. Faesol was the first one to leave, Anya told her to at least was her face before if she were to go to her bed, she had just changed the sheets. Faesol nodded tiredly. That left Anya and Samuel sitting next to each other. The air was awkward as neither or them spoke a word. Well the other couldn''t but that is beyond the point. Samuel opened his mouth in the end. "Hey. I am sorry Anya, for everything I said this morning" Anya looked at Samuel, her red eyes unblinking and staring straight into Samuel''s brown ones. Samuel couldn''t look away, he didn''t want to, he was supposed to be the ''trainer'' a freaking champion. How could a person who mistreats his Pok¨¦mon be a champion the face of all trainers, the mascot of the whole Pok¨¦mon league, scratch that, the mascot of the whole Pok¨¦mon world. He stared back at Anya''s eyes his mind wandering inside the red jewels of Anya. Anya let out a sigh, she released the eye contact and Samuel was surprised to be let out. "Lea-va-nny" Anya chirped, Samuel not knowing what it meant, the intention lost to him. She stood up and took a few steps closer to Samuel. She was now right in front of him, her eyes almost closed, she carefully put each of her cutters to Samuel''s shoulders. Samuel had frozen, the sharp cutters were too close to his neck and face, his mind jumping to different conclusions and outcomes. ''How to deal with this situation?'' They stood there for a while, Anya opened her mouth again "Lea-va-nny, vA NY vA, lea lea" and she pulled him closer while gently sliding her cutters along his back. Samuel''s mind raced, what kind of situation is this? What is she trying to do? Maybe? His thoughts were stopped as Anya had wrapped Samuel into a gentle caress laying his head on her chest and placing her own head on top of Samuel''s. Anya had no idea what she was doing as she was just following her instincts. Good thing there was no one to see her. She continued gently rubbing Samuel''s back while offering him, her closeness. Anya had tried to make sense of her current actions but she could only say that they were part of Leavanny''s natural behavior, the core instinct. Samuel didn''t fare any better, his mind had calmed as he laid in Anya''s embrace. It really has been too long when he had any real closeness, the one night stands every now and then didn''t really count as they were more akin to releasing pent up lust. This however was the gentle closeness of another person. Her cold skin and silk sheets covering him wasn''t the most pleasant feeling he had felt but the pure closeness he felt from her was enough to ignore anything else. The hug ended after Anya had calmed herself enough and Samuel was left wanting for more, Anya held Samuel by her shoulders and smiled gently at him. Showing that she has forgiven him and he should not berate himself anymore. She chirped "Vanny" apologetically, a hint of embarrassment showing on her eyes. Anya detached and went quickly upstairs, leaving Samuel alone in the first floor still confused about what had just happened. ----------------- Upstairs Faesol had just left the bathroom, having washed her face in the sink and doing her best to dry it on the towel that was hanging on a hook. She met Anya on the walkway. "Hey, I washed my face!" She announced happily. "That is... great?" Anya said distracted, before disappearing into the bathroom herself. "Odd? What happened after I left?" Faesol said stumped and went to bed. Anya following her in a few minutes and Samuel was doing his nightly rituals of brushing teeth and showering before going to bed. Chapter 32 Morning soon came and Anya didn''t sleep too well, her mind occupied by yesterday''s actions. The sun has already risen and Faesol was gone from the bed, she took her clothes with her and went to take a shower to clear her head. Finally refreshed and awake, she headed downstairs. The breakfast has already been eaten, as was evident from the dirty plates, pans and cooking utensils. Anya noticed that neither Faesol or Samuel was to be found inside the house. She mentally shrugged and made her own breakfast. After eating, having nothing to do, she started cleaning the place. Washing the dirty dishes, wiping the floor and continuing to the second floor. Coming back downstairs, the house was clean and Anya was satisfied. She sat down at the sofa and started working on her projects. The sun was at its peak when the door opened. Faesol and Samuel had returned, Faesol happily bouncing around behaving more like a dog than the cat she was. Anya wondered ''where had the shy Eevee gone to'' as ever since she had evolved her personality was a lot more different, Anya didn''t think it was natural and might have something to do with the evolution itself. Faesol had noticed Anya at the sofa and joined her tracking dirt all around. "So what have you been up to?" Anya asked her and she responded to her with a beaming smile. "We went to the ''training yard'' I think it was called, There was this path with obstacles and I had to run through it as fast as possible. I stumbled quite a lot but still managed well according to Samuel." "That''s interesting" She said while glancing at Samuel. "Were there many other Pok¨¦mon?" "Not really, Samuel said that most trainers prefer to teach their Pok¨¦mon by battling over to other methods like the one I did" "Really? I had thought that battling would be the show of progress in training not the training itself..." Anya said baffled. "Really? That''s all? Did you battle?" Faesol shook her head "No, Samuel said I was too young and small" "I, don''t know anything about that, but you wanted to battle?" Looking the Espeon next to her, trying to measure her size. "Yes!, fighting makes you feel good, even better when you win!" "Interesting, I think I know that feeling too?" "Why wouldn''t you? Oh right, the human thing right?" to which Anya just gave a nod "Now that we are talking about fighting, how do you use moves?" "Moves?" "Yeah, the use of some kind of energy to create an attack" "Hmm, I think, naturally? Is that a word?" "So it is an instinct?" "Yes?" Faesol just bobbed her head. "Maybe that is how the trained Pok¨¦mon differ from wild ones?" "While wild Pok¨¦mon mostly use instincts to fight and trained Pok¨¦mon use intent? to direct their attacks. This is quite confusing..." "Yet, how do I fight then?" Her mind flashed through the few encounters she had really. "I... don''t know..." Faesol said sadly "I remember the time when we haven''t yet met, You were releasing power I think the Ninetales called it ''Aura'' and said you would be extremely territorial and aggressive as if you were constantly ready for a battle." "You had used your Aura to sharpen your cutters, I think? As they aren''t really that sharp normally" as if to make her point she placed her paw on the sharp edge of Anya''s cutter and casually ''sliced'' past it. Anya was surprised and took the cutters away quickly she checked Faesol''s paw and saw that there weren''t any signs of the cut. She sighed in relief. "Don''t scare me like that, what if you had gotten hurt" she said sternly "That was not my point" "Maybe it is your non-violent nature that causes you to not use any moves" she continued "I, see. Maybe Samuel knows something?" Anya stood up and walked to the typewriter and started typing something. ------------------- Samuel had spent the morning with the eager Espeon and took her to the agility training course that was located at the training yard. True to Anya''s words the Espeon didn''t show that kind of intelligence and understanding that she had and he was glad that he had to explain what they were about to do to her and how each and every thing in the yard was meant to train the Pok¨¦mon. He had noticed that Faesol had glanced at the nearby battles every now and then, He knew she wanted to fight. But she wasn''t fit enough for that, he was surprised how bad she was doing on the course. After a few laps she had some progress on her movements. Samuel decided to ask Anya about Faesol and her upbringing, why would an evolved wild Pok¨¦mon be so weak was beyond him. A few young trainers came to greet Samuel as they had recognized him and asked some questions about how to train their Pok¨¦mon and about Faesol, most of them haven''t seen an Espeon before, they also asked if she was going to be in his team. Some of the youngsters asked about the strange Pok¨¦mon that was seen along with Samuel during his latest Elite Four battle. Some of them even tried to challenge Faesol to battle, He had to deny them. He answered the questions calmly, while his eyes were locked on Faesol, who was still running laps on the agility course. Each lap a bit faster than the previous. The sun has reached the zenith and Samuel had called for Faesol, who came eagerly to him. He told her that she had done great and she should have noticed the progress herself. To which she agreed with a pleasant purr. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. They were heading home, Samuel dreaded about how to meet Anya, her actions yesterday evening caught him by surprise, the act was too sensual and somehow caused him a great embarrassment even though she was a Pok¨¦mon, her acting like a human made it worse. They visited the local store along the way back, Samuel opened the front door and Faesol eagerly entered and disappeared to the living room. He peeked around the corner and saw Anya doing her tailoring stuff while Faesol cheerily rubbed her head to Anya''s side on the sofa, both making their usual noises when they talked. Samuel stored the groceries and went to the backyard, he noticed that Anya had cleaned the house while they were gone. The backyard was quite barren, the grass was starting to grow back now that the snow was gone and Samuel started to prepare the grill, noticing that the grill was moved from its original position and a pot of water was left on top of it. "Seems like Anya has been doing something?" he said puzzled. He still cleaned the grill, rubbed the burns from the grate and checked the gas levels, noticing that they were running low, he made a mental check to remember to get a refill. The grill clean and ready for action he went back inside to get some vegetables and sausages to grill, now that it was clean it was only natural to use it. He heard that Anya was typing something on the typewriter as the clacking sound was heard the moment he came back inside. Curiously he went to see what she was up to, he read the paper and noticed that it was meant for him. ''I AM SORRY SAMUEL, YESTERDAY I ACCIDENTALLY CAUSED MY INSTINCTS TO RUN'' ''WILD, WHICH CAUSED THE UNCOMFORTABLE INCIDENT'' ''So it was a Pok¨¦mon instinct?'' He thought while reading ''Maybe part of her species then?'' he mused, learning more about her every now and then was nice. Even her typing speed was faster than most of the humans he knew of. ''I HAVE COME TO REALISE A PROBLEM THAT BOTHERS ME AND FAESOL, IT HAS TO'' ''DO SOMETHING WITH HOW MOVES WORK.'' ''MY HYPOTHESIS IS THAT WILD POKEMON USE INSTINCT TO BATTLE, WHILE A'' ''TRAINED POKEMON USES INTENT. I, MYSELF DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DO EITHER'' ''I CAN NOT USE INSTINCT NOR I CAN NOT USE INTENT TO CREATE AN EFFECT'' ''DUE TO MY NATURE AS AN INTELLIGENT AND SAPIENT POKEMON, I NEED A WAY'' ''TO HARNESS AND CONTROL MY OWN ENERGIES. OR AT LEAST LEARN TO RECOGNISE'' ''THEM, I HAVE USED THEM ONCE ON AN INSTINCTUAL LEVEL BUT I HAVE NOT HAD'' ''ANY PROGRESS IN RECREATING IT'' All of this was quite interesting to read. It seems like the all knowing Pok¨¦mon didn''t know everything he chuckled. The last line that Anya typed made him frown. ''I CAN PAY, INFORMATION FOR INFORMATION'' He was quite annoyed that there seems to be a wall of professionalism around her, she seemed to see Samuel as a customer instead of a friend or a companion. Anya was done with her writing and was expectantly looking at Samuel, She had replaced the old paper with a new one, ready to type. "Anya..." He said, Anya perked up. This was it she thought "I, don''t like where this is going" puzzled Anya tilted her head. "I know you want to sell information to buy stuff, but what if we just made a contract? I''ll provide you with everything you want and you answer my questions how you see fit. It removes the feeling of business from these ''transactions'' I would like for you to see me as a friend, not a customer at least." Shocked, she pondered for a moment. The deal didn''t sound so bad, it gave her a freedom of answering with the benefit of getting what she wanted. There was a single thing she typed to confirm. ''THIS SOUNDS OKAY, HOWEVER THERE IS A SINGLE CONDITION'' ''YOU MUST NOT EVER REVEAL ANY INFORMATION I TELL, TO ANYONE WITHOUT MY'' ''APPROVAL. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER AND YOU TELLING THE WORLD SECRETS'' ''IS NOT GOOD BUSINESS'' ''I WILL HOWEVER ALLOW YOU TO GIVE HINTS TO TRAINERS FOR EXAMPLE'' ''GIVING THEM TASKS TO FIND OUT ABOUT THE EVOLUTIONARY CONDITIONS OF'' ''A POKEMON AND RECORD ALL OF THEIR FINDINGS ON A PAPER.'' ''WHEN DELIVERED, YOU CAN GIVE RELEVANT INFORMATION BACK TO THEM'' ''AS A REWARD'' ''That was a great idea'' Samuel thought, to reward trainers for gathering information with relevant and useful information to the trainer itself. It would also fuel the search for new information in turn. As long as the information reward was substantial enough, there would always be willing trainers. "I, think that is a great idea. You would be a great Pok¨¦mon researcher if you were a human" Anya scoffed, she already was and being a human had nothing to do with being a researcher. "Okay, it is a deal then." Anya nodded in approval "So you wanted to know about Pok¨¦mon energy?" she nodded again. "Pok¨¦mon energy is a well debated topic amongst the trainers, as you know that Pok¨¦mon have been separated by types already." He looked at Anya, who responded with a nod. "Some of us believe that the Pok¨¦mon''s typing is actually made of the Pok¨¦mon''s defensive energies, take a Vulpix for example having a fire-type defensive energy in combat making her categorized as a fire-type" Anya was listening intently "We do not yet have any means to detect the Pok¨¦mon''s typings without testing it with moves and remembering our results. But most Pok¨¦mon have a tell to figure out their typings, take you for an example." he said pointedly "You have a bug like body, external abdomen, check, antennae, check, spinneret, check all of these are typical bug-type traits that most other types have. Then you have these green leaf like extensions here, which refers to the grass-type''s traits. Most grass-types have leaves or other greenery on them to represent the nature." "So, you are most likely a Bug/Grass dual-type Pok¨¦mon. Seeing how the bug parts are majority of your frame, means that your bug-type is the dominant one, called the main typing, then the grass being the secondary typing." "Somehow even if a Pok¨¦mon clearly shows three different typings they only have two active during a combat and those two types have always been the same no matter how many of their species we study." "Take the Beedrill line for example, they are obviously a bug-type, their secondary type is poison but they could also be a flying-type like Butterfree, but aren''t. Somehow the poison-type is the more dominant secondary typing" Anya nodded in understanding and typed on the typewriter ''WEEDLE AND KAKUNA ARE BUG AND POISON TYPES WHERE AS FLYING WAS ONLY'' ''INTRODUCED BY THE FINAL FORM OF BEEDRILL'' "Yes, something like that" Samuel said after reading. "Now about tapping into that energy the Pok¨¦mon use for combat. From what we know of, the Pok¨¦mon using energy doesn''t take it from the defensive energy they have but use the nearby natural energy outside them and mold it to an attack of their desires." "We as trainers help the Pok¨¦mon by giving them orders to decide what to mold the energy into" "The battling Pok¨¦mon do have to be careful what moves to use when fighting, as exhausting themselves too much can prove to be a fatal mistake." "The recent studies show that the defensive energy is totally separated from the attacking energy and Pok¨¦mon''s stamina shows the state of the used energy. More tired Pok¨¦mon''s attacks are weaker and their defensive energy is easier to break through than a fresh out of ball Pok¨¦mon." "As for your problem of using moves and manipulating the attacking energy... I have no idea. I don''t think any human would know how. Maybe we should get another trained Pok¨¦mon to help you with that? That will have to wait for a while too." Anya nodded and chirped a thank you for Samuel, which he somehow understood the meaning well enough. "Well, onto a more dire news, I will have to leave for a week or two" Anya tilted her head and chirped a question. "I need to prepare for a meeting with the IRI." "I will be leaving early tomorrow and I''ll leave you some money to buy groceries. I had already filled the freezer quite a lot in preparations for your and Faesol''s dietary needs." "Before we leave, I would like to try to capture you again, just to see if the breaking of the poke ball wasn''t some odd malfunction." Anya dreaded but nodded resolutely. Samuel took out a poke ball on his belt and softly tapped it to Anya''s forehead. Nothing happened, he then took out another poke ball this one had a blue top and two red stripes going around and a white bottom. "A friend of mine made this one, he called it a great ball" He tapped Anya again with the great ball this time. Nothing happened. "Okay, seems like you are uncapturable Pok¨¦mon for now... which is weird" "Anyways, now that this part is done, here" He said while giving her a poke ball from his belt. "This is Faesol''s" he said, the poke ball was attached to a band of her silk which could be easily wrapped firmly around Anya''s arm. "Now that this is done, I''ll need to start making lunch, I am starving already" he laughed out loud. The rest of the day quickly passed as Anya listened Samuel''s training plans and elite four fight. Even Faesol was eagerly listening to his talk about the preparations. Chapter 33 Samuel had just left and Anya was with Faesol at the backyard. Anya was trying to learn how to use moves or attacks, with Faesol giving limited guidance to her as she herself didn''t really know either how to do it. "This is difficult..." Anya stated "I feel that your aura is incorrect?" Faesol answered puzzled "Again this aura thing? Samuel said that the aura is only used as a defensive barrier" "No" she shook her head "Aura is everything" said the Espeon while trying to lift a fist sized stone with her physic powers, only managing to make it vibrate. "So you can feel aura?" "Yes? I told you about what happened in the forest, your aura should be so much stronger" The stone left the ground for a moment, before becoming motionless yet again. Faesol''s breath was getting more and more rugged as she continued her practice. "Like... how?" "Maybe intent? like you said before or emotions?" "Using want instead of will?" The two continued to banter for the whole morning, Anya made no progress but was determined to continue and Faesol was exhausted from her own training and napped on the sofa afterwards. --------------------------- PoV: Samuel Finally arriving at my training place at the victory road with the help of Dragonite. I released my whole team. I was greeted with Nidoking, my first ever Pok¨¦mon and my trusty partner. Next out was Tauros, he looked around and saw their familiar place, he huffed at me and took off, laying in a shade under a nearby tree. Exeggutor, Arcanine, Alakazam and Gyarados followed soon after. "Hey guys, You know how it is right now. We are no longer at the top." "That still doesn''t mean we can skip training, I have scheduled a friendly match with a promising elite contender who goes with the name Aloe" "The battle is going to be 5 on 5, no switches" "From my knowledge her team consists of six Grass-type Pok¨¦mon, those are a Venusaur, an Exeggutor, a Victreebel, a Tangrowth, a Meganium and her last Pok¨¦mon has been registered but she hasn''t been using it so I have no idea what it is." "Her strategy centers around continuously keeping sunny day up, which boosts her Pok¨¦mon quite heavily, so it is going to be a tough battle" "We will be going to battle with a decent advantage as our team does not have too much type-weakness towards grass or poison." I looked at the Exeggutor and said while glancing at the others. "Exeggutor, I believe you will most likely have to sit this one out. Your vulnerability to poison might jeopardize this battle, but you still might be called to the field to replace either Tauros or Nidoking." I said loud enought that all of the pokemon in question should have heard him. "Now, Who is up to some training and mock battles!" I cheered afterwards. ----------------------------------------------- PoV: Anya My mind still wandering to what Faesol said, her talking about my strong aura is very concerning. Why can''t I feel aura? Even a young Pok¨¦mon like Faesol could? Even if technically I am less than a year old myself... *Knock Knock Knock* Someone is at the door? Better check it out. I opened the door and was greeted by a person that I did not recognize. He wore a brown long coat with a red scarf wrapped around his neck, carrying a brown briefcase. He was surprised to see me open the door, expecting it to be Samuel, but quickly composed himself and asked. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. "Hello, is Professor Samuel Oak here?" I shook my head and gave him a piece of paper I had prepared beforehand for any situation asking if I knew where he was. The man looked at the paper and hmmned before opening his mouth again. "Interesting script, it looks like a simplified version of the Unown one. But according to this letter, the professor is out for a long meeting" I simply nodded "He knew, I was coming to visit..." The man muttered. So Samuel had left early to avoid meeting with this person? I tilted my head and chirped "Please explain yourself" knowing too well that he could not understand me. "Oh, right" He said noticing me again "Where are my manners, My name is Kurt and I make poke balls for a living. Not those standard ones either." My interest level skyrocketed, I had always wanted to know how they worked. Maybe I could trade with him. I motioned for him to get inside. "I''m here to meet Sam, it would be rude to enter someone''s house without the owners permission" A thought entered my mind and I showed him the poke ball wrapped around my neck in hopes of him recognizing his own design. He looked at the great ball that was next to a normal poke ball for Faesol. His eyes widened as he noticed that the great ball was unoccupied and did not have any Pok¨¦mon registered to it. Somehow I managed to convince him to stay as I closed the door after allowing Kurt to enter. Faesol curiously peeked around the corner, wondering what had happened before going back to the sofa. She deemed it to be nothing I guess. "The place is cleaner that I thought?" Kurt said and I sighed knowing all too well what he meant. "Last time I was here... It was terrible" I sat down at the typewriter and started typing away, the rhythmic clacking caught Kurt''s attention and he looked at me. ''HELLO, MY NAME IS ANYA AND THE ESPEON ON THE SOFA IS FAESOL'' ''WE HAVE HAD A PROBLEM WHERE I AM UNABLE TO BE CAUGHT'' ''AND MOST LIKELY SAMUEL THOUGHT THAT YOU COULD HELP RECOGNIZING THE'' ''PROBLEM OR AT LEAST CONFIRM THE FACTS'' ''I WAS CAUGHT BY SAMUEL ONCE, ONE DAY THE POKEBALL JUST BROKE'' ''WE HAVE TRIED TO RECAPTURE ME BUT THE POKEBALLS SHOW NO REACTION'' ''EVEN THE GREATBALL DID NOT WORK ON ME'' I tried to give the paper to Kurt, whose mouth was comically open and his mind has stopped. "Y-Y-Y-Y-Yo-you" he stammered out, I waved the paper around in front of his face. I remembered something, Not everyone knew I was smart and super intelligent for a Pok¨¦mon. I sighed, this was going to take a while it seems. ------------------------ PoV: Standard When Kurt''s mind had finally caught up, he took the offered paper and read it through. He carefully read the paper and put it on the table. "So, you are the reason why he wanted a better poke ball?" Anya shrugged, she didn''t know that Samuel had commissioned a poke ball just for her. "Might I see, what the problem is?" Anya nodded and took the great ball. She primed it for capture and tapped it on her forehead... Nothing happened. Kurt just hmmnd again and was deep in thought. He opened the briefcase he had with him and took out a pure white poke ball that had a red and black stripe along both edges. He said "If you don''t mind, this is a poke ball made for a diagnostic, it doesn''t capture Pok¨¦mon but scan their energy readings which standard poke balls use to recognize if the target is a Pok¨¦mon and not a human. Anya was surprised that Kurt had casually explained how the poke balls recognize Pok¨¦mon, it was something that Anya had always wanted to know. Kurt patiently waited for something and Anya wondered why he wasn''t just doing the diagnostic or whatever it was. Then it hit her, Kurt was waiting for her permission. She then nodded at Kurt and offered her cutter. Kurt tapped the diagnostic ball to Anya''s cutter and waited for a while. "Interesting" he said while looking at the white ball "Can you call the Espeon over there, I need to make sure of something" "Faesol, come here for a moment will you" Anya called, she soon heard her happy reply "Okay!" The Espeon strutted over to them and skillfully jumped on top of the table. Anya explained what was about to happen and Faesol just nodded, seeing no harm in it and offered her paw. "Here goes" said Kurt, he tapped the ball on Faesol''s paw. This time the black stripe lighted up a bit. "It works, on her at least. Thank you, you may go now" "Does this mean you do not release any excess energy?" Kurt asked her. Anya shrugged she didn''t really know. "hmm, There is one similar case from before" he said "It happened because of a wild Typhlosion had used an attack to spend the energy from the defensive energy barrier, causing it to become the first ever typeless Pok¨¦mon recorded, even if it was temporary" "This seems to be like that case too, You said you were captured at one point right?" to which Anya nodded. "The poke ball is designed to break when the captured Pok¨¦mon''s energy signature is completely gone for at least 24 hours... This means that using a move like the Typhlosion had should not cause the poke ball to break as it can restore the energy after some rest." "For you though this situation is quite problematic. I am not an expert on Pok¨¦mon but I believe you might have overexerted your own energies at one point over a long period of time" He said. Causing Anya''s mind to wander back into the forest, if Faesol and the Ninetales were to be believed she might have unconsciously been releasing her energy through the whole winter. Which might explain her lack of aura. "Well that is everything I can do to help you right now" said Kurt "My tip is to try using your energy to stimulate your defensive energies to become active again." he said while packing everything he had inside the briefcase again. "It was nice to meet you and I hope you a speedy recovery" He said while quickly leaving through the door. Anya stood silent in the kitchen. ''It seems like I need to train real hard...'' she thought ''But now, food'' Chapter 34 Five days have passed since Samuel had left for his training. Anya has been extremely busy and progress has been very slowing some aspects. Teaching Faesol to read: Faesol is currently capable of reading all of the Latin alphabet that Anya had made, and had introduced the lower captioned versions to her. The Unown script has still been causing headache as Faesol has learned a single letter per day, making up the total of six letters A E I O U Y. All vowels for some unknown reason. Tailoring: Anya had created a few sets of extra clothing to her, remade the band that she had given to Faesol and expanded her plushie collection with an Espeon. All made easier as she now had a live version to take measures from. Faesol''s psychic training: Being capable of lifting a fist sized stone was impressive, but crushing the said stone just with the power of her mind was unbelievable. Anya had given her some lessons on physics and how they worked in her old world, along with some basic ideas on how to apply it. She wasn''t sure if the information really helped her but Faesol''s control over her psychic energy seemed to be improving fast. Anya''s training: Everyday after Kurt had visited, Anya has been in the backyard practicing. Learning to control her aura as Faesol''s called it. The progress has been frustrating to her and at the fifth day did she manage to feel a small amount of something gathering around her. At first she was wary of the unknown energy, with the confirmation from Faesol, she had her first impression of aura. It was totally different from what she initially thought and she wondered how she didn''t feel such an unique energy when she was at the forest. The energy fascinated her and she played with it most of the day. Only when hunger made its presence known did Anya realize how long she had been occupied. As her control over the energy increased, so did her senses to the aura of others. Something she had managed to grasp was that the aura was not really as strict as the others made her to believe, she couldn''t really directly use it to attack or anything but she could use it to easily change the natural energy around her to either Bug or Grass energy which came to her more naturally. Anya giggled happily and made a mental note to just call it type-energy. Her inner researcher was ignited, she typed notes for the rest of the day after eating very-late-lunch with Faesol, who was quite unhappy as she couldn''t get food for herself yet and needed either Anya or Samuel. She had tried to open a can of fish but her control over psychic energy just crushed the can along with everything inside it and Faesol didn''t like her food with pieces of metal in it. ''ANYA''S RESEARCH NOTES ONE'' ''TODAY I HAVE DISCOVERED THE TYPE-ENERGY OR TE IN SHORT ALONG WITH STAB'' ''SAME TYPE ATTACK BONUS AS I KNOW IT OF IS ACTUALLY USING THE DEFENSIVE'' ''ENERGY OR AURA OF A POKEMON TO MOLD THE EXTERNAL ENERGY TO THEIR OWN'' ''TYPINGS. I HAVE NOTICED IT WAS A VERY SIMPLE PROCESS AND MANAGED TO'' ''CONVERT THE NATURAL ENERGY AROUND ME TO EITHER BUG OR GRASS TYPE ENERGY'' ''WHICH BOTH ARE PART OF A LEAVANNY''S NATURAL TYPINGS'' ''FUTURE SUBJECTS TO STUDY'' ''AURA AND DEFESIVE ENERGY'' ''EFFECTS OF TYPE ENERGY AND STAB'' ''LEGENDARIES AND RUMOURS'' ''CERTAIN MOVE USABILITY IN REAL LIFE, BATON PASS, U-TURN, ETC'' ''FIND INFORMATION ABOUT BIZARRE DEX ENTRIES'' Anya done writing her research notes and opened the locked drawer to store the page. She noticed that the letter for future Oak was there, she looked at the letter for a while but ultimately ignored it.. ---------------------- Next day, the sixth day after Samuel was gone. Anya noticed that they were starting to run out of food and after her morning training she left the house with Faesol tagging along to visit the local market. Walking around Pallet town all the eyes of people were on her, people whispered about her being the ''ghost'' a while back, she wasn''t exactly comfortable with the high amount of attention. Reaching her destination she entered the store, a ring of a bell sounded from the door and the person behind the counter froze when she saw her. The sales clerk was old and had grey hair, the moment she gained her bearings she shouted angrily. "Out of my store!" Anya was shocked, she thought she could at least reason with the clerk, she had some papers with her to converse at least to some extent. She had not expected such an instant hostility. She left the store as the clerk grew more and more agitated each passing second threatening to call the police and what not. Continuing their tour around the town, they had found the market stalls. She was a bit happier now that she saw the few Pok¨¦mon that were shopping along with their trainers. She went to line up in front of a berry stand, when it was her turn, the young brown haired girl manning the stand looked around for her trainer. Anya sighed a bit and took out a piece of paper from her. The girl took the paper and was puzzled, it took her a minute to make connections between the written language and the Unown script. Looking back at Anya curiosity shown clearly on her face but ready to take her order. Anya pointed at some of the berries that were being sold and noticed that she didn''t have a way to specify how many she wanted. She thought for a moment as the girl waited and the person behind her was getting more restless. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Anya had an idea, she looked at the price and took out a set amount of money and gave it to the clerk while pointing at the same berries. It took a while but she understood eventually what Anya had wanted. Shortly after Anya was carrying a basket full of berries. On their way to home, she had noticed that Faesol had been surprisingly silent, she glanced at her friend and noticed that she had been curiously looking around. "What''s on your mind" asked Anya, causing the Espeon in question to stare back at her in surprise "No-Nothing" Clearly caught off guard "I was just reading the mental patterns of people here" "Oh? You can do that?" Anya asked, interested about how the psychic-type abilities worked. "I though reading mind is not something you would do though?" "No, no, not reading minds, I am not that good yet." She said "I meant reading their patterns" she continued "Every human, every Pok¨¦mon each one has a different mental pattern an unique way of thought" she tried to clarify. "Huh?" Expressed Anya, not clearly understanding what she had meant. "Where to begin, a mental pattern is the part of a person which umm... presents? How someone thinks. Like most Pok¨¦mon have a certain type of base on their pattern and humans have similar to other humans." "The base pattern differs too much from human to Pok¨¦mon that our thoughts are hard to match up" Anya being interested in the subject even if she couldn''t really understand what she was talking about. She knew the words and basic principle behind the statement. Which was ''Everyone thinks differently''. "So why are you studying these patterns?" Anya asked "If I know someone''s pattern, it allows me to influence them much more easily with psychic powers" "That... Is nice? I think. Other psychic Pok¨¦mon do this too?" "I think so?" she answered as she wasn''t sure "It came to me naturally, but I do not know any other Psychic-type Pok¨¦mon, so I can not be sure. Talking with Faesol had calmed her mind and she had unconsciously ignored the myriad of stares she had gotten from the people around. A young light brown haired boy with hazel eyes stepped into their way, he was wearing green shorts, a white t-shirt and a red cap. On his belt he had two pokeballs. "What are you?!" the boy shouted out loud. Even if she wanted to answer, she couldn''t as they had no way of properly communicating. She sighed and said "vA NY vA". The boy winced when he heard the oddly unnatural sounding voice of Anya. "As a trainer, it is my job to prevent wild Pok¨¦mon wandering around my town" he stated proudly and took a hold of both of his pokeballs. "Two on two it is, Go!" he shouted while releasing his two Pok¨¦mon. The first Pok¨¦mon to materialize was an all too familiar dog that could spit fire a Growlithe, the second being a bit more surprising. It was another dog, this one having black fur and a skull like bone protrusion on its head. Anya recognizing it to be a Houndour. ''Another fire type'' thought Anya. Anya glanced at Faesol and noticed that she was already ready for a battle, gathering her psychic energy and focusing it on her red gem. "Hello" said Anya "We do not want any trouble" She continued, the two canines were visibly confused and both of them looked at their trainer. She was still extremely unnerved and her trauma of Growlithe was about to flare into existence yet again. It took all she had to just say a few words to dismiss the situation. The trainer was puzzled, why didn''t his Pok¨¦mon ready up for a battle like they should. "What''s wrong?" he asked his Pok¨¦mon, they both gave a soft whine as an answer. With the small distraction allowed Anya to take out a piece of paper she had with her. It was meant to be used exactly in a situation like this where an unruly person showed hostility to her in the middle of the town, during their shopping trip. A group of spectators had gathered around obviously looking for an interesting battle. Anya held the piece of paper towards the trainer who ordered the Growlithe to take the paper from her. ''HELLO, MY NAME IS ANYA AND THE ESPEON''S NAME IS FAESOL. WE ARE IN CARE'' ''OF SAMUEL OAK, WHO RIGHT NOW IS CURRENTLY AWAY SOMEWHERE'' ''WE WOULD LIKE TO BUY SOME FOOD AND WE WILL PAY YOU WITH MONEY'' ''THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING'' The boy finished reading the paper and a look of confusion was shown on his face. It was not like a normal wild Pok¨¦mon were carrying paper notes with them and going shopping. Meanwhile Faesol and the Houndour were in a heated argument, neither of them were attacking the other but Anya could see the Houndour gathering flames in its mouth and when it spoke the flames flickered. "Faesol, that''s a bad matchup against you" Anya explained. Causing her feline friend to quickly glance at her before focusing again on the dark fire dog. "It is a dark-type Pok¨¦mon and is supposedly extremely resistant to psychic energies" she tried to reason. It didn''t help that the Houndour was obviously taunting Faesol to attack it. "Feef, now now, don''t attack" Anya tried to calm her friend. The trainer was still conflicted about the whole situation, seeing that his Pok¨¦mon was actively growling against the Espeon. "Wh-What if we have a battle?" he suggested out of nowhere. Anya tilted her head, obviously wanting to hear more. "A two on two, single battle, as you are a trainer''s Pok¨¦mon. There shouldn''t be anything too complicated" he said in confidence. Anya nodded and took out the necklace that had Faesol''s pokeball. "Feef, going to recall you for a moment" to which the Espeon nodded. She pressed the button and Faesol disappeared in a flash of red light. The boy was surprised as were many of the spectators. Even the other trainer''s Pok¨¦mon were confused. None of them had ever seen a Pok¨¦mon using a pokeball and their minds were fighting against this sudden break in from the norm. The boy soon recalled both of his Pok¨¦mon and told Anya to follow him, which she did. But only because excitement was casually creeping up inside of her. She was going to have her first ever battle, she knew she would most likely loose. But knowing that their opponents were of two unevolved fire-types. She at least had the numerical advantage of base stats. Arriving at the local training ground, they had to wait for a while as the arena was occupied with a pair of trainers using their Pok¨¦mon to battle. It wasn''t as interesting as watching Samuel decimate his opponent at the big stadium, but it was still interesting to see the grassroot level of trainer combat. It took around 30 minutes for a field to clear for them. Anya and the boy both took their sides of the field and prepared. There was a small commotion about having a Pok¨¦mon act as a trainer and getting a referee was also a necessity. According to the other trainers. The referee stated the rules of the battle and with a count of three they both released their Pok¨¦mon. It was time to battle! Chapter 35 Anya stood on her side of the field as Faesol appeared. She hoped that Faesol was strong enough to deal with both of the other trainer''s Pok¨¦mon. A referee that was chosen from the audience was giving the countdown. "Get set" both Pok¨¦mon visibly readied themselves, taking on what someone could call a battle stance. Faesol lowered her body in preparations to move at moments notice. "Ready" The opponents Houndour''s mouth started to leak flames and Faesol''s gem was shimmering brighter, both readying for an initial attack. "FIGHT!" The referee shouted and both participating Pok¨¦mon leapt into attack. Faesol being the faster of the two, her telekinetic attack crashes into Houndour but due to its Dark typing it had no effect and the Houndour countered by releasing the prepared flames at the surprised Faesol. Faesol took the whole attack head on. "Your opponent is a Dark-Type Pok¨¦mon!" Faesol''s attention snapping to Anya "Psychic moves do not work directly on them!" The Houndour was quickly closing in and gathering energy around its mouth, soon clamping its sharp teeth against distracted Faesol, the trainer cheered "Great work! Keep it up!". Faesol yelped in pain and reactively blasted the Houndour with a psychic energy at point blank range. Again, nothing happened, but the Houndour did release its jaws and Faesol jumped backwards obviously wanting to get some distance. Anya was stressed out, she didn''t know what to do, she wanted to help but she really didn''t know what ''moves'' did Faesol know and further shouting might cause her to be distracted again and take a free hit. "Use your psychic energy to blast sand at its face!" Anya steeled her mind, hopeful that Faesol heard her and she would be smart enough not to be distracted. Faesol seemed to have learned from her mistake as this time she just glanced at Anya, and kept her eyes on her opponent. Before her opponent could attack again she shot her psychic energy and caused the sand on the ground to spray towards her opponent. The Houndour was hit with a sudden blast of sand to the face and stumbled a bit, causing its prepared tackle to miss. Faesol seizing the moment, tackled the passing Houndour and quickly backing away. The Houndour rolled over and quickly got up and shook its head. Its attention snapping back at its target and quickly shooting small balls of fire at her. Not being a properly trained battler and more of a house pet, She was already getting tired and could not react to the fireballs coming towards her. She got hit and fell to the ground. Barely conscious, she whined a bit, struggling to get back on her feet. The referee called her out. Anya recalled Faesol "You did well" she said. She put the berry basket to the ground and Faesol''s pokeball on top of it along with her bag. She couldn''t risk them being damaged in the middle of the combat. She sighed, she had hoped that Faesol would have been strong enough to at least take out one of their enemies. She stepped forward. The referee called "Round two, Houndour versus an unknown Pok¨¦mon, Fight" The battle was back on, this time though. Anya''s sheer height caused the Houndour to hesitate. Until its trainer called it to attack Anya with an Ember. Anya lowered her posture, intently looking at the Houndour. It was still irritated by the sand in its eyes and its focus was hardly on Anya anymore. The unfocused fireballs aimed at her were easily side stepped, she still didn''t attack and tried to gather energy around her cutters. Nothing happened. Frustrated by her lack of control over her own energies, she cursed silently. Dodging the continuous barrage of fireballs was easier than she thought. It seemed like Faesol''s sand blast was still working. Anya tried to gather energy while casually dodging the fireball thrown on her way. The other trainer was puzzled of Houndour''s action, by now it should have hit at least once. Houndour whined, visibly tired, all of its energy expended and its eyes still hurt from the lodged sand. All the while Anya had just kept her distance. The other trainer recalled Houndour and the referee made the call. Somehow Anya had won, she puzzle herself. She wasn''t even capable of releasing an attack, just tiring out her opponent seemed to do the trick. The problem was that she knew she had to face a trained Growlithe next, this one not having any disadvantages against her. "Final round, Growlithe versus an unknown Pok¨¦mon, FIGHT!" the referee shouted. "You managed to beat Houndour, I must not underestimate you!" "I didn''t do anything, I swear, Houndour was just tired from the first fight" The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.The Growlithe didn''t say anything else and dashed towards her, gathering energy in preparation for a tackle Anya guessed. She readied herself, ready to jump to the side as the Growlithe attacked. Its speed increasing with every step it took, causing the estimation that Anya had made to be off by a little. The Growlithe smashed into Anya''s side in the middle of her dodge and Anya was tackled to the ground, the Growlithe turning around and continued its attack with a spray of fire afterwards. Anya screeched in pain and rolling on the ground in panic. The continuous spray of fire had stopped and Anya noticed that the pain was gone. It seemed like her defensive energy field had started to work. Oddly, she had started to sense the energy around her more keenly. She noticed how the Growlithe was gathering more natural energy and converting it to fire Type-Energy in preparations for another attack. She felt something click and her eyes narrowed, quick glance at her cutters, they were now faintly glowing with a thin sheet of translucent energy, her move had finally activated. Steeling her resolve, she focused back on the Growlithe and took off to a sprint. It has been a while since she had ran. First two steps were awkward but, her body clearly remembered as she was gaining speed fast. Growlithe being considerably smaller target than her, she did the only attack she had used before and subconsciously coated her legs with energy, increasing her speed even more. She did the only attack she had done before and like the situation back then her target was yet again a Growlithe. The Growlithe grew more nervous as its opponent had suddenly started dashing towards it. It was preparing to dodge to the side while spraying its target with as much fire as it could in such a short amount of time. Anya shrugged off the impacts from the hit fireballs and continued onwards. Her clothes were charred and tattered, but underneath she was still mostly unharmed. She was closing in on her target, only a step or two left. The Growlithe jumped to the side and Anya was already prepared. A football kick was executed and it cleanly connected to the Growlithe''s side, launching the canine to the edge of the field. The opposing trainer and some spectators were stunned speechless, they were expecting Anya to either use her empowered cutters to cut or her body to tackle, not a single one of them expected her to just kick the canine like a sports ball. The Growlithe rolled on its feet and stood up, glaring menacingly at the opposing bug-type. Preparing for a new assault it started gathering fire-energy at its mouth, ready to release on command. "It''s stronger than I thought but, we are stronger, GO!" shouted the trainer to its Growlithe Anya noticed that her kick didn''t throw her opponent far enough to end the battle, so she did what she thought was the correct choice and promptly left the field. According to the rules stated by the referee, if a Pok¨¦mon leaves the arena, it is no longer allowed to battle and the current round ends. The referee noticed her intentionally exiting the field and called the Growlithe a victor, she noticed that the referee was surprisingly professional and sighed in relief. What if they had forced her to battle until she was either knocked out or incapacitated. The other trainer and the spectators were stupefied, the match had looked interesting and many of them were disappointed from the anticlimactic conclusion. Anya approached the other trainer who flinched out of his thoughts when he heard Anya''s chirp. The other trainer looked at Anya who gave a small bow to the victor, she would have preferred to shake hands but her hands were pair of sharpened cutters so she just gave him a courtesy bow instead. The other trainer being flustered by Anya''s sudden withdrawal and held his hand in front of him. Anya waved her cutter a bit, clearly showing her bladed hands. The trainer flushed in embarrassment and bowed deeply to hide his face. Anya giggled and went to her basket afterwards, put on the neck piece that had Faesol''s pokeball. She also motioned to the other trainer to follow her, which he surprisingly did, while thanking her for the match. The crowd had dispersed and they easily left the field. Just outside the other trainer finally opened his mouth. "What do you want? Why did you stop the fight?" he asked her and bombed her with questions, to which she could not even answer, even if she wanted to. An idea struck her, Anya motioned first at him, then at herself and lastly at a direction she believed she would be going. "You want me to follow you?" The trainer asked. Anya being surprised by being understood so easily nodded. "Alright? Let''s go" he confirmed They arrived at Samuel''s house, she took out a key from the bag and opened the door. She motioned the other trainer to go inside. He hesitated for a while and when nothing happened Anya sighed and went inside. The young trainer stood in front of the open door for a while and heard an odd ding sounding from inside. Soon after Anya came back outside and gave him a piece of paper. ''I APOLOGISE THAT I STOPPED OUR MATCH, BUT YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT'' ''I AM NOT A FIGHTER AND I REALLY DO NOT KNOW HOW TO BATTLE'' ''AND FAESOL IS TOO YOUNG TO FIGHT, SOMETHING ABOUT PREMATURE EVOLUTION'' ''MAKES HER BODY WEAKER THAN EVOLVED POKEMON SHOULD HAVE BEEN, I THINK'' ''IF YOU WANT TO COME INSIDE, WE CAN CONVERSE A BIT BETTER'' The trainer stared at the paper, he understood some of what was written in the familiar yet strange language he hadn''t seen before. He hesitated and in the end denied the invitation to enter the house, he had seen the postbox which read OAK in bold letters knowing all too well which Oak this house belonged to as only one of them lived in Pallet. Saying goodbye to Anya he quickly left. Anya just shrugged and closed the door. Releasing Faesol was bit of a trouble, as the weak looking feline flopped on the sofa. Her whining caused Anya some concern and carefully fed her an Oran berry. She saw first hand that the nasty looking bite wound had started to close soon after eating, the wonder berry causing a magic like effect. Anya just wished they had these kind of things on Earth, it would have made the whole place much safer if they worked on humans. Now that Anya thought about it, she had never seen any human eating a Pok¨¦mon berry for some reason. She added this to the ever growing list of things she wanted to know about the world of Pok¨¦mon. The whining had stopped and Faesol had fallen into a peaceful slumber, the berry slowly healing her injuries. Anya''s mind was back into the battle, she studied everything she could remember about it, even the smallest details didn''t miss her attention. She noticed that during the combat her senses heightened, like activating a version of herself that was meant for battling, all idle thoughts were gone and her focus on her opponent became like solid sword made out of steel, unwavering and sharp. ''It seems like, there is a lot more to Pok¨¦mon that I do not know, which isn''t that much of a surprise. Better get started then'' She thought and started typing her notes. Chapter 36 Anya was typing away on the typewriter and Faesol was still resting on the sofa, her body healed but her mind still upset from her defeat. Anya didn''t know what the normal recuperation time for Pok¨¦mon were so she let Faesol get as much rest as she needed. Not like she needed her help or anything of the sorts. Anya stood up after writing a couple sentences that could be used for communication between her and other people in case the situation from earlier repeats itself. Looking back at the previous situation, she didn''t know why she accepted the invitation to battle and was afraid that something out of her control might be influencing her decision making. She stood up and heard a ripping sound, by the she remembered the burned holes in her clothing and sighed. ''Guess, I am going to fix these today'' she thought and went upstairs. Taking a shower and changing to a clean set of clothes, she took the burned clothes and started to patch the holes and remove the burned areas. After finishing she put the now fixed clothes into the washing machine. ---------------------------------- The day was mostly over and last rays of sunshine coloring the skies of the horizon in reddish orange. Anya was listlessly petting Faesol who still slumbered on the sofa, silently comparing her life from before becoming a Pok¨¦mon to her new situation of being a Pok¨¦mon. Her thoughts were interrupted as a knock was heard from the door. ''Who could it be?'' thought Anya, as she stood up and walked to the door. She slowly opened the door and saw an older well dressed up man she did not recognize standing outside. Anya carefully gave him a chirp of greetings. The well old man curiously looked at Anya for a while and returned her greeting with a greeting of his own. "Hello, I am Sebastian Oak, Samuel''s father" he said with a smile. Anya stared at the smiling man''s figure in silence. Sebastian coughed *Ahem* "Could we please go inside, it is still quite cold for these old bones" which stirred Anya out of her daze and stepping aside to let the older person to get inside. She noticed that Sebastian was using a finely crafted walking stick as a support. She tried to remember information about Samuel''s father but could not remember anything about him. The games and the anime, professor Oak''s parents weren''t mentioned anywhere. The older Oak entered the house and took of its shoes and jacket. He looked around the living room locating Faesol peacefully sleeping at the sofa. A ding sounded and typing continued for a while. ''GREETINGS, MY NAME IS ANYA AND THE ESPEON ON THE SOFA IS FAESOL'' ''WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE?'' Said the note that was given to Sebastian, he looked at the note and Anya alternating between the two every few seconds. "He wasn''t lying..." he muttered silently. Anya heard him but chose to ignore it as she most likely knew who the ''he'' he mentioned about was. "This, this is..." a short pause "Astounding" he continued "Imagine how much we could achieve if humans joined with the Pok¨¦mon to advance science!" he said overjoyed with a hint of conviction in his eyes. ''DOES NOT WORK, MOST HUMANS ARE TOO GREEDY, IT WOULD CAUSE PROBLEMS AND'' ''I HAVE NO IDEA HOW SMART MOST POKEMON ARE, I KNOW I AM DIFFERENT BUT'' ''MOST POKEMON I KNOW OF. ARE CAPABLE OF COMMUNICATING, THE INTELLIGENCE'' ''DIFFERS. MORE LIKE WISDOM AND EXPERIENCE, NOT INTELLIGENT THINKING'' The older Oak visibly deflated after reading. Anya sighed she still didn''t know what he wanted. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ''WHY ARE YOU HERE? SAMUEL IS OUT ON LEAGUE BUSINESS'' "Oh right, Sam asked me to come and take a look. If there would be any trouble and to see how you are doing by yourselves. You need to know that most trainers do not leave their Pok¨¦mon home alone while they themselves are out training." He smirked ''UNDERSTOOD, WE HAD A SMALL ALTERCATION WITH SOME ROOKIE TRAINERS AND'' ''WE FOUGHT AND LOST, THE SITUATION STARTED WHEN WE WENT OUT SHOPPING'' ''AS WE HAD NO TRAINERS THE PEOPLE HAD STARTED TO PANIC AS THEY THOUGH'' ''WE WERE WILD POKEMON WANDERING INSIDE THE TOWN. A ROOKIE TRAINER FOUND'' ''US AND CHALLENGED US INTO A TWO ON TWO SINGLES BATTLE.'' ''OTHERWISE THE PAST WEEK HAS GONE NICELY, WITHOUT ANY INCIDENTS, KURT'' ''THE POKEBALL SMITH CAME TO GREET US AND TOLD ME ABOUT HOW POKEBALLS'' ''WORK. HE LEFT AFTER CONFIRMING SOMETHING'' ''THAT IS MOSTLY IT, WE HAVE BEEN TRAINING IN THE BACKYARD AND DOING'' ''SOME OTHER MISCELANEOUS STUFF'' Sebastian looked at the paper again, he wondered how did such a Pok¨¦mon learn how to use a typewriter so fluently. "You knit?" the older man said baffled. Anya nodded, lifted her arms and pointed at the piece of clothing hanging from the makeshift drying rack. Sebastian curiously inspected the hanging piece of cloth and noticed the whiter patches here and there. Looking closely he saw the techniques that were used to join the pieces together. "These are very good, my wife does textiles at home. I had to learn a bit on the side" he chuckled. Anya and Sebastian talked for a while, or more likely she was just listening Sebastian telling some stories about Samuel. "It is getting late, I hope you don''t mind me staying in one of the rooms upstairs. I''ll leave early in the morning." Anya shook her head, she told her guest that the room is largely unused and has collected a lot of dust, but she told him that she will clean the room for him, to which he thanked her for. ---------------------------------- Waking up at the break of dawn, noticing that Faesol had moved from the downstairs sofa to her bed at some point during the night. Carefully navigating out of the bed without disturbing Faesol was simple as the lilac colored sun Pok¨¦mon was calmly sleeping on the other side of the bed. Leaving the room, she noticed the guest room door was already open and Sebastian had already left. Anya went to the bathroom, refreshed herself with a quick shower and went downstairs, ready to start the day. Taking a berry out of the fridge she noticed Faesol going down the stairs with a cat-like grace. Anya took out another berry, this one for Faesol''s breakfast. "Good morning" Anya said cheerily "Mornin" Faesol greeted back "So, how are you feeling? You had your first battle yesterday" "It was interesting" she answered "I am still too weak" eyes cast down "You just had a bad matchup, that is all. You did great!" Anya tried to cheer her "That just means we have a lot to learn" not wanting to tell Faesol about her own side of the battle and tried to steer the conversation towards improving themselves. --------------------------------------- After breakfast they both found themselves at the backyard, where they both stared at each other. "Ready?" asked Anya "Ready" she got her confirmation. Anya stood still while Faesol sprang into action. Faesol''s red gem started glowing and Anya readied herself against a Psychic attack, steeling her mind. A while passed and nothing had hit Anya, her eyes were locked onto the prowling form of Faesol few meters out of her reach. She wondered if something was wrong and noticed something odd happening in front of her. The shape of Faesol started twisting and turning, a ripple flashed and she exploded into a bright light, she was gone. She looked around but couldn''t see her anywhere. Even the location where she stood didn''t have any footprints or marks. Soon an extensive amount of different colored lights started flickering around her, her sense of danger flared. Something was coming she lowered her posture, she noticed something moving between the flickers. A wave of psychic energy slammed at her back all of a sudden causing her to stumble forward a few steps. The lights cleared out and Faesol sat there, looking disappointed. "What''s wrong?" Anya asked "You are..." she sighed an answer "That latest attack, hit you" she continued "Wasn''t that the point of the attack?" she was confused "Yes, but it was supposed to hit your aura, not you" "I see?" Anya tilted her head puzzled, not exactly understanding why she was upset. "What is the difference between hitting aura and hitting the body?" "Umm, Aura protects the body from attacks, its like a layer of skin? fur?" "Ninetales had once told me that attacking a Pok¨¦mon who doesn''t have any aura left is wrong and might put their life in danger and should be avoided at all cost" "Huh, interesting..." Anya sighed, seems like she still had lot to learn about Pok¨¦mon. The battle ended and Anya apologized to Faesol, who just shook her head and went back inside. Anya still left outside, was thinking hard, how could she activate her aura... She tried many different things. Trying to psych her body into a battle ready state, there was no success in sight. Chapter 37 Inside the Indigo Research Institute building, Samuel was attending a meeting with the lead researchers and having a proper introduction to the group. His match against Aloe wasn''t one of his best, his mind has been occupied the conundrum known as Anya. He still won the match, having his anchor wipe three of his opponent''s Pok¨¦mon with brute force wasn''t the best of his showings. Samuel was seated at the end of a long rectangular table with a few important people on either side of him, on the opposite end is the current head of the IRI, Blaine. "Professor Oak, welcome to the IRI. We are honored to have you join our organization and I believe we will achieve a lot with your expertise and knowledge." Samuel had met most of the seated people back from his trainer days before he became the champion. There was still a familiar single middle aged man seated next to Blaine. The meeting continued with basic formalities, greetings and some tea, the middle aged man was introduced as Giovanni from Viridian City who acts as a funder slash sponsor of the IRI. After the formalities the group soon dispersed, Samuel, Giovanni and Blaine went to Blaine''s office. -------------------------------- "As the head of research, I supervise all of the research that happens in the IRI. But I must confess, my personal study to find the secret of a certain legendary Pok¨¦mon has progressed with some of the recent findings" After a short pause Blaine continued. "I would like to ask you to join my personal team in the research, to be a more... involved" "There would be a non disclosure agreement as the study is... quite volatile towards some religious groups. Science and religion doesn''t really match, you should know it first hand" Blaine gave a short pause for Samuel to digest the proposition before continuing on a different topic. "I heard that you have been seen around with a strange new Pok¨¦mon species. I find it rather fascinating, there has not been any mention of it in any of the regional pokedexes all the way to the Sinnoh, not even their old Hisuian entries have anything similar. Which rules out any of the currently known nations as well as the nearby Sevii islands and Orange archipelago." "The inlands are extremely dangerous to traverse with highly territorial and aggressive species roaming around and thus being mostly unexplored, every now and then a new species wanders near our borders and gets promptly recorded to the ranger database." "So imagine my surprise when a completely new species appears in Pallet of all places and is seen in the company of the former champion." Samuel chuckled, there was two reasons why he was joining the IRI, one of them was to announce his area of study and the other was to inform the IRI about some of the information Anya had shared with him. "I think, I have something for you regarding the Pok¨¦mon known to me as Anya" Samuel said while taking out a small folder filled with past conversations with Anya. The papers were full of markings and questions to reference the answers Anya had given with the typewriter. He also had included some of their earliest conversations where Anya had written with messy calligraphy. "Anya?" asked Blaine, his eyes firmly locked to the folder. "This here is some of our recorded conversations with a custom made typewriter" He presented a single piece of paper, the earliest communication he has had with Anya, which read MY NAME IS ANYA SPECIES LEAVANNY in a broken and wobbly letters. Samuel chose this page as it has had been the most memorable and uncanny in a weird sense. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "What''s this? A child''s first words? It looks like broken Unown script, although I am not sure if it is just the error in calligraphy as they seem similar or if it is intentional and why use paint if you could have ink?" Blaine scoffed "Fascinating" said Giovanni from the side, Samuel flinched, he had forgotten that Giovanni was still in the room. "You have more of these?" Giovanni asked even though he knew Samuel had a whole folder with him. "Of course I do. This is the only page with calligraphy writing and the rest are written with a typewriter." He said while taking the rest of the papers out of the folder and putting them in the middle of the table in a neat stack. "Go ahead" he said. --------------------------- After a large amount of shuffling papers, gasps and curses had the stack of paper been rummaged through and its information been sorted through, Giovanni had excused himself out as he had some business to attend to. Blaine and Samuel were both still at the heart of their conversation and didn''t even notice Giovanni leaving. A loud knock on the door and the heated dialogue stilled, the door slowly opened and a young girl came in. "A Phone call for Professor Oak came in and is on hold in at room 2." Her clear voice Samuel knew this voice, it was from an young adult who had shown interest in a trainer scholarship, who also had pestered Samuel a lot during his vacation days at Pallet to make a lasting impression. "Thank you Delia, lead the way." Samuel said with fondness in his voice. "This way Sa- Professor, follow me" They both departed Blaine''s office and on the way they had a moment to catch up. "So, how is the child?" Samuel asked, remembering that the last time they had met, Delia had been pregnant with a child. Knowing well about the situation he still decided to ask. "He is just so precious, my sweet little pumpkin pie" Delia beamed. "He was born few months ago and I named him Ash, Ash Ketchum" "And his father?" asked Samuel, knowing the answer. The question caused Delia''s smile to drop for a moment before a soft smile replaced it. "Already gone, divorced and remarried before Ash was even born. The great life of a trainer he told me" "My condolences, oh this seems to be room two" -------------------------- "Hello? This is Professor Oak speaking" "Heya, Sammy it is your father speaking, I went to your house and took a look around, just like you asked. The- Anya was it? was quite heartwarming and pleasant to meet." "Oh, You have been there already?" Samuel couldn''t believe what he was hearing, his father has been quite sick lately for the past few years. Even the doctors say he doesn''t have too long to live though they do not exactly know what is even wrong with him. "Did you have a nurse Joy with you?" "Bah, those nurses can not even do anything about it. I feel fine." "I slept in one of the spare bedrooms upstairs and left early in the morning" Samuel and his father Sebastian talked on the phone for a while, Sebastian''s mind was racing wild with the possibilities and implications from everything he had glimpsed on Anya. ------------------------ The call ended and Samuel sighed, it was mentally taxing to have a scientific conversation with his father as he usually goes of tangent best of times. He left the room and saw that Delia was still waiting for him. "Hi, the call has ended. It was important, thank you" "It''s nothing!" The girl said and they both were walking back towards the lobby "So, what is your plan now, I don''t think that a professional trainer would be a recommended career option for a person with a child as young as you have. I would say that at the earliest, you could start your own journey around when Ash himself starts his own. But that would be quite a pickle to have mother and son starting at the same time." Delia was quiet for a while, she pondered for a bit before speaking out loud. "I have been thinking for a while now, the dreams of being a model was crushed during my pregnancy and the dreams of a trainer career passed when Ash came into my life. I''ve been mulling some options in my head for a while." "I think, I am going to start the first real restaurant in Pallet not those bars and snack houses but a proper restaurant that serves good food and has great atmosphere!" "That, sound wonderful. I still remember the first time you actually made food, that was great" "Wait, the wording seems off" She paused and tried to remember the first time she cooked for Samuel. Saying that he must try out the dish even if it was a bit charred. Samuel just chuckled and left her behind. Chapter 38 "The offer was given to the professor" Giovanni was talking on the phone, his voice echoing in the empty office. "He hasn''t given us an answer yet but, due to his recent findings and the mysterious Pok¨¦mon known as Anya, I think we should start keeping a closer eye on him at all times." He said while shuffling some papers around on his desk, while a Persian was lounging next to him. Giovanni was listening to the feminine voice heard on the other side, giving him some orders to which he answered in a neutral voice "Orders received, may the rocket guide us to the new heights" He said while the call ended, rubbed his eyes and shook his head, he was quite disappointed with the new orders he had gotten. He scoffed and cursed silently causing Persian to perk up a bit, before laying back down. "That bitch, she really drives me crazy with this garbage" he silently voiced out his frustrations, before heading out, Persian following after him. ----------------------------------------- Back at the house of Oak, sun slowly descending behind the horizon. Samuel had finally arrived back home, the trip had lasted a bit longer than he had hoped, catching up with his old friends and talking with other like-minded individuals took most of his time. He opened the door to his house, he was greeted with an odd surprise, the whole house was lined with silk and cloth. A movement on top of Samuel caused him to look up, his gaze was met with the sleepy face of Faesol, who had woken up by the breeze that came in when the door opened, she was leaning from the inside of a cocoon-like hammock. The feline was startled when she recognized Samuel, she lost her balance, fell from the hammock, flipped in mid-air and Samuel unfortunately caught the surprised feline with his face. With face full of Faesol, Samuel heard an oddly rhythmic chirping nearby, ''that must be Anya'' he thought. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. The situation soon calmed with Faesol releasing her grip on Samuel''s head and looked quite embarrassed, her face buried under a pile of pillows. Soon after Anya was explaining to Samuel about the odd room arrangements, about how they were meant for Faesol to improve her jumps and coordination by bouncing from a springy hammock to another. But in reality Faesol just likes to use them as spots for naps, her favorite being the one on top of the door as it had a window that was in the sun most of the day. The conversation went to Anya''s research questions about how things work and what does Samuel know about the subjects. Samuel was intrigued by them. One of his favorites was, ''WHY DOES A WEAK POKEMON JUST FAINT WHEN HIT BY A HYPERBEAM AND NOT DIE?'' There were also some questions about how attacks like U-Turn and Baton Pass work in combat. Funny thing was that Samuel didn''t know about the last technique mentioned and the former was an attack which reverses the users momentum to help disengage easily. When questioned, Anya told Samuel what she knew, that the Baton Pass was a technique which allowed the user to exchange their boosts with another Pok¨¦mon. They both felt like they were missing something as the answer was in the tip of their tongues. Faesol wandered in and Anya asked her if she knew what she meant, to her surprise Faesol actually knew the answer. The answer was in the thing Anya called ''battle mode'', which when active gave the Pok¨¦mon an invisible shield that channels aura and when it runs out it creates a small protective burst of aura to repel any attack for a few seconds. Faesol explains that it is a gift given to all Pok¨¦mon by Arceus to promote friendly competition giving the Pok¨¦mon and choice to spare the other" "Wow Feef" Anya said surprised "How do you know about that?" The Espeon huffs "I don''t actually know... Weird, it somehow feels... right?" "So in short, Pokemon have some kind of mercy Protect?" Faesol tilted her head in puzzlement "..yes?" Anya shared the information to Samuel, whose reaction was of a realization. "That, makes so much sense!" Samuel exclaimed "Its the reason why most if not all Pok¨¦mon have the capability to learn Protect." "This has been a long standing question among the IRI researchers" Faesol yawned, which was soon mirrored by the other two. "Oh, it is already so late, time just flies it seems. It''s been a rough day, I think I''ll head to bed. We should continue this another day" Chapter 39 Few days have passed since Samuel has returned from the IRI and Samuel has to go visit an acquaintance in Viridian City. Anya was curious if Persimmon have advanced in learning of the alphabets which was one of the reasons she decided to join Samuel after asking if it was okay to visit the caf¨¦. Faesol coming along because she did not want to be left alone. Anya herself didn''t like to go out much as she wasn''t a fan of the constant staring and pointing of fingers at her. The older more aggressive people were the worst, shouting profanities at her. From what she had heard from Samuel, more Pok¨¦mon were left outside wandering the streets before the war and during the war most Pok¨¦mon that wandered the streets were a brutal sight to see. Samuel had not said much about the was as it brought painful memories back, Anya didn''t ask for more as she saw Samuel''s hardened look. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The trip to Viridian was much faster than the last time as they went by foot as this time they strictly followed route 1 and they didn''t stop to fight any Pok¨¦mon or trainer. Arriving at the caf¨¦ where Anya had met Persimmon, She was surprised that the cat had soon given up on trying to learn and said he was content in his current situation, he still thanked Anya for trying to help him. Persimmon let Anya know that after she had left and he had tried to learn on his own, the owner of the caf¨¦ had a chat with Persimmon, where the owner said to him that he should not feel so inadequate as him just being there was enough for the owner. The owner convinced Persimmon to do what he wants and not because he feels obliged to, which led to Persimmon to leave the studying out and focus more on hanging around the owner. Anya was a bit disappointed that Persimmon''s drive to learn was so fragile but she was still happy that Persimmon didn''t feel so left out anymore. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leaving the caf¨¦ behind, their next stop was the Pok¨¦mon Center, where they were given a single room. "Sorry about this, I tried to get us two separate rooms. The Center doesn''t like to give out extra rooms just for Pok¨¦mon" He said sheepishly. Anya shook her head, it didn''t really matter. She could just make a silk hammock to sleep in. Times like these she wished that a typewriter wouldn''t be so incredibly bulky to carry around with or that the technology would be advanced enough to have small handheld computers. The room was equipped with a single bed, a desk, a chair, small kitchenette and an extensive bathroom with a tub and a shower. Samuel took the first bath, followed soon after by Anya, Faesol still not fan of water groomed herself. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.While Anya bathed, Samuel was using the kichenette to make something to eat. When Anya left the bathroom, she wore a large towel wrapped around her. She had forgotten to take a change of clothes to the bathroom with her. She opened the door, noticed that both Samuel and Faesol were both gone and a plate of salad was left on the table. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After some time of idling Anya decided to take a short walk around. She was well aware that without a trainer accompanying her she would get a lot of unwarranted stares, but staying in the room with nothing to do was slowly driving her restless, she wished she had her sewing kit with her. She left the room and started to explore the Pok¨¦mon Center, she found out that the 3rd floor and above were private rooms like the rooms she was just in. The second floor was a bit different, it had rooms which only had bunk beds and lockers inside. A communal bathrooms separated for boys and girls, same with the showers. There also was a day room of sorts were many trainers were talking, socializing and trading tips and rumors. This was all new to Anya as she wandered through the floor, she got a few curious looks from the younger trainer. Next she skipped the main floor and went to the basement she saw the signs but didn''t really understand what they meant as it was written in Kantonese and there were no symbols to decipher. Opening the door Anya was greeted with a open space filled with many different types of workout equipment. A group of sweaty trainers and their Pok¨¦mon were doing their best to improve themselves, the spread of used equipment was quite even. Anya took note that most of the trainers training here were young adults. The trainers ignored her going around the room, most likely used to have Pok¨¦mon wandering around and the other pok¨¦mon gave a polite nod of acknowledgment to her. She soon left the workout room and headed back up to the ground floor where the main entrance was. The room was divided into three different parts where the middle one was the reception where a nurse joy was helping a person with their injured pok¨¦mon. On the right side was a small cafeteria and on the left there was small lobby with seats to wait for your pok¨¦mon to heal or otherwise lounge around. "May I help you somehow?" Anya heard a nearby Chansey say to her. "No thank you, I am just looking around and wasting time" "Well, in that case, do you want to come with me for a moment? I could use a pair of cutters" the Chansey said happily. Anya not having anything better to do decided to follow her, they went through the door behind the counter, the nurse giving her a strange look. Chapter 40 "She seems to take her time" exclaimed Samuel to Faesol as they both had eaten already and were waiting for Anya to leave the bathroom. Samuel had an idea, he asked Faesol to join him and the bored feline accepted out of sheer curiosity. They left the room and went outside, they soon arrived at the local training grounds near the Pok¨¦mon Center. Sitting down on a spectator bench with Faesol next to him had caught the attention of few eager trainers. Samuel chuckled the attention he was garnering, it all started with a single trainer openly gawking at him before regaining his composure. Occasionally the trainer would take a peek at Samuel, it didn''t take long for his friends to take note of his strange behavior and ask him what was wrong. He practically screamed that it was the former champion casually sitting at the bench and observing the nearby matches, alerting everyone nearby that Samuel was there. Somehow it led to Samuel giving out a small lecture where he was sharing some important advice for the trainers during their journey, surprisingly none of them tried to challenge Samuel to a Pok¨¦mon battle and instead some gave pointed looks at Faesol as if trying to gauge how strong she was. The lecture went on as Samuel told the trainers the importance of knowing the advantages and disadvantages of each different type along with asking them to name a single Pok¨¦mon of that type. Unsurprisingly the local trainers only knew about the local Pok¨¦mon that were found nearby, only some of them knew any Pok¨¦mon from over the silver mountains and some knew about famous Pok¨¦mon from tournaments and competitions. Time had passed unnoticed and only by the not so gentle nudge from the hungry Espeon managed to alert him to the passage of time. Soon, both of them were back at the Pok¨¦mon Center lobby and the nurse who was at the counter notified that the odd Pok¨¦mon he had with him has been helping around the Center and was quite pleased with how it handled itself. Only then did Samuel remember about leaving Anya alone for a quite a long time. Sheepishly he asked the nurse more details about what Anya had been doing. The nurse showered Samuel with praise on how well behaved the Pok¨¦mon is and how it shows the amount of intelligence she has to have, she was even comparing Anya to their best trained Chansey. ''If only she knew what I knew'' thought Samuel amused at the nurse''s expense. The conversation lulled for a moment as a Chansey wearing a nurse hat came through the backdoor along with Anya, who was momentarily surprised that Samuel and Faesol were waiting for her. It took a moment until Anya opened her mouth and chirped something, which Samuel could only interpret as annoyance. "[Where have you guys been? It has been hours]" Anya asked Faesol "[You took too long in the bathroom and we were getting bored, so we decided to go for a walk]" "[For hours?]" Anya repeated the last part pointedly "[We, kinda might have lost our sense of time. Sorry]" Faesol slumped a bit "[It''s not your fault and besides, I was just worried. I wish Samuel could have at least written a note, he should know I can read.]" Anya consoled the downcast feline, while giving a glare at Samuel, who was clueless the whole conversation. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.------------------------------------------ Back at the room, Faesol and Anya were exchanging their daily happenings and Samuel was on an errand to get food, Anya was surprised about Samuel giving a ''boring'' lecture about types to a small group of trainers at the nearby battling field and Anya told Faesol about how she had been helping the local Chansey at the Center''s backrooms. How she found out that she had an odd compulsion to care for distressed Pok¨¦mon along with an almost magical innate understanding of their needs, like who were to be fed, who were too cold or too hot. The nature of the compulsion could be traced to the species of Leavanny itself as it seems to be deeply rooted in their nature. This caused a small amount of distress in Anya, as a Human she never have had such a forceful compulsion before, sure she had craved coffee every morning and every day without had been worse, but this was totally different as her body had automatically started doing things. She just hoped that, she could somehow train to resist this compulsion. The subject then changed to how Anya had been asked to help around, because of her sharp cutters, the Chansey in question asked her to Cut through a pile of paper. How she was then made to distribute them next to each bed where a sick Pok¨¦mon were staying at. Soon the nurse came around and wrote something on the paper that Anya couldn''t understand, she did however recognize them as Kantonese characters. When, Anya arrived to the infant care section of the Center did her compulsion start acting up and before she knew she was darting back and forth around the room attending to each and every baby in need. Initially the Chansey was alarmed by Anya''s sudden change in behavior, but soon calmed when it noticed what Anya was doing. The Chansey even called for a nurse who hurriedly stumbled into the room, only to find the unnervingly sharp cutters carefully caressing a small Meowth. The nurse had admonished Chansey for using the emergency button instead of the normal nurse call button. The nurse understood why Chansey had called her as soon as possible, as the dangerous cutters expertly moving around the room, attending multiple infants sailing through the air in high speed. The results were showing itself as soon the whole room was impacted with a uncanny peacefulness and quiet. The room felt dead silent as all of the cribs had fallen silent, no rattling of toys, no cries of distress, just silence filling the room. Anya, soon out of her compulsion induced trance, jittered a moment before carefully stepping out of the room. Her whole body felt weak as she got back the control of her body, she soon lost balance and fell down. Something about the intensity of her body movement, with micro-adjustments to her limbs had caused an enormous amount of strain on her muscles. Soon enough Chansey and the nurse were upon her and carefully lift her onto a nearby chair. Chansey and Anya had a small chat where Chansey was so impressed with her that she tried to get Anya to sign up to a nursing school. They continued talking for a while, when another Chansey came to tell Anya that Professor Oak was back. Chapter 41 Anya didn''t know what to think about the person Samuel was visiting, knowing this person from the anime and the games, she had some respect for the future leader of Team Rocket and his ambitions, but she just couldn''t approve of the methods they were using to reach their goals. There was a small conundrum about Anya''s current situation, she shouldn''t interfere with Rocket business just for the possibility of causing an enormous butterfly effect which could possibly end the world. She had heard from Samuel that Delia Ketchum has a few months old child named Ash, this allowed Anya to place herself on the timeline around 10 years before the events of the first season of the anime. There is a possibility that this world follows the events of the show and in them the Team Rocket has been playing an important part of the whole plot, not just negative but some of the positive things, Anya remembers scenes, where Jesse, James and Meowth of Team Rocket had played a critical role in saving Ash and co on multiple occasions. What would happen if those three were never part of Team Rocket due to Anya''s meddling... Does the world correct itself or does she cause a paradox dooming them all by interfering, she wasn''t willing to risk it all, the fate of the world might be deeply intertwined with Ash''s and Team Rocket''s. Giovanni has been quite interested in Anya and after short explanation from Samuel that he was part of the research institute as a sponsor and one of the most influential figures in the whole of Viridian City, he also stated that he is gunning for a position to become an Elite Four member, a revelation which caught Anya by a surprise. She really only knew Giovanni as a Viridian Gym leader and as the leader of Team Rocket. Samuel gave a good hearted laugh and even encouraged Giovanni. Even though Samuel hadn''t seen Giovanni battle anyone, his gut instinct was telling him that Giovanni was a strong trainer along the the lines of the current Elite Four members. The whole point of the meeting was a request from the Businessman to have the Pok¨¦mon Professor join a Legendary Pok¨¦mon research group run by a few high profile researchers like Dr. Fuji and Blaine from Cinnabar. The names were familiar to Anya, she knew Blaine being a Gym Leader, she couldn''t for some reason remember why Fuji sounded familiar until the realization that the Pok¨¦mon caretaker in Lavender town was named Fuji, she couldn''t remember any details about him except that he was the one giving the player a Pok¨¦ flute, maybe he really was a researcher too. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.What surprised Anya more was that Samuel agreed to the request and had decided to join their research group, Giovanni thanked Samuel and they proceeded to sign a legal contract and a non disclosure agreement, due to the volatile nature of the research subject. All in all Anya found Giovanni quite likable and charismatic person, if only his other side wasn''t known to her, she might actually fall for his manipulation. There even was a small hope in Anya''s mind that perhaps this world would be different compared to the ones she knew about. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The meeting had ended, leaving a tired Giovanni slumping on the office chair. Giovanni''s back was drenched in sweat, he had to keep his posture and not to react to the uncanny red eyes of the ''Anya'' staring at him during the meeting. The careful planned act a diversion he had in play was slowly crumbling with the added pressure, Giovanni''s senses were on constant alert state, they were telling him that this ''Anya'' knew something, something that it had not told the Professor, yet. He knew it was capable of indirect communication via a typewriter. The previous meeting they had had, before even being introduced to the Professor had felt odd, his Persian being alert, before calming down and the odd ''act'' after. At the time, he dismissed the gesture as an apology towards offending his Persian, but now, now things were different. Maybe listening to the plan of Madam Boss would ease his mind, but he has always been annoyed to follow her orders, the Team could do a lot more in his own hands, not just some needless monetary gains, but actually change the relations between Kanto and Johto to where Kanto was the one doing the oppressing instead of Johto. That would have to wait, his scheme was in motion, he just had to wait for the right moment to spring the trap. Chapter 42 The way back to Pallet went uneventful, Samuel and Giovanni had talked the day after the deal was made and Anya was shopping for supplies at the local stores Faesol in tow. She had found a nice collection of hand carved wooden buttons and some interesting dyes. Faesol was getting bored of following Anya around from one store to another and had soon decided to just laze around on a nearby bench, acting as a checkpoint for Anya to pass after each shop visit, showing her what she had found in each and every shop, no matter how small and insignificant it was. Arriving back at home, Anya deposited the stuff she has been carrying around inside her room and soon headed out back to the yard, where she had set up her silk station as she had called it in one of her notes. Samuel was tired from all the walking, they had decided to pick up their pace instead of camping around to arrive a bit earlier and was now lying on the sofa and Faesol joined him after a while. Soon they both were snoring peacefully. Few hours later Anya came back in, took a look at the sleeping pair and put a blanket on top of them. Anya went back out after a short snack break. ------------------------------------------------- Anya was sitting outside on a makeshift blanket, meditating and trying to focus moving her type-energies around. There has been some progress on this front since her last battle against the Houndour and Growlithe. Latest was her ability to activate what she likes to call ''battle mode'' at will. Flaring her defense matrix with Bug and Grass type-energies, this progress all stemmed from the tidbit of insight she had gained from Faesol about the Mercy Protect. On how every Pok¨¦mon was capable of learning to use Protect by accessing this passive version of it. Except herself as Faesol had stated when she was trying to use Confusion on her. With a bit of poking around while trying to feel her internal type-energies, she had found out that there was an invisible and intangible framework in place covering her surfaces. She had found the place where the TE would be inserted to protect herself, to activate ''battle mode''. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.She found the energy she was looking for by accident, she was experimenting around with Faesol who was providing her some Psychic Type-Energy, when she had the not so bright idea of connecting the energy with the framework, which caused the Mercy Protect to activate and drain all of her own internal energies to provide defense. It was just a moment during this she had felt the source and became aware of it, she fainted a moment later. The next time she woke, she noticed that she still felt the source of her energy and could direct them to the Framework, with the help she gained from listening Faesol''s explanations on how to mold aura to form an attack. It took Anya a while to understand what Faesol was talking about, that by pushing the source energy into the framework which converted it to the proper TE of either Bug or Grass type. Now she was trying to mold these energies into different attacks, the progress she had made had been considerably slowed down by the amount of energy actually had in store and her ability to manage it. She did not have the experience to handle such an amount of energy at once. Normally a Pok¨¦mon slowly got more energy while growing up and battling, learning to use tiny amounts at a time with learning better control with the passage of time, but in Anya''s case she already had a huge amount of energy and no experience in controlling it, she couldn''t really mold it around as it was like using dynamite as a chisel to carve stone blocks into delicate sculptures. The amount of raw power she had was astounding, it was what the Ninetales had felt back in the forest, where she had appeared to this world. Sitting around without progress frustrated her immensely as she tried and tried to mold her TE to do something, anything. Not seeing the signs of fatigue she was accumulating by continuously stressing and releasing her TE and soon passed out of sheer exhaustion. Chapter 43 Months have passed uneventful with Anya not making any amount of progress in understanding and wielding TE, with occasional trips with Samuel to the local public training fields and every now and then going to watch an elite level matches. Most of the days Samuel was staying at the IRI to do some research with the Legendary research team, Anya had participated for the first few days, but soon grew bored of the constant senseless back and forth between the researchers about this and that, she made the choice to drop out. The close proximity to Giovanni who attentively kept popping in and out of the place was taxing her mentally. Instead she had been focused on her own research and her hobby of creating clothes, the various dyes had noticeably improved her clothing options. The obstacle with making cloth for herself has been the shape of her body, she knew how to make different clothes for the Human body, even if her body was mostly humanoid, the clothes still need to be put on by herself with her sickle like cutters. Which led most of her clothes being pull up dresses as they did not require knots, buttons or any other dexterous acts, singular buttons and hooks she could do. Even now she was wearing one of her favorite indoor clothes, a top of a navy blue robe along with black loose pants fastened around her waist with a singular toggle button on the side to prevent them from falling down. Faesol has been lazing around the house with occasional battling when Samuel had time off from work or the IRI. "I''m a Professor and I have things I have to do", was somehow the best answer Anya had gotten out of Samuel about his job and title, there really wasn''t any single thing a proper professional Pok¨¦mon Professor did for living and Samuel was still figuring out the direction of his career. During the summer, the people of Pallet have gotten more familiar with Anya and her weird mannerism, there were some people still, who were against a Pok¨¦mon walking around without a trainers supervision and have blamed her for everything bad that had happened in the past on her. One day the local market stall ladies gave an earful to a grumpy war veteran for harassing Anya, she was quite surprised that they were defending her and practically adopted her to the group of housewives, claiming that Anya was one of them. Anya had blushed intensely and tried to vehemently deny being a housewife without success. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.Being part of the ''housewife club'' as she would call it, wasn''t all bad as most of them did practice making clothes, knitting and patching. There was a pile of broken and worn clothing articles, that everyone could use as material. Anya was sceptical at first but had soon warmed up to them. What surprised Anya was that Delia, along with her child Ash, were visiting every now and then. Gossip and rumors were exchanged between the ladies and Anya was quietly listening them yammer on, she heard a lot of interesting things during the days. She even had a small group of admirers among the group, who were marveling at her sewing technique along being interested with many other things the ladies were referring as ''secrets''. It took a while for Anya to warm up to the group but, in the end she actually liked spending time with some of them, they all had same-ish interests in clothing and listening to them go on and on about happenings were interesting. She even found out that Samuel Oak had a grandson named Gary Oak, which wasn''t really anything new to her. She heard that the Lab for Professor Oak was going to be completed before the start of winter and there has been a discovery about a new nation on the mainland, behind the mountain range up north of Orre, which took Anya by surprise. They did not say the name of the new region, but they were saying that the diplomatic relations were starting with them. She was speculating that because Orange, Sevii, Hoenn, Orre and Sinnoh have already established connections between each other, the new place could be either Unova or Kalos as most others unconnected regions from the games were located on islands at least according to her memories, the problem was that there weren''t any official maps released by the game company in her memories. Gaining some like minded friends was doing wonders on Anya''s mental well being, she found herself visiting the club more often, even if she really couldn''t properly talk with others, she enjoyed listening to the laddies rambling on about mundane things. Chapter 44 Anya wasn''t sure how she found herself in such a situation as she was currently in a Pok¨¦mon battle against another trainer, while another behind her was shouting orders at her. She mused that the whole situation started with a suggestion from Faesol that maybe being inside a real combat situation would awaken more of her capabilities. Initially they just battled each other, which in the end was just Faesol blasting her with Psychic attacks. To neither''s surprise it did not work out. Next they headed to the nearby public field where they tried to explain their situation to the trainers on site, some of them accepted and others were suspicious of their intentions. The day continued, Anya getting continuously pelted with all sorts of attacks, then one of the trainers suggested that instead of battling on her own, she would be following the orders of another trainer, which led to her current situation. Problems arose the first moment after the start of the battle, the eager trainer commanding Anya was stumped as he didn''t know any attacks Anya could do and was just shouting ''Attack'' over and over again. Most of the battles ended in a standstill as the opposing Pok¨¦mon exhausted all of its energies while trying to deal damage to Anya. In the end, the day wasn''t entirely unproductive as she had found few important things about herself and the protective matrix she had. She found out that her protective energies were quite high and she could take stupidly high amount of attacks without really tiring out, at least against Pok¨¦mon at the first badge level and lower which the field was full of. Another thing she found out while battling was that, now that she felt the existence of the framework covering her body, she noticed that she could slightly manipulate it to cover her clothes with the odd side effect of the affected cloth becoming rigid and part of ''her'' for the lack of better word. She wondered if this was how held items and some odd Pok¨¦mon habits worked, like Kadabra spoons or Machoke belt and made a mental note to study later. Last but not least she found out that by activating the battle mode she was also passively enhancing herself with power, her mind sharpened, she could see better, more accurate and her body felt light. It wasn''t all that good as after combat when the mode was lifted, her body started to ache and feeling sluggish, due to the overstrenous usage of muscles and mind. After every battle training session she had to take a short break to steady herself. She had told Faesol about the tiredness, the familiar answer she got didn''t surprise her at all, too much energy, too little control, which would only get better by exposure. ------------------------------------------- The last challenge of the day came from an older trainer, who acted arrogant and cocky. With constant flow of belittling taunts to Anya before the battle even had began. Referee on the side, called the rules and soon gave the go to release the Pok¨¦mon. Anya activated her battle mode as usual, during the Pok¨¦mon release phase. The energy swirled on her skin, limbering all of her body, the added boost to vision was quite noticeable as she tracked the red light releasing her opponent. Now that she was aware of the boost, she wondered why she had not noticed it before. The opposing Pok¨¦mon materialized in front of her, in a blink of an eye a tall figure stood imposing, glaring at her. Anya''s eyes analyzed he opponent, a tall bipedal bear brown bear with a yellow ring on its stomach. Anya was taken back by the ferocity it was radiating, slowly a maddening grin appeared on its face. Something felt off with this Pok¨¦mon and Anya didn''t have time to figure it out as the battle had now officially started, Anya lowered her stance and kept distance. Her instinct was going haywire, her movement slowed down as she fought against the urge to just run away. Missing hearing the first order from her opponent''s trainer, the Ursaring lurched forward on all fours, picking up speed deceptively fast. Anya barely managed to jump out of the way, her body making a quick roll before righting herself. Ursaring didn''t stop there and continued past Anya and making a turn and was coming for another pass. Anya was still recovering from the roll, when the bear started barreling towards her again, this time, she was ready for the attack. Side stepping at the last moment instead of committing to a full roll, during the step she slid her cutters across the side of the Ursaring. Unfortunately, her cutters did not manage to pierce the aura hardened fur, she needed something more, she needed to do something. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.This time, the Ursaring didn''t directly attack her after turning, something glinted in its ferocious eyes causing Anya to miss a step and stumble a bit, the Ursaring quickly closed in and used the opportunity to swipe its sharp claws at Anya, the attack connected to Anya''s side the force throwing her away, she ragdolled around, ending the battle via boundary break. The referee called for the trainer to return their Pok¨¦mon, but the Ursaring''s trainer snickered and ignored the referee''s call. The Ursaring chased after Anya ferociously, the nearby trainers shouted in panic and ran out of the way. Anya still disoriented by all of the rolling did not notice the fast approaching Ursaring. The Ursaring bit down on Anya, causing Anya to let out a distorted ear splitting screech. The Ursaring''s bite held fast, its fangs trying to pierce Anya''s protective matrix. In her panic Anya unknowingly infused her cutters with energy, causing them to have a reflective sheen. Still stuck in the Ursaring''s deathly hold she stabbed the Ursaring into its side, the stab pierced the fur and caused the Ursaring to release Anya and roar in anger. Left alone for a second, Anya sprang up and steadied her stance, the fight stopped when another Pok¨¦mon appeared out of nowhere and stepped in front of Anya, its rough purple skin adorned with spikes was all that Anya could see. It took a direct punch from the enraged Ursaring and punched back, as if showing how to throw a ''real punch''. Anya couldn''t see much behind the other Pok¨¦mon but she saw a cloud of dust blasting from the impact, the earth trembled when the Purple Pok¨¦mon stomped its foot down along with a sand and dust flying everywhere, the tremor causing Anya to stumble. The training grounds was dead quiet. When a clear clap echoed through the air and the floating dust disappeared in a gust of wind. There he stood, a familiar person, Giovanni. --------------------------------------------------------- The aftermath of the incident was done in an orderly fashion by Giovanni himself, the Ursaring was sedated and the trainer it belonged to was nowhere in sight. A group of police officers were talking with the shocked trainers, trying to get the identity of the trainer who released the Ursaring. Now having a closer look, Anya had seen that the Ursarings appearance was odd, its disheveled patchy fur with thicker and thinner spots, fangs, claws all distorted and crooked. While Anya was inspecting the Ursaring, Giovanni had snuck next to her. "Warforge, such a nasty thing from the past." He said in a low almost angry sounding voice, knowing wee, that Anya next to him would hear. Anya glanced at his direction. "It had its uses during the war, but now, not even the most insane villains use such a thing anymore." "The reason lies in the drug itself, yes, it gives the Pok¨¦mon an immense physical boost, it reduces the Pok¨¦mon''s mental capability to close to nothing and in some bad cases might even disable the whole thing. What use is for a tool, if it can not be wielded." Even though he was wearing sunglasses, Giovanni''s eyes met the Anya''s. Her red orbs staring unnervingly straight at him. A question rolled around in his mouth, held back at the last moment, not letting anything slip, but one thing was clear to him and it made him uncomfortable, Anya knows. He wondered, has she told Samuel? or anyone else? --------------------------------------------------------- Arriving back home, Anya''s mind was in turmoil and Faesol was shocked, Anya felt sorry for the disgruntled feline. Anya didn''t know what to think about the whole situation, the worst part was unquestionably Giovanni and his help. Anya wasn''t sure how much of the whole thing was planned in advance, how involved he was in the grand scheme of things. Did he give the order to release the Ursaring. The words Giovanni spoke to her, the words were spoken in a neutral tone, but his gaze, it was laced with anger beneath the sunglasses. It might have been just pure luck that he was doing a business deal in Pallet of all places. There are too many reasons for anything and Anya was not a detective.