To those of you giggling about the male Gardevoir, Wally's Gardevoir and my Chrono would like a word with you...
Okay, so maybe I was up late last night writing this. Anyhow, any fan of Eevees will like this story. Anyone who's not, well, blame Hans Christian Anderson for inspiring this quadruple entry I think I'll stick to just singles and doubles from now on.
Whee, lots of requests. My reactions range from "Good, haven't seen that one much," to "Who's that again?". Hope nobody minds me bumping the Seviper up front; I have an image for that story already. An' now I need a nap.
In Process: Seviper
On Deck: Miltank/Tauros, Rhyperior, Pidgeot, Aron, Sableye
EEVEE
Fire Red entry: An extremely rare Pokemon that may evolve in a number of different ways depending on stimuli.
VAPOREON
Fire Red entry: Its body's cellular structure is similar to the molecular composition of water. It can melt invisibly in water.
JOLTEON
Fire Red entry: If it is angered or startled, the fur all over its body bristles like sharp needles that pierce foes.
FLAREON
Emerald entry: Flareon's fluffy fur releases heat into the air so that its body does not get excessively hot. Its body temperature can rise to a maximum of 1,650 degrees F.
By the rocky coast of the inland Sea of Jasper, there lived three Eevees. They were siblings, or so they felt, for they had all hatched on this beach of stones. They had a happy life, playing in the surf, finding interesting rocks, catching fish, and sleeping under the bushes. It was their idyllic little land.
But it was also a kind of prison. Steep cliffs surrounded their beach, unclimbable by their small paws. High-water marks on those cliffs indicated a frightening possibility of their patch of land being deeply submerged during fierce storms. The Sea of Jasper spread for miles around, even to the southern horizon. And far off in the distance, they could see other shores, with blue-green blurs that might be trees or might be cliffs.
The Eevees were two boys and one girl. They called themselves Jasper (for he liked the sea best), Pebble (for he liked the rocks best), and Belle. One time, a boat named Belle came to their beach for emergency repairs, and they decided that name fitted the sister best. When boats like that one came, they hid so that nobody found them. But those times were exciting, for they could listen to humans and learn interesting things.
One thing they learned from the sailors was the name of a city on another shore of the Sea of Jasper. Port Searose was a beloved place. It had a cathedral with sixteen bells that the Eevees fancied they could hear on clear days. It had an elegant lighthouse whose guiding beam could be seen by them every night. It had a fish market, a famous bakery, a historical museum, rose gardens, fountains, and a town square that was so lovely that hundreds of pictures had been painted of it.
Port Searose sounded thrilling, beautiful, legendary, and far away from the little rock beach the Eevee family lived on. They talked about it when the sailors were gone. They dreamed about it in the night, then talked some more. They desired to go more than anything... but it was so far away. Port Searose seemed like just a dream.
Then came one fateful day when a boat called The Searose Queen stopped by the rocky beach. It was a racing sailboat that belong to a rich man, so rich that he had people to do everything for him. While his deckhands made the necessary repairs, the rich man stepped onto the land and looked around. He sniffed. “Lovely view of the sea, but much too small to be of worth for anything.”
Pebble sniffed as well, but he was sniffing a wonderful meaty smell coming from the sailboat. He swished his tail happily. “<Let’s go with him.>”
“<Why?>” Belle asked, nervous, possibly scared. “<Haven’t you heard their stories? They make Pokemon fight each other. That sounds terrible.>”
“<But he must live in Port Searose! If we go with him, we can go there. Maybe he’ll even share that food, whatever it is. It smells really good.>”
Jasper huddled down. “<I’m not sure this is a good idea.>”
Pebble was torn for a moment: Searose or the little beach? Then he jumped up, making his choice. “<I’m going.>” He ran out of the bush.
“<Pebble!>” Belle cried, and ran after him.
Jasper shivered, but didn’t move. He saw his brother and sister come up to the rich man. The human looked at them curious. “How strange. One wouldn’t expect an Eevee way out here, not to mention two. Monday!”
A teenaged boy with orange-brown hair spiked backwards jumped off the sailboat. “Yes Uncle?” Then he noticed Pebble and Belle; his eyes widened. “Wow, are those Eevees?”
“Of course. Catch them for me, would you?”
“S-sure.” He pulled a Pokeball off his belt and pressed the button. “Clefable, give them a lullaby.”
A large pink fairy appeared and giggled. She started singing the most soothing song the Eevees had ever heard. All three fell fast asleep. When Jasper woke up, the Searose Queen, the rich man, the spiky-haired boy, the Clefable, and his brother and sister were all gone.
He cried for the rest of the day.
When the sun disappeared beyond the western shore, the Searose Lighthouse came on. The bright beam of light beckoned Jasper. Were Pebble and Belle already at Port Searose? What was it like? Were they safe? Did they miss him as much as he missed them? Would they have to fight and get hurt? There were so many questions and he was all alone.
He closed his eyes. He had been slower to decide than the other two. Now that he had made up his mind, there was only one thing to do. He was going to swim across the Sea of Jasper and find his family.
That was it. He opened his eyes and looked across the vast sea. The Lighthouse shone its light to guide him. With that and all the hope in his heart, he ran into the sea and began to swim.
Surely, he could make it. He loved the sea more than the others. He could swim better than them too. Whenever they swam out and back, he could always make it further. He’d never gotten tired, although he went back to land with the others because they tired. How far could he make it going straight?
It was a hard trek. His long fur got soggy and salty, making him heavier than usual. The waves pushed him around, trying to make him lose his course. Occasionally he spied or smelled potential predators in the waters below him. He had to keep a steady pace to make it all the way to Port Searose, but when something might want to make a meal of him, he wanted to swim faster.
His little beach, his family’s home for years, dropped steadily into the background. But Searose, with its guiding Lighthouse and beckoning dreams, stayed far away. Would Jasper make it tonight, or tomorrow, or never?
His paws and shoulders began to ache. His body felt like it grew heavier with every stroke. And the exhaustion was overbearing. He forced his eyes to stay open, for if he closed them, he might fall asleep and never make it. He had to make it.
...had to make it.
His family was there... he had to be there... he had to... sleep... no, swim... but sleep...
And then the grand beam of light went out.
-+-
Jasper opened his eyes and saw that he was in a dark watery place. Perhaps the bottom of the sea? Maybe he was dreaming. He often dreamed of swimming under the sea. It wasn’t possible, though. He couldn’t breathe underwater.
Or could he? He felt different. He looked at his front paws; they were like paddles now, or fins. He looked at his back paws. They had merged with his tail to form a back fin, like the painting of a mermaid he had seen on one of the visiting boats. And his whole body was the same color as the water. Even he had a hard time seeing himself.
Then a presence came to him, a watery being far stronger than he could ever be. It said, “Your love for your family and your love for the sea have impressed me. I have turned you into a Vaporeon, a Pokemon of the sea. Use your new powers well.” And then it left.
A Pokemon of the sea? Jasper truly belonged to the sea that shared his name. That also meant that he could easily swim to Port Searose and find Pebble and Belle. Gladdened by this thought, he swam straight up to the surface. There was the legendary port, closer then he remembered it being. With his powerful new fins, he would make it there in no time.
-+-
Pebble and Belle were released from their Pokeballs into a caged-in area. The boy Monday shut the door on them. As it clicked, it started to hum. “Are you use about this, Uncle?”
The rich man tapped his lit cigar on the bars. “They need to be trained as proper house pets. And it’s a good thing I found a male and female. They can be bred and the eggs sold for large amounts of money.”
The boy handed over the two Pokeballs. “Still, keeping them in a cage?”
“They’re animals, boy, and nothing more. Come; it will be time for dinner soon.”
The two Eevees looked around. The concrete and steel cage was smaller than their rocky beach. There was a mat for sleeping, a long dish for water, and two food bowls. There was a litter box, a camera, and a piece of rawhide for chewing. But nothing to play with, nothing to explore... and no Jasper.
“<What happened to Jasper?>” Belle asked. “<Where is this place? I don’t like it here.>”
“<This doesn’t seem like Port Searose,>” Pebble said. He sniffed around. Maybe there was a way to escape. While examining the door, he got hit by a jolt of static from the door. “<Ow.>”
“<What happened?>”
He covered his nose with his paw. “<The door hurts.>”
Belle sighed. “<Jasper knew this was a bad idea.>”
Pebble felt bad, knowing that he had gotten himself and his sister into this cage. Well, he would have to get them out. He spent the night searching the cage. The concrete was too hard to dig through and the bars were too close together to squeeze through. And the door hurt.
The wind passed through the outdoors kennel, making the cage door rattle. However it had been latched, it hadn’t been latched well. It was only the shock that kept them from breaking out. The shock...
Pebble nodded to himself. If they both couldn’t get out, then he would have to get his sister out, by any means possible. He checked; she was asleep, worn out from worry. After preparing himself for his possible death, he lunged forward and grabbed hold of the bars of the door.
Electricity shot through his body. Every single one of his nerves screamed in pain, to the point that his brain simply cut them all off. Did he still have a good hold? He yanked on the door. There was a loud snap as the latch broke, followed by a clang as the door hit the wall. Pebble collapsed to the floor, his fur falling off his entire body.
Belle yelped in waking up, then trotted over to him. “<Pebble? What happened to you?>”
He wanted to tell her to run away, but couldn’t move his body. Then he felt the electricity again, as if it were now something much stronger than himself, better than he’d ever be. “Your love for your family and your bravery have impressed me. I have turned you into a Jolteon, a Pokemon of lightning. Use your new powers well.” Then the electrical being was gone.
He got up, able to feel his body again. Electricity seemed natural now; his own yellow needles of fur gave off static charges. A collar of white spikes had grown around his neck. He looked to Belle. “<Let’s go find Jasper.>”
She looked puzzled. “<What happened?>”
“<I’ll tell you later, now come!>” He ran out of the kennel, soon followed by his sister.
They spotted the sea as they came out, so ran for the beach. It was rocky like their home, but not exactly home. On the beach, a blue Pokemon with two forepaws and a tail fin was sitting on a rock, looking around. The stranger perked up on seeing them. “<Belle? Who’s this?>”
“<Huh?>” she asked, tilting her head.
“<Jasper?>” Pebble asked. “<Did you hear a strange voice?>”
“<Of a watery being that was greatly powerful? When I woke up like this. Is that you Pebble?>”
He yipped in excitement. “<Yes, it is you, and me! A being of lightning came to me.>”
“<What’s going on?>” Belle asked. “<Why did you two change?>”
Then a telepathic signal came to Belle and Pebble before the entire world went fuzzy. They couldn’t know it yet, but the rich man had summoned them back into the Pokeballs.
-+-
The rich man blamed Pebble for the escape attempt, so he put the Jolteon on a collar and chain attached to a thick wooden post. Jasper let himself be captured by the rich man’s nephew, so that he could be with them. Again, they plotted escape and failed, so Jasper was put on a chain as well. Belle was frightened by all this; she behaved herself.
Because of that, she was allowed inside the house. The maids would brush her fur and comment on how pretty she was. They dressed her in sunbonnets and ribbons. All the attention was fun, but Belle kept wishing that her brothers could be inside with her. Although, they probably wouldn’t like the sunbonnets and ribbons.
She went out to keep them company whenever she could. Monday was nice about that, taking her out often to do so. He had a weird name and weirder hair, but he was a nice boy. He played with all three of them, called them by their proper names, and would give them hugs. He even took them to the beach so they could swim and look for rocks. While Jasper would snarl and Pebble would rustle his needles at anyone else approaching them, they greeted Monday with yaps and licks.
But the boy’s uncle was another story. He was gruff, proud, and mean. He hit Jasper and Pebble with his cane if they growled and tried to bite. He was annoyed that they had evolved without his intervention. He even found reason to complain about Belle.
“Why hasn’t she laid an egg yet?” the rich man huffed, glaring at her.
Belle scratched with her back paw, trying to remove the pink sunbonnet she had on. This one had been recently washed, so was starchy and irritating. When she paused, she looked out the window. Winter was starting and while the Sea of Jasper was mild year-round, there were some cold nights.
“She’s out there with those two males every day,” the man went on. “Surely she would have a child by now.”
“Maybe they’re her brothers, so she won’t mate with them,” Monday said, removing the itchy bonnet and scratching her chin.
“That shouldn’t matter. I hear of breeders putting rare Pokemon siblings together all the time.”
“She’s certainly old enough, but she might not be ready.”
“Maybe I ought to sell those two outside and buy another male.”
Hearing this, Belle whined. “<Don’t do that! Please? Pretty please?>”
“Could I train them for battle?” Monday asked. “I mean, I did catch them.”
“But I own them, and that silly Clefable,” the rich man said, narrowing his eyes at his nephew. “And I’m in charge of you since your fool parents are dead. I’m selling the other two.”
-+-
It was an unusually cold night. Frost was growing on the windows. Belle was inside, but stayed by the icy patio door. There was a cozy fire in the other room, but she was miserable. Her brothers were stuck outside on this terrible night and were going to be gone the next terrible day. She didn’t even have the heart to tell them about this.
Well, maybe she should take the fire out to them. One last night together... she could barely stand the thought. She went back to the fireplace to fetch a piece of fire.
The servant watching the fire had fallen asleep, so hadn’t noticed a stick tumble off the main pile. Half of it was burning, but the other half was still whole. Although nervous about getting burned, Belle crept up and picked up the half-burning stick with her mouth. Then she walked to the patio door. If she pushed just right, she could open the door on her own.
But as she walked down the hall, she carelessly got close to a thin curtain. The material was fragile and the air was dry. Once the flame touched that curtain, it went up in a fast ‘poof’. The fire jumped quickly to other curtains.
Startled by this, Belle dropped the stick and started yet another blaze on the carpet. As the flames spread rapidly, a terrible thought came to her: Monday was in danger! And it was all her fault. She rushed to his door and barked as loudly as she could. “<Wake up, everything’s on fire!>”
The teenager opened the door, wondering what the fuss was about. He was holding onto a brown backpack. Once he saw the room filled with smoke, he ran across the hall to manually pull the fire alarm. This woke up everyone in the house: the maids, the butlers, and even the rich man. Belle tugged at Monday’s pants. He got down out of the smoke and followed her to the patio door. There, he released Jasper and Pebble, for they were chained closely to the burning house.
Belle felt fire again, but not the fire that was consuming the house. This was a kind and gentle fire that still managed to be awesomely powerful. “Your love for your family and friend have impressed me. I have turned you into a Flareon, a Pokemon of fire. Use your new powers well.” Then the gentle fire spirit was gone.
And her fur had turned red and yellow, while growing out longer and lighter. Despite the chilly air, she felt a deep inner fire that she knew would never go out. Belle trotted over to her brothers and warmed the air around them, so they wouldn’t be cold. Monday sat by them for warmth as well.
“<We have all grown up,>” Jasper said. “<Now what do we do?>”
“<I don’t want to stay here, but I want to stay with Monday,>” Pebble answered.
“<So long as I’m with you all, I don’t care where we are,>” Belle added.
Some distance away, the rich man was shaking his fist in the air and stomping his foot. “Who’s responsible for this terrorism? I’ll make sure that person never gets out of jail!”
“Might as well go tonight,” Monday said quietly. “I’ve been planning on running away; Uncle wants to ship me off to a military academy. Do you want to come with me?” He held up Belle’s ball. “I did catch you three, after all.”
“<Sure!>” Belle said.
“<So long as I get away from those chains, anywhere,>” Pebble replied.
“<Absolutely,>” Jasper said.
And so the Eevee family, in new forms and with a new member, went out to explore the world beyond the Sea of Jasper.