Chapter Two
I spent a terrible time in that Pok�ball. It wasn�t that I was
uncomfortable, the Pok�ball was okay - it was just that I was so
scared. And my burnt paw kept hurting. I was hungry, too. That
raspberry bush, I kept thinking, was completely ruined. But I wouldn�t
mind even burnt raspberries. I wished something would happen. I wished
someone would explain to me.
It�s hard to tell how time passes when you�re in a Pok�ball. For
all I knew, it could have been a fortnight until I was let out. (But I
think it was only a day). My left paw was still in pain. But I was
ecstatic! I was out of my Pok�ball!
Then I looked around and saw facing me an Oddish and another
human. Another girl. �Go, Oddish! Absorb!�
�Eevee!� I felt strength leave me. Confused, I yelped to Fierce
the Growlithe, who was watching by the side, �Eevee, ve veee? Eevee!�
(What is going on here? I�m hurt.)
Fierce fell about laughing. �Growl - li - li growlithe. Grow - li
li li! Growlithe!� (Fight Oddish, you pathetic creature. You�re so
useless, you�re funny! But our mistress won�t be pleased...) he
warned.
I leapt bravely at the Oddish. �Agility!� yelled my �mistress�.
Huh? Oh, yeah. I used my amazing speed to dodge the Oddish�s attacks.
I wished that I didn�t have to fight it. It looked nice. We might have
been friends. �Bite!� I hesitated, and the Oddish�s Poison-Powder got
me. Ouch! I was in really bad shape, but for my pride I wouldn�t give
up. I bit the poor Oddish and it fainted.
�Oddish!� cried its trainer. The plant Pok�mon came to slowly in
her arms. She handed over some money to my �mistress�. �You shouldn�t
have won, Alexi,� she said. �It�s horrible how you treat your poor
Pok�mon. That Eevee is in pain! I bet you didn�t even notice how she�s
burned.�
My �mistress�, Alexi, glanced at me and noticed this. �Oh, Tess, I
just caught it,� she complained. �It�s useless. Actually, I can�t
believe it beat you. Your Oddish is simply weak.�
�Hah! Get your Pok�mon to a Centre! See what they think! That
Pok�mon must be great if you just caught it! Or, perhaps it�s no wonder
- any training from you would probably make any Pok�mon feeble! Poor
thing, it�s brave. You don�t deserve it.� Tess stomped away with her
Oddish. The slight thumping she made shook the ground enough to make me
faint. �Eeee...� I gasped.
Chapter Three
I awoke in strange surroundings - on a stretcher. There were
electric lights and Chanseys. �EEVVEEE!� I yelled. The past day or so
was really getting to me.
�Chan sey-sey,� said a Chansey soothingly. (It�s all right, you�ll
be well and back with your trainer soon.) However, this information did
not comfort me.
�Eeveeeee! E ee! Ee vee-e-e,� I sobbed. (I don�t want to go back
to Alexi. I hate her. She�s mean and her Growlithe is mean. Don�t
make me go back! No, no, please.)
�Chansey. Chansey, chan.� Said another. (You�ll feel better when
you wake up.) They gave me some medication. And I fell asleep again.
I had an odd dream. In it, I was running through a forest I had
never seen before. I felt great. I was going faster than I ever had
before. Trees flashed past, as did other Pok�mon. I liked the idea of
going places and seeing new things.
Then humans were all around me. I had to choose between them. But
Alexi snatched me up, laughing cruelly, and somehow put a Pok�ball on my
head. I couldn�t run. I couldn�t even turn around without hurting my
neck. �Eevvvvee...� I wailed. But no-one listened.
I woke up shaking. An adult human was leaning over me. �There you
are, Eevee,� she said kindly. �You�re all better now. But I thought
for a bit there we�d lost you!�
I heard Alexi�s voice. �Can I have my Pok�mon now, Nurse Joy?�
Nurse Joy�s voice grew sharp. �As for that, I almost considered
taking you to Officer Jenny and asking her to revoke your training
licence. This Eevee was brutally mistreated. How long have you had
her? I can�t believe she�s such a strong Pok�mon - if she hadn�t been,
she might have died.�
Alexi put on a big, fake sad voice. �I�m terribly sorry, Nurse
Joy. I won�t let this happen to Eevee again. I�ve just got it and
already it�s become so dear to me...� Yeah right. I bet Alexi didn�t
even know I was female.
Nurse Joy sighed. �Indeed, I would hope so. Such a Pok�mon is
valuable. You are lucky.�
Alexi nodded insincerely. If I hadn�t still been weak, I would
have stood up and bit her in the ear. I�d see what the Chanseys thought
of that!
In that moment, I made a solemn, silent vow: Somehow I would get
away from Alexi!
Alexi picked me up roughly and made me Return to the Pok�ball. I
was really beginning to hate that thing. It was a symbol of my
slavery. And I�d wanted to look around.
I was let out a little later, in the outskirts of Pewter City.
Alexi was holding a pill. �Okay, swallow this TM,� she said. I tried
to run off but Fierce blocked me. Miserably, I obeyed and swallowed the
thing. Suddenly I knew how to use a move - Swift! �Right! Now, use
Swift on that! That! That! No, you haven�t got it right yet!
Again!� Alexi called. This went on all afternoon, without any rest. I
got so tired that I keeled over. Disgusted, Alexi let me be and made
dinner for herself and that horrible Growlithe, who laughed.
�Grow li! Grow growl growl. Lithe growl.� (You�ll have to try a
bit harder if you want something to eat,) he sneered, making a big show
of eating. Bully.
�Eev,� (Shut up, Fierce,) I said wearily. �Eevvveee.�(Oh, what a
mess my life is now.)
I slept. Sometime later, in the night, I woke. I realised that
Alexi had forgotten to put me back in the Pok�ball. She and Fierce were
asleep! I could escape! I made my way cautiously out of her campsite.
But my belly rumbled and gave me away. Fierce was roused.
�Growwwwwwwlithe!� he howled, waking Alexi. He bounded towards me,
his fire roasting my tail. Terrified, I ran. I was faster than the
Growlithe. It seemed like hours, but finally I realised that I could no
longer hear his cry.
Chapter Four
The next week was like a dream. I ran most of the day, rested for
short periods when I was exhausted, and ran again. Sometimes I stopped
at cities. I met Pok�mon - some I hid or ran from, and some I fought.
Nurse Joy had said I was a valuable Pok�mon - Alexi might still be
searching for me. She had caught me - by cruel human rules, I was still
hers.
One of the days, I came across a Pok�mon tournament. The place was
brightly decorated with red and yellow streamers. I watched Pok�mon
faint. I watched Pok�mon fight against each other, and later play
together and have fun. I watched Pok�mon mistreated by their trainers,
and ones whose trainers cared for them and healed them and encouraged
them. I think perhaps that I could have won over those Pok�mon, had I
not been so weak. I slipped away, feeling lonely. It wasn�t fair.
A storm came up one day. I shivered under a tree, hail pelting me
and rain soaking me. I was soon chilled to the bone. I got weaker and
weaker. Soon I could barely stand - I fell over. I could not keep my
eyes open.
I knew that I was done for.
Then suddenly an electric shock ran through me, jolting me into
awareness. �Eeveee,� I said. (Stop that!)
Or maybe it was lightning. Just my luck. I lie on the ground
among zillions of tall trees, and lightning has to hit me. But a little
yellow rodentlike Pok�mon appeared. �Pika pika!� it cried. (Look!
Over here!)
�What�s that, Pikachu?� Oh, no, I thought. Another trainer!
Somehow I managed to get to my feet. �Eevveee. Eev eveeeee,� I
growled weakly. (Leave me alone, I�m dying).
Another voice. A girl�s head appeared. She had red hair and blue
eyes. �Hey, Ash, it�s hurt really badly!�
�Come on, Ash, we gotta go,� said another.
�Oh, Brock, I better take this Eevee to the Pok�mon Centre. It�s
going to die if I don�t.� The first voice, who turned out to be a short
black-haired boy. The Pikachu was on his shoulder. I tried to take a
few steps back and fell over. �Come on, Eevee, it�s all right.� Fine,
I thought, just wait until I�m healed and I�ll get free again.
�It�s really cute,� said the red-haired girl.
�Oh, Misty,� said Ash.
He picked me up and draped me over his right shoulder, opposite
from Pikachu. �Ee ee eve?� I said. (Who is he?)
�Pi. Pika pika chu.� (My friend Ash. You�ll like him.)
�Evveeee. Eev eev veee. Ee.� (I don�t like trainers. They�re
cruel.)
�Pikachu!� (Ash isn�t.)
I explained my adventures to the Pikachu. It sounded sympathetic.
�Pika chu � chu,� it said. �Pi. Pi. Pika pika! Pikachu!� (I didn�t
like Ash at first. But he took care of me. We are friends, not just
Pok�mon and Trainer. I want to help him be a Pok�mon Master.)
�Ee eevee?� (Did Ash catch you?)
�Pika kachu. Pi pika pika.� (No, a Pok�mon Professor called Oak
caught me. I was very angry at first. But I decided to see what Ash
was like. I could probably have run away.)
By this time we had reached a Pok�centre. They made me sleep,
though this time I had no nightmares, and then I woke up in a stretcher,
as before. �Eevveee�� I said softly. (Is there anyone here?) Only
Chanseys replied.
�Um, Nurse Joy, is the Eevee okay?� I heard.
�Luckily. It was very badly hurt. How could you push it to such a
limit?"
�Um, it isn�t mine. I found it, just about dead.�
Nurse Joy sounded less stern. �Well, then. That was the right
thing to do. Here you are,� and the Chanseys wheeled my stretcher into
a room with the three trainers from last night. I tensed, ready to
run. I liked Pikachu, but trainers? I didn�t think so.
�Come on, Eevee,� said Ash.
Sure, until I was out in the open. We walked through the woods
again. Misty was carrying me. �Is this the place?� she said.
�I think so,� said Ash.
Misty put me down. Now what? �Okay, Eevvee, you can go if you
want. You�re free!� said Ash.
I stared. And stared some more. What on earth! I mean, a trainer
like this� maybe I should stay. But the opportunity was too good. I
was healthy and strong again � I wanted to run and explore. �Eeev ee,�
I said to the Pikachu, (Goodbye). Then I ran off as fast as I could.
Chapter Five
That evening I felt a bit lonely again, and wondered what Pikachu
was doing. I decided to go spy on them. I found them sitting around a
campfire, eating sausages. Which reminded me to go find some more
berries � I�m a vegetarian.
For the next few days, I hung around Ash, Misty, Brock, and
Pikachu. A lot seemed to happen to them. For instance, one day two
gangsters with weird hair attacked. They were no match for Ash, who, I
learned, had a Squirtle, a Bulbasaur, a Charizard and a Pidgeotto.
Brock�s Rock Pok�mon and Misty�s Water Pok�mon helped too.
One day Pikachu and the three walked into a town. Celadon City.
It was very difficult to follow the trainers and the Pokemon without
anybody seeing me, but I managed. I learned that there was to be
another tournament, and the winner would be given the Rainbow Badge,
since Erika, the Gym Leader, didn�t want to fight people. �We can win,
Pikachu!� cried Ash. This, I thought, was going to be exciting.
Pikachu, Squirtle and Bulbasaur did really well, even beating the
weird-haired gangsters. Finally it was the last round. And Alexi
entered the gym.
�Alexi, Viridian City Trainer, against Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!
And it�s the last round! Five against five! Who will gain the Rainbow
badge?� yelled the commentator. (Unfortunately, Pidgeotto was away, so
Ash only had four Pok�mon.)
�Pok�mon, you can do it!� whispered Ash.
Alexi�s Raticate Hyper-Fanged Bulbasaur into fainting, but was
almost drowned by Squirtle, who in turn was fainted by Victreebel.
Charizard fluked and directed a lazy burst of flame towards Victreebel,
which fainted it. But Charizard refused to fight against Tentacool, so
only Pikachu was left. Despite Tentacool�s Wrap, it was shocked to
unconsciousness by Pikachu. Pikachu also easily jolted Spearow. Which
left Pikachu and Fierce the Growlithe.
Pikachu was swaying on its feet. �Keep it up, Pikachu!� yelled
Ash. �You can do it.� Bravely, Pikachu stood upright.
�Blast it, Fierce,� laughed Alexi wickedly.
But it was clear how the match would go. And I wasn�t going to let
Alexi and Fierce beat Pikachu or get the Rainbow Badge!
�EEVEE!� I roared, jumping into the Gym. �Eevveee. Eevv evee, ee
ee, vee-ee, eevvee veee.� (Get back, Pikachu. Tell Ash that I have
Bite, Agility, Swift and Scratch.)
Quickly, Pikachu retreated and related this to its trainer. Both
of them looked delighted.
�Well, it seems that Ash had a fifth Pok�mon hidden up his sleeve!
An Eevee has come to fight for him! This rare Pok�mon, against a
powerful Growlithe � who knows who will win?�
�Eeevvvvvvveeeeeeeee!� I snarled at Fierce. I had grown much
stronger in my travels. It was his turn to look scared.
�Grow grow li? Growli?� (Don�t I know you? Didn�t you say we were
doggy cousins once?)
�Eevveeee. Ee evee e Vee-ee. Ve eevv ee vevee. Vee evee!�
(Perhaps, but I think I have more in common with foxes. Vulpix and
Ninetails. Your rivals. And no, you�re not getting away this time!)
�All right, Eevee! Agility!� Ash commanded. Using my super
speed, I dodged all of Fierce�s attacks, confusing him majorly.
�Tackle! Scratch! Ember! Roar!� yelled Alexi, panicking. None
of them affected me.
�Bite!� yelled Ash. �Now! And Swift!� Fierce was on the point
of fainting. I paused.
�Eevee? Eee,� I said. (Why do you stay with Alexi? She is a bad
trainer,).
�GROOOOWWWWLIIII growlithe!� (I was her first Pok�mon and I�m not
deserting her now!)
I felt a bit sorry for the poor fire-dog. But the Rainbow Badge
and my friends were at stake. Again I used Swift and Fierce the
Growlithe fainted.
�Good work, Eevee!� yelled Ash, dancing around. �We did it!�
�Pika pika pi!� (So, it looks like you�re staying with us!)
�Eevvee. Eev eevee, vee, ve ee.� (I guess so. But tell Ash that
I hate Pok�balls.)
Pikachu laughed. �Pika! Pi pi pika chu!� (Ha ha! He�s kind of used
to that!)