Snow's Journey - Chapter 4
#4 of Snow's Journey
Author's Notes - I don't own Pokemon, Game Freak, or anything else copyrighted in my stories. Charecters (other than obvious ones) are my own, please ask before using them for any reason.
Chapter 4 - Bonds
Morning came quick today, one of those nights where dreams never came and it was as if I skipped forward 8 hours in an instant. The Umbreon was still laying next to me, still sleeping soundly on an oversized pillow and covered with a soft blanket meant for larger pokemon. After the whole ordeal yesterday, I really wanted her to get some rest. Seeing her small body on the huge pillow though, I couldn't help but chuckle and think I went a little overboard with the huge pillow. She was truly beautiful, her white fur was bright in the sunlight and her blue rings pulsed slowly, glowing with a bright blue. Today I really hope she's well enough to speak to me about what had happened to her before she ran into me. Heh, now there's something you don't consider everyday... 'speak to me'. I've heard of Pokemon learning human speech but never with the fluidity she spoke to me with.
The clock on the wall said half past twelve pm, everyone should already be awake and food sounds really good right now. Maybe I can grab an Oran berry for myself and the Umbreon, she'd like that I think. Carefully, I slid off the side of the bed and grabbed one of the crutches leaning on the wall that Nurse Joy had left me, and made my way towards the door.
"Please don't leave me alone..." a soft voice said from behind me, nearly making me jump. I looked over and saw the small Umbreon's eyes open, but not making eye contact with me, a fearful frown on her face. Unable to say no, I walked back to the bed and sat down next to her, taking care not to frighten her any more than she already was.
"It's alright, no need to be afraid. I was just going to go get us some breakfast, that's all" I said with a smile, trying to get her to loosen up. She shifted a little, but otherwise made no comment, that same fearful, sad look on her face. Sighing softly, I reached a hand over and gently scratched the back of her neck and ears, making her recoil at first, but relaxing after a moment.
"I'm... I'm sorry for attacking you yesterday, I was afraid. You were right, you could've left me behind but chose not to..." she said quietly, heavy guilt in her voice.
She must be afraid of humans... Well, other humans anyway, she seems to trust me enough to not want me to leave her alone and let her comfort her. I guess she really took to heart what I said and decided that I really am just trying to help her. After a minute or so of the massage, she started to relax, small purrs of content barely audible as the fear on her face melted away. Just as her purrs got louder however, so did my stomach, demanding food and making a fuss. To my surprise, she was failing miserably at holding back a laugh, which made me laugh and soon enough, we were both laughing uncontrollably. After a while, I looked over to her with a smile.
"It's alright, I forgive you. How about we grab some food and then we can talk, okay?" she gave me a nod, a smile on her face.
We got up from the bed and head out the door together, with her not a half-step behind me. We came down the small hallway, into the Pokecenter lobby, and walked over to the small cafeteria which had a few trainers already waiting in line. Nurse Joy was at her desk, as usual, and totally engrossed by her paperwork. After we grabbed a few bowls of berries, a few drinks, and after I snuck a couple treats for pokemon without her noticing, we made our way back to the room and settled ourselves in to eat our food in peace, and away from everyone else. We ate our food in good spirit, enjoying each others company as we chatted along.
"Hehe... Look what I have." I said teasingly, reaching into my pocket. Her nose went wild, smelling the treat as I pulled it out and held it out in my hand for her to eat.
"Mmm... what is it? It smells so good..." she asked, bathing her nose in the scent before eating it out of my hand. She squealed in joy as she munched on the treat. "Thissh.. ish.. sho.. shashy." After the downed the treat, she jumped onto me, searching me for more treats.
"Sorry girl, I was only able to sneak so many without you noticing." She frowned at me, but thanked me for the tasty treat and coiled up in my lap happily. I reached down and massaged her fur, leaving long furrows from head to tail, her purring softly the entire time while we sat there in peace. It was good that she was finally able to relax, no longer feeling afraid of me, enjoying my touch, this was a good time to ask her a few questions.
"So, how did you learn to speak English?"
"Well, to explain that, I would need to explain where I came from before I ran into you..." sadness returned to her face as she went deep into thought.
"My memory only goes so far back a few months honestly, I don't remember much beyond that. I remember waking up in a room with a lot of people around me. They told me they created me, something about Eevee's and our DNA they wanted to prove." she said as she stared blankly into space.
"Who did?"
"The humans. All they did was do tests on me, hooking me up to machines, making me do stupid things for them. They taught me your language and over a few days, I had mastered it. This just led to more tests, more machines, and more headaches. They told me that this was my purpose, to help them learn about Eeveelutions, and that I was their property. They made me wear a collar and if I didn't do what they told me to do, it would hurt me." she spoke while holding back tears. Reclining back into the headboard, I held her closer to me, trying to comfort her. Finding out what happened wasn't worth the pain I could tell she was going through recalling these memories.
"It's alright.. You don't have to tell me any more. I could never have imagined this is where you came from, let alone how you ended up running into me. I had assumed you were wild and running away from something big."
"No, you need to know... You helped me and you didn't have to, it's the least I can do" she looked up at me, and I knew I she wanted me to understand.
As much as I wanted to stop her, it would be unfair of me to dismiss her considerations. With a sigh, I surrendered. "Alright, what happened next?"
"They started training me to fight, teaching me with machines and making me spend weeks training on dummies trying to see how many I could learn. It was exhausting, my mind felt like it would explode after spending so many hours fighting other pokemon for their tests. All of the pokemon they made me fight were brought in just for me to practice on. None of them wanted to fight me, but they had to or they would be put to sleep." she continued, tears now flowing quietly.
"What finally broke me and made me realize I needed to run was when they brought in a wild Eevee for me to fight. After we fought the first time, they kept her in a cage in the same room, and we became friends. She told me everything about where she came from and about the world that existed outside this place we were in. A man came in and told me that she was lying, and that I would be there until I completed my purpose. They took her out after that night and I never saw her again. I later learned they put her to sleep, saying she couldn't breed and was useless."
"About a week ago, I was being taken away from a fight, I overheard one of the humans say I was being moved to a different place the next morning. I remembered the last time they moved me, they took the collar off and held a strange mask over my muzzle and I fell asleep only to awake later somewhere I had never been before. That night, I made myself sick so they would take the collar off. I knew that they wouldn't put me to sleep if they didn't think I could run away. When they came and got me, I pretended to be asleep and they fell for it. After a while, I could tell we were outside, the smells were so different from inside the building. I got up from my feigned sleep, threw a Shadow Ball on the cage lock, used Double Team as a distraction, and ran for it. They sent people after me, but after a day, only a Jolteon was able to keep up with me. I spent the next few days running, but she was gaining on me. She was able to catch me while resting and we had fought, but she was much stronger than I was and I knew I had to run. I tried to cross the river, but a thunderbolt hit me and... I don't remember what happened after that." she trailed off, tears no longer flowing, but still shaken.
"You ran into me", I held her close as I said that. "You're here now, in a better place away from those people who would do you harm. I know saying sorry doesn't change what happened to you, but I can promise you I won't let that ever happen to you again."
She looked up at me, face matted with tears, and smiled. All I could do was hug her, my heart torn to shreds after hearing her story. Any regrets of saving her life and putting my own in danger evaporated on the spot. No matter what happens here on out, I will protect this Umbreon with my life.
A knock came at the door, someone asking to come in.
"One moment." I tried to stall a little, trying to wipe the tears that had stained both of our faces. After a minute though, I gave up with a laugh. I knew we looked like shit, and there's nothing I can do about it. "Come in."
Nurse Joy and a pair of Chanseys came into the room, checking up on us while the Chanceys gave the Umbreon a quick once over. After all the paperwork was done, and the Chanceys gave their approval of the Umbreon's condition, Nurse Joy looked to me with a smile.
"Is everything okay?" she said with a frown. I simply nodded and she got the hint and moved along. "Professor Oak wanted me to tell you that he'll be back in Pallet town until you're ready to go back. He also told me that he notified your sister, and that you should call her later today so she can stop worrying." she said with a slight chuckle. "Your Umbreon is well enough to be discharged, but you two can stay here as long as you need to, just let me know later on okay?"
"I will, thank you Nurse joy" with a smile. "Sorry for the trouble by the way. I'll come around when I'm better and help in any way I can to make up for the damages to the room down the hall"
"Don't worry about it, It happens". She gave me a quick smile and left with the Chanceys, leaving the Umbreon and I alone.
The Umbreon looked away from me with a sad look on her face, ears flat on her head. "I... I have to leave?" she said faintly. "I don't know this world, and you make me feel safe... I don't want to leave you..."
"Well... I wanted to ask you if you wanted to stay with me and my family." Her ears perked up at this, and looked up at me with those large, blue eyes. I reached over and grabbed the Pokeball from off the table Professor Oak had left for me and presented it to her, setting it down in front of me. "It's your choice. I care for you and I don't want to force this on you. If you want to stay with me, you can."
"What is it?" she said, looking at the ball with a curious gaze. "What does it do?
"It's a Pokeball. If you press this button, you become linked with me and nobody can ever take you away from me. This little beam of light will beam you inside the ball and things will go dark for a moment, and you'll belong to me. Don't worry though, you'll come back out right after."
Without hesitation, she walked up to the orb and poked her small nose on the button. She glowed a bright red as the pokeball sucked her into it, instantly settling down without the slightest budge of resistance. I picked up the ball, and released her in front of me, her brilliant white fur and blue rings reappearing in front of me. She looked over to me with a giant smile, looking as if nothing could be better in the world, and ran towards me, tackling me in the chest and snuggling me with loud purrs. Hugging her tightly, I knew I made the right choice and all the pain was worth it.
"Come to think of it, you never once mentioned your name." She looked up to me, surprised.
"I never had a name, just a number..." she said sheepishly.
"Yeah, we don't want that. We need a beautiful name to match a beautiful pokemon." she giggled, knowing the cheesiness was intentional. "How about... 'Vanilla'? No... that's a terrible name. How about..." I thought hard for a long moment, before coming up with one. "Snow?"
She thought about the name for a moment, and nodded in approval. "I like it.. 'Snow'. Simple, short, and it matches my fur" she smiled at me and gave my cheek a lick.
"Well then I guess it's settled. Welcome to our family, Snow." I gave my new best friend a hug and cuddled her close, and though it was only midday, we settled in for a nap.