At 7:30 in the morning the alarm clock on my nightstand came to life as it began blasting its dreaded beeping sound. I was pulled from my land of dreams with a long displeased groan. My hand shot out from under the covers and found the button that would turn off the beeping that was filling my room. I opened my eyes after a few short moments of peace to take in my surroundings. I was of course in the only bedroom of my apartment. I never was really big on having decoration so it was a plain, functional space. The faint grey light coming from a window revealed the plain walls, furniture, and carpet in the square room.

With a sigh, I got up and began my pre-work morning routine. I stepped into the bathroom that was connected to my room. Again this place was plain and functional as well. In the mirror I saw my unkempt long black hair, deep green eyes, and scraggly facial hair. I was never much of a morning person but I did know that a hot shower worked wonders on my mood. After standing below the jet of steaming hot water I felt better about the long day that was before me.

I walked out into the main area of my apartment after showering to get something for breakfast. The space was modestly furnished with a few couches, a small TV, and an upright piano. At the far corner of the room was a small kitchen area where I opened my fridge to find expired milk and bad eggs. I sighed and just decided to just have some orange juice.

I had put on my work uniform after showering so now all I needed to do was put on my shoes and a jacket before heading off to work. With this done, I grabbed my bike helmet and keys and headed out into the hall. After descending a few flights of stairs I reached the bike rack just next to the exit door. I looked out through the small pane of glass in the door to see the very rainy January morning. I really didn’t want to go to my job as a produce stocker in a local supermarket, but it kept the bills paid and I really had no choice. At least today was Saturday and I didn’t have class to go to as well. Without any further delay, I pedaled out into the rain.

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Now, before I get too far ahead of myself on what happened on this particularly uncheerful day, I think I should tell you all a little bit about myself. My name is William Lucas and I come from Olivine City in the Johto Region. At the onset of this story I lived in an apartment on the outskirts of Goldenrod City. I am an only child and I lived with my dad in Olivine until I moved out when college started. I never knew my mother that well because she died of a rare disease when I was quite young.

Now that I am 20, I look back and see just how different I was from my peers. Nearly every single one of my friends had opted to drop out of school and become trainers, with the majority leaving on the last day of elementary school. I have to admit that I like pokemon and appreciate them, but I never wanted to battle them. I was the quirky kid who liked to read and play music. People would often describe me as being mild, meek, and quiet. But it wasn’t just my introverted disposition that set me apart from my shrinking group of friends…and this is where things get a little weird.

I have always had the ability to talk to pokemon. It is beyond being able to make sense of their yips and yelps; it is something deeper in my psyche. It was as if each pokemon I talked to had a unique human-like voice. Regardless of how it works, I really love having this gift. As a child I would just go out into the woods and fields and talk and play with the wild pokemon. Even as a college student living in my apartment in Goldenrod, I would do the same thing in the adjacent woods and fields.

Through talking and playing with pokemon over the years, I think that I have gained a perspective of their world that few other people have. They have a rather orderly social structure, especially at the family level. I first noticed this when I was a child playing with wild pokemon children. After long hours of play, their mothers would always come get them and take them back to their homes in the forests and plains. It bothered me that trainers would at times forcefully capture these creatures and ruin their families and relationships. The pokemon I talked to were somewhat spilt on the issue. Some wanted to have their skills honed and live the good life under the care of a trainer. Others would react with hostility at the sight of any human because they did not want to become some human’s plaything.

Unfortunately, sometimes people can be very ignorant to what pokemon are. Pokemon are amazing, intelligent creatures! It pains me greatly to see trainers and many others treating pokemon like either pets or tools, rather than giving them the equal standing that they deserve…but I digress. Now that who I am is out of the way, I can get back to that particularly bad day.

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I glanced at my watch before setting the last of the berries onto the fresh fruit display. I had just a few more minutes left in my shift. I was exhausted and just wanted this day to be over. Pedaling for ten minutes in the frigid downpour this morning would have been bad enough. However, I arrived at job in the produce department to find that one of my co-workers had called out. This had forced me to work double time all day long.

I sighed in relief as I punched out on the time clock, having finished my work for the day. I pulled my jacket on and stepped outside into the rainy dusk. Soon I reached the bike rack and unlocked my bicycle with quickly numbing fingers. It was easily below freezing as I rode out toward home in the icy, grey drizzle. There was a strong smell of damp pavement as I pedaled through the city blocks on my way to the apartment. As I neared it, the buildings became fewer and more spread out and the road began to go over several hills.

Just one more hill and I’ll be home, I thought to myself. Thoughts of relaxation of hot tea and playing some piano filled my mind as rode the momentum of the second to last hill on my commute. In my day dreaming I noticed an old rusty truck about to go through a large puddle. This puddle happened to be a few yards in front of me, and I suppose that something in my brain just did not connect the dots. I was soon on a crash course with a sizable wall of water. I cursed out loud while trying to get away from the huge splash of dirty, frigid water that was created by the passing vehicle. Though I managed to maneuver my way out of getting even more soaked, I had made my evasive maneuver too sharp. This caused the bike to slip out from under me and tumble down a steep gravel lane between two houses.

Slightly dazed, I got up from the cold concrete having sustained bad scratches on my left arm. My nice jacket was torn up in a few places from the wreck. I looked down the alley and saw my bicycle sliding at little further before coming to a stop next to a trash heap. Convinced that this day was doing everything in its power to get me down, I made my way down the alley. The stinging in my arm was slowly getting worse as I came upon my bike. Thankfully, it seemed to be in okay shape, so I reached down and pulled it upright. As I was about to walk back up the hill with my bike, I heard a strange sound. I turned around and looked for the source of it. Above the drone of the cold rainfall I thought I heard a small squeak. It was barely audible and I wasn’t too keen on lingering around much longer to find out. But as I turned to head back up the gravel lane, I heard it again. Faint, yes, but definitely there. This time I also heard where it came from.

I looked on in confusion at a pile of trash bags and cardboard boxes at the side of the lane. It was weird but I could have sworn I heard a sort of yipping sound coming from it. My curiosity getting the best of me, I popped the kick-stand on the bike and stepped over toward the rubbish pile. Again I heard a noise, but this time I could tell it was coming from within one of the partially frozen boxes.

“Is something there?” I asked in the direction of the boxes.

Much to my surprise, I heard in an almost indiscernible whimper, “no no no, please, no!” The voice was that of a little girl.

“A-Are you okay?” I said with concern, which was met with the voice from the box saying, “G-g-g-go away!” The voice seemed to be broken up by rapid shivers. I was genuinely concerned though, and had no plans of just leaving whoever this was.

What could you be? It certainly was not a person, perhaps it was a pokemon? That would not make very much sense though; what would a wild pokemon be doing in this part of the city? Without much further thought, I reached out and lifted the cardboard box.

A bushy brown mass swiftly scampered underneath the other mounds of trash. I could see it shivering there, peeking out from behind a bag of garbage. In its eyes I could see a mixture of contempt and terror.

“Go away, go away, go away,” the little creature whimpered.

“I’m not going away until I know you are alright. Why are you shivering?” I said.

The little eevee furrowed its brow in anger, “B-because it’s freezing cold out here, y-you moron!”

I chuckled a bit at the small canine’s retort, “Yeah, I’ll give that to you, that was kinda stupid.” At my comment, the eevee’s countenance changed slightly; some of the fear and contempt was replaced with confusion and intrigue. She stared at me with this expression for a few moments, the rain still falling around us.

“You-you can un-understand me?” she asked still maintaining an edge of anger in her voice.

“Yes, I in fact can,” I said with the best reassuring face I could make. “How about we start with names? I’m Will.”

The little creature averted its eyes for a moment and said in a barely audible voice, “K-Keelia…”

“Oh, Keelia. That’s a very nice name,” I said in a kind voice. I could see her eyes soften a bit more at my compliment. She also stepped out from behind the trash bag so I could properly see her. Keelia was a full grown eevee with the usual brown and cream colored fur, although there was something off about her. The fur coat of an eevee is usually shiny and full. But as I looked at Keelia’s, I saw that it was matted and dull. Her brown eyes were slightly bloodshot as if she had been crying. She was a little on the thin side as well. Even with her fur that would be keeping her warm in this weather, she was still shivering. It was at this moment that I remembered I had a fruit and grain bar in my jacket pocket. I reached into my pocket and found that it was not completely crushed by my fall earlier.

“Would you like something to eat? You look like you need something,” I inquired of the little vixen. She was a bit hesitant though and did not come any closer. She wore a face of conflicted emotions.

“So…you d-don’t want to h-hurt me and cram m-me inside a red and w-white ball?” Keelia said, the fear from earlier very evident on her face.

“Of course not! Why would I do that? That’d be cruel!” I replied, trying to be as genuine as possible for this scared pokemon. Apparently I am very trustworthy or I just said something right, because she then cautiously began to approach me. “It’s okay Keelia, I really won’t hurt you,” I said gently as I slowly knelt down and offered the snack to her. She approached the rest of the way and was soon ravenously consuming the berry bar. She soon finished it and stood for moment licking her chops

“Um…I’m s-sorry for b-being mean earlier, I-I just don’t t-trust humans m-much anymore,” she said bashfully, avoiding my eyes. Before I could completely process what she meant by that, I felt the little vixen nuzzle up against my hand. “B-but somehow, I know I-I can trust you.”

I looked down a Keelia with a warm smile, which she returned with her own weaker one and another nuzzle. I was slightly alarmed when I felt her press up against my hand, for beneath her damp fur, she was burning up! I understood why she was shivering; she had a fever for some reason! I pulled my hand away, which made Keelia look up at me with a surprised expression.

“Keelia! You’re burning up, you have a fever!” I said with worry in my voice. “I think you might need to go to the pokemon center.” Her long ears flattened and she took a couple steps back at my statement.

“B-but there are m-more people there! Don’t make me go!” cried Keelia. In response I gently took her furry head in between my hands.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you or take you. I want to see you get better, okay?” I whispered to her caringly.

“Ok…I’ll go. Thanks,” she said nuzzling against my hand again. Without much further discussion, I scooped up Keelia in one hand eliciting a yip from the eevee. I went over to my bike and, with my other hand, began to walk it up the gravel lane. As I walked, I noticed something mauve on Keelia’s belly. There were four infected-looking scars in her flesh across her brown underside. That must have been what caused her fever. Just another reason to get her to the pokemon center! When I reached the top of the lane, I mounted my bicycle and turned back toward the heart of the city. Before taking off, I unzipped the front of my jacket and slipped Keelia down inside between my shirt and jacket. With Keelia’s trembling body curled up safely, I took off toward town with as much vigor as my cold, tired body could muster.

I had been to a pokemon center before, but it had been a long while since. Once on a hiking trip with my dad we stopped at one in Ecruteak City. Never would I have guessed that I would need to go to the one here in Goldenrod. I only vaguely knew its location; it was somewhere a few blocks to the south of the grocery store that I work at. After a few minutes, I could see the big glowing pokeball sign up ahead that marked the location of the pokemon center. I pedaled over to it, still feeling Keelia’s little body shivering unceasingly. I picked Keelia out of my jacket and parked my bike next to the entrance.

Harsh florescent light coupled with clean white floor tiles greeted me as I stepped through the automatic doors. Keelia pressed a bit firmer up against chest. A pink haired nurse stood ready to attend to me.

“Good evening! Welcome to the Goldenrod City Pokemon Center! How may I help you?” she said with a bright voice that betrayed the current weather.

“Good evening, can you heal this eevee? She has a fever and some infected scars,” I replied.

“Of course, I’ll have it healed up in a jiffy!” the cheery nurse said as she reached out her hands to take Keelia. Keelia whined and pressed herself even closer to my chest. Seeing this, I gently reassured her.

“Keelia, it’s okay, she will help you. Please trust me,” I spoke softly to her. She resisted for a few more seconds, but then she relented and allowed herself to be taken into the nurse’s arms. She glanced back at me with a worried expression before disappearing behind the operating room door. I nervously paced back and forth in front of the counter for what felt like hours before finally the nurse returned with Keelia sleeping in her arms.

“I applied a spray medicine for her flesh wounds and an antibiotic for her fever. She has to sleep for the medicine to work fully, but she will wake up tomorrow morning looking and feeling great!” the beaming nurse said. “But I did notice that she is still wild. If you want, I can keep her until morning and then release her. But if you want to take her now, you can go right ahead.”


I mean not to get too sentimental here, but this decision that was before me was extremely important. Looking back, it literally changed the course of my life. The path I was heading on at the time had no room for pokemon or adventuring. I was supposed to finish college and get a nice job! As I looked at that sleeping eevee however, I knew I just had to take her.


“Thank you, but I think I’ll take her with me!” I said as I took Keelia into my arms. Without another word, I walked out of the pokemon center into the cold night air. The rain had stopped and the clouds parted to reveal the bright moon as I headed home with my newest friend. Maybe it was not such a bad day after all.