Big Decision
Oh, hello again. Shall I continue the story?
The next week is not really important enough to the story for me to tell, not that I remember much about that week anyway. All I remember about it was that was when Peter decided to start teaching Ryan about human medicine, just in case something should happen and he wasn't able to take care of it for whatever reason. So I'm going to pick up after that.
This would be another of those days I'll never forget. It started like any other day, I woke up to find Greg had brought us all breakfast. I hastily ate my share, eager to head outside. Peter told me that a human was expected to show up today, and I was a bit curious. I know, you're probably wondering, "Hey Delta, I thought you were afraid of humans." It had been a while since my previous encounter with humans. After my experiences with Greg and my newfound understanding that I should not judge a species as a whole, I figured I'd give them another shot. I left the den and trotted over towards the house on the daycare, hoping to see this expected visitor. There was no sign of this human anywhere, so I figured I must be a little too early and walked over to the pond. I saw a disturbance in the water and inched closer to see what it was. I peered into the water, hoping to find what was making the water ripple the way it had. All of a sudden a Mudkip shot out, landing back in the water and spraying me in the face. I shook my head violently trying to get the water out of my eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to splash you," I heard a voice near me. I jumped when I felt a cold touch on my shoulder. I opened my eyes to look at the Mudkip. She was standing next to me, trying to apologize for the spray.
"It's OK. I shouldn't have been so close to the pond," I responded, finally clearing my eyes. "It's no big deal."
"No, I should have checked before I did that. Are you OK?"
"I'm fine," I reassured her. "What's your name?"
"Me? I'm Rachel. What about you?"
"My name's Delta. Rachel, that's a nice name."
"Well, thank you Delta. I like your's too," she giggled. She leapt back into the water, turning to face me, wanting me to follow her. I stuck my paw into the water and quickly retracted it. It was freezing cold.
"Just jump in, Delta. You'll get used to it soon enough," she called to me. Obliging her, I backed up a few paces before charging at the edge of the pond. I tripped on a rock and fell over, landing in the freezing water. I resurfaced and saw Rachel laughing at me. I thought about what just happened and laughed too. It was kind of funny. I slowly swam out to her, but when I got near her, she dove underwater. Trying to find her I looked down into the pond. I felt a pressure on my back and I was forced under. I looked up in panic and saw her holding me down. I found it fairly hard to breathe underwater and began to struggle against her. She pulled me back up.
"Delta, I'm sorry, are you alright," she said to me.
"I'm OK, Rachel."
"I'm so careless! I almost killed you just to have a bit of fun. Delta, I'm sorry," and with that, she swam to the edge of the pond, and ran away. I tried to chase after her, but she could swim a lot better than I can, and by the time I got out of the water, she was gone. I started to follow the trail of wet grass she left behind, and I eventually found her. She was sitting against a tree, crying. I slowly walked over to her, placing a paw on her back. She jumped and turned around.
"AAAGGGHHH!!" she screamed in horror, before noticing it was me. "Oh, Delta you scared me half to death."
"I'm sorry," I apologized. "Why did you run off?"
She stared at me before answering. "I couldn't believe what I did to you. I should have known better than to force you underwater. I almost drowned you, Delta. I think you'd be better off away from me. There's no telling what I might do next." I looked at her for a second before I spoke again.
"Don't worry about it, Rachel. We were just playing."
"Delta, don't you get it. I let fun cloud my judgment and almost killed you. That was horribly irresponsible of me. I think it would be best if you leave me alone before I hurt you again." She turned away from me and ran away again. I stood there, trying to figure out what just happened. I slowly started to follow her again, but without a trail of water to follow, there was no way I'd find her again easily. I turned to walk back to the house. I'd try to find Rachel again later.
I got back to the house shortly after, but the human still hadn't shown up yet. I heard the door open and turned around, seeing the daycare owner walk out. I looked up at him when I noticed Peter walk out behind him. He turned and saw me sitting there.
"Hey Delta. How's it going?" he greeted me. He looked at me for a second. "Is something wrong?"
"Hey Peter. I found a Mudkip by the pond earlier. She wanted me to swim with her, so I did. We were having fun until she hopped on my back and I ended up under the water. She freaked out about it and ran off. I followed her and saw her crying. I tried to help, but she ran away again," I explained to him.
"Rachel?"
"Yeah. You know her?"
"Yes. She's a bit insecure. She gets upset about hurting people, ever since Drew got to her."
"Drew? He did that to her?" I asked. "What happened?"
"Remember when I told you Ryan got hurt defending another Pokemon from Drew? That Pokemon was Rachel. Ever since that day, anything that she did or that happened to her that could possibly hurt someone has totally terrified her. She must be upset that she let fun overcome her fear, and it came back when she pushed you under. That would explain her desire to get away from you. She doesn't want to hurt you."
I looked down at the ground, worried about her.
"What are you doing here anyways?" he said, changing the subject.
"I came to see that human you were telling me about."
"Really? I thought you were afraid of humans."
"Well, since you guys taught me not to think of all Growlithe the same, I figured humans would all be different too."
"So you want to see if this one will be the same, huh?" I nodded. "There's not much I can tell you about him except his name. I heard the owner talking to him on the phone."
"Phone?" I asked curiously.
"It's something humans use to talk to each other when they're far away. His name is Aaron, I think. He's supposed to be here soon."
"Why is he coming here, do you know?"
"No, I don't."
He looked up as if he saw something. I turned my head and saw a human walking along the road towards the daycare.
"Is that him?"
"I think so."
We waited there, watching the human open the gate and approach the house. He knocked on the door. As he waited for an answer, he looked down and saw us watching him.
"Hello there," he greeted us. "Do you know if he's here?"
Peter shook his head and pointed in the direction the owner had gone. The human knelt down and patted him on the head.
"Thanks," he said before walking off in the direction Peter indicated. I waited a couple seconds before following him. Peter came with me, just as curious as I was. Aaron found the owner kneeling down over something. Peter and I walked around them to get a better view of what he was doing. He was examining a small plant that I'd never seen before. The boy walked over to him.
"I'm here," he said. The man stood up and turned to face him.
"Hello Aaron, good to see you again," he said with a smile. "I heard you've become a trainer, good for you."
"Thanks," Aaron responded. "You know why I'm here, right?"
"Of course I do. You're here to adopt a Pokemon." He turned and saw me and Peter standing there. "I'm not too sure you should go with either of these two though."
"Why not? Is something wrong with them?"
"Not wrong with them, I just don't suggest that they be split up is all."
Aaron looked down at us, wondering why the man didn't want him to take us. "Is there anything against me taking both?" he asked.
"Actually, I don't think that would be a good idea either, there's a third. Not sure where he is."
Peter looked at me nervously. "I have a bad feeling about this," he said.
"Me too," I replied.
Aaron heard us talking amongst ourselves and focused his attention on us. He knelt down before me, reaching over towards me. I backed away cautiously, unsure of what he was trying to do. He withdrew his hand, looking a bit confused.
"How old is that Eevee?" he asked.
"I'd guess he was no more than a month old."
"That's why you don't want him taken away, huh?"
"That's why I don't want him separated from the Pikachu, and the Pikachu shouldn't be separated from the Raichu."
"Raichu? There's a Raichu here?"
"Yep, I think the two are brothers, judging by their age and how they behave near each other."
Aaron looked at us as we watched him. He stood back up and whispered something into the man's ear. He then turned and left. The man looked down at us.
"Do you two have a problem leaving here?" he asked us.
Peter looked at me. "Delta, what do you think? Do you want a life with a human?"
"Not after what Greg told me about his trainer."
"I thought you learned not to judge a species as a whole."
"Yeah, I suppose. What about Ryan or Greg? What would they think of it?"
"Maybe we should discuss this with them."
Peter and I stood up to head back to the den, but the man stopped us. "Do you have an answer?" he inquired.
We both shook our heads and continued to head to the cave. We entered and I sat down next to Greg.
"Is everything alright?" he asked.
"That human wants to take us," Peter answered. Greg immediately jumped to his paws.
"WHAT!? What are we gonna do about this?"
"Greg, calm down. I think he's giving us a choice. At least he respects us enough to do that. I thought I'd let Delta make the decision," Peter said.
I gawked at him. He wanted me to make a decision that would affect not only my life, but their lives as well. "What do you think, Delta?" he asked me. I couldn't take the pressure he was putting on me, and I fainted.
I woke up a short while later. All of them were standing over me, with me lying on my back. Peter placed a paw on my forehead. "Delta, are you OK? You fainted a few minutes ago," he informed me.
I rolled onto my belly and sat up. "I'm fine. Why do you want me to make that choice?"
"I'm sorry to put so much pressure on you, but I think you should have a say in your future. I'll support you no matter what you choose. Now, do you want to go with Aaron?"
"Aaron? Who's Aaron?" Ryan asked.
"The human, Ryan."
"Right..."
I sat there thinking about what life with a human could possibly be like. The only thing I knew about humans was told to me by my mom and Greg, and it was nothing but bad news. "Why don't you think on it, take all the time you need, there's no rush," Peter said to me with his paw on my shoulder.
There was so much to consider. I'd be giving up my current lifestyle and my new home. And what about Greg? What would he do without us? Or would he come with us despite his feelings towards humans? I continued to think on the subject for a long time before finally making up my mind. I looked over at Peter, who was just outside the cave reading one of the books he took from the Pokemon center. I walked over to him.
"Hey Peter, I've made my choice."
"Just remember, whatever you want to do, I'll stay with you, and so will Ryan and Greg."
"Greg?"
"Yeah, I've talked it over with him and he said he'll give humans another chance if you wanted to go. He cares about you, and so do Ryan and I. Now, what's your decision?"
"Delta!" What is it? "Can you come here and help me for a minute?" I'm in the middle of my story, can it wait? "It'll be real quick, please, I need help with this." Alright. I'll be right back, don't go anywhere. *Leaves*
*Returns* Sorry about that, there's a hole in the roof in the other room. We had a bad storm last night and they're trying to fix the water damage. Now where was I? Oh right...
"I've decided...I want to go. I want to see what life with a human would be like."
"Are you sure? You know that Aaron's a trainer and he'll likely keep you in a Pokeball."
"What's a Pokeball?" I asked curiously.
"It's something trainers use to capture Pokemon in the wild, and they're also used to transport them. Ryan told me he hated the feeling of being in one, but then again, he is claustrophobic, so I can understand that. Greg told me it's not too bad, it just takes time to get used to it."
"That doesn't change my mind. I want to go with him. He seems like a nice person. Especially since he's giving us the choice of going with him instead of just taking us."
"Well, if that's what you want, lets go find the others and tell them."
He closed the book he was reading and carried it back inside the den before we left. Ryan wasn't too difficult to find, he was resting under the tree by the pond. We went over to him. He sat up as we approached.
"Hey Ryan. He finally made up his mind," Peter told him.
"Well, what's your decision Delta?" he said looking over to me.
"I...I want to go with him," I said timidly.
"You sure?" I nodded to him. "Does Greg know?"
"No, we found you first. Do you know where he is?" Peter inquired.
"No, I don't."
And off we went to try to find Greg. After a few minutes we found him napping on a rock on the other side of the daycare. He stirred as we walked over to him. He turned to face us. "Has he made his mind yet?"
"Yeah, I have. I..." I started. I didn't know how to tell Greg.
"You want to go, huh?" he asked, as though he had read my mind. He shivered at the thought. "Very well, I'll go with you guys. Don't expect me to enjoy this though," he added with a laugh. It was good to see he wasn't too upset about traveling with a human again. The four of us made our way up to the house. I could see Aaron sitting outside looking off into the forest. Peter got his attention when we arrived by hopping up into his lap.
"Aagh, what the..." he said looking down to see what landed in on his knee. "Oh, it's you. Are you here because you've decided to go with me?" Peter nodded to him. "Really? That's great," he said excitedly, reaching for a pouch on his belt. He pulled out three small red and white colored spheres and set them on the ground in front of us. "If you're sure, go ahead."
Peter looked down at me. "You sure, Delta?"
"Yeah."
"Then just touch the little silver piece on one of the balls."
I examined the ball sitting in front of me for a moment before pressing the tip of my nose to the tiny silver button. I immediately felt a very strange sensation. It felt as though I was being thrown forward, kind of like when I tripped and fell into the pond earlier that day, but without the splash. It was over as suddenly as it started. I found myself in complete darkness. I looked in all directions trying to see if there was anything in there. Nothing but darkness. But then a light shone. I stayed there for a moment before that same strange feeling came over me. I found myself back at the daycare. I stood for a moment, dazed, before falling to my side.
"Delta, are you alright?" Peter asked me, panicked about what just happened. I slowly stood back up, shaking my head trying to get my bearings back, and looked over at him.
"Wow...that felt really weird being in there. I'm fine Peter, just kind of lost my balance."
"You'll get used to it soon enough," Greg said reassuringly. "Just give it some time."
"Is he OK?" Aaron asked, concerned. Peter looked up to him and gestured to him that I was alright. He reached down and tried to pick me up. I knew right then that was not something I would enjoy. I struggled out of his grip dropping back to the ground. I turned on the spot and stared up into his face. He looked down at me, still concerned. "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" I shook my head. "Just don't like to be picked up, huh?"
Ryan crept nervously to one of the remaining balls. He reached down to it and touched the button. I watched as he glowed red for a moment before he was sucked into the ball. The ball shook violently for a moment, then stopped. Aaron picked it up and pressed the small button. The ball sprang open and a red energy shot out of it, materializing into Ryan's body. He collapsed to the ground, drawing in staggered breaths. Peter patted his back trying to calm him down. He took in a couple deep breaths before standing back up. Peter looked at the remaining ball.
"Well, here goes nothing," he said as he touched it. Just like Ryan before him he was engulfed in a red aura and sucked into the Pokeball, which wobbled for a moment, considerably weaker than Ryan's, and soon stopped. Aaron picked this one up as well, and opened the ball, allowing Peter to come back into view. Unlike Ryan and me, he did not collapse after being released.
"That was a lot better than I thought it would be. It's surprisingly not that cramped in there, there's plenty of space," he said after he materialized before me. Greg slowly walked over to Aaron and nuzzled his hand. Aaron quickly withdrew his hand and looked down at Greg.
"You want to come too?" he asked. Greg nodded to him. Aaron reached into his pouch and pulled out a fourth Pokeball and set it down in front of the Growlithe, who poked the silver button, being sucked into the ball. Aaron let him back out after it stopped shaking. Aaron patted him on the head and walked inside the house. He came out a moment later with a backpack. He looked down at us.
"You guys ready to go?" Peter turned and ran back towards the cave. He came back with the book he was reading earlier. "A book? 'Pokemon Diseases and Their Cures'?" he said, reading the title. "You can read this?" Peter nodded to him. "Well, I've never met a Pokemon that could read. I assume you want to take this with you?" Peter nodded once again. Aaron took off his backpack and placed the book inside it, slinging it back onto his shoulder.
"All set?" All of us signaled that we were ready to go. He pulled the four balls from his belt and pointed one at Peter, who glowed red once again and disappeared into the ball. Then he did the same to Greg. He pointed the third one at Ryan, and Ryan panicked, not wanting to return to the ball.
"What's wrong?" Aaron asked him, looking into his terrified eyes. "Are you afraid of being in there?" He nodded quickly. "OK, well, if you don't want to, I won't make you," he said as he put the ball back into his pouch. He looked at me for a moment.
"Do you have a problem being in there too?" I shook my head. He pointed the fourth ball at me and I felt the falling sensation as I was sucked into darkness.
I saw the light that I'd seen before and braced myself for what was going to come. I appeared in the middle of the forest. I was able to stay on my paws this time with a bit of difficulty. I looked around and saw a wall of trees all around me except for a small break on two sides. I noticed we were on the path my mother carried me on earlier. Several hours must have passed, because it was now late evening.
"You doing alright Delta?" Ryan said behind me. I swiveled around to face him.
"I'm fine. Why did he bring me out?"
"He didn't. He's setting up camp so I let you guys out of your balls." He pointed to a nearby tree and I noticed Peter sitting up against it, his book propped up on a rock. He seemed completely absorbed in it. Greg was sitting next to Aaron as he set up a tent. Greg stood up and tried to help him hold down part of the tent so he could plant a stake to hold it in place. I could tell he was nervous about doing it, he still didn't trust Aaron, but he was determined to try. I watched as Aaron carefully placed the stake and began to pound it into the ground with a hammer. Greg quickly withdrew his paws from the tent after Aaron got the stake about halfway in. He looked over and saw us. He made his way over to Ryan and me.
"Hey Delta, how was it in the Pokeball?" he asked me.
"It wasn't that bad. Kinda lonely being in there though."
"Yeah, it is. How bout you Ry?"
"He didn't put me in it," Ryan told him.
"Really? I guess he knows about your claustrophobia then, eh?"
"He just thinks I'm uncomfortable being in the Pokeball, so he let me stay out of it."
"Wow. I didn't expect a human to be so compassionate."
Aaron finished pitching the tent and called us over. We crowded around him. "Hey guys, I was just wondering, do you all have names, or should I just call you by your species?" he asked us. Peter approached him and tugged his pant leg. He looked down at him. "You need something?"
Peter stared up at him, unsure of how to communicate to him. He looked around and saw a notebook poking out from Aaron's backpack. He dashed over to it and pulled it out, and continued searching in the pack. "Hey, what are you doing?" Aaron asked him walking up behind him. Peter pulled a small, pointy, yellow stick from the bag and picked up the notebook. He did something with the two and handed the pad to Aaron.
"'Yes we have names'" he read. "You can write too? Amazing..." He stood there for a moment staring at the notebook before giving it back to Peter. "What are your names?" Peter quickly scrawled onto the paper and returned it to Aaron.
"'I'm Peter, the Raichu is my brother Ryan. The Growlithe's name is Greg, and the Eevee is Delta.'"
He looked down at Peter, amazed. He turned to us, pointing to each of us in turn saying our names, making sure he could remember them. He looked at me for a moment, then handed Peter the notebook again. "Why is Delta with you instead of his family?" he asked him. My eyes welled up again after hearing these words. He looked down at me again, seeing me on the verge of tears. "What the...?" he said as Peter poked his leg with the notebook. Aaron took it from him and read it before looking down at me again. He knelt down and placed a hand on top of my head. "I'm so sorry..." he said to me. I looked to see what Peter wrote, but couldn't read it.
Aaron stood back up and took the pencil from Peter and put it and the notebook away in his backpack. He pulled back one of the flaps on the front of the tent and walked in, motioning for us to follow him. I hopped inside first and looked around. I saw a small pile of cloth in one of the corners. I watched it and noticed it was moving slightly. I curiously padded over to it slowly. I sniffed the pile for a moment when it moved up, hitting me in the nose. I yelped and jumped back from it. The pile shifted a moment and I saw a Treecko emerge from it. She looked at me before slowly approaching me.
"Are you OK?" she asked me. "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean..."
"I'm fine, and it's OK, don't worry about it," I said to her, cutting her off.
"Well, aren't you the rude one," she said to me coldly. I drooped my ears when she said that.
"...Sorry."
"It's alright, just try not to cut people off when they're talking. Now then, what are you doing here?" she asked, then she saw Aaron behind me. "Oh, you must be the one he picked up from that daycare. In that case, nice to meet you, I'm Catherine. What's your name?"
"My name's Delta, nice to meet you too."
"You look pretty young. I wonder why he picked you. He should have left you with your family, that's not like Aaron. What? Is something wrong?" she added, seeing that I was once again ready to cry. Aaron noticed her watching me and walked up behind me. He looked down to see me about to let my emotions overwhelm me. He looked over at her.
"What happened? Is he alright?" he asked her. She looked back down at me, worried. "Did you mention his family to him?" She slowly nodded. He walked to the other side of the tent, signaling for her to follow. He said something to her that I couldn't hear. She gasped and turned her head to face me. I could see tears forming in her eyes. She walked back over to me.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked," she said softly to me.
"You couldn't have known, Catherine. It's not your fault."
She looked up from me to see Peter open the flap of the tent and walk inside. She pounced on him.
"OW! What are you doing, Delta? Huh? A Treecko?" he asked, utterly confused as to what just happened.
"What are you doing in here? This is my trainer's tent!" she hollered at him.
"Whoa cool it, Cathy," Aaron told her, picking her up from behind. She fought against his grip, but he didn't let go. He held her until she calmed down enough to stop trying to hit him, and gently set her back down. "Cathy, this is Peter. He's gonna be traveling with us too, and so are those two out there." She stared up at him in surprise, then shifted her gaze out of the tent. She nearly fainted when she saw them, staggering back a bit. She stared at Peter for a moment before speaking again.
"I...I'm sorry for attacking you."
"It's alright. No harm done," Peter replied. Ryan and Greg walked up to the tent and peered inside.
"What's going on in here?" Ryan asked. He saw Catherine standing in front of Peter. "A Treecko?" He approached her slowly. "Hi, I'm Ryan, Peter's brother," he greeted her warmly. She slowly looked him over, looking fearful. "Are you OK?"
"I...I...I've never seen a Raichu before, sorry." She shook her head. "Pardon me. My name's Catherine."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Catherine. This is our friend, Greg," Ryan said, indicating the Growlithe standing behind him. Greg slowly entered the tent and looked at Catherine.
"Hi there," he said as he entered. If Catherine was afraid of Ryan, it was nothing compared to what she felt for Greg. She backed cautiously away from him, her eyes fixated on him. He watched her, noticing her fear, and turned away, walking over next to me and sat down. "What's with her?" he asked me.
"I don't know," I said. She continued to stare at Greg, her eyes wide in fear.
Aaron walked over to the front of the tent and sealed the flap shut. He then walked over and sat next to Catherine.
"Cathy, you OK?" he asked her curiously. She looked up at him with the same look she gave Greg. "Why are you so afraid of him? Is it because he's a Fire-Type? Because if that's why, you shouldn't really be afraid of him, he's on our side" he said chuckling. Her expression softened a little and she looked down at the floor of the tent. She stood up and made her way over to Greg.
"I'm sorry, Greg. I should have at least given you a chance."
"Don't worry about it Catherine. By the way, would you rather be called Catherine or would you rather we called you Cathy like Aaron does?"
"Whichever works for you, I don't mind."
"Well, I like Cathy, so I'll call you that," he laughed. Surprisingly she giggled along with him.
After Catherine got to know all of us a bit better, she seemed far more comfortable around us. Night quickly fell upon the forest, and drowsiness clouded my mind. I found a comfortable spot on the floor and plopped down, falling asleep right away.
Well, there you have it. The story of how I joined a human on his quest as a Pokemon trainer. I was glad I made that decision. I never would have met some of my current friends had I not accepted his offer. "Delta!" Ugh. Now what? "Delta, come here, quick!" Something must have happened. I'm coming! Anyways, I'll see you later. *Runs out of the room*
The next week is not really important enough to the story for me to tell, not that I remember much about that week anyway. All I remember about it was that was when Peter decided to start teaching Ryan about human medicine, just in case something should happen and he wasn't able to take care of it for whatever reason. So I'm going to pick up after that.
This would be another of those days I'll never forget. It started like any other day, I woke up to find Greg had brought us all breakfast. I hastily ate my share, eager to head outside. Peter told me that a human was expected to show up today, and I was a bit curious. I know, you're probably wondering, "Hey Delta, I thought you were afraid of humans." It had been a while since my previous encounter with humans. After my experiences with Greg and my newfound understanding that I should not judge a species as a whole, I figured I'd give them another shot. I left the den and trotted over towards the house on the daycare, hoping to see this expected visitor. There was no sign of this human anywhere, so I figured I must be a little too early and walked over to the pond. I saw a disturbance in the water and inched closer to see what it was. I peered into the water, hoping to find what was making the water ripple the way it had. All of a sudden a Mudkip shot out, landing back in the water and spraying me in the face. I shook my head violently trying to get the water out of my eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to splash you," I heard a voice near me. I jumped when I felt a cold touch on my shoulder. I opened my eyes to look at the Mudkip. She was standing next to me, trying to apologize for the spray.
"It's OK. I shouldn't have been so close to the pond," I responded, finally clearing my eyes. "It's no big deal."
"No, I should have checked before I did that. Are you OK?"
"I'm fine," I reassured her. "What's your name?"
"Me? I'm Rachel. What about you?"
"My name's Delta. Rachel, that's a nice name."
"Well, thank you Delta. I like your's too," she giggled. She leapt back into the water, turning to face me, wanting me to follow her. I stuck my paw into the water and quickly retracted it. It was freezing cold.
"Just jump in, Delta. You'll get used to it soon enough," she called to me. Obliging her, I backed up a few paces before charging at the edge of the pond. I tripped on a rock and fell over, landing in the freezing water. I resurfaced and saw Rachel laughing at me. I thought about what just happened and laughed too. It was kind of funny. I slowly swam out to her, but when I got near her, she dove underwater. Trying to find her I looked down into the pond. I felt a pressure on my back and I was forced under. I looked up in panic and saw her holding me down. I found it fairly hard to breathe underwater and began to struggle against her. She pulled me back up.
"Delta, I'm sorry, are you alright," she said to me.
"I'm OK, Rachel."
"I'm so careless! I almost killed you just to have a bit of fun. Delta, I'm sorry," and with that, she swam to the edge of the pond, and ran away. I tried to chase after her, but she could swim a lot better than I can, and by the time I got out of the water, she was gone. I started to follow the trail of wet grass she left behind, and I eventually found her. She was sitting against a tree, crying. I slowly walked over to her, placing a paw on her back. She jumped and turned around.
"AAAGGGHHH!!" she screamed in horror, before noticing it was me. "Oh, Delta you scared me half to death."
"I'm sorry," I apologized. "Why did you run off?"
She stared at me before answering. "I couldn't believe what I did to you. I should have known better than to force you underwater. I almost drowned you, Delta. I think you'd be better off away from me. There's no telling what I might do next." I looked at her for a second before I spoke again.
"Don't worry about it, Rachel. We were just playing."
"Delta, don't you get it. I let fun cloud my judgment and almost killed you. That was horribly irresponsible of me. I think it would be best if you leave me alone before I hurt you again." She turned away from me and ran away again. I stood there, trying to figure out what just happened. I slowly started to follow her again, but without a trail of water to follow, there was no way I'd find her again easily. I turned to walk back to the house. I'd try to find Rachel again later.
I got back to the house shortly after, but the human still hadn't shown up yet. I heard the door open and turned around, seeing the daycare owner walk out. I looked up at him when I noticed Peter walk out behind him. He turned and saw me sitting there.
"Hey Delta. How's it going?" he greeted me. He looked at me for a second. "Is something wrong?"
"Hey Peter. I found a Mudkip by the pond earlier. She wanted me to swim with her, so I did. We were having fun until she hopped on my back and I ended up under the water. She freaked out about it and ran off. I followed her and saw her crying. I tried to help, but she ran away again," I explained to him.
"Rachel?"
"Yeah. You know her?"
"Yes. She's a bit insecure. She gets upset about hurting people, ever since Drew got to her."
"Drew? He did that to her?" I asked. "What happened?"
"Remember when I told you Ryan got hurt defending another Pokemon from Drew? That Pokemon was Rachel. Ever since that day, anything that she did or that happened to her that could possibly hurt someone has totally terrified her. She must be upset that she let fun overcome her fear, and it came back when she pushed you under. That would explain her desire to get away from you. She doesn't want to hurt you."
I looked down at the ground, worried about her.
"What are you doing here anyways?" he said, changing the subject.
"I came to see that human you were telling me about."
"Really? I thought you were afraid of humans."
"Well, since you guys taught me not to think of all Growlithe the same, I figured humans would all be different too."
"So you want to see if this one will be the same, huh?" I nodded. "There's not much I can tell you about him except his name. I heard the owner talking to him on the phone."
"Phone?" I asked curiously.
"It's something humans use to talk to each other when they're far away. His name is Aaron, I think. He's supposed to be here soon."
"Why is he coming here, do you know?"
"No, I don't."
He looked up as if he saw something. I turned my head and saw a human walking along the road towards the daycare.
"Is that him?"
"I think so."
We waited there, watching the human open the gate and approach the house. He knocked on the door. As he waited for an answer, he looked down and saw us watching him.
"Hello there," he greeted us. "Do you know if he's here?"
Peter shook his head and pointed in the direction the owner had gone. The human knelt down and patted him on the head.
"Thanks," he said before walking off in the direction Peter indicated. I waited a couple seconds before following him. Peter came with me, just as curious as I was. Aaron found the owner kneeling down over something. Peter and I walked around them to get a better view of what he was doing. He was examining a small plant that I'd never seen before. The boy walked over to him.
"I'm here," he said. The man stood up and turned to face him.
"Hello Aaron, good to see you again," he said with a smile. "I heard you've become a trainer, good for you."
"Thanks," Aaron responded. "You know why I'm here, right?"
"Of course I do. You're here to adopt a Pokemon." He turned and saw me and Peter standing there. "I'm not too sure you should go with either of these two though."
"Why not? Is something wrong with them?"
"Not wrong with them, I just don't suggest that they be split up is all."
Aaron looked down at us, wondering why the man didn't want him to take us. "Is there anything against me taking both?" he asked.
"Actually, I don't think that would be a good idea either, there's a third. Not sure where he is."
Peter looked at me nervously. "I have a bad feeling about this," he said.
"Me too," I replied.
Aaron heard us talking amongst ourselves and focused his attention on us. He knelt down before me, reaching over towards me. I backed away cautiously, unsure of what he was trying to do. He withdrew his hand, looking a bit confused.
"How old is that Eevee?" he asked.
"I'd guess he was no more than a month old."
"That's why you don't want him taken away, huh?"
"That's why I don't want him separated from the Pikachu, and the Pikachu shouldn't be separated from the Raichu."
"Raichu? There's a Raichu here?"
"Yep, I think the two are brothers, judging by their age and how they behave near each other."
Aaron looked at us as we watched him. He stood back up and whispered something into the man's ear. He then turned and left. The man looked down at us.
"Do you two have a problem leaving here?" he asked us.
Peter looked at me. "Delta, what do you think? Do you want a life with a human?"
"Not after what Greg told me about his trainer."
"I thought you learned not to judge a species as a whole."
"Yeah, I suppose. What about Ryan or Greg? What would they think of it?"
"Maybe we should discuss this with them."
Peter and I stood up to head back to the den, but the man stopped us. "Do you have an answer?" he inquired.
We both shook our heads and continued to head to the cave. We entered and I sat down next to Greg.
"Is everything alright?" he asked.
"That human wants to take us," Peter answered. Greg immediately jumped to his paws.
"WHAT!? What are we gonna do about this?"
"Greg, calm down. I think he's giving us a choice. At least he respects us enough to do that. I thought I'd let Delta make the decision," Peter said.
I gawked at him. He wanted me to make a decision that would affect not only my life, but their lives as well. "What do you think, Delta?" he asked me. I couldn't take the pressure he was putting on me, and I fainted.
I woke up a short while later. All of them were standing over me, with me lying on my back. Peter placed a paw on my forehead. "Delta, are you OK? You fainted a few minutes ago," he informed me.
I rolled onto my belly and sat up. "I'm fine. Why do you want me to make that choice?"
"I'm sorry to put so much pressure on you, but I think you should have a say in your future. I'll support you no matter what you choose. Now, do you want to go with Aaron?"
"Aaron? Who's Aaron?" Ryan asked.
"The human, Ryan."
"Right..."
I sat there thinking about what life with a human could possibly be like. The only thing I knew about humans was told to me by my mom and Greg, and it was nothing but bad news. "Why don't you think on it, take all the time you need, there's no rush," Peter said to me with his paw on my shoulder.
There was so much to consider. I'd be giving up my current lifestyle and my new home. And what about Greg? What would he do without us? Or would he come with us despite his feelings towards humans? I continued to think on the subject for a long time before finally making up my mind. I looked over at Peter, who was just outside the cave reading one of the books he took from the Pokemon center. I walked over to him.
"Hey Peter, I've made my choice."
"Just remember, whatever you want to do, I'll stay with you, and so will Ryan and Greg."
"Greg?"
"Yeah, I've talked it over with him and he said he'll give humans another chance if you wanted to go. He cares about you, and so do Ryan and I. Now, what's your decision?"
"Delta!" What is it? "Can you come here and help me for a minute?" I'm in the middle of my story, can it wait? "It'll be real quick, please, I need help with this." Alright. I'll be right back, don't go anywhere. *Leaves*
*Returns* Sorry about that, there's a hole in the roof in the other room. We had a bad storm last night and they're trying to fix the water damage. Now where was I? Oh right...
"I've decided...I want to go. I want to see what life with a human would be like."
"Are you sure? You know that Aaron's a trainer and he'll likely keep you in a Pokeball."
"What's a Pokeball?" I asked curiously.
"It's something trainers use to capture Pokemon in the wild, and they're also used to transport them. Ryan told me he hated the feeling of being in one, but then again, he is claustrophobic, so I can understand that. Greg told me it's not too bad, it just takes time to get used to it."
"That doesn't change my mind. I want to go with him. He seems like a nice person. Especially since he's giving us the choice of going with him instead of just taking us."
"Well, if that's what you want, lets go find the others and tell them."
He closed the book he was reading and carried it back inside the den before we left. Ryan wasn't too difficult to find, he was resting under the tree by the pond. We went over to him. He sat up as we approached.
"Hey Ryan. He finally made up his mind," Peter told him.
"Well, what's your decision Delta?" he said looking over to me.
"I...I want to go with him," I said timidly.
"You sure?" I nodded to him. "Does Greg know?"
"No, we found you first. Do you know where he is?" Peter inquired.
"No, I don't."
And off we went to try to find Greg. After a few minutes we found him napping on a rock on the other side of the daycare. He stirred as we walked over to him. He turned to face us. "Has he made his mind yet?"
"Yeah, I have. I..." I started. I didn't know how to tell Greg.
"You want to go, huh?" he asked, as though he had read my mind. He shivered at the thought. "Very well, I'll go with you guys. Don't expect me to enjoy this though," he added with a laugh. It was good to see he wasn't too upset about traveling with a human again. The four of us made our way up to the house. I could see Aaron sitting outside looking off into the forest. Peter got his attention when we arrived by hopping up into his lap.
"Aagh, what the..." he said looking down to see what landed in on his knee. "Oh, it's you. Are you here because you've decided to go with me?" Peter nodded to him. "Really? That's great," he said excitedly, reaching for a pouch on his belt. He pulled out three small red and white colored spheres and set them on the ground in front of us. "If you're sure, go ahead."
Peter looked down at me. "You sure, Delta?"
"Yeah."
"Then just touch the little silver piece on one of the balls."
I examined the ball sitting in front of me for a moment before pressing the tip of my nose to the tiny silver button. I immediately felt a very strange sensation. It felt as though I was being thrown forward, kind of like when I tripped and fell into the pond earlier that day, but without the splash. It was over as suddenly as it started. I found myself in complete darkness. I looked in all directions trying to see if there was anything in there. Nothing but darkness. But then a light shone. I stayed there for a moment before that same strange feeling came over me. I found myself back at the daycare. I stood for a moment, dazed, before falling to my side.
"Delta, are you alright?" Peter asked me, panicked about what just happened. I slowly stood back up, shaking my head trying to get my bearings back, and looked over at him.
"Wow...that felt really weird being in there. I'm fine Peter, just kind of lost my balance."
"You'll get used to it soon enough," Greg said reassuringly. "Just give it some time."
"Is he OK?" Aaron asked, concerned. Peter looked up to him and gestured to him that I was alright. He reached down and tried to pick me up. I knew right then that was not something I would enjoy. I struggled out of his grip dropping back to the ground. I turned on the spot and stared up into his face. He looked down at me, still concerned. "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" I shook my head. "Just don't like to be picked up, huh?"
Ryan crept nervously to one of the remaining balls. He reached down to it and touched the button. I watched as he glowed red for a moment before he was sucked into the ball. The ball shook violently for a moment, then stopped. Aaron picked it up and pressed the small button. The ball sprang open and a red energy shot out of it, materializing into Ryan's body. He collapsed to the ground, drawing in staggered breaths. Peter patted his back trying to calm him down. He took in a couple deep breaths before standing back up. Peter looked at the remaining ball.
"Well, here goes nothing," he said as he touched it. Just like Ryan before him he was engulfed in a red aura and sucked into the Pokeball, which wobbled for a moment, considerably weaker than Ryan's, and soon stopped. Aaron picked this one up as well, and opened the ball, allowing Peter to come back into view. Unlike Ryan and me, he did not collapse after being released.
"That was a lot better than I thought it would be. It's surprisingly not that cramped in there, there's plenty of space," he said after he materialized before me. Greg slowly walked over to Aaron and nuzzled his hand. Aaron quickly withdrew his hand and looked down at Greg.
"You want to come too?" he asked. Greg nodded to him. Aaron reached into his pouch and pulled out a fourth Pokeball and set it down in front of the Growlithe, who poked the silver button, being sucked into the ball. Aaron let him back out after it stopped shaking. Aaron patted him on the head and walked inside the house. He came out a moment later with a backpack. He looked down at us.
"You guys ready to go?" Peter turned and ran back towards the cave. He came back with the book he was reading earlier. "A book? 'Pokemon Diseases and Their Cures'?" he said, reading the title. "You can read this?" Peter nodded to him. "Well, I've never met a Pokemon that could read. I assume you want to take this with you?" Peter nodded once again. Aaron took off his backpack and placed the book inside it, slinging it back onto his shoulder.
"All set?" All of us signaled that we were ready to go. He pulled the four balls from his belt and pointed one at Peter, who glowed red once again and disappeared into the ball. Then he did the same to Greg. He pointed the third one at Ryan, and Ryan panicked, not wanting to return to the ball.
"What's wrong?" Aaron asked him, looking into his terrified eyes. "Are you afraid of being in there?" He nodded quickly. "OK, well, if you don't want to, I won't make you," he said as he put the ball back into his pouch. He looked at me for a moment.
"Do you have a problem being in there too?" I shook my head. He pointed the fourth ball at me and I felt the falling sensation as I was sucked into darkness.
I saw the light that I'd seen before and braced myself for what was going to come. I appeared in the middle of the forest. I was able to stay on my paws this time with a bit of difficulty. I looked around and saw a wall of trees all around me except for a small break on two sides. I noticed we were on the path my mother carried me on earlier. Several hours must have passed, because it was now late evening.
"You doing alright Delta?" Ryan said behind me. I swiveled around to face him.
"I'm fine. Why did he bring me out?"
"He didn't. He's setting up camp so I let you guys out of your balls." He pointed to a nearby tree and I noticed Peter sitting up against it, his book propped up on a rock. He seemed completely absorbed in it. Greg was sitting next to Aaron as he set up a tent. Greg stood up and tried to help him hold down part of the tent so he could plant a stake to hold it in place. I could tell he was nervous about doing it, he still didn't trust Aaron, but he was determined to try. I watched as Aaron carefully placed the stake and began to pound it into the ground with a hammer. Greg quickly withdrew his paws from the tent after Aaron got the stake about halfway in. He looked over and saw us. He made his way over to Ryan and me.
"Hey Delta, how was it in the Pokeball?" he asked me.
"It wasn't that bad. Kinda lonely being in there though."
"Yeah, it is. How bout you Ry?"
"He didn't put me in it," Ryan told him.
"Really? I guess he knows about your claustrophobia then, eh?"
"He just thinks I'm uncomfortable being in the Pokeball, so he let me stay out of it."
"Wow. I didn't expect a human to be so compassionate."
Aaron finished pitching the tent and called us over. We crowded around him. "Hey guys, I was just wondering, do you all have names, or should I just call you by your species?" he asked us. Peter approached him and tugged his pant leg. He looked down at him. "You need something?"
Peter stared up at him, unsure of how to communicate to him. He looked around and saw a notebook poking out from Aaron's backpack. He dashed over to it and pulled it out, and continued searching in the pack. "Hey, what are you doing?" Aaron asked him walking up behind him. Peter pulled a small, pointy, yellow stick from the bag and picked up the notebook. He did something with the two and handed the pad to Aaron.
"'Yes we have names'" he read. "You can write too? Amazing..." He stood there for a moment staring at the notebook before giving it back to Peter. "What are your names?" Peter quickly scrawled onto the paper and returned it to Aaron.
"'I'm Peter, the Raichu is my brother Ryan. The Growlithe's name is Greg, and the Eevee is Delta.'"
He looked down at Peter, amazed. He turned to us, pointing to each of us in turn saying our names, making sure he could remember them. He looked at me for a moment, then handed Peter the notebook again. "Why is Delta with you instead of his family?" he asked him. My eyes welled up again after hearing these words. He looked down at me again, seeing me on the verge of tears. "What the...?" he said as Peter poked his leg with the notebook. Aaron took it from him and read it before looking down at me again. He knelt down and placed a hand on top of my head. "I'm so sorry..." he said to me. I looked to see what Peter wrote, but couldn't read it.
Aaron stood back up and took the pencil from Peter and put it and the notebook away in his backpack. He pulled back one of the flaps on the front of the tent and walked in, motioning for us to follow him. I hopped inside first and looked around. I saw a small pile of cloth in one of the corners. I watched it and noticed it was moving slightly. I curiously padded over to it slowly. I sniffed the pile for a moment when it moved up, hitting me in the nose. I yelped and jumped back from it. The pile shifted a moment and I saw a Treecko emerge from it. She looked at me before slowly approaching me.
"Are you OK?" she asked me. "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean..."
"I'm fine, and it's OK, don't worry about it," I said to her, cutting her off.
"Well, aren't you the rude one," she said to me coldly. I drooped my ears when she said that.
"...Sorry."
"It's alright, just try not to cut people off when they're talking. Now then, what are you doing here?" she asked, then she saw Aaron behind me. "Oh, you must be the one he picked up from that daycare. In that case, nice to meet you, I'm Catherine. What's your name?"
"My name's Delta, nice to meet you too."
"You look pretty young. I wonder why he picked you. He should have left you with your family, that's not like Aaron. What? Is something wrong?" she added, seeing that I was once again ready to cry. Aaron noticed her watching me and walked up behind me. He looked down to see me about to let my emotions overwhelm me. He looked over at her.
"What happened? Is he alright?" he asked her. She looked back down at me, worried. "Did you mention his family to him?" She slowly nodded. He walked to the other side of the tent, signaling for her to follow. He said something to her that I couldn't hear. She gasped and turned her head to face me. I could see tears forming in her eyes. She walked back over to me.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked," she said softly to me.
"You couldn't have known, Catherine. It's not your fault."
She looked up from me to see Peter open the flap of the tent and walk inside. She pounced on him.
"OW! What are you doing, Delta? Huh? A Treecko?" he asked, utterly confused as to what just happened.
"What are you doing in here? This is my trainer's tent!" she hollered at him.
"Whoa cool it, Cathy," Aaron told her, picking her up from behind. She fought against his grip, but he didn't let go. He held her until she calmed down enough to stop trying to hit him, and gently set her back down. "Cathy, this is Peter. He's gonna be traveling with us too, and so are those two out there." She stared up at him in surprise, then shifted her gaze out of the tent. She nearly fainted when she saw them, staggering back a bit. She stared at Peter for a moment before speaking again.
"I...I'm sorry for attacking you."
"It's alright. No harm done," Peter replied. Ryan and Greg walked up to the tent and peered inside.
"What's going on in here?" Ryan asked. He saw Catherine standing in front of Peter. "A Treecko?" He approached her slowly. "Hi, I'm Ryan, Peter's brother," he greeted her warmly. She slowly looked him over, looking fearful. "Are you OK?"
"I...I...I've never seen a Raichu before, sorry." She shook her head. "Pardon me. My name's Catherine."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Catherine. This is our friend, Greg," Ryan said, indicating the Growlithe standing behind him. Greg slowly entered the tent and looked at Catherine.
"Hi there," he said as he entered. If Catherine was afraid of Ryan, it was nothing compared to what she felt for Greg. She backed cautiously away from him, her eyes fixated on him. He watched her, noticing her fear, and turned away, walking over next to me and sat down. "What's with her?" he asked me.
"I don't know," I said. She continued to stare at Greg, her eyes wide in fear.
Aaron walked over to the front of the tent and sealed the flap shut. He then walked over and sat next to Catherine.
"Cathy, you OK?" he asked her curiously. She looked up at him with the same look she gave Greg. "Why are you so afraid of him? Is it because he's a Fire-Type? Because if that's why, you shouldn't really be afraid of him, he's on our side" he said chuckling. Her expression softened a little and she looked down at the floor of the tent. She stood up and made her way over to Greg.
"I'm sorry, Greg. I should have at least given you a chance."
"Don't worry about it Catherine. By the way, would you rather be called Catherine or would you rather we called you Cathy like Aaron does?"
"Whichever works for you, I don't mind."
"Well, I like Cathy, so I'll call you that," he laughed. Surprisingly she giggled along with him.
After Catherine got to know all of us a bit better, she seemed far more comfortable around us. Night quickly fell upon the forest, and drowsiness clouded my mind. I found a comfortable spot on the floor and plopped down, falling asleep right away.
Well, there you have it. The story of how I joined a human on his quest as a Pokemon trainer. I was glad I made that decision. I never would have met some of my current friends had I not accepted his offer. "Delta!" Ugh. Now what? "Delta, come here, quick!" Something must have happened. I'm coming! Anyways, I'll see you later. *Runs out of the room*