An orange scaled arm burst from the shell, with three clawed fingers, as the pokemon inside struggled to escape its former prison. The arm flailed about, trying to widen the hole and make way for the slightly larger round head that pushed at the side of the opening. Failing to do so, it withdrew the arm, allowing an orange snout to shove against the hole for a breath of air.

<”I guess it isn’t an Ralts, hah” Eric laughed, his guess being wildly incorrect. “Nor a Sentret, guess I was wrong on it being something soft and fuzzy” Diane admitted, having hoped for a soft cuddly partner for her son. Stanley thought it was weird his parents would have a specific preference, he just wanted someone who could understand him.>

With one solid shove, the top of the egg cracked up and opened like the lid on a tin can, with the small pokemon’s reptilian head poking out and breathing hard. Slowly maneuvering to clamber out of the former egg, the orange pokemon wiggled left to right, covered in goop and letting out a small cry “Damnit, why?!” The quarter-meter tall pokemon was small for its species, but having just emerged from an egg this was bound to change with time. Its cream-colored underbelly continuously expanded and contracted as it caught its first breaths, before opening a pair of sky-blue eyes to take in the world.

While the two adults were careful about getting the cotton towels too close to the open flame at the tip of his tail, the new hatchling seemed to perk up at their words. “Wait, didn’t we already do this? Why was I back in the egg?” The Charmander attempted to grab its tail, but failed as they could barely stand, its balance not being helped by the four human hands trying to clean it off. “This doesn’t make any sense, did I go back in time?!” it continued to wail, albeit not in a way any human could comprehend.

“Wait, are you seriously having them repeat the same words and actions every time they reset?” the small pokemon questioned. It could only look up at the titans towering above, even the small child was nearly double his height.

Under Eric and Diane’s nervous glances, the Charmander sighed and hopped off the chair, moving to join the boy. Once the duo were near the door, the lizard waited for a moment.

<”Don’t go out into the tall grass Stanley! You’re not a trainer yet, so just do a normal walk around town.” Eric suggested, smiling to see that somehow things were already looking up. “Oh, if you go by the grocer can you buy some carrots for tonight?” Diane asked, pulling a few Pokedollars from her purse and offering them to Stanley. That shouldn’t be too hard, thought Stanley, as he accepted the both the quest and offered currency.>

With an errant glance, Charmander locked eyes with Eric and Diane, he subtly placed his palms together and leaned forward in a slight bow. The duo’s happy expressions faltered for a moment, as the child and pokemon walked out the front door. The view was instantly calming, as the lizard took the extra moment to take in the view of their house. It hadn’t changed, still being composed of stone walls with creeping ivy decorating several places, though the styling somehow evoked the image of a countryside cottage in a certain country. “Why does this make me feel like I want a croissant?” he asked nobody in particular.

“Ah, you must be the egg he’s been carrying around, eh?” the bird inquired, its gaze now on the lizard at the boy’s heels.

“Yea, and we’ve already had this conversation before,” the Charmander responded, catching the bird off-guard. It trilled a happy high-pitched laugh with a smile.

“Well if that isn’t the silliest thing a hatchling has said to me in a while,.” The bird got a chuckle, clearly entertained. “I suggest you hurry along before you lose Stanley; and welcome to Vaniville!” it said, taking to the sky to fly elsewhere. Charmander, seeing that his companion was now almost a house ahead, broke into a jog to catch up.

The Charmander followed behind silently, his face determined and illustrating just how fast the gears were spinning in his head. Meanwhile the peaceful sunshine and sounds of springtime were everywhere in the small town. Flowers were in full bloom, and small bug pokemon would infrequently flutter flower to flower.

The Charmander remained quiet, walking in silent lockstep behind the child.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Taking a gamble again, the Charmander again kept quiet.

As the duo continued, they came up to the main shopping area, where the grocery and general stores sat on opposite sides of the path. “I wonder if they have a hospital or Pokecenter somewhere in town,” Charmander pondered aloud.

“Alright, I am a dumb, newborn pokemon. I cannot read the human language, or count. The boy will just have to solve this one on his own,” the lizard recited, resolving to try and remain in character. Though, he was absolutely vibrating in agitation watching the child attempt to count the money.

Charmander, who was clearly broadcasting his discontent with the situation, walked over and pointed at the bucket of carrots, which had a price of 10 Pokedollars.

“Right,” Charmander remarks, “I forgot he’s only as dumb as you need him to be.”

The lizard, now bereft of his pilferage, closed the front door behind him with a pang of annoyance. Catching Eric’s attention, he draws a circle in the air with his claws, before pointing at himself. “You know Stanley, if you’re going to be a proper Pokemon trainer, we should get a Pokeball for you to carry your new friend around in,” Eric suggested. “Why don’t I go and pick one up for you tomorrow morning, that way you can practice with him?”

With a shrug, the orange pokemon moved to join the child, and began to act a fool.

After he was certain the boy was asleep, Charmander slid off the bed, and stealthily crept towards the living room, where he woke up the computer, with a pencil and pad of paper on the desk for tonight’s notes, disappointed to find the pad was fresh and empty. He made sure to turn the volume all the way off, glancing at the door to Stanley’s room to make sure he had closed it properly. “Well, aren’t you as adorable as a baby eevee,” a sly voice whispered from behind him. Sitting ram-rod straight in a panic, the lizard slowly rotated the chair around to view his silent assailant; a rather powerful Sylveon grinning at his unease. “I guess she wasn’t exaggerating then,” she continued, gently patting the round orange head with her ribbons.

“I am guessing you’re the one Adrienne is always carrying around?” he asked, before turning back to the computer, using both claws to guide the mouse to the web browser. The sylveon sauntered around to his left side, with a grin betraying her interest in the little one. “It’s nice to finally meet you, I guess. I don’t have a name yet, but with any luck it won’t be Bucket,” he introduced himself, as with the bookmarked page loaded he began to read up on the Kalos region.

“Nice to meet you then. My name is Fée’renard, though do try not to pronounce my name as horribly as you write,” she teased. The charmander highlighted a word, before looking at the white pokemon with a sunken frown of disbelief.

“Can you repeat that for me, slowly please?” he asked.

“Fée, renard,” she chided, putting extra emphasis on the appropriate syllables as he groaned in response. “Rather a rude one, aren’t you?”

“No, sorry, it’s just… Your name, her name, I finally understand why everything feels weird,” he clarified, returning to the PC and pulling up the region map. “This is the French region, which explains the architecture, the food, your names, ugh. I didn’t actually play this one,” he explained, drawing a confused response from the faerie pokemon.

“Your words are confusing, and yet imply knowledge beyond what a one day old child should have. So, tell me, what is your plan for beating The Voice?” she inquired, spinning the chair again to force him to face her.

“Well, first, do you know the names of all the kids in this town? Especially the ones who might almost be of age for going on their journey?” he asked, grabbing the paper and pencil to jot down ideas.

“That is a rather odd question. I do, but what might be in it for Adrienne and I?”

“This seems like the kind of town the protagonist would start from, with a pokemon from the region’s main pokemon professor. They end up being the strongest trainer in the region, heck even strong enough to dominate other regions too. If Stanley travels with them, The Voice will get the journey he wants to see, and we’ll be unlikely to face another big re-do.” There was a brief lull after the explanation, before Sylveon gestured for him to continue. “We can’t beat The Voice, we can only play along. If he wants Stanley to be a pokemon master, tagging along with someone strong is our best bet. That and the sooner he leaves, the sooner your trainer gets her life back.”

With a nod, Sylveon sat down on her haunches, “Good, I approve of this plan. Unfortunately, the next children of age to go on this journey are the boy’s age. There are five of them; Shauna, Serena, Tierno, Trevor, and Calem. They are good friends it appears, and both Serena and Calem have parents who competed in the conference their first year.” The lizard promptly writes down the names, though their legibility is questionable.

“Does she still have any other pokemon, or just you?” Charmander asked, putting the paper down on the desk, and changing the page to look up more information on the faerie before him.

“Just me, unfortunate for you. After she met Emeric, she decided to settle down for a while, so the rest of our team is currently staying at the gym in Laverre city. I still don’t see how she fell for him though, did you know that bird isn’t even his? It works for his employer, just to bring him to and from the city,” she chided, her voice low enough not to be audible in the next room.

Resolution burning in his eyes, the Charmander faces her with a serious expression. “Can you train me?” he asks.

With a curious smirk at the entertaining idea, she asks “And why would I do such a thing?”

“Because the boy is mute, and The Voice expects me to actually win battles. You have experience, and want us both gone as soon as possible,” he explained, laying out his reasoning.

“Damn right we do,” she agrees with a sharp smile. “But you’re not going to get very far if your trainer is dead weight. What’ll you do when a different team member is on the field?”

With a sign, the lizard slumped back in the chair, “Yea, I know. I’d have more success as a trainer than just a pokemon,” he lamented, before his eyes opened wider than a child in a toy store.

“You’ve just thought up something crazy haven’t you?” she inquired, her eyes fixated on the bundle of madness before her.

“Yea, actually I did. Hey, uh, other voice… Can the British guy hear this conversation?” he asked, to no-one in particular, as Sylveon looked at him skeptically.

Yes.

The small one swallowed to gather their courage before continuing. “Can I-, I mean can you..?”

Sure, he won’t hear a word you say after I finish this sentence. So, what crazy idea did you have in mind?