It had ended up taking close 2 days to get back to the pokemon centre that Anna worked at. The ponyta had struggled to keep up with us due to its exhaustion and hunger, I was assuming it was still drinking milk (Are pokemon mammals I had remembered thinking over for quite some time on the way back once I had calmed down and the whole live birth vs pokemon eggs question) which I didn’t have any off. Eventually I had asked if I could put it in a pokeball which would let it rest and us keep moving. It had given me a nod but I wasn;t sure it actually understood what I was asking. But after its capture we had made good time with the rest of my team out and keeping watch and leading us out of the forest with them smelling the way we came from and my watch acting as a compass. Luck had been on my side and once we got back to the road I had been just in time to catch the bus back into the city and had been able to disembark right outside the pokemon centre.
“Josh! Where have you been! You have been gone for three days I was about to send the rangers after you!” Anna called from the desk as I staggered through the doors. Rushing out from around the counter she came over to me with concern while a squawk alerted me to her pidgeotto standing on a stand behind the counter.
“Why do you smell like smoke! You look like you have been in a fire!” Anna exclaimed looking over me with concern on her face. “And are you eevees ok? Have they been injured?”
“Hey Anna” I said tiredly. “We are ok. Eevees are fine, a few battles we won but we stayed away from any major fights. But I have someone you need to look at, and a ranger might not be a bad idea either.”
“Well a ranger is actually just over there, Ranger Tom, you can go speak to him in a moment. But who do I need to see and how injured?” She asked, her Nurse persona coming to the front.
“A baby ponyta. Like a real baby. Ended up find a bit of a situation in the forest and had to rescue it. I’m guessing it is extremely hungry, I’m not sure if they drink colostrum or milk but I ended up putting it in a pokeball to rest it. It will be exhausted I bet but I don’t think injured.”
Anna took the ball from me with a concerned look on her face. “Rescued you say? You didn’t capture take it from its mother?”
“No, pretty sure the mum pissed off a swarm of beedrills and had been going at it for at least a day. I found them due to all the fires and destruction.”
“Alright, I had to ask. If you can give me all your pokemon Ill take them to be checked over. If they are not injured it should be quick so you can wait over there.” She nodded over to the benches with her head as she filled a tray with my pokeballs. With the tray full she headed through the door behind the counter while a chansey manned the desk.
Exhausted I went and sat on one of the benches. Giving my arm a sniff I had to grimace. I did stink of sweat and smoke, surprising I wasn’t kicked off the bus.
“Hello Josh, I have actually been looking for you”. Sitting down next to me Ranger Tom turned and faced me. “I need to ask you some questions about the other day about what happened before we meet.”
Ahh crap I really don’t want to do that right now I thought to myself.
“Before we get into that I need to tell you about a different bit of forest I was just in.”
Tom raised his eyebrow at me. “Go on.”
I explained how I had been in the forest and found the trail of destruction which lead into the fires in the forest and the bedrill swarm. Tom looked more and more alarmed.
“Active fires and the bedrill are swarming?! Arceus take it” he swore. Standing up quickly he searched around in one of his pockets before pulling out a paper map. Spreading it out on the table he turned to me and asked if I could highlight where this happened.
“I’m not super sure but I assume around this area. There was a lot of bedrill and open fires. Not sure of your rules here but thought I should tell someone.”
“You did the right thing” Tom replied. “I doubt the fires have got out of control as someone would have called it in by now but it has burnt down a bedrill nest of triggered multiple swarms the people in or near the road could be in danger.” Packing up his map he paused. “I still want to speak to you about the first forest when I get back. Where can I find you?”
“I’m based nearby, you can probably find me here” I waved my hand around tiredly.
Giving me a nod Tom finished packing and strode off and through the door where I saw a flash of light before a large squawk sounded, causing pidgeottos head to snap round. I leaned back in my seat glad I did the right thing and managing to avoid that questioning for another day or too.
“Josh could you come hear please?” Anna called from behind the counter. With a sigh I stood up again and walked over.
“The ponyta is very distressed, is there anything you can tell us to help calm it down?”
“Ahh I’m not sure. We only meet the other day. Can you let me see it? It was trusting me before.”
“We can give that a try. Please follow me, and it is a he just so you know.”
Following her around the counter and through the door I was suddenly able to hear ponyta’s distressed neighing. Following Anna into a checkup room, that had small pokemon written on the front of the door, I saw ponyta bucking lightly from where another chansey was trying to hold him in place.
“Chansey chan!”
“Pooooonyta!”
With a surge ponyta manged to break free from chansey grasp and ran over to my side where leaned against me shivering. “You’re alright little buddy, no ones trying to hurt you” I whispered patting his flank. I looked up at Anna. “Perhaps I should stay with him while you give him a checkover?”
The next half an hour I witnessed Anna give ponyta all manners of checks before she left for the back of the clinic and came back with a large bottle of milk and handed it to me to feed him. Latching on ponyta eagerly started drinking the milk inside the bottle.
“Ill write you up a feeding programme as ponyta will need feeding for the next month before he can transition onto high energy feed. No battling. At all. He is far to young and if I hear you even suggest it in the next few months I will battle you personally!” She said forcefully pointing a finger at me.
“Otherwise he is fine health but will need special care due to how young he is. I wouldn’t recommend leaving him in his pokeball, a young pokemon like him needs time to grow and develop. Short bursts are ok but give him plenty of time to walk around and build up condition. Ill do some research to see if there is anything else you should know. This is exciting! So much better than the normal grass and bug pokemon I see!”
“And the rest of my team?”
“Healthy as could be. Some food, rest and a good clean and they will be right as rain” Anna said brightly fetching the tray with my team on it. “I finish at 7, see you back at the apartment?”
With a nod I collected my pokemon and headed out, keen for a shower and a sleep in a bed.
A week passed in a blur. For the first few days The team and I mostly relaxed and got used to one another, with all me eevees interested in my new ponyta. It took him a day to relax around them but once he did and had recovered from the stress of the forest he was more than happy to play with them. I had asked Mrs Winslow to use her garden originally but with 5 eevees and a young ponyta zooming around chasing one another I had to start taking them to the nearby park to give them more room. Also they had started to run around her garden which had triggered her Bellosum resulting in it chasing my team around with vine whips. So the days passed as ponyta got stronger and faster by the day. He managed to put away a large amount of milk and berries that Anna recommended for him but thankfully as he technically counted as an injured pokemon she was able to get some funding for that through the centre. I was left footing the bill for my eevee’s food same as before sadly. I had noticed after a day or two that there seemed to be a lot more people hanging around the park as I took my team to play. Especially what seemed to be mums with young daughters. All it took was a whisper in a couple of my teams ears and soon I was sitting back with a coffee brought by one of the parents while their children ran around playing with my eevees and absolutely doting on the baby ponyta. I swear the squeals some of those girls could make would count as a sonic attack.
I hadn’t run into ranger Tom since he had left to check the forest so I assumed he was busy sorting that out. However on the 5th day of taking my team to the park to tire out the local children and be feed coffee and baked goods by the thankful parents a middle aged gentle man in a suit approached me.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Excuse me young man, are you the trainer of these eevees?”
The man had a friendly look on his face so I assumed I wasn’t in trouble for breaking any rules. “I am. I’m Josh”
I said reaching out to shake his hand.
“My name is Jeremy and I represent an organization called the Eevee Breeders Association. May I speak to you privately?” Gentleman Jeremy asked politely. Nodding his thanks as the nearby parents stepped away sat down and put his brief case on his lap and opened it.
“As I just mentioned I work for a group called the Eevee Breeders Association. This group has a goal to record all the history, breeding records and evolutions of all the eevees in Kanto. We have records and information about the eevee lines that go back hundreds of years and can provide you with access to the information and funding for your journey if sign up to be part of our group. Some of the most popular and powerful eevees currently in the circuit have come from our group and with our advice on nutrition and training. Are you familiar with Ace Trainer Sawyer perhaps? His Jolteon has been instrumental in getting him to his current ranking. Or perhaps Ace trainer Chloe? Same thing with her Flareon. Just a couple of examples of how people have succeeded with our backing. Would you be interested in joining our group? With your five eevee’s you would benefit greatly from our backing.”
As Jeremy started talking he went through his brief case showing the odd photo of eevee’s and some of their evolutions posing with their trainers with a quote on each one saying how the EBA really helped them in some way. I’m not sure why his pitch was rubbing me the wrong way but something was bothering me. Who just sits down and offers a random person access to their groups secrets and knowledge for nothing?
“Well I could be I suppose. That does all sound pretty useful. What would I have to do? Must be a subscription fee or something?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
“No no” he chuckled, “we just ask you to sign a contract saying we would be your backer, or sponsor as some groups are calling it these days. A couple of small clauses in there, nothing major, but we think the benefits the sponsorship we provide would be compensation for that.”
Hmmmmmm. That sounds like a politicians answer. “Could I have a look at this contract? Just out of curiosity?”
“Sure sure, I even have a copy and a pen right here if you are interested” he replied with a helpful look.
With contract in hand I actually sat down to give it a good look over. The first couple of pages described how the group would sponsor me while I competed in either the Junior circuit or the Ace Circuit with the sum increasing with each badge I accrued while giving me access to the information about the eevee line that the group had access to. While in compensation that simply asked for their branding to be worn in competitions, anything new about eevees to be shared with them and a couple of small rules traditional rules that the group follows from its founding.
“What are these traditional rules that the contract mentions?” I asked.
“Nothing significant. I’d have to check the book myself to be honest, I haven’t read it in some time.”
“Do you have one on you?”
Jeremery paused for the first time in this meeting, which made me think I was on the right track. Something in that rule book he didn’t want me to see. The way he was acting made me think people got caught up in the money and information part they didn’t ask about the traditional rules. Not being from here I had no idea what any of the traditional stuff was so I was trying to be careful not to do anything offensive by asking about why people did some of the things they do. Generally it was simple things to do with being inclusive to different types of pokemon, like making doors larger than they needed to be or not reaching out to touch peoples pokemon without asking the trainer or pokemon itself first. Pulling out a small book from his briefcase he handed it to me.
“I would focus on chapter 1-2” he recommended. “That is most of the history of the group in those two chapters.”
Giving him a hum I opened the book and found the table of contents. He wasn’t lying the first couple of chapters where about the history of the group and some of its customs. But the later chapters mention rules of the group and the obligations of its members. Flicking to the back of the book I noticed Jeremy tense out of the corner of my eye. The chapter on obligations was split into about 20 bullet points. Don’t embarrass the group. Search out and share the knowledge gathered. Capture any wild eevee’s found to bring back to the group. All breeding shall be done by the groups direction. Pups will be distributed as the group sees fit … hold up. I looked back over those last couple of rules. Capture all eevees. Breeding decided by the association. Pups distributed by associations decision. Did that mean they got to choose who and when my eevees had puppies and could take them away?
Turning to Jeremy I asked those exact two questions. “Those rules are rarely acted upon. Its more to prevent the breeding lines getting to close you understand.” He answered with a kind smile.
“Who gets the money if the pups are sold? Last I heard eevee’s can sell for tens of thousands?”
“O well the association usually takes a cut for organise the sale to reputable owners. Its all very fair.”
I wasn’t buying this. It sounded all reasonable but I could see how someone could take advantage of it it. Say I was a mean bastard I could make some breed an eevee, take the pup and sell it to whoever I chose and take my cut and they wouldn’t be able to stop me cause they had signed a contract saying they agree to the rules. Nope, I’m not having it.
“Thanks for the offer Jeremy but I think Ill pass at this stage. I’ve got a fair idea what I’m going to do and don’t plan on asking any of my team to have pups any time soon.” I said handing back his EBA book.
Jeremy didn’t reach out to take it back. “Are you sure? Think of the help we can give you to best grow and evolve your eevees. Its known that many eevee’s can have evolution phobias and our group knows many ways to help with that. The sponsorship goes along way to helping give the very best of care and nutrition that a team such as yours sorely needs.”
That sounded mildly insulting towards the end there. Plus I doubt my team has evolution phobia as they weren’t pokemon to begin with and don’t probably understand evolutions properly yet. Plus I’m sure Anna can give me nutritional advive being a nurse and all.
“Thanks but not thanks” I said placing the book on the bench between us. Jeremys friendly old man face changed instantly to a frown.
“Well young man I think you have made a mistake. Next time you get an offer it will not be anywhere near as good as this one.” He said in a deep tone before packing up his suitcase and closing it with a snap. Standing up he gave me a tilt of his hat and walked off. Giving out a whistle for my eevees to return and a second I was trying to teach ponyta I recalled them to their pokeballs and said farewell to the parents for the day before walking home with ponyta trotting alongside me. I wanted to ask Anna what she knew about the EBA.
“…. Then he got kind of pissy and left. So what do you think?”
Anna thought about while curled up in her chair later that evening over a glass of wine. “Well when you tell it like that it sound as if he was acting very suspicious the whole time. But are you sure you didn’t just misunderstand him? It seems kind of weird however that they would track you down in a park out of the blue to offer you a really good deal” she said aloud thinking to herself. “But if you read that rule book of theirs right that almost sounds illegal that they could make those decisions over your pokemon. I think it was a good decision not to at that moment. If they really want to sign you up they will come back”.
“The money would have been nice though. Can you just sell pokemon like that?” Josh asked.
“Well no, you have to get a licence or go through a pokemon league vetted company. They made the rules years and years ago due to some poachers down south somewhere. Apparently a pokemon did well in a competition and became super popular that everyone wanted one for awhile. People were catching them in such numbers and selling them that nearly made the wild population go extinct so they made a law making the capture and selling of pokemon by trainers illegal. Then they made the area a protected area to restrict the capture of pokemon there. I think that’s the basic history of the safari zone outside of Fuchsia.”
“Huh the more you know” I saluted her with my drink. “Shame I can’t do it. Be a great way to raise some money”.
“You would see one of your eevees?!” Anna exclaimed.
“Nah nah, I mean I’m tempted to go to the safari zone and try catch a couple of pokemon that I think are there. Or try find one of those areas where I think I could find a rare pokemon or two. Like the fossil pokemon or that cystal onyx.”
Anna sat up straight. “Fossil pokemon? Crystal onyx?”
“They not a thing?”
“No! People have found fossils before and have done research about them. You know where they are?”
“Well kinda. In The games you got the fossils for two in a mountain and then a scientist somewhere had a machine that could resurrect them. If you haven’t heard about that I doubt it’s a thing. Could collect them for the future I suppose” I trailed off itching my chin. Wasn’t there alive ones in the cartoon?
“Is there some kind of canyon system in kanto?”
“There are heaps, the sevualt canyon, the silver range canyon, the grampa canyon, there are loads of them up in the northern mountains. You’ll have to be more specific.”
“Hmmmm. Any where people do mining?”
“The ones in the north are owned by some big companies. I think the grampa canyon area used to be known for it? That’s not far from the safari zone actually. Hang on I have a map somewhere ….” Anna got up to go searching through her bookshelf.
Ash and co in the show wouldn’t have gone that far north while doing the gym route. Would it be grampa canyon then? I pondered while Anna brough her map over to the table.
“Here it is down here. So you think we could find fossils down there?” She asked excitedly.
“Well if I remember right there could be a whole heap of alive ones down there.”
“What?!”
“Yeah something like a mining collapse broke into a massive underground tunnel system and there was a bunch of kabutops and omanyte’s in there. And an aerodactyl.”
“Wow that would be amazing….” She trailed off lost in thought. “But I can’t leave now. Ill lose my internship if I left for that long.” She sounded a mixture of sad and angry about it.
“Ill go.”
“Huh?”
“Yeah Ill go have a look for all these things and then if I find them we can share the money. I catch, you set up a deal to sell them. 50/50. How’s that sound?”
Anna looked at me with a strange face. “You wouldn’t want to keep them? And you would trust me to try sell them?”
“Well I don’t particularly want fossil pokemon, I’m happy with my eevee team and want to collect all of them. Plus I have no idea how to care for fossil pokemon or anywhere to put them. And look at it from my angle. You shaft me over the fossil pokemon I won’t trust you with any of the other stuff in my head.”
Anna looked offended. “I wouldn’t betray you like that if you trusted me. Who do you think I am?”
“I meant it as an example” I started backpedalling, not wanting to upset her.
“I like this! You go find them, Ill apply to get a license to sell them. I can get a reference from the Joy clan hopefully to make it happen. We will both be rich and I can get my own place! Outside of town with space to keep all sort of interesting pokemon! And I could start my own business” She looked positively dreamy at the thought.
Anna and I talked late into the night how I should go about finding rare pokemon and what will do with them and all our future money.