Chapter 2 - 2

In the last fanfic, Tracey Sketchit had made tentative friends with a tiny, lavender-eyed eevee he had rescued from a storm. The eevee, in turn, had befriended both the red-headbanded boy and "Zeus", a pikachu with an inflated ego the Professor hadn''t been able to tame. Today is a new day, and it starts out as every day at Professor Oak''s does...



"Chaa!"

"Ow ow ow ow ow!"

"Chaaaaaaaaaa!"

Tracey Sketchit opened his eyes sleepily.

"Time to get up already?" A small bundle under his green nightshirt stirred restlessly as he yawned. A burnt-looking figure darted past the boy''s cracked bedroom door, followed by a much smaller one throwing off sparks as it ran. Tracey''s new eevee stuck her head out from his shirt collar and gaped at the scene.

"Cut it out, Zeus!"

"Pi...ka...chuuuuuuuu!" The lime pikachu chased relentlessly after the already smoldering Professor. When they passed the door again from the opposite side, he was chuckling wickedly.

"Pi, pi pi pi...!"

"He does that every morning," Tracey murmured.

"V - vee?"

"Yeah. Every morning." He gently lifted the small pokemon out of his shirt and placed her on his pillow. "I have to get showered and stuff." He turned and walked a few steps over to some dressers and began rummaging through. Curious, the little one followed with her eyes, and saw that each drawer he slid open held either green shirts or red shorts. He opened another and she coughed.

"What?" He turned hastily around, a pair of marill-printed boxers dangling from one hand. Tracey glanced down at his hand and blushed.

"Vee, vee, vee..." She whipped her head around, flicking her ears to one side and humming innocently.

"Uh...yeah. Okay." He closed the drawer quickly, but not before she saw more boxers imprinted with a venonat motif and a neat stack of red headbands. Flushing a bright red color, he headed off into a small side room and closed the door. She heard more drawers opening and closing and water running.

Eevee waited patiently until she heard the water turn off and the flap of a towel. Then she nudged closer to the door and pushed near the knob. The handle turned, and the door opened on one very surprised young man.

"Eevee!" Tracey gasped. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair was dripping down his tanned shoulders. Eevee sighed and turned her back on him.

"What''s the matter?" When he didn''t get a response, Tracey shook his head in wonder. "Okay, just don''t turn around yet." He dried as fast as he could and threw on his boxers and shorts.

"Veeeee...?"

"Yeah, okay, now." He rolled his eyes. "You''re too clever for your own good. You know, with that intelligence and the tattoo on your leg...you just have to be a Lab pokemon." Her eyes narrowed immediately.

"What now?" She just growled and stomped out of the room in a huff, swishing her tail at him. "Geez! Is this what all girls are like?" He picked up his red headband and snapped it into place on his forehead.

"Myaaaa." He turned to find the eevee was sticking her tongue out at him from the bed. He quickly finished dressing, talking to her all the while.

"You know if you belong to someone else I can''t keep you here." He grabbed a handful of pokeballs and absently slipped them into his pockets. "But...until then!" Motioning with one hand, he led her out of the room.


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The breakfast table was set and Koji was moving purposefully about, flipping pancakes on the stove. Tracey sat down and eevee hopped up on a chair next to him.

"Good morning, Tracey." Koji smiled, never taking her eyes off the whirling cakes. She tossed one at his plate and he lifted it up, catching it with an ease born out of practice. She threw another without looking back, but jumped when she heard boyish laughter erupt from behind her.

"What the...?"

Eevee had picked up a plate and caught the other pancake. She now sat demurely in her seat, licking one paw and slyly peeping out of the corner of her eye at the older woman.

"You want syrup on that?" Tracey teased.

"I wouldn''t be surprised if she did," Professor Oak coughed from the doorway. He grinned sheepishly at them all. His lab coat was charred in some places and he puffed out a small cloud of smoke. Koji rushed over to him, concern warring with mirth in her voice as she asked if he was okay.

"Of course."

"Chyaa." Zeus wandered in looking pleased with himself. He sniffed at eevee''s plate and she happily offered him half a pancake. "Pika!" She hopped down off the chair and ate her meal with him as the humans grinned down at them.

"She''s something, isn''t she?" Tracey smiled.

"I''ll say," a new voice called from the doorway. The nasal tone caused Tracey to flinch.

"Hello, Gary," he groaned.

"Gary!" Oak bounded over and placed an arm around his grandson''s shoulders. "How are you? We thought you wouldn''t arrive until later this week!"

"Much later," Tracey whispered to himself. He disliked the other teen because he always had to try to be better than everyone else. This included Tracey, and the last time he had been here he''d had to battle him every few minutes. Eevee had finished her last bite of pancake and now stared mistrustfully at the spiky-haired stranger.

"Say," Gary said, ducking out from his grandfather''s shoulders and elbowing past the older boy, "Is that your eevee?"

"Tracey rescued her from that large storm we had," Oak said. He helped himself to a few of the pancakes and sat down.

"So it''s yours now?" He bent further down, staring intently into her large lavender eyes.

"Not really," Tracey confessed. "She''s not in a pokeball or anything, if that''s what you mean."

"Hmmm." Gary tilted his head, causing his brown hair to sway about as he pondered something. His eyes slit in concentration. Tracey grew tense as he realized what was coming. The eevee wandered slowly over to sit near her rescuer''s leg, her ears laying back as she sensed his worry. Finally, Gary grinned and snapped his fingers. The amulet he always wore swung and caught the early morning sunlight, causing light to refract all over the kitchen in yellow and blue highlights.

"Hurrrr..." Eevee''s back had started to rise. She was starting to look more like a Halloween decoration than a pokemon.

"Pi?" Zeus stared first at her and then the annoying other human.

"Tell ya what! I''ll battle you for it. I need one more so I can complete my eevee team."

"Gary, this pokemon was just rescued from a dangerous situation," Oak intervened. "She may have attached herself to Tracey."

"Vee!"

"Well, maybe we''ll just see if she has or not."


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Tracey and eevee followed Gary as he walked into Oak''s practice Gym. The larger-sized version of an actual Pokemon Gym was set up like a stadium, with a row of bleachers on the side and a green and red light on the floor. The battlefield itself was a mixture of anything a pokemon trainer might come across. One section was a fair-sized swimming pool, built to look like an actual pond. Rocks covered it on all sides and were sprinkled liberally across the floor to create a rough area on all sides of the small body of water. A little ways from that the rocks gradually became less as it smoothed out into a plain, flat terrain. Plants and trees had been planted on the far side to establish a mini grass and forest area as well.


On the very farthest corner of the Gym, however, was something very different from these somewhat pleasant battling fields. Small pools were standing amidst oversized rocks, tendrils of steam lazily rising forth from the water. Even though the pools were used as hot tubs by the members of the Oak household, for all intents and purposes it was one of the worst battlefields available.

Gary marched steadfastly over to the formidable area and jumped, planting his boots firmly on the tallest rock.

"Come on, Sketchit, and let''s see what you''re really made of this time!" He grinned impudently at the older boy.

"All right!" Tracey called out, sounding more sure of himself than he actually was. He felt around in his pocket and took out all three of his pokeballs. "One on one or...?"

"Yeah! One pokemon against one, if you''re sure." Gary seemed to sneer, but it seemed that was his normal expression, so the effect was lost on Tracey. He shrugged.

"Okay." Tracey bent over to talk to the bewildered eevee. She sat with her tail curled around her, staring at him expectantly. "I know I shouldn''t have to do this, but you really should go to the most experienced trainer, I guess," he said seriously. "And that would be whoever wins this match."

"...eee..."

Tracey rose up and jumped on top of one of the rocks as well, facing Gary. Professor Oak and Koji had settled down in the stands close by. They appeared to be having a rather animated discussion. Koji threw her hands up in the air at last and simply waited as the two young men faced off.

"You chose the battlefield, Gary, so I get to choose my pokemon after you."

"Yeah, but don''t go thinking you''re gonna get a good advantage!" Gary tossed out his pokeball. "C''mon!" The light flashed brilliantly, then coalesced into a huge furry form. "Arcanine!" Gary shouted triumphantly. The fire dog raised its head and howled thrillingly. Tracey''s eyes widened, but he tossed his own ball just as confidently.

Marill appeared, looking about as big as one of the fire pokemon''s paws. It curled its arms and uttered a defiant little squeak.

"Rill!" The water mouse blinked as it stared up at its menacing opponent. It started to sweat and looked back at Tracey. "Maaaaaaarill!!!!"

"It''s okay, Marill," Tracey called soothingly. "I know you can do it!" On the sidelines, eevee''s ears had drooped all the way down. Her eyes were sparkling strangely as she watched the impending battle. The green light flicked on, and Gary was first to shout out a command to his pokemon.

"Fire blast!"

"Marill! Water gun!"

The two conflicting attacks cancelled each other out. Steam rose from the battleground as the fire from the big dog''s mouth was put out by the tiny blue pokemon. Marill cheered and narrowed its eyes, trying to look tough. The arcanine shook its yellow mane out and set all four paws more firmly on the ground. It wasn''t about to be defeated that easily. After another command, it leapt at marill with paws outstretched, but Tracey had his pokemon withdraw. Marill ducked under the swiping claws without a single scrape. They had now changed places on the field, the water pokemon standing opposite Gary and arcanine across from Tracey.

"That little thing is faster than it looks," Gary grunted. "But I know marills have a low defense. Arcanine! Swift attack!"

Tracey blanched. Would marill be able to jump out of the way? Swift attack always hit...and the arcanine was stronger than his little water mouse. One direct hit might be all it would take.

"Marill, bubblebeam! Hide in it!" Marill nodded, and worked up a good jet of frothy bubbles. They spewed forth from its mouth, floating all about and making it hard for the larger pokemon to see. Of course, this also made it hard for anyone to see. Everyone heard a thump and a roar, then a skidding sound. Gary strained forward and let out a triumphant yell as he saw his arcanine still standing. Tracey''s marill, however, was wobbling around tiredly.

"C''mon, marill! I know you can do it!" Marill heard its master and nodded. It used its tail to prop itself up and stared defiantly at the fire dog. Arcanine''s tongue lolled out impudently.

"Whuff," it snorted, panting and sitting on its haunches. It let out a huge yawn, exposing razor-sharp teeth.

"Ma - rill!" Marill bared its own tiny fangs and twitched an ear. It was weaving a little, and Tracey looked worried. Gary smiled and bowed his head to his opponent. But before he could give a final command, he heard a surprising sound.

"Arc! Arc!"

Gary jerked upright when he heard his prized pokemon yelp. He took a step back and almost fell off the rock he was perched on as he saw his arcanine thrown across the field. The massive beast hit the ground with a sickening crash.

"What did you..." He stammered, confused. Tracey was standing there with a stunned look on his face. Steam from the pools was lightly blowing the hair on the sides of his face as he gaped at the scene before him. He was pointing, and Gary followed his finger past an equally shocked marill to see the eevee on the field!

"Veeeeeeee!" Her fur was straight up, and her fangs were bared. The eyes that had so enchanted everyone before were glowing white, obscuring the pupils and giving her a terrifying appearance. She hissed again and waved her tail. Gary gasped. His arcanine was fully disabled. The eevee had stood up for Tracey and won the match for him!


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Back on the bleachers, Oak nodded sagely.

"I thought she would make up her own mind," he said.

"You said your grandson was going to win!" Koji chided. She elbowed him and air whooshed out of the Professor in a rush. He flushed a little and sweated lightly.

"Good match, boys!" Oak called out, leaping to his feet and laughing awkwardly. Koji was staring at him, eyes narrowed and arms crossed, from the bleachers. He passed a hand through his grey hair and grinned, closing his eyes and tilting his head towards Tracey. "I guess you found out whether she wants to stay with you or not!"

"Well, there''s something wrong with that eevee if she wants to stay with someone that can''t battle anyway," Gary sniffed. He had long since recalled his arcanine, and now clipped the ball back onto his belt.

"Now, Gary... Tracey was doing quite well in that match. Especially considering you train for battling more than he does."

"Thanks, Professor." It was Tracey''s turn to blush. He flicked a hair away from his mouth and picked eevee up. "I guess it really is you and me, huh eevee?"

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