Family Matters
Adrian watched his team searching for him from the bushes. They’d followed him this far, and they were angry. Vileplume especially.
“You think you’re tough?!” He yelled.
Enny called him out too. “What, are you scared or something? Too scared to step up to me?”
Even Bellossom joined them. “You’re acting stupid, Addy. You know the longer we gotta look for you, the worse it’ll be!”
He’d heard it all before. It wasn’t going to stop him, though. He’d hide for as long as he could. If Adrian never saw him again, he’d die happy.
But that’s when he heard that familiar, authoritative voice behind him.
“Found you.”
Familiar Faces
Adrian’s eyes snapped open, and he jolted up. The woods were lit by the midday sun. He looked around his makeshift camp for any intruders, but there was nobody in sight. He was still alone.
The one decent thing about leaving his bag behind was that he didn’t have to worry about packing up his supplies. All that was left behind were the remains of a campfire.
It was hard to figure out where he was. He knew he had gone east, probably crossed the Open Plains. He must’ve veered south as well, as the day prior he passed through the mountains. There weren’t any roads nearby because he thought his team might look for him on those. He didn’t find any signs that they were, which meant he had either done a decent job at covering his tracks, or they’d given up looking entirely.
How many days had passed, he couldn’t tell. It was anywhere from two weeks to a month most likely. His sleep schedule fell apart the night he disappeared. Sometimes he was awake for days at a time and then slept from sunrise to sunset. Sometimes he’d just wake up after an hour and think he’d slept, only to crash after walking for a few hours.
He didn’t see any snowfall until he got to the mountains, so spring must’ve been coming up. Winter didn’t last that long in the Grass Continent this year. Last year, this was the time when he’d gotten really busy with work. People excited for the warmer weather after being snowed in didn’t make the best travel plans. Adrian expected he’d stumble into someone by now.
He got a strange sense of deja vu with the area he was in. The trees were large, and relatively short. Some of them had been chopped down. There was also the smell of an orchard in the air. It was very familiar.
His train of thought was interrupted by a rustling in the bushes nearby. Something was hiding- no. Someone was running through them. And as soon as he realized that, a brown-furred creature leapt out of the bushes and slammed into him.
Adrian steadied himself from the blow and got ready for a fight. The Pokémon that hit him had fallen on the ground in front of him. It looked small and pretty weak. He recognized it.
That goddamn eevee kid.
Eevee rubbed his head and his eyes locked with Adrian’s. He stumbled back and yelped. “I’m sorry mister! I didn’t mean to hit you I was just- “
“What the hell are you running from this time?”
Eevee seemed confused. “Do I know you? I’ve never seen a flareon, but you seem familiar.”
Adrian sighed. Of course, the kid knew him as an umbreon. Why would he recognize him as a flareon?
Adrian’s eyes caught something moving behind Eevee. Something was flying through the trees. Two spearow locked right in on the little wannabe explorer.
Acting on instinct, he pushed Eevee out of the way and leapt at one of the spearow, surrounding himself with fire. He tackled his target out of the air, incinerating both himself and the bird with his flames.
The two landed on the ground, the spearow motionless. Adrian slowly stood back up. He heard the distinct screech of the other spearow before feeling its beak dig into his side.
The spearow clutched onto Adrian’s body, embedding its beak and talon deeper into his flesh. The flareon tried to shake it off, knocking one of its wings off his body which Adrian grabbed with his teeth. Fire shot through his fangs, causing the bird to finally let go.
The spearow awkwardly tried flying off with its scorched wing back through the woods it came from. Hopefully it had learned its lesson.
When Adrian turned back around, he saw Eevee’s eyes beaming at him. “It’s you! The Umbreon rescuer. I don’t believe it. You’re a fla-!”
Adrian cut off his rambling and interrogated him. “Why were those spearow chasing you, Eevee?”
“They started it!” Eevee said. “They stole my lunar ribbon yesterday, so I stole it back.”
“What did you do to piss them off? The only dungeon around here is Landslide Cave, so they’re not dungeon ferals.”
Eevee shook his head. “I dunno. Wild Pokémon are just getting more aggressive around here. Something’s set them off, and it wasn’t me!”
Adrian groaned. The kid had a talent for pissing off random Pokémon. Almost as easily as he pissed off his parents, who he’d definitely be seeing soon.
Adrian walked over and casually picked up Eevee by his scruff (ignoring the protests that he did nothing wrong), and began walking towards the kid’s house. He didn’t remember the exact location, but there was plenty of farmland outside of it. He’d spot it eventually.
And sure enough, the flareon found himself back on that homestead in no time. He cut through the orchards, dropped the kid in front of the house, and yanked on the rope beside it. As the bell rang from inside the house, the voice of the leafeon assured him she’d be there momentarily. The sound of metal clanking for a bit was recognizable.
Eventually, the leafeon’s head poked through the door. She immediately locked onto her child. “Eevee! You were out all night, where were you?"
The kid stuttered and sputtered, trying to come up with an explanation before Adrian stepped in. “He was out in the woods getting chased by Pokémon. Again.”
It didn’t take as long for Leafeon to recognize him. “You saved him again?”
Adrian nodded.
Leafeon shook her head. “Somethin’ must be sending you to us every time he’s in danger.”
“There are a lot of strange coincidences in my life right now,” Adrian said.
“Well, it don’t matter who or what brought you here this time. We still owe you. We had a good harvest last year so we can actually pay you this time.”
“Are you making lunch right now?”
“Supper actually.”
“I’ll take my usual payment, then.”
Leafeon seemed a little surprised, but she held the door open for Adrian and Eevee. When Adrian stepped inside however, she stopped him.
“You’re bleeding!” She yelled.
Adrian had suppressed his pain long enough that he’d somewhat forgotten. The open wounds in his side didn’t magically disappear though. Leafeon quickly fetched an oran berry for him which closed them up for the time being.
Eevee scurried upstairs while Adrian followed Leafeon into the kitchen. She’d only just started getting stuff out of the cupboards, so it would be a while until she was finished. She had a lot of berries, vegetables, and mushrooms set out on the table.
She formed some vines with sharp tips and started dicing onions. She was very precise and quick, cutting up two whole onions in less than a minute. Vileplume was never that skilled with his knives whenever they cooked in the field.
She poured the onions into the pot with a mix of other spices. As she lit the fire underneath the cooking pot, she noticed Adrian watching. “They don’t make good food at your guild?”
Adrian shook the thoughts out of his head. “They were actually fine. Hired a fancy chef and everything… Did I ever actually mention I was in a guild?”
“No, but you’re wearing a guild badge,” she pointed out. “They don’t give custom badges to rescue teams. Especially not solo freelancers. Speakin’ of what happened to that sylveon?”
“That was a temporary teammate. Forced to work with him.”
Leafeon pulled out half a dozen carrots next, cutting them into thin slices. “How long were you working with him?”
“Up until a couple weeks ago,” Adrian answered.
Leafeon tilted her head curiously. “So you were with him over a year? Cause you came here before the last two year’s harvest.”
“I was forced into that team,” Adrian repeated. “Speaking of, how’d you recognize me so quick? It’s been a long time since I was last here and I’m not an umbreon anymore.”
Well a couple things. First, the scarf and badge tied to your leg now. Also, Eevee hasn’t let us forget anything about you.”
“Really?”
“He’s taken a liking to you,” Leafeon explained as she pulled out the mushrooms. “After you rescued him that second time, he started mimicking a lot of your behavior. The way you throw yourself into fights, how you talk. He even found that lunar ribbon a while back.”
“I’m the last person he should be modeling his life after,” Adrian said.
“You’re tellin’ me,” Leafeon sighed before realizing how that sounded. “No offense or nothing. It’s just… we’ve had to send five different rescue teams after him. He ain’t cut out for fighting.”
“I get what that’s like,” Adrian responded with a hint of sympathy. “I ran off on a lot of my own adventures as a kid. Was the problem child of my family.”
Leafeon laughed as she started on the celery. “Well maybe you two are kindred spirits.”
Adrian didn’t find it too funny himself. Because of his unprofessional way of working, he’d made this kid into a burden.
Leafeon sensed his guilt. She dumped the freshly chopped vegetables in the pot and tried to raise his spirits. “He’s always been like this. I think he gets it from me, honestly. I ran off as a young girl myself.”
Adrian’s ears perked up. “What made you do that?”
“I hated my family,” Leafeon said, leaning on the table. “They didn’t like Vaporeon and his family. Said they were dirty people.”
“Why’d they say that?”
“Well they all had bounties, for one.”
The flareon‘s eyes widened. He didn’t know what to say.
Leafeon just laughed again. “He’s a good man and he made up for what he did cause of me.”
Another voice added, “I tracked down my whole family to get us this life.”
Adrian jumped back as the vaporeon in question entered the kitchen. The man walked past him and went to his wife, kissing her lightly on the cheek.
Leafeon smiled back at him. “Stew’ll be ready in an hour. The umbreon… flareon rescuer’s gonna stay for supper.”
Vaporeon eyed Adrian for a bit with a skeptical look but seemed to come to the same conclusion as Leafeon had. “Alright. I’ll bring the kids inside then. Is that boy upstairs?”
Leafeon nodded. “Think he was running from you.”
Vaporeon breathed a sigh of relief as he started to leave the kitchen before looking at Adrian. “Don’t worry, I don’t have an issue with rescue teams. You’re the ones who got me out of that life, and you’ve kept my family safe.”
Sparring
“Get up, Flareon!” A child yelled
Adrian’s eyes snapped open, and he jumped up instantly. His heart raced for a moment as his eyes darted around the room. When he turned around, he saw an eevee. That eevee.
“You almost slept through breakfast!” It said.
"I was tired," Adrian grumbled.
Eevee gave him a curious look. "Were you having a bad dream, Flareon?"
"Doesn't matter. What do you want?"
"I want you to eat," Eevee responded.
Adrian’s eyes were still heavy. He forgot for a moment that he'd ended up staying the night with the eevee family. Now that he was awake, he knew it was time to leave, and he really didn’t care about breakfast. “You’ve all done enough for me. I should really get going.”
Eevee was confused. “What’s the rush? You’re not on a mission, are you?”
“No.”
“Then come eat! Mom’s making grits!”
Eevee ran out of the room. Adrian really just wanted to leave. He didn’t want to involve himself with this family any more than he already had. Still, it was wrong to just disappear without saying thanks.
So, even though he really didn’t want to, Adrian dragged himself out of his bed and into the dining room. The room was filled with eevees, most of which had finished their bowls. Vaporeon sat at the end of the table watching two of the smaller eevees. Leafeon was picking up the dishes until she spotted the drowsy flareon. She ducked into the kitchen and returned with another serving.
Having a proper breakfast was refreshing. The difference between scavenged food and a proper meal was night and day; it was properly cooked, and he didn’t have to inspect it to make sure it was edible. Not to mention having a table to eat at -- one with his quadrupedal form in mind -- was much nicer than eating on wet grass.
The eevees around him talked about what games they wanted to play after breakfast. Adrian could tell there were some pretty large age gaps, but the oldest among them seemed no older than middle schoolers. The eevee Adrian dealt with was definitely one of the older ones.
That eevee sat right beside him, watching him eat. He didn’t have a bowl in front of him.
“Are you not gonna eat breakfast today?” Adrian asked him.
“I already ate.”
Something about this eevee must have made him different from his brothers and sisters. They didn’t sit near him or try to talk to him.
He was also the only one amongst them who wore an accessory. The lunar ribbon looked tacky, but it was a little charming. It only set him further apart from his siblings, though.
The eevee was clearly more comfortable around Adrian, but he still seemed off. Just staring at Adrian’s bowl. It was odd, so Adrian asked him, “What’s so cool about watching me eat?”
The eevee looked away nervously. “It’s not that, I just… I wanted to ask you something.”
“What is it?” Adrian asked as he finished licking up the rest of his bowl.
Eevee took a deep breath as he mustered up the courage to ask him, “Would you take me to the woods today?”
The question made Adrian freeze. He just wanted to leave, but now this. Eevee really wanted to go back out there already, even after what happened yesterday. “I… kid I’d love to, but your parents aren’t gonna-“
“Flareon said he’ll take me to the woods today!” Eevee suddenly announced, catching the whole table’s attention.
Leafeon looked at Adrian. The surprised look on his face told her what was really going on, so she faced Eevee instead. “Don’t put him on the spot like that! He’s got places to be, and he’s not taking you out there!”
“Well, I’ll just go on my own after he leaves then,” Eevee declared.
Vaporeon said bluntly, “Those spearows will kill you if you go out there.”
“Well, Flareon said he could teach me how to fight so I can fend them off!”
Adrian covered his face. “I never said I’d do that…”
“Come on!” Eevee begged him. “You’ll never have to save me again if I can beat up Pokémon myself.”
Vaporeon raised his voice. “Boy, I did not raise you so you could fight wild Pokémon trying to mind their own business!”
“It’s for self-defense!”
“Well, he ain’t takin’ you!” Leafeon said. “He’s got his own life to worry about. He don’t need to be babysitting you.”
Adrian growled. All the yelling this early in the morning was too much. It needed to end.
“Oh, for God’s sake, I’ll take him!”
All the eyes in the room were on him again. Everyone stayed quiet, so Adrian took a deep breath and continued.
“He said it himself. He’ll run off on his own again. Least I can do is watch him, so he doesn’t do anything stupid today.”
Vaporeon and Leafeon looked at him and Eevee, then at each other. Their silent conversation with each other ended with them both groaning. Leafeon made one request to Adrian.
“Come back in time for lunch.”
So, after everything was cleaned up, Adrian and Eevee ventured to the outskirts of the farm. Along the way, the little fur ball kept asking questions about his recent adventures. What dungeons he’d been to, the Pokémon he’d fought, the clients he’d worked with. Eevee wanted to know everything.
Adrian avoided answering with anything but the bare minimum details. He spoke little about the missions he took or how he won his battles. He stayed especially quiet when Eevee asked about the sylveon, and if he worked with anyone else.
Before the questions got too invasive, they stopped in a relatively open area on the border of the woods. Adrian explained things very simply to Eevee. “If you wanna learn how to fight from me, I need a couple things from you. Firstly, I’m not gonna be hitting you.”
Eevee tilted his head. “Shouldn’t I be learning to protect myself though?”
“I don’t wanna hurt you,” Adrian said. “Your parents will be pissed if you come back with burn marks. Besides, offense is more important than defense for you.”
“Really?”
Adrian nodded. “You can dodge all you want. If your opponent gets one hit on you, though, you’re done for. If you get the first hit in, you’ll always have the advantage.”
“Who taught you that?” Eevee asked.
“Nobody,” Adrian answered. “Had a lot of arguments with sparring mates about it. People will argue otherwise, but this is just a fact about exploration and rescue. All that defense training goes out the window the minute you get jumped by some ghost hiding in the walls.”
Eevee was still confused. “Wouldn’t that go for offense too? You can’t hit a ghost in a wall.”
“Look, this strategy hasn’t failed me yet,” Adrian responded. “Now, take a few steps back and try to hit me.”
Eevee walked a short distance away and turned towards Adrian. Once he locked in, he rapidly sprinted towards his target. However, just as he was about to ram his target, Adrian casually stepped to the side and let the eevee tumble onto the ground.
Adrian walked over and helped Eevee pick himself back up. “You’re gonna need to change your tactics.”
Eevee groaned. “I don’t get it. I was dead on.”
“And I dodged,” Adrian added. “You need to account for that. I’m not a stationary target.”
Eevee, still a little dazed from his fall, asked, “How am I supposed to know where you’re gonna move?”
“Body language, instinct, and guessing,” Adrian answered. “Now try again.”
The practice session between the two went on for an hour. Eevee continuously hurled himself at Adrian. Every attempt got him a little bit closer to hitting the flareon.
Eevee stood across from Adrian one more time and charged again. Adrian sidestepped again, but Eevee saw it this time. He dug his claws into the ground, pivoting himself towards the flareon. He threw himself onto Adrian, taking them both to the ground.
The two groaned as they stood back up. Adrian was a little impressed. Eevee was persistent, and it paid off.
Eevee giggled as he shook the dirt off him. “I got you!”
“Yeah,” Adrian grunted. At least it was over. Now he could take the kid home and-
“Can we do it again?” Eevee asked.
Adrian glared at Eevee. Part of him knew this would happen. “No way. You’re going home.”
“Why not? I just got my first hit in!”
“And you did great,” Adrian said. “But your parents are waiting, and I need to leave.”
Eevee got more upset, and he yelled, “I don’t wanna go back yet!”
“Well, it’s almost noon already so-“
“No! One more game! Chase me!”
And before Adrian could get a word in, Eevee ran into the forest. The flareon immediately sprinted after him, but the kid was fast, and Eevee knew the area better than him.
It was infuriating. Adrian always hated working with kids. They always wasted his time. Putting themselves in danger so they can keep up their fantasies. Hiding away from their families so they can get away from trouble. He hated it.
And this eevee in particular infuriated him more than any other. How the kid’s parents put up with him, he would never understand. He’d put himself in danger, waste his family’s money on rescuers who probably overcharged them. He had so many siblings he could spend time with, but this was his only way of getting attention.
The stupid kid didn’t know how to fight. He just copied Adrian and got lucky. That was all he’d been doing since they met. Trying to be just like him, down to that lunar ribbon. There was no reason to wear it. It wouldn’t have any effect outside an evolution site.
As if the kid could ever be anything like Adrian anyways. He could mimic the flareon’s behavior all he wanted. Dig up a fire stone next week most likely. He’d chase after the glory of being a rescuer. And when the kid would eventually abandon his family, there’d be a bum guild full of burnout humans to train him to be the ultimate fuckup.
Eventually, Adrian ground to a halt. He’d gotten so lost in his head he lost track of Eevee. It only pissed him off more.
“Eevee!” The flareon roared. “Get your ass out here before I burn this forest down!”
The only thing he heard was wind blowing through the trees. Eevee was hiding now. There weren’t any tracks in the dirt for Adrian to follow. Only smoldering leaves behind him. It took a lot of restraint to keep himself from incinerating every hiding spot in sight.
He took a deep breath and tried to calm down enough to focus. The kid wasn’t going to end the game now.