CHAPTER 62 – THE LONELY UMBREON (PART TWO)

In the previous chapter we see how our heroes enjoy a whole day in the water park, yes, without people, so they could enjoy all the attractions without having to wait in line, as for Ash and e-Nigma, they also chatted a little, a few minutes before the park closed, while the girls enjoyed the last attractions along with Pikachu, who also signed up, and after an exciting day, our heroes returned to the hotel only to meet the day after they were going to go to one of the famous Eevee Ranches in the Paldea region.

...

With Ash.

The manager told us that with a smile as he approached e-Nigma.

"Yes, these are the winners of the contest, they are Ash, Pikachu, Nancy, Verity, Koharu and Bianca" – said e-Nigma as he introduced us.

"My pleasure, by the way, my name is Ron" – we all said.

"Nice to meet you, but before you can enjoy a whole day with the Eevees and have a chance to get one, I'll explain some curiosities" - Ron said.

Then, Ron began to guide us and soon we arrived at the entrance of the Ranch, only a small fence separated us from a large number of Eevee.

The Ranch consisted of a beautiful and extensive field of grass very well maintained, the smell of grass filled the area and if that were not enough, the image of dozens of Eevee playing with each other, eating and laughing filled the atmosphere with a pleasant peace, tranquility and happiness, in short, a beautiful place very good care where these Pokémon could enjoy their days without worrying.

"I know you're looking forward to playing with the Eevees, but first I'd like to explain certain things to you, maybe Miss e-Nigma explained you about the Ranch, but if that's not the case, let me give you a summary" - Ron said.

We all nodded and prepared to listen to his explanation.

"Well, you see, as you know, the Eevee are a very rare species in Paldea, at first we let them be totally free in the wild, but we soon discovered that in this region they had many... predators, so they were about to become extinct, therefore, the Paldea League decided to create an Eevee Ranch, to collect those Eevee and protect them, in this Ranch they have freedom and are not exhibited to people, so they can do whatever they want but without any danger, normally visits are not allowed but Miss e-Nigma is a great collaborator of the Eevee Ranches and She helps us a lot, so I made an exception, you can play all day with the Eevee, which, by the way are very nice and can also capture one, as long as the Eevee does not reject you, this is a nature reserve and we do not want to force the Eevee to anything they do not want "– explained Ron.

After this long but necessary explanation, Ron let us enter the Ranch with him behind, however, not long after walking between Eevee to find a suitable site, we saw something strange, it was actually an Umbreon, but not a normal Umbreon, this one had its stripes of a blue color and not yellow as it normally had, in other words, it was Shiny.

"Wait a minute, isn't that over there an Umbreon, isn't this supposed to be an Eevee Ranch only?" – Koharu asked.

"Ah, that's right, but that Umbreon has a problem, that's the reason why he is here" - Ron said.

"What kind of problem?" – I asked.

"You see, for some reason we still don't understand, this Umbreon was rejected from his pack and even attack, so we had to move him here, the Eevee are very peaceful and not aggressive at all" - Ron explained.

"And why were they assaulting him, maybe because of his stripes of another color?" – asked Nancy.

"Definitely their color has nothing to do with it, we have had a few like those and color was never an issue, the caretakers of the Umbreon Ranch believe that this is because that Umbreon is weaker than the rest, but they still do not know the exact reason for their rejection "– explained Ron.

...

With Koharu.

When I saw him, I understood him without the need for explanations, his look, his behavior... He was lying on a stone pretending he was sleeping, trying to ignore what was happening around him, I understand perfectly because I was once like that.

When Goh left after I confessed, I felt lonely, friendless, although my father loved me very much, most of the time he was busy with his work so my only company became Eevee, but I had been with Goh so much that when I realized, I didn't have any friends and I started to feel lonely, as if there was no one who could understand my pain.

Without paying much attention to what Ron was telling us, I approached the Umbreon slowly.

When I was some distance away, the Umbreon noticed me and stared at me as if telling me not to get any closer, that I wanted to be alone.

"Koharu, that Umbreon doesn't want company" - Ash said.

"No, you are wrong, you will see" – I denied.

I kept getting closer, ignoring the Umbreon who kept staring at me.

"I know how you feel" - I said suddenly.

The Umbreon seemed to be suddenly surprised, but soon ignored me.

"Do you know? I was once like you, ignored, friendless and felt completely alone, I thought no one could understand my pain, but one day all that changed" - I explained.

The Umbreon looked up and looked at me with interest.

"You see, now surely you think that nobody understands you and even you feel alone, I understand you, I felt the same, but one day someone appear in my life, someone who understood me, who wanted to be part of my life and that day everything changed for me, I began to see life in a different way and not as I had been seeing it so far" – I explained.

"Breon..." – said the Umbreon somewhat depressed.

"I understand, but don't worry, you may have been rejected, but if I can help it and believe me I can, I won't let you feel alone, how about you become my friend?" – I said.

The Umbreon looked at me for a few moments, apparently understood my situation and understood that we were not really different, that he could find friends who wanted him, but just as he was about to pet him, suddenly, a huge net fell from the sky, capturing Umbreon and a few Eevee.

"Breon!" - said the Umbreon, trying to get away.

"Who's there, how dare you break in here and imprison those Eevee?!" - shouted Ron.

"What who are we?" – asked the voice.

That voice... I know her.

"I'll tell you who we are" - said another voice.

Jessie: Prepare for trouble...

James: ... and make it double!

Jessie: To protect the world from devastation!

James: To unite all peoples within our nation!

Jessie: To denounce the evils of truth and love!

James: To extend our reach to the stars above!

Jessie: Jessie!

James: James!

Jessie: Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!

James: Surrender now or prepare to fight!

Meowth: Meowth! That's right.

"Team Rocket!" – we all said.

"What is Team Rocket?" - asked e-Nigma.

"It's a gang of criminals who are dedicated to stealing other people's Pokémon to use them for unethical purposes" - Ash said.

"That's where you go wrong, our motives are more ethical than you think" - Jessie said.

"Whatever, release those Pokémon immediately!" – I shouted.

"In your dreams, brat" - James said.

"Then I'll have to force you, Pikachu use Thunderbolt!" – said Ash.

Pikachu's Thunderbolt shot out of the net, high enough not to harm the Pokémon, but if breaking the net to free them, however, his attack didn't work, the net didn't break.

"What happened?" - asked Ash confused.

"Did you think we were going to make the same mistake? This network is electric, fire and ice proof, it's completely unbreakable and now if you'll excuse us, Meowth" - Jessie said.

"Go ahead!" - said Meowth, pressing a button.

Suddenly from his balloon came out as two kind of cannons, however, this was not to use them as weapons, but to propel the balloon.

"I'm not kidding I'll leave you!" – I said.

And without thinking, I grabbed the net.

Then the balloon shot out at a high speed.

...

With Ash.

"Koharu!" – I said in alarm.

Actually, it had hung from the net just as the balloon was going to come out of there.

"What should we do now? I doubt Shaymin can reach that speed" - Nancy said.

"My electric Pokémon can't reach them either" - e-Nigma said.

"Latios could do it, should I try?" – added Verity.

"If I'm not back in 5 minutes I'll count on you Verity" – I said as I looked at Latias.

She nodded and ran out.

"Ok" - Verity nodded.

"Where are She going?" - asked e-Nigma and Ron.

"In stressful situations She always goes to the bathroom" – I lied.

It was not a very convincing lie, but it was the only thing I could think of, I already said that it is not that I was hiding Latias, but I do not like to reveal it because yes, I know that I should not have done it in front of that worker when the Wendy thing happened, but there was no place to hide there.

"Look, there's something in heaven!" - said Ron.

We all looked and not far from there, in the sky a pink spot came flying straight towards us.

"What's that?" - asked e-Nigma.

"It's a Pokémon!" said Ron.

When Latias was about to land, I jumped on top of her and flew off at full speed.

The reason why I told Verity to stay is because I thought it would not be necessary, I believed that, with only me, Latias and Pikachu we could manage, if that's not the case, then i'll trust in Verity.

"It's a Latias!" - exclaimed Ron.

"Unbelievable!" - said e-Nigma.

Then I couldn't hear anything else as I walked away.

Latias flew at top speed towards Team Rocket's balloon and in a short time caught up with it.

"Ash!" - shouted Koharu.

"Hold on tight Koharu!" – I said.

"Wow, look who we have here, guys look!" - said Jessie.

Meowth and James looked over and were pleasantly surprised by what they saw.

"It's a Latias, this is great, se He catch her in Alto Mare, that makes things easier for us!" – exclaimed James.

Does that mean they followed me to Alto Mare, why didn't I see them then?

"Jessie, James, it's time to fight, we have to catch the Latias and the Pikachu at all costs! Can you imagine what kind of rewards the boss will reward us with if we bring him such rare and powerful Pokémon? I get excited just thinking about it!" – Meowth said with emotion.

"Neglect Meowth we will capture those two, Corviknight I choose you!" – said Jessie.

"Talonflame is your turn!" – said James.

Both Pokémon came out of their Pokéball ready to fight.

"Corviknight uses Steel Wing!"

"Talonflame uses Flame Charge!"

Both Pokémon used their attacks and headed straight for Latias.

"Dodge them Latias!"

Thanks to his enormous speed, Latias managed to dodge them both, but he had a problem, the speed was so great that Pikachu and I could barely fix our eyes on the front due to the large amount of air that hit our eyes.

"Keep attacking, with this speed he can't see well!" – said James.

They realized I couldn't see well, the question now is, What do I do? It's two against 1, I have to save Koharu and Latias needs me to win this battle, besides, I can't take Charizard out because Latias is the only one capable of reaching the balloon at this speed.

"Anyone needs my help?" – said someone from behind.

When I turned I actually saw Verity riding in Latios.

"Verity, just in time!" – I shouted with joy.

"Look, the other brat catch a Latios, our rewards keep improving!" – Meowth said with emotion.

"Ash, don't worry about me, Latios and I will keep you busy, save Koharu and the Pokémon!" – said Verity.

Then he put on what appeared to be a sunglasses, where did he get them? I never saw them on.

"Be careful!" – I nodded.

"Where do you think you're going? Corviknight use Steel Wing"

"Latios uses Dragon Pulse!"

Latios managed to push Corviknight away before he hit Latias and gave me time to position myself under the net.