Chapter 2: The Lost Pokemon

Dave opened his eyes to find himself lying on the muddy ground in the middle of the woods. Though his chest, arms and legs were badly hurt, he was able to stand up and walk with no problems. He tried to piece together what had happened and little by little, he remembered.

As the memory began to come back, Dave grew worried when he realised he had no idea how long he had been out of consciousness. He looked up at the sky and saw that it was already dark.

Mom must be worried. Is Dad home yet? What had happened to the Rattatas. Why did they stop attacking him? Several questions started to pop up in his head.

He looked around and saw that the floor was quite disturbed with footprints everywhere. Some of the trees showed signs of having been scratched, which Dave attributed to the Rattatas, though he had no idea who they were fighting.

He squinted and noticed a tuft of fur just ahead of where his body had been lying. Curious, he came closer to take a look at it.

"Weird, that fur is brown. Rattata don't have brown fur," he thought intrigued.

Suddenly, he started to pick up a faint sound, similar to the sound of water running. It was a moment later that he realised there was a river close by. Feeling the grime on his body, he decided to go to the river to clean himself up a little. Maybe he could find the direction to his home from there.

After a short walk, Dave arrived at the river and came across an unexpected sight. Not far away from him, a creature with brown fur was lying on the riverbank.

Normally, he wouldn't approach something he didn't recognise, but with everything that had happened, he figured there was no harm in trying.

Dave moved carefully and cautiously, taking each step in an effort to make as little noise as possible. But after a short distance, he trod on a little wooden branch, which snapped in half and made a loud cracking noise.

He froze at the sound of the branch snapping. There was no way that whatever it was couldn't have heard that. But, to his surprise and relief, the mysterious creature did not stir, nor did it even show signs of having noticed.

Filled with courage once more, Dave kept walking until he was very close to it. The night was dark and he couldn't see clearly what that little creature really was. He kept getting closer until he finally heard a cry: "Ee—vee."

His jaw dropped. It was an Eevee! An Eevee! But it didn't look to be in good shape. Now without fear, Dave approached the Eevee and noticed that the Pokemon was injured. It was covered in scratches all over, and some of its fur had been torn off in some spots.

"So it was you! You saved me from those Rattatas! Thanks Eevee!" Dave said, while picking up the injured Pokemon into his lap. "But why? You don't even know me."

"Don't worry. I will take care of you. I'll take you to my house, how about that?"

Hearing this, Eevee became very agitated and tried to force itself to jump off Dave's lap, but it was too hurt to do so and Dave easily held it back.

"Hey! Easy there Eevee, I won't hurt you. You need care. After you get better, I'll let you do whatever you want, ok?" Dave tried to calm it down by rubbing its head with his hand.

"It's the least I can do to thank you."

Dave looked from one side to the other, and identified the direction he should walk to return to his home. He walked for a few minutes while Dave tried to calm the agitated Pokemon.

Coming out of the woods, he heard his parents' cries for him from the farm.

"Mom! Dad! I am here!" Dave shouted back, running across the dirt road, and entering his farm, with Eevee in his arms.

"Dave! My son!" His mother ran to him and was ready to give him a strong hug, but Dave stopped her with an outstretched hand.

"Calm down Mom, everything is fine. Can you help me take a look at this Eevee? It is injured."

His mother saw the Pokemon in his arms and let out a gasp. On the other hand, his father went silent and sombre when he saw what his son was carrying.

As soon as they got inside the house, his mother began tending to the injured Pokemon, bandaging its wounds and laying it a comfortable place to rest. Then the family sat down to dinner and Dave shared the full story with his parents.

How the Rattata had made a mess in the barn, how he had followed the rodent to get his stolen sneaker back, and how the Eevee had protected him.

While his mother expressed shock and disapproval with expressions like "Oh my God!" and "You shouldn't have done that, young man!", his father remained silent and contemplative, as though he weren't listening at all.

Following dinner, Dave decided to sleep next to Eevee, to keep it company. Lying on the sofa in the living room, the boy couldn't stop thinking about the bravery of that little creature, facing all those Rattatas alone.

He stayed awake for a long time, being unable to sleep, until he heard an argument coming from his parents' room. Out of pure curiosity, he got up and went to the bedroom door, where he stood and listened to their conversation.

"But it's dangerous, honey! We can't keep it here!" His father's voice was heard.

"What are we going to do, then? We can't just leave it like that. It is badly hurt. Besides, it saved our son! I will not do that."

"I was in town today, honey. The entire place is a total mess! I learned that several members of Team Rocket were in the town, looking for their lost Pokemon — a rare one, from what I've heard. They caused a great deal of damage and hurt a lot of people. The police have issued a warning saying that these people are dangerous and that everyone should keep their eyes open."

"But how can you tell if it is the Pokemon they are looking for?" His mother asked.

At that point, Dave entered the room without hesitation, startling his parents.

"Because it's an Eevee, Mom. They are not easy to find, especially in these areas. That Eevee must have been the one that Team Rocket has been searching for," Dave told his mother.

"I don't know who Team Rocket is, or what they want with Eevee, but I know that a Pokemon doesn't usually run away from its trainer. At least, not from a trainer who treats it well, and Eevee is such a gentle and kind Pokemon. It wouldn't run away unless it was being treated very badly."

At this, Dave's expression became serious as though he was about to make a difficult decision. The look of determination that flashed across Dave's face astonished his parents. They had never seen Dave act that way before.

"I won't allow anyone to take Eevee unless it wants to. Whether it is Team Rocket or anyone else. That Eevee saved me and I'm not going to turn my back on it."

The tone of Dave's voice was one of certainty and determination. While he didn't yell or raise his voice excessively, he did make it loud enough to be heard clearly and in a respectable manner.

Seeing Dave's mature attitude, his father then spoke, putting his hands to his temples as if he had a problem on his hands.

"I'm proud of you, Dave. You and your mother are right, we cannot abandon it. But it's also too dangerous to leave it here."

"I understand, Dad," said Dave. "We're not leaving Eevee here. Once it's feeling better in the morning, I'll ask it to join me as my Pokemon so we can set off on a journey together.