Chapter - 9

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, that there is Aether" she explained. "That Espeon is Michael's.

And all of these Eevee are Aether and my Sylveon Bella's offspring."

While Holly and Addison cooed at the idea of Michael's Espeon and

Julia's Sylveon having babies together, Matthew's attitude

completely flipped. "Wait. Those are the babies of one of Michael's

Pokémon? Like 'Michael' Michael?" He looked into the window again

and grinned. "I'm in!"

"Me too" Ryan exclaimed.

Julia held out her hands to settle them all down before they got into a

frenzy. "Calm down, guys. I'm gonna send you guys in one at a time

to pick your Eevee." She looked at each of the aspiring trainers for a

moment before she selected who would go first. "How about…

Tommy? You go first."

Tommy sheepishly walked past the others and inside. The others

watched as Tommy was jumped on by all of the Eevee, who happily

welcomed someone big to play with. While the boy tried to get his

bearings, one of the small brown Pokémon leaped onto his chest

and started licking his face. As he laughed, he called Julia and told

her this Eevee was the one he wanted. Julia quickly came in and

plucked Tommy out of the room, with his Eevee in hand.

"A feisty little guy, isn't he?" Julia laughed. She reached into her

pocket and handed the boy a Poké Ball to put his Eevee inside. As

Tommy held the Poké Ball open, the Eevee swatted it away and ran

off down the hall playfully.

"EEVEE?!" he shouted. "Wait for me!" Tommy stumbled along down

the hallway after his new Pokémon.

Holly laughed to herself. "And so it begins."

"Well then" Julia responded, "why don't you show your friends how

it's all done, Holly?"

Holly nodded and walked inside the nursery. Like with her brother,

the Eevees all tried to pull her down to play with them, but Holly was

too big to bring down. She looked over all of them and then spotted

one that seemed the most neatly groomed and scooped it up into her

arms. As she exited the nursery, the Eevee remained calm and well

behaved, even casually going into the Poké Ball as Holly held it out.

Holly bowed gracefully before the rest of the group.

Julia seemed to be the only one impressed. "Well done."

"Thank you, Professor" Holly replied. She looked down the hall and

saw her brother running back and forth after his Eevee. "I think I

should go help him catch his Eevee."

As she departed, Julia looked to the remaining three. "Well, which of

you wants to go next?"

Ryan and Matthew looked to each other, a smirk on their faces.

"Roshambo?" they both said simultaneously.

"Roshambo?" Addison asked.

Julia folded her arms. "Be thankful you're an only child, Addison" she

remarked. "It's basically a game where they use one of three objects

to try and beat the other. Usually, it's rock, paper and scissors." She

shook her head. "These two remind me way too much of Michael

and Chris."

Ryan and Matthew stared right at each other. The two boys each

pounded one hand on the other multiple times until both shouted

simultaneously once more: "ROSHAMBO!"

Both hands flew out towards the other. Ryan's was Paper. Matthew's

was Rock.

"HA!" Ryan exclaimed. "I win!"

"Lucky break" Matthew frowned. "Go get your Eevee!"

Ryan shook his head. "Nope. I want Addy to go first?"

Addison seemed surprised. "Really?"

Matthew looked suspiciously at his brother. "Why?"

"Because unlike you, I'm both polite and patient" Ryan insisted.

Addison shrugged. "Thanks, Ryan." The twins watched as Addison

walked inside the nursery. The Eevee, with two of their brothers and

sisters now gone, now approached the newcomer cautiously. One

Eevee in particular came close to her, sniffed the girl's shoes and

then started nibbling on her shoelaces. She scooped the Eevee up

into her arms and walked out with it. Julia gave her a Poké Ball to

use to catch the Eevee and the little tuft of brown fur allowed itself to

be captured. With that, Addison turned to the boys. "I'll wait for you

guys in the lobby." With that, she turned on her heel and followed

Holly and Tommy out towards the lobby.

Julia then turned to the twins. "I sincerely hope you boys don't plan

on doing another Roshambo."

Matthew shook his head. "Nope. Ryan gave up his turn. It's my turn."

When Ryan did not object, Matthew walked inside the nursery and

looked over the remaining two Eevees. While one timidly began to

back away from Matthew, the other began to wrestle with the other

Eevee's tail. Grinning to himself, Matthew picked up the tenacious

Eevee and ran outside with it. The Eevee tried to struggle his way

out of Matthew's hands, until he took the Poké Ball from Julia and

sealed it inside. With that, Matthew ran down the path after the

others.

"Well, that leaves one Eevee for one trainer, Ryan" Julia remarked.

She ushered the boy inside the nursery. Ryan came to a stop as

Julia shut the door. Aether looked at the newcomer and made a soft

noise towards it's remaining offspring. The Eevee, at first eager to

hide from Ryan, looked to it's father. The Espeon looked at it's son

and made another soft noise. The Eevee turned to Ryan and came

over to him, his eyes still wide.

Ryan held out his hand to the Eevee calmly. The Eevee nervously

approached Ryan and sniffed his hand.

"Hey there, little guy" Ryan spoke softly. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I

just want to be your friend."

The Espeon studied Ryan for a moment and let out another soft

noise at his son. The Eevee sniffed Ryan's hand again. It called out

to Ryan happily and allowed Ryan to pet him. As he did, he decided

not to carry the Eevee and let it walk out alongside him. The Eevee

hesitated for a moment, but then trotted out after Ryan.

As he and his new Pokémon left the nursery, Julia offered Ryan a

Poké Ball to put his Eevee in. The young trainer looked from his

Pokémon to the Poké Ball Julia held in her hand. "On second

thought, I think I'm gonna hold off putting it in a Poké Ball for now."

The Eevee sat by his side and licked it's paw.

"Are you sure?" Julia asked. "If you don't have it in a Poké Ball, the

Eevee can run away from you and you won't be able to find it. I can't

really be comfortable letting you do that."

Ryan nodded. "I'm sure." He gestured towards his Pokémon. "I don't

want this little guy to be afraid of me. I want him to trust me,

completely. And if that means that I won't put him in a Poké Ball early

on, so be it."

Julia sighed and put the Poké Ball back in her pocket. "Will you at

least carry it around in your hands?"

Ryan agreed and scooped up his Eevee into his arms. The Pokémon

fidgeted slightly, but soon relaxed itself in his trainer's hands. As

Ryan cradled his Pokémon in his hands, he looked to Julia. "What

happens now?"

"We're not done yet" she explained. "Now that you five have your

Pokémon, we need to properly set you all off on your paths." Ryan

followed the Professor after the others and back to the main lobby.

As they approached the lobby, Addison was already bonding with

her Eevee while Matthew was using his Poké Gear to search up

which of the Pokémon Eevee could evolve into was the strongest.

Holly and Tommy were waiting for the Professor and Ryan to return.

"What's up, you two?"

"We'd like to thank you for giving us some Pokémon to play with"

Holly graciously spoke to Julia. "But we have to leave a little early.

My parents need us to be in Taghwan City for something. We need

to catch up with my parents." She thanked her friends and the

Professor again and took her brother with her out of the Research

Facility.