Would You Like To Make a Run For It?

“Umbreon, show this kid who’s boss.” Gary smirked, grabbing a pokéball from his pocket and arrogantly throwing it out.

A flash of light appeared before us, and before long a tough looking Umbreon appeared.

“I didn’t know you had an Umbreon.” I stated, looking amazed.

Eevee’s eyes went wide too, and she hid behind my legs, scared of this other tough looking evolved form of herself.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me. If you stick around, you’ll learn though.” Gary winked.

“Alright, easy. I send out Jynx.” The schoolboy ‘Danny’ said, mirroring Gary’s smirk, staying true to his word and sending out a Jynx.

I was shocked even more than Gary owning an Umbreon. Jynx was really rare. I was expecting this schoolboy to have a Rattata or a Pidgey or something, and would be really easy. Then again, he was training at Viridian Academy.

Maybe he wasn’t lying. Maybe he did come by Ash and did beat him.

***

“Wow Gary, you’re a really good trainer. You were much of a better challenge than Ash Ketchum. I’ll have to really work hard, but one day I’ll beat you!” Danny said, sounding arrogant like Gary but giving him words of praise none the less.

“We’ll see. Smell ya later.” Gary grinned, beginning to walk off, not recalling his Umbreon and waving for me to follow him.

I followed, Eevee running to try and catch up with my striding off.

“So how long have you had the Umbreon?” I asked Gary, as Eevee was trying to hide from the Umbreon.

“Meh, since I was ten. It was an Eevee to begin with, quite like yours.” Gary explained.

“I see. And you never decided to evolve it? I’ve heard it’s really rare for them to evolve to Umbreon and Espeon’s. Good work.” I complimented him.

“Thanks. It did take a while. As soon as I got it, I tried to use a firestone on him to turn him into a Flareon. It kept running away though, it really didn’t want to evolve. It took a while for him to trust me again, but he did, and one day when we battled some idiot at night, he turned into an Umbreon just before we entered the battle. The idiot got pretty scared.” Gary said, stopping in his tracks and bending down.

The Umbreon went up to his legs, and he gave it a large pat.

I had to smile as I saw Gary look a lot more relaxed and dare I say vulnerable than usual. I had never seen him show affection to ANYBODY, so it bought a smile to my face to see him affectionate towards his Pokémon.

“Umbreon this is Lily, and this is her Eevee. Would you like to say hi?” Gary asked the Umbreon, and my Eevee moved closer to me, showing it was scared.

The Umbreon took a step towards Eevee.

I picked her up, and put her in front of the Umbreon.

“Eevee, it’s a nice Umbreon. Don’t be scared, you like Gary; do you think Gary would raise a mean Umbreon? Umbreon was once an Eevee like you; in fact it’s probably younger than you. So you’re the boss of IT!” I smirked at Eevee.

She cocked her head to the side as she looked up at me, but then cautiously approached the Umbreon. She sniffed at it, but then cooed happily as she saw the Umbreon react positively.

“Well that settles that.” Gary proudly stated, as he began to walk.

I walked next to him, whilst Eevee and Umbreon walked behind us as they began to bond.

“Have you ever considered evolving your Eevee? I remember you said you had it since you were five, even before you got your Pokémon license.” Gary asked.

“Haha! I didn’t even want that stupid thing, Mum made me get it at ten. It was just another way to pre occupy me whilst she could go do gross things with her boss. Dad was the one who caught the Eevee when I was five for me, but it wasn’t officially mine according to the law until I got the license.” I smiled weakly.

“You don’t talk about your Dad much, so I’ll be as nice as I possible when I say this but that wasn’t what I asked. Have you ever seriously considered evolving your Eevee?” Gary asked.

“Oh. Um, not really. I’ve wondered it a few times and I could never decide between Jolteon or Vaporeon. Besides, I think it’s cruel to evolve a Pokémon based on what I want. If Eevee wanted to evolve I’m sure she’d let me know, and I’ll wait until that day.” I shrugged.

“Those are some wise words Lily. You may not be a Pokémon trainer, but you’re going to be a top carer for Eevee, Shellder and your new Rattata for life.” Gary stated.

“Thanks. I know you hate giving compliments and only receiving them, so thank you Gary.” I smiled at him.

“No problem Lily. Anything for you.” Gary said, sarcastically spitting out the last sentence but then cracking a smile towards me.

We trudged on for the next few minutes in silence, as Gary’s small fluctuations in personality had killed all conversation and was making things a little awkward.

I looked back at Eevee and Umbreon; at least they were getting along well.

“So, Viridian City is just over that small hill over there. We’re going to be there a little earlier than anticipated. Is there anything specific you’d like to do in Viridian City as we have the time?” Gary asked me.

“Um…not really.” I awkwardly smiled.

“Alrighty then. Well, I think we should go find a few trainers and have a few battles. Let’s test out how well Shellder and Rattata will battle under you; if you’d like I can help you battle or we can even have a double match with some poor sucker. Then we should eat, and look at the attractions at night, considering how well that went last time. Then we can leave at around 10 or 10.30 and be home at Pallet by midnight.” Gary suggested.

‘Considering how well that went last time’ last time it resulted in a kiss. I debated whether to bring it up or not, wanting to press for answers, but it was already awkward enough and I didn’t want an awkward night ahead of us. I decided to ignore this.

“I don’t want to go home at midnight, I’ll wake up Delia.” I stated.

“Stay at the lab with Gramps and I. It’s so big he won’t even hear us come in, or hear us over his snoring.” Gary shrugged.

“O-ok.” I stuttered, without even thinking about my decision.

He smirked at me, but then looked away as Viridian City was now in eyesight, standing below the hill we were now upon. It was a good sight, and I took in the city I’d be spending the next few hours in.