My Pokémon Anime Journey | BOOK ONE: KANTO

The Battling Eevee Brothers

"Huh? What's the matter, Eevee?"
"Vee-veee!" Eevee scurried through the underbrush, before pointing with her snout at a nearby hollow tree. Within the space, another Eevee sat, tied to a nearby post.
"It's been abandoned," Brock announced, examining the Eevee's condition.
"That's quite the assumption," Ari said, but rage bubbled within her bones. She set the Eevee free; he cuddled up to her own, the pair frolicking in the flowers.
"Take a look at this." Misty revealed a collar buried beneath the Eevee's mass of neck fur. "The name tag has an address. Stone Town... that's not far from here, and on route to Saffron City."

Ari, Misty, and Brock strolled into Stone Town. The scenery sculpted around them was an idyllic village ringing the wooded mountainous terrain which had stalked them across the recent stretches of their journey. Overlooking Stone Town like some promised land was a gleaming mansion, accented in gold, with an expansive garden, overtaken by a rowdy celebration.
"Any chance that's our destination?" Said Ari.
Misty checked the collar. "Turns out this Eevee belongs to the high life."
The gates were open in welcome, so the group entered.
"Look guys!" Misty directed their attention to a Trainer with a Poliwhirl, displaying her usual fixation with Water-types. An older teenager, so blue his diet surely consisted of blueberries alone, bestowed a Water Stone onto the Poliwhirl Trainer. The Poliwhirl eagerly grabbed it, and a stream of light transformed it into a menacing Poliwrath. The watching attendants applauded.
"Congralations! Your Poliwhirl Evolved into Poliwrath," said Blueberry Boy.
The other Trainer glowed. "Thank you so much!" He busied away with his flexing Poliwrath.
Blueberry Boy leant back aloofly with a smirk, running his hands through his prickly navy hair like a surfer emerging from water.
The Poliwrath jumped into a nearby fountain, as large as Ari's house, already occupied by a Cloyster and Starmie. Ari noticed other Pokémon - Vileplume, Victreebel, Exeggutor, Raichu, and Ninetales.
All Evolved through Evolution Stones.
"Eevee!" An adolescent with a garish neon yellow colour scheme and hair which stood on end with static approached, crackling with manic energy. He bent down and regarded the collared Eevee with familiarity. He was joined by Blueberry Boy and another lad so red he died his hair and clothes with tomato juice. They looked so similar they must have been triplets, and, as the centres of attention, were certainly the hosts. Ari heard whispers of their names: Blue was Rainer, Yellow was Sparky, and Red, Pyro.

"Where did you go to? We were worried about you, Eevee," said Sparky.
Blue took Eevee from Misty. "Thanks for finding Eevee for us."
"This is great!" Pyro laughed. "Now we're got our star, we can go on with the show!"
The Pokémon at their feet leered at the returned Eevee. Ari realised with a jolt that they were three of Eevee's Evolutions: Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon. She could be looking at her own Eevee's future.
"Eevee's a star?" Misty repeated.
Ari prodded, "Then why was he ties up?"
Sparky dodged the question. "Mikey? Eevee's come back!"
A younger boy, unassumingly dressed, shuffled shyly foward. Eevee lept from Rainer's arms into Mikey's. Mikey appeared oddly apprehensive.
"How could you lose him?" Pyro said. "You gotta be careful!"
"Did Eevee really escape? He was tied to a tree," Misty recalled.
"Why did you bring him back?" Mikey said quietly.
"Listen, Mikey: someday, you'll be a Pokémon Trainer just like us," said Sparky.
"Do you really think you can win your first Battle with an unevolved Eevee?" Rainer asked.
"We win because we Evolved our Eevee. There's no other way to win!" Rainer boasted. "The key to a first Battle victory is Evolution. You wanna be flawless in Battle like your big brothers, right?"
"I win just fine without my Eevee Evolving!" Ari interjected.
Rainer ignored her. "Everyone is waiting to see what you Evolve Eevee into, Mikey."
"Which do you think is the strongest of the Evolved forms?" Queried Sparky.
"We wanna know what you think of our Pokémon!" Pyro said. "Which Pokémon do you want Eevee to become?"
"A Thunder Stone results in Jolteon. When Jolteon's mad, its hair sharpens into needles, and it shoots them at its enemies!"
"A Water Stone's the best choice, becahse Vaporeon can melt into water," Rainer followed, glaring at Sparky.
"A Fire Stone means Flareon, and Flareon's fire sac can create blazing flame attacks! Flareon's the strongest Evolutionary choice," Pyro argued.
"Are you kidding?" Spat Sparky. "My Jolteon is the best of all!"
"Too bad you're the only one who thinks so," said Pyro slyly.
Rainer said, "Mikey, I'm sure you'll make the right choice and Evolve Eevee into a Vaporeon."
"This family sure is competitive, guys," Brock nervously noted.
"Give the kid a break!" Ari said.
"You could do with Evolving your Eevee," snubbed Pyro. "I have enough Fire Stones for Eevee and that Vulpix-,"
"Vaporeon is superior!" Rainer asserted.
"Jolteon!" Sparky shouted. That was his entire argument.
"We can't force our Pokémon to Evolve," Ari said.
"Today's special Evolution party is a gathering of Trainers who specialise in Evolutions induced by Evolution Stones, so those Pokémon can Evolve. We mine the Stones from the mountains," Pyro said. "It's what Stone Town's known for."
"Evolution is what all Pokémon want!" The triplets said.
Sparky procured a Thunder Stone. "Join our club, Ari."
Pyro snatched his arm, and the triplets started fighting. Ari, Misty, Brock, and Mikey backed away.