#arcainine

            This morning, before the sun had even shown itself, Asta had already started her day. She slowly stepped out onto her back porch with large buckets of food. She smiled as she smelled the morning dew of the fields. She slowly meandered toward the kennels and made sure to take her sweet time.

             Today is an especially important day for Asta, everything was about to change for her. But for now, she was enjoying everything as it always has been. She finished her thirty-foot journey to the kennels and gently pulled the door open. There was a loud creaking sound as the hinges rubbed against each other. Inside she took in a large whiff of canine smell.

             “Morning everyone!” She said as walked to the middle of the kennels, pulling the string to turn on the single light bulb.

             All around her creatures came to life, stretching their legs and shaking off the sleep. Ember farms is home to over twenty fully evolved arcainine used for breeding, all of them are retired police growlithe who have done their time. The amount of growlithe who call the ranch home vary on the time of year, but on this first day of May they had twenty-five.

             Ember walked from food bowl to food bowl, filling each of them with as much food as it can hold. After each Pokémon had its fill, she went and grabbed a pitcher and filled it with watch. Going to each water bowl she filled them to the brim, having to take a few trips in order to do so.

             By this point the Arcainine and Growlithe were starting to wake up. They were happy to see their favorite playing buddy. They each make sure to say good morning to Asta. She gave each of them some pets and said hello.

             After they were all properly fed and watered, ember grabbed some brushed and started to care for the coats of all the Arcainine. She would sit down on a chair and the Pokémon would patiently wait in line to get the matts out of their fur.

             Asta loved spending time with the Pokémon, they were always the best at listening when she was feeling down. She knew they were listening, they always seemed to understand what she was going through.

             “Well,” She signed as she started brushing her first Arcainine. “Today I turn ten. Today everything changes for me. I’m supposed to get my starter Pokémon and go out on some wild journey alone.”

             She seemed to slow down the pace of the brushing, “but what if I don’t want to go on an adventure? What if I do not want to be a Pokémon trainer? What if… I just want to stay here where I feel safe? I mean what is even the big deal, right? It just seems like a lot of walking to me.”

             “Arcainine?” The large creature looked at her.

             “Sure, it would be a great experience. But I have never been the battling type! I’m a pacifist to say the least, I don’t like battling.” She sighed and pushed the Arcainine so that it would turn around. “but no, of course my sister had to become the fire type gym leader of the Kanto region. With that success she instantly became the pride of the family! Now I’m supposed to fallow in her shoes!” Asta slowly grew more and more frustrated with the situation and ended up brushing harder and harder because of it.

             “Arcainine!” the Pokémon finally protested.

             “Sorry,” Asta mumbled. Shaking her head, she just focused on the brushing. She tried not to think about what today meant for her.

             Asta finally finished grooming the last Pokémon when the sky was already high in the sky. Letting the Pokémon out into the pastures for some exercise, it was time to clean the kennels. She was actually finding of excited to do it for the last time. Not that she would ever get the chance.

             “Asta! Asta where are you?” Her mother cried from the porch.

             Walking over to the door and cracking it open she yelled back, “Cleaning the kennels I’ll be done in a bit!”

             “Oh stop! You don’t have to worry about that anymore!” Her mom yelled back, “Come in and get ready! It is time for you to go get your own Pokémon and start your journey! Your father will worry about that!” Her mother Demanded.

             Asta frowned and leaned against the door frame. She touched the wood, wanting just a few more minutes to say goodbye to the life that she always loved so much. However, another shrill call from her mom got her moving back toward the house with a tear in her eye.

             After a rigorous once over by her mother, including a shower and a fierce combing of her hair. Asta was dressed in jeans and a Eevee Sweatshirt. On her parents had bought her brand-new pair of tennis shoes for this trip, along with a rather large backpack to hold all of her things. Once she was dressed, her parents packed her up in the car and took off with a tire screech toward the professor’s research station.

             Once they arrived, they pulled up out of the car and up to the door. They were moving to fast Asta’s feet never even hit the ground. Professor Oak was just as excited as her parents were, letting them in and instantly getting to work making sure she was set up with a cell phone, complete with a Rotom Pokémon so that it can act as a pokedex as well. Everything was going so fast, Asta’s eyes ended up glazing over halfway through the orientation.

             Finally, it was time for Asta for choose her starting Pokémon. Oak took her to this large round table with three Poke balls on top of it. He then went from right to left explaining what each Pokémon and their abilities.

             “Charmander is a fire type, Bulbasaur is a grass type and Squirtle is a water type.” He explained with a smile.

             Then the room went silent. Everyone stared at Asta, waiting for her to choose the Pokémon she would start her journey with. Asta looked around at each person, trying to figure out if there is any way she can back out of this. Sadly, by this point it was too late, so she stepped forward and weighed her options.

             I guess I could take the Charmander. She thought. Fire types are really cool. But if I am going to have a fire type it is going to be a growlithe. I could take the Bulbasaur, but I do not really want a grass type as my starter. I guess all that leaves is…

             Asta stepped forward and took the Squirtle poke ball, then she turned to Professor Oak. “I choose Squirtle.” She stated.

             The room erupted in congratulations and applause. They were all overly excited for Asta and started talking about how Squirtle will help Asta a lot of her journey to become a gym leader. They even started to talk about Ember being a water type gym leader.

             After a final goodbye and a hardy good luck from her parents and the professor, it was time for Ember to start her journey as a Pokémon trainer. So, Asta started down the road, only turning to look behind her once to see all of the waving hands. Asta could not help but worry about the pit in her stomach.

             Once Asta was out of line of sight of the research station, she pulled out her poke ball and let Squirtle out. He seemed to be incredibly happy to see Asta, which was a nice change. She had become very used to people being more excited about her leaving then her being there.

             “You wouldn’t’ mind walking with me, would you?” Asta Asked Squirtle. “I get lonely.”

             “Squit-squirtle!” Squirtle answered. He seemed okay with it.

             Asta and Squirtle walked into Vermillion City, as that is what Asta had been taught to do. From what Asta understood, in order for her to become a gym leader Asta has to first beat all of the gyms. The very idea of that made her stomach curl.

             Stopping by a local café, Asta ordered dinner for both her and Squirtle. She sat down lazily and leaned against the left side of her chair. Squirtle sat happily across from her. He seemed to just be excited to be there.

             “From what I have heard,” Asta Thought out load, “The gym to start with is in Pewter City. That is the Rock Type gym. I am supposed to become a Gym leader, so I am going to need a killer team in order to succeed. Are you ready for that Squirtle?”

             “Squirtle!” Squirtle answered without even a second though, Asta envied his enthusiasm.

             At that moment, a loud screech came from the other end of the café. The source of the sound seemed to be an Eevee. It was surrounded by trainers and was holding onto an ever stone with all of its might.

             “Come on you useless Pokémon,” One of the trainers growled. “it is time for you to evolve into a flareon!”

             Asta sat and watch them try to pry the ever stone for another minute. The whole situation made her sad. She believed that nobody should be forced to do anything. Especially if they are not ready for it just yet.

             Squirtle sat in its chair confused, looking from Asta to the Eevee and back. Finally, it got tired of see the Eevee in distress. It hopped down from the chair and started to walk right over to the table where the competition was at.

             “Squirtle” Asta called after him, “What are your doing.”

             “Squirt” Was all that Asta got in response.

             Squirtle walked right up to the trainers and with all of the air in its lungs it yelled at them in order to get their attention. Asta had just reached Squirtle when the group all turned around and looked right at her.

             “What?” One of the men growled at her.

             Asta looked at the group and froze, her anxiety levels rising fast. She was stuck in her position with no way out. Her stomach got all knotted like it usually does when she encounters conflict, and her palms got all clammy.

             A small tug on her jeans pulled Asta out of her trance. Looking down she saw Squirtle standing next to her. One of his claws was holding onto her pants and the other was pointing right at the Eevee who is being help up by the scruff of its neck. Squirtle seemed to be worried about the poor little Pokémon.

             Looking at the group of frustrated trainers, Asta took a gulp and mustered up the little courage that she had. “I-if you do not want the Eevee, I would happily take it off of your hands.” Asta suggested.

             The trainer who was trying to take the ever stone from Eevee shook his head, “look girly, you do not want this useless piece of-“

             Asta’s rage grew, “Why not?” She cut him off.

             He sneered at her, “because you little brat! This Eevee refused to battle or evolve! It is the most useless Pokémon on the planet!”

             “then you wouldn’t mind if I take it?” Asta retorted.

             The trainer seemed surprised. He looked form the Eevee who was still holding the ever stone back to Asta. He seemed to be weighing his options. Then she just gave Asta a Shrug.

             “Fine, if you want to waist space, then you can have it!” He Yelled at her.

             Grabbing the Eevee from his friend, he threw he Pokémon at Asta. Asta was able to catch it before it hit the ground. Then the trainers laughed at their misfortune and took their leave. They make sure to leave some horrible words and names in their wake when it came to the Eevee.

             Asta walked both of her Pokémon back to her table. The Eevee was shaking in her arms, still holding the ever stone with all of it’s might. She felt sorry for the little thing and order it some food as well. The waitress just seemed to be happy that the commotion was over and done with.

             “hey, hey” Ember said softly to the Eevee as she sat down in her chair.

             Squirtle crawled back up onto his chair. He seemed to be worried about Eevee, looking over the table as Asta tried to calm her down. He also started to give comfiting noises in order to try and get the Eevee to open up.

             “No one should ever be forced into doing something they do not want to do.” Asta said to Eevee. “I am on a journey to be a Pokémon trainer, but I don’t want to do that. I do not like battles or fighting either. But my parents want their kids to be gym leaders, so I was forced to. But I would never force you to battle.”

             Eevee was still shaking, but she started to move her ears as if she were listening to what Asta was saying. Squirtle was surprised by Asta’s words. He looked at Asta as if he did not know what to think.

             “Don’t get me wrong Squirtle,” Asta said quickly. “I am overly excited that I was able to meet you and work with you. But if I did not have to battle I wouldn’t.”

             Eevee looked up at Asta at this point. Squirtle seemed to understand where Asta was coming from. All three of them seemed to understand each other at this moment in time. Taking a moment of silence in order to cement their understanding.

             “Then why don’t you open a Pokémon refuge?” The waitress said as she delivered Eevee a drink.

             “A what?” Asta asked.

             “A place where mistreated Pokémon can go.” She explained, then she shrugged and left.

             Asta was in shock. Her whole world was shattered this morning when she was forced on this journey. She was never thought that her life would come back together so quickly, that she would have a new dream by now. As she looked down at Eevee and over to Squirtle, every piece of the puzzle slowly started to come together. Everyone seemed to be in silent agreement of the new and improved plan of action.