Almost an entire month had passed, and only a week was left until Alexis's eighteenth birthday. Once that day arrived, he would officially be able to become a trainer and set out on a journey, as well as own Pokémon.
Throughout the past two months, Alexis had spent most of his time researching, learning some more details about Pokémon, and training his body so he would be able to take the punishment of travelling by foot.
That day wasn't any different, actually, since Alexis was out of his house, exercising. His routine had become a repetitive grind of running five kilometres through the forest, exercising in a small clearing he found while out exploring, returning home running to complete ten kilometres, and then researching and studying.
"85, 86, 87..." Alexis counted as he did push-ups, his body dripping in sweat. "96, 97, 98, 99..."
As he finished his push-ups, Alexis stood up and took a swig from his bottle of water. Having finished his daily exercises, he wore his t-shirt and grabbed his bottle, intent on heading back home.
"Eev..." Alexis heard a whimper coming from the behind some bushes around the clearing.
"Who's there?" He asked, taking a position in which he could strike back or run away if needed. Alas, no answer came, until he heard yet another small whimper, this one softer, lacking energy. Realising the sound came from a hurt Pokémon, Alexis rushed towards the bushes, shouting full of worry. "Hang in there, please!"
What greeted him was an Eevee, hurt almost to an inch of its life, bloodied and barely breathing. Overtaken by the worry, Alexis carefully lifted the small Eevee up and started running towards Sombre Town, forgetting about his bottle and the other things he had taken to the clearing.
"It's gonna be alright, little guy," Alexis said to the little Pokémon with care, trying to reassure it it would all be alright, before wincing in pain. Looking at his hand that was close to the Eevee's mouth, it's small fangs had pierced his hand. Not caring at all about his wound, Alexis continued running towards Sombre Town, rushing towards the Pokémon Center while reassuring the Eevee in soft whispers. "Don't worry Eevee, soon you will be fine..."
Alexis ran faster than he ever had, pushing his already tired body from training to its absolute limits, his muscles straining through the effort. But he didn't care. He couldn't. His mind was completely preoccupied by the creature in his arms, his thoughts filled with the need to help it. Through the whole run back, the small Eevee hadn't let go of his hands, biting as if its life depended on defending itself.
The moment Alexis burst through the door of the quaint Pokémon Center of Sombre Town, Nurse Joy and her trustworthy Chansey were quick to jump into action, gasping upon seeing the state the small Eevee was in. Chansey was quick to use Healing Pulse on the small baby Pokémon, allowing it to relax a little bit. No longer in immediate danger, Eevee let go of Alexis's hand and was taken by Chansey and Nurse Joy to be treated. They didn't come back out until an hour later, both sweating and taking deep breaths. Clearly, the treatment had been hard and taken a toll on them. Still, they came towards Alexis calmly.
"Your Eevee is safe for now... but how did it get so hurt?" Nurse Joy asked, her face reflecting her disapproval of Alexis, thinking the small Eevee was his. Chansey even looked like it wanted to use one of its rare damaging moves on him. Alas, Alexis was quick to fix the misunderstanding.
"That Eevee isn't mine... I'm still not eighteen," he said, showing them his bitten hand as if to prove the Eevee was not his. After all, in his mind, no Pokémon would bite its own Trainer so long as they treated them properly. "I was training by the forest when I heard a whimper, and following the sound I found Eevee like that. Then I rushed straight here."
Seeing his hand, Chansey was quick to once again using Healing Pulse, even though it was already exhausted, and bandage his hand. Nurse Joy looked apologetic, and that was enough for Alexis.
"Still... it's good to hear the little guy is safe," Alexis commented, patting Chansey's head with his free hand, a small warm smile on his face. Chansey smiled at him, its energy returning the moment it felt Alexis's care and warmth.
Opting not to speak, Nurse Joy simply smiled, realising Alexis was a special young man. More than he himself probably thought. A few moments later, when his hand was now fully bandaged and he was about to leave, Nurse Joy opened her mouth once again.
"I don't know when the little Eevee will wake up, but it would be nice if you could visit it," she said, smiling at Alexis. He simply turned around and smiled, offering her a smile and a thumbs up.
"Sure."
*
Three days had passed since Alexis brought the small Eevee to the Pokémon Center of Sombre Town. Explaining how he had hurt his hand to his parents was quite a task, but when they finally understood what had happened they were proud of him. Besides, they knew the pure love their son had for Pokémon, so they would not have been surprised even if he had told them he had fought against a Mandibuzz to protect the small Eevee, which was clearly young according to what he could tell.
The previous days he had taken a break from training, deciding to allow his hand to heal and dedicating himself to studying. He took his book from his home to the Pokémon Center, not missing a single day of visiting the small Eevee, talking to it as it slept. Not once had the small one woken up since that day, but Nurse Joy reassured him that it was only a matter of time.
On the noon of the fourth day, Alexis left his house after lunch and walked to the Pokémon Center, walking through the door calmly only to find a panicked Nurse Joy and Chansey, dashing out of the small Eevee's room.
"Nurse Joy, what is going on?!" He asked in worry, fearing the worse. And while the answer was not what he first thought... it was still up there in the list of things he didn't want to hear.
"It's Eevee, it escaped!" Nurse Joy answered—her voice laced with worry and panic—showing Alexis the door to the small Eevee's room, which had a broken window, the curtain fluttering from the wind coming in.
Alexis stared at the window in shock for a few moments, the voice of Nurse Joy becoming nothing but a background noise, his mind picking up speed as his thoughts spiralled. Eevee was still weak, not fully recovered. It wasn't capable of taking care of itself currently. It was alone in the forest, easy prey to bigger carnivorous Pokémon like Mandibuzz, Ursaring, or even the rogue Weavile or Sneasel that came down form the snowy peaks.
Not even thinking about his actions, functioning on pure instinct, Alexis dashed out of the Pokémon Center, running towards the woods in the direction of the clearing where he found Eevee. He had around twenty minutes in a light jog, so he could get there in under ten minutes if he ran at full speed. As he ran through the dense forest, branches hit his face and his arms, but Alexis didn't feel them. As he finally came closer to the clearing, he heard something that froze his blood, stopping him in place.
"Uuuursaaring!" The roar of one of the apex predators in the region came, followed soon after by a small growl of a hurt Pokémon.
"Eevee!" The small guy returned, trying his best to sound as menacing as possible, intent on fighting the Ursaring to the last of its strength, not giving up.
By that point Alexis was able to see what was going on in the clearing, and the small Eevee was wounded, some its wounds which still had not healed opened, bleeding. But it was standing tall, its will clear. It wanted to fight. But Alexis could tell. The small guy had no strength left, its own body had long given up on it. The only thing keeping it awake was its will. Then the Ursaring roared, charging up a Shadow Claw in one of its arms and rushing towards the small Eevee, intent on ending it.
And just when things were about to take a turn for the worse, something clicked inside of Alexis. He knew it was stupid, he knew he would get hurt, he knew he was just a human... but he just could not see the small Eevee get hurt and not do something about it. That was how much he loved Pokémon. And even if Eevee had not accepted it yet... Alexis had already become attached to the small guy.
Jumping in front of the Ursaring, standing in between the two Pokémon, Alexis's mind sharpened, focusing solely on the danger in front of it. The Ursaring, seeing the human appearing in front of it, didn't stop its charge, instead changing targets. Swiping its claw at the human, it wanted to release its anger for trespassing on its new territory.
Alexis—his body moving on muscle memory and instinct—barely side-stepped the Shadow Claw, hooking one of his arms around Ursaring's, grabbing it with the other and pulling. Since his arms were not strong enough to lift the Hibernator Pokémon, he pushed his left leg back, pivoting on his right and driving his hips towards the Ursaring, finally lifting it and barely performing a hip throw on the creature.
"Leave," Alexis said, his voice coming out in a growl, adrenaline pumping through his system like it never had before. The small Eevee's eyes shined as it saw the exchange, a hint of admiration and care appearing in its small heart as it looked at the wide back of the human that was protecting it. Then it heard Alexis repeat, this time in a roar. "Leave!"
The Ursaring had two options. Stay and fight, or leave and go back to its previous territory. Looking at the human, Ursaring knew he could beat it, but it would be a wild brawl. He saw it in the human's eyes. The intent of standing his ground even if it meant death. And while Ursaring would ultimately win, it had already calmed down after being thrown, and knew it was not worth it.
"Ursaring!" It roared to the human, a calm sign of acknowledgement, before running back to the forest, leaving the clearing.
As the adrenaline left Alexis's body, he fell to the ground rear-first, taking rough breaths to calm his accelerated heart. Then he heard a small whimper and felt a slightly rough tongue licking his wounded hand, were blood was already coming out of after the exertion.
It was the Eevee he had come to protect, showing its care and appreciation.
"Hey little guy..." Alexis said, a smile on his face as it saw the Eevee was okay, while still hurt. "I'm so glad you're okay..."
"They're here!" A voice shouted near them, one which Alexis recognised as his father's, followed by the sound of many other voices and rushed steps. "My boy! I'm so glad you're okay!"
Being crushed in his father's arms, Alexis sighed with relief. They were both fine. They were both alive.
"Eevee," the small creature said as it looked at Alexis, making at that moment a resolution that would forever change its life. "Eev-eevee!"
It was going to follow this human. It would grow strong and it would protect it the same way it had protected him.
That day, a bond that would outlast time itself was forged.