The Fox and the Dragon [Katsumi]

@scairlet - Here we go! Hope its fine.

Mei's eyes twitched as she heard another loud shriek as a young Pokemon splashed around by the pond. The Eevee was spending her time in a shade by the tree, watching Pokemon splash around. She was fine with them... as long as they don't get too close. They remind her too much of her back then... young... naive... Mei's tail swung from side to side. Try not to remember much about the past. Her inner thoughts told her. Mei sighed, and placed her head on her paws. She should try and get some sleep as seen that she has plans to go on a dungeon in the night.

The sun was beginning to set by the time she woke up. The Pokemon around her was supposedly long gone. Mei stood up and stretched, flexing her legs. The Eevee gazed up and closed her eyes contently. The view and the shade was really great. She might spare some time before getting ready for the night.

Katsumi’s violet eyes were wide open as she scanned her surroundings, trying to suppress the loud thumping noise her heart was making. Am I alone? Is there anyone else here? I hope I’m not alone… But if I’m alone then it won’t be long until this turns into isolation, NO! What am I thinking? Being alone and being isolated are DIFFERENT, okay? But then… “URGH! JUST KEEP QUIET! JUST STOP THINKING” Katsumi suddenly froze, realizing she had been a little loud when she yelled those words.

The Dratini turned around in a full circle. Yes, she was hoping that she would see another Pokemon so she could distract herself, but she was also hoping that if there were other Pokemon around then they wouldn’t have heard her yell.

But then Katsumi saw it! In the shade of a tree, an Eevee was visible! Relief washed over Katsumi as she bounded towards the Eevee, light shining in her eyes. She wanted be friends with this Eevee but she was desperately hoping that the Eevee hadn’t heard her yell…

Mei's ears twitched as she heard a loud scream shatter the air. Not exactly a scream, but a Pokemon venting out their feelings. The Eevee's tail swung from side to side, her ears flattening in a kind of reflex. Her fur bristled, as she looked around wildly, trying to locate the sound of the voice. There! Mei could see a Dratini, a little bit in the distance from her spot. To her, it looked like it was trashing around in a sort of fit? Arceus, whats going on?! Mei's eyes widened.

Almost like a split, she was sure that their eyes met. And the Dratini was suddenly charging at her at full speed. Mei's guard was up. She was sure she heard something about some kind of disease that made Pokemon go mad somewhere in her travels, although it was just a vague rumor. But could the fact that it exists actually be true? Mei's eyes narrowed. Her tail had already bristled up and was fluffed out. There were a million thoughts running in her head. What could she possibly do? Her normal self would snap out, and try to attack-- but something made her sit and try to force her fur lie flat. "Are you okay?" Mei wasn't the kind of Eevee to ask those kinds of question. But somehow... she did.

Katsumi’s eyes that were brimming with joy when she saw the Eevee had now trailed to the ground. She was unsure how to react when the Pokemon asked if she was okay. Was she okay?

Katsumi was a little nervous. She doubted anyone would want to talk to her if they knew that she was scared of being isolated and a lot of other things on top of that. She definitely was not going to tell anybody her fears, if she did, they would think she was useless and mentally insecure. However she had just screamed to the world what her 'insecure' mind was thinking! This was not good but Katsumi tried to rationalise.

She did hear me, but it’s not the end of the world. I just need to make her know that I’m not just a complete scaredy cat and that I have some awesome personality traits as well.

Katsumi smiled wobbly at first but when she looked at the Eevee her smile turned into a real one.                            

There’s no reason to be scared since I now have company.

After reassuring herself with those words Katsumi grinned, “Yup, I’m feeling alright now! How about you? You must have quite a bit of free time at the moment if you can worry about me!” Katsumi started laughing happily, just relieved to have the company.

Yup! I'm feeling alright now! At the sound of the cheerful voice, Mei edged back a little, a million thoughts of escaping plans forming in her head. This Dratini definitely sounds sick. This Pokemon could possibly be infected with that Pokemon disease she had heard about. Does the disease spread? How bad does it extent to? Mei honestly didn't want to find out. But she stood her ground. The Eevee's tail swung from side to side, and her chest fur bristled. Mei forced out a smile. "S-sure. I'm fine, thank you." Her paranoid self was screaming that the Dratini could possibly be trying to infect her on purpose too. Its like walking with an explosive in a crowd full of Pokemon. You die, they die. Simple, no questions asked.

Katsumi’s head tilted to one side. Why was this Eevee acting so strangely? Katsumi had met quite a wide range of Pokemon in her life but this Eevee was just strange. The Dratini just couldn’t understand why the Eevee was stuttering and acting weirdly.

Katsumi took a step forward. She was genuinely worried about this Pokemon but Katsumi wanted to be friends with it. “Hey random Eevee!  Can you PLLEEEAAASSEEE tell me why you’re looking at me very, um, strangely?” Katsumi grinned bubbly. “Are you scared of me? Well then again, I don’t blame you. You see everyone knows that my sheer amazingness is out of this world and if you’re scared then do not fear!”

'Random Eevee'. Oh Arceus. Nobody in this whole wide world has called Mei a random Eevee before. Actually... this whole meeting sounds all wrong to Mei. Normal Pokemon would be like 'Hi... My name is ______." And Mei would disappear as fast as she appears. At this point onward, this... this... uh.. Pokemon, hasn't even introduced herself. Mei twitched a little. Her weird behavior was noticed. Note to self: she did NOT want to die. Yet. She'll act as innocently as possible, and hope this Dratini moves on. Unless the thought of actually getting infected by this disease crosses the mind and causes her to 'panic run'. "I... yeah...!" Mei agreed weakly."Dratinis are cool, amazing! Sorry." She said, a weak excuse to cover up her thoughts. "I just woke up, and my mind isn't exactly straight."

Katsumi had now confirmed that this Eevee was VERY strange. The Dratini had no idea how to interact with this Eevee but as usual she just went with her instincts. I‘ll just talk and talk until she talks as well.

Feeling quite clever and proud of herself, Katsumi started talking. “Okay, so I have noooo idea what to talk about with a strange Eevee like you but oh well! So my name’s Katsumi and I’m a Dratini. Normally most Pokemon know that I’m a Dratini but some don’t and that’s kinda sad. But since I have no idea how strange-random-Eevees think, I can’t really assume anything can I? So anyways, I was wondering, could you please tell me what’s going on in your mind and what you’re thinking? I haven’t met any strange-random-Eevees before and I want to know how you guys think and what you think of me? So PLLLEEAAASSSEEEE can you tell me?!”

Mei sweat-dropped at the reaaallly long speech the Dratini gave her. She could swear she never spoke that much in one go in her entire life. That entire thing the Dratini said was her usual amounts of speech she has in a week. Maybe this Dratini just likes to hear her own voice. A voice said inside her head. I don't recall sane Pokemon talking while having 'no idea what to talk about.' Another voice quickly countered. Mei's ears twitched, as a mental war raged on. Of course, the Dratini was sick anyways. Mei had to stick with her plan. Its best to be normal anyways. It wasn't as if the Dratini would spill her name everywhere right? And get the entire gang to hear about it and search for her? Big no-no. She could take the risk.

"My name is Mei." Mei stopped, trying to recall the last question the Dratini gave her. "And... uh... about... about that question of yours.... I... I think we think like other Pokemon? I guess? And... what's going on in my mind..." That was a really frank question. Her mind was currently bugging with paranoid thoughts about this strange in front of her. But... she did not WANT to insult this Pokemon. She didn't like insulting Pokemon. "Um... I'm thinking about my activities for tonight. So... yeah?" She hoped it was good enough. It was as far as Mei can go. Being friendly was hard work. She wondered how Az could have that much patient.

Katsumi sighed with relief. Good! This Eevee is capable of talking. She had been talking before but she just gave short answers. But since Katsumi started asked a lot of questions, she started giving a few more answers. My plan is working!

“Mei’s a really cool name! I LIKE IT! You gave a few more replies this time so I’ve concluded that you don’t like talking but you CAN talk. That’s good! So… since your not very good at talking, I’ve got an idea.” Katsumi paused dramatically. “How about I help you with your evening activities?!” Katsumi started grinning mischievously. She was definitely going to help Mei get over her not-being-able-to-talk-very-much disease.

Mei's fur bristled a little. Come with her? Hold on. A Pokemon, probably reeked with a kind of unknown disease (Or could be mad/eccentric/crazy.) with her for her evening activities? No way in Arceus... But... Mei knew she wouldn't exactly stand a fight against a dragon type. She had to allow this Katsumi. Mei was now hoping the disease won't transmit easily through air. She wasn't at all going to touch that Dratini. "I... yeah.. sure?" Mei said, a little uncertainly, her paw scuffling the dirt with uneasy. "I... I was planning to go around the small pond and h-hunt."

“OKAY THEN, LET’S GO!” Looking up at the vivid sunset Katsumi grinned some more. “It’s technically not evening yet… BUT WHATEVER! LET’S START THIS HUNTING ACTIVITY EARLY!” Katsumi then paused, her head tilting to one side, “So, what are we going to hunt?” She turned around in a full circle; her violet eyes open, scanning the surroundings. But then she saw the pond. It just looked so beautiful. The colourful sunset reflected perfectly off the water and it filled Katsumi with the burning desire to jump in. Letting out a squeal of excitement, Katsumi scrambled to the pond dragging Mei with her. She was grinning happily as the water drenched both Mei and herself.

Oh Arceus. Why did she had to come across this Pokemon? Mei flinched a little upon contact with the Dratini. Katsumi really didn't give her much time to answer anyways. Within seconds, she felt herself getting dragged... towards the pond? Oof. Mei growled a little as water drenched her. She did not like getting wet. She was an Eevee! She has thick fur which is really hard to dry. She felt her patience level starting to run thin. "I'm hunting around for berries. They are nice and soft, and easy to eat." Mei said, through gritted teeth. The sun was setting... there was noway she could dry up quickly. A wet Eevee isn't exactly a pretty site with their fur all plastered towards their body.

Splashing around in the water, Katsumi was having way too much fun. This is awesome! I love ponds! With a bit more splashing around, getting herself drenched and splashing the already drenched Eevee, Katsumi finally decided to go back onto the dry land again.

As she dragged the Eevee with her once more, the two Pokemon were on dry land. Katsumi turned to the Eevee and suddenly burst out laughing. Mei looked hilarious! All her fur was plastered to her body and she looked like a rat! Laughing and laughing, Katsumi rolled on the ground making the weirdest laughing noises in history. “You look HILARIOUS!” Katumi finally managed to say before collapsing into another fit of hysterical laughter.

Mei hissed, annoyed at the remarks the Dratini gave her. "It's not funny!" Mei growled, shaking herself, sending water droplets in all directions. The Eevee was fuming in anger. The Dratini in front of her is annoying her to the very core. The Eevee could feel deep angry rage building up inside of her. She really wanted to start beating this thing up, but she held herself back. It wasn't worth it. She dragged herself to a spot on a small rock overlooking the pond, trying to feel the leftover heat from it. The rock was still warm, but the warmness was gone the moment she stepped onto it. This was starting to get onto her nerves.