L4J Saga: 3

"C'mon...stay still."

"...eee!"

Tracey was sitting on the steps of the Professor's Lab. His backpack lay next to him, loaded with new sketchpads and sets of pencils. One of the fresh pads was propped on his knees and he was trying to draw his new pokemon friend.

Eevee was having none of that, however. She twisted and turned in the grass, showing her tail and then her furry stomach. There were noises that sounded suspiciously like giggles coming from the tiny fox as she impudently stuck her tongue out.

"I said stay...oh, the heck with it." Tracey set down his sketchpad and rubbed eevee's belly. The little one coughed lightly and tried to roll back over, but he insisted. Eevee laid her ears back and looked up at him with wildly staring purple eyes.

"Vee."

"Why won't you let me do that? I thought you finally trusted me." He sighed and stood up. Eevee mumbled to herself, then toddled over to his side. She sniffed the breeze and snapped her long ears around in a bored way.

"Hurr...?" Puzzled, Eevee looked back over her shoulder at the forest nearby, frowning a bit. Then her ears shot straight up and her eyes widened. Tracey had been watching her closely and when she flinched he whipped around to look at the line of trees also.

"What is it?"

"Vee vee vee vee!" All the young man saw was a flash of brown as evee darted with all her speed towards the forest. He stood still for a moment, then caught his backpack in one hand and called out.

"Eevee! Wait for me!" He darted out the main gate and ran as fast as he could.

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Once inside the forest, the day seemed muted as it streamed through the trees in varying sizes and shafts of light. It was a lot cooler, too. Tracey slung the straps of his pack fully over his arms and glanced about. Eevee was nowhere to be found. He scuffed a foot at the small dirt path while peering about and finally spotted her tiny pawprints. Carefully stepping to one side so as not to wipe the trail out, he began to track them as quickly as he could.

"Eevee!" Tracey cupped his hands to his mouth, trying to make his voice more powerful. He kept following the prints but listened as well for any sound that might give him an extra clue as to where she had gone. The forest, however, was frighteningly still. He didn't hear any branches breaking or even a single bird pokemon chirping. No bug pokemon were out, either. Sweating a little, he hurried along faster. He began worrying about Eevee and what she might have gotten herself into.

He was rushing along so fast with his eyes searching carefully on the ground for pawprints, he didn't even see the odd scattering of leaves right on the side of the road. He walked directly onto the small patch and yelped as the ground gave way. Leaves flew everywhere as the young man was caught in a huge net that bounced back, swinging up. It ended up dangling precariously from a stout tree limb some distance from the ground.

"What's going on? Let me go!" He struggled, but he couldn't reach the pocket that held his pokeballs. It was then that he heard the voices coming from the far end of the road.

"Let me go!"

"Cut it out! Let me go, you idiot!"

"Why should I? You belong to me." The familiar gravelly voice paused. "The net caught something else. Stay here."

"Like I have a choice, you mankey! I'm all tied up!"

"Hey!" Tracey called out angrily, his hands balling into fists at his sides. "Let me go, whoever you are!"

"So, what else have I caught?" The growly voice startled Tracey into forgetting where he was. He slumped in the net, gaping at the black uniformed figure that strolled out into the path.

"Butch!" He gaped at the older boy. Wearing full Team Rocket regalia and looking slick and proud, the pale renegade pointed at his prey.

"Of course it would have to be one of the Twerps," he snickered. Butch shook his head, short green hair moving only slightly in the faint breeze. His eyes sparkled with mirth as he turned back to see Tracey baring his teeth in an attempt to show his anger. The result was completely unthreatening.

"You don't know what you've gotten yourself into."

"Wh - what?" Tracey froze again. "Why?"

"Give it up, doodletwerp." He bowed before the stunned boy. "She's mine."

"What? Who? I only came into the forest to look for my..." Tracey blinked. "Eevee?"

"Eevee?!" The Rocket's mouth quirked. He rubbed a hand over his eyes and spoke so low the younger boy almost couldn't hear him. "What have you been up to?" If he expected a response there was none, just an angry huff and an odd growl from the tree's other side. Tracey thought he saw a flash of tan fur slip into view.

"You didn't come here to steal pokemon?" He set his jaw and somehow managed to cross his arms. In doing so, his fingertips touched the button of  one of his pokeballs. Smiling grimly, he pressed it even as Butch opened his mouth to answer.

"Yes!" It had been the right ball. Scyther flashed into view, hissing and slashing like crazy. It turned around and spotted the man standing there. Butch crouched to one side, reaching for his pokeballs. He swore when he realized he didn't have any with him.

"The one time I don't bring Morpheus..." He edged away from the road but Tracey barked a short command. Scyther cut the net in one quick slash, then eyed the villian across the way again. Tracey shrugged. He got up, dusting himself carefully off.

"Go ahead."

"Scyyyyyyy!"  

"Hey! Ow! Knock that off!!" Butch threw up his hands and ran as fast as he could away from the angry mantis pokemon. Scyther leisurely flitted after him, chuckling wickedly to itself.

In the meantime, Tracey had strolled cautiously around the tree he'd heard the woman's voice come from. He expected to find a rich lady that the Team Rocket boy had tried to rob, but what was his surprise to find the ropes bitten through and his Eevee sitting there! She had a strange look on her face but seemed happy, nonetheless.

"Did you really belong to..?"

"VEE."  Eevee pawed the dirt and kicked some back over her shoulder at the retreating Rocket. Tracey shook his head.

"That tattoo..." But Eevee was running towards Oak's Lab again and he could only start along after, thinking hard at what had happened. The tattoo was something a Lab or Breeder would place on a prized pokemon. Team Rocket had once boasted they had a Breeding Center - and Butch had been one of the Rockets in charge. Could his Eevee really belong to Team Rocket?