Once in a Lifetime: Tracy the Vaporeon

    Tracy waited impatiently in her ball. She was on a flat, grassy surface with trees growing here and there. For all purposes it looked like any spot in any forest, except that about twenty feet from where she sat it was cut off by a wall that curved around and up. From here, though, the wall was hard to see unless you were looking for it, because it had more forest splashed across it in a moving image.

    If she looked closely, Tracy knew she could find things wrong with the trees and grass, too, but that was all right. Her ball wasn’t a bad place to live. It had several den-like holes she could sleep or stay in. One was in the side of a little slope on one side of her ball, and the other started as a hole under a tree but went down a surprising distance before widening into a chamber large enough to accommodate a Pokémon several times her size. Up above her, the wall of her ball displayed a sky. The sun was still low in the morning ‘sky,’ but there were also several clouds scattered around. Most importantly, though, it wasn’t just a house. She’d had enough of those; Poke Balls were for going places and doing things.

    Speaking of doing things, right now her Trainer Ryland was in the Mauville City’s Electric gym. Tracy could be sent out at any moment, and the anticipation kept her on edge. They’d done plenty of training – Tracy had, since Ryland had rescued her – but gyms were where you really found out what you were made of. The annoying thing was that there wasn’t any way to know what was going on. Poke Balls were light-, sound-, and shock-proof inside, because of League rules – some nonsense about it being unfair to see what kind of fight you were about to be sent into. At least there was the signal.

    Tracy fell to pacing back and forth until it happened. The sun dimmed, and the sky in her ball started pulsing with red light. That meant Ryland had just grabbed Tracy’s ball, expanding it to full size in her hand. Tracy spared a moment of vanity to center her teardrop pendant on her chest before taking a ready position. Barely in time – everything went white, there was a rushing sensation, and suddenly Tracy was standing on a painted metal floor. As Ryland had taught the Eevee, she quickly glanced around, taking in the Gym.

    The floor was mostly flat, with nothing to impede movement or provide cover; the usual Poke Ball symbol was etched in the center with white lines. Ryland was standing behind her; the girl’s face was flushed and Tracy’s ball was still in her outstretched hand. Her immediate opponent was an Electrike; the yellow Pokémon looked about her size, but more heavily built. Behind it stood an older man with a cheerful smile, bright eyes, and a large belly. It had to be Wattson, the leader.

    Neither Trainer gave an order for a moment. That happened sometimes. Well, rather a lot in Tracy’s case. “Well, well,” Wattson boomed, “a shiny Eevee! Now there’s something you don’t see every day.” Tracy sighed inside. Other Trainers always commented on her looks. I know I’m pretty, but you probably haven’t seen what I’m about to do to your Electrike either, she retorted silently.

    Then the moment came, where everything turned serious and the battle was on again. “Ready, Tracy?” Ryland called out. “Tackle!” Nothing big, just testing the waters to see what her opponent would do. Tracy broke into a run, lunging at her opponent.

    From the other side, Wattson called, “Electrike, Spark!” Tracy felt her fur rise as the Electrike built up a charge and moved to counter her. She caught it while it was only half ready, and the two Pokémon collided. Tracy winced as the Shock attack snapped through her, and at the same time the Electrike fell back a pace from the impact. Even.

    Wattson took the initiative now. “Electrike, Charge!” Its coat started to spark, and Tracy’s silver fur stood on end again. I can't hit it now. What do I do?

    Thinking along the same lines, Ryland called, “Go right, then use Shadow Ball!” Tracy nodded, relieved, and ran to the side, putting distance between herself and her opponent. She gathered her energy, opening her mouth to form the dark, intangible ball she’d just learned to use, then launched it, snapping her jaws shut and watching in satisfaction as it shot across the distance to splash darkness across the crouched Electrike. The shadowy energy made it cringe for a few seconds as it sunk into her opponent’s yellow body. “Do it again, Tracy!” her Trainer called.

    Tracy formed another Shadow Ball, but this time Wattson snapped out an order just as she fired. “Agility!” The Electrike darted to the left, quicker this time, fast enough to dodge the attack. That’s what the charging was for. “Get in close, Electrike!” Close? As the thought crossed her mind, Ryland screamed, “Tracy, Reflect!” Tracy didn’t know what was coming, but the urgency in Ryland’s voice snapped her into action, and she quickly surrounded herself with a golden dome of energy.

    “Electrike, Discharge!” Her opponent suddenly flared with sparks, right behind her, in some kind of electric explosion. Her shield repelled a lot of the sparks, but Tracy still had to grit her teeth as the rest of the electricity coursed through her, leaving the Eevee breathless. It could’ve been a lot worse, though, Tracy thought with a wave of gratitude for her Trainer.

    Ryland wasn’t done. Before anyone else reacted, she ordered, “Tracy! Take Down, now!” Tracy sucked in a huge breath, realizing that the last few moves had put them by the wall. That was her plan! Ignoring the pain for a moment, Tracy whirled and channeled her strength and energy into a lunge. The Electrike, charge drained now, was moving sluggishly. You’re not getting away. Tracy surged forward, catching it in the chest with her shoulder and bulling it backward. She slammed her opponent into the wall, hard, but she was braced for the impact. The Electrike wasn’t. When she stepped back, it slid to the floor, gasping for breath.

    “Sorry,” she said, looking down. “That was a good fight, though.” It was the kind of thing Ryland would say after a battle. Her opponent nodded before disappearing back into Wattson’s ball. The big man was nodding, his cheerful expression unchanged. “Impressive. You’ve trained her well.” Tracy looked back at Ryland. The girl’s expression had changed to a big smile. “Great job, Tracy! This calls for a celebration!” She held out the ball, and with another flash, the silver Eevee found herself in her forest again.

    She knew what came next. Wattson would give Ryland a badge, talk to her for a while, give her advice, blah blah blah. That part wasn’t very interesting anyway. The fight had gone pretty well, she thought. She was still smarting from the shocks she’d gotten, but other than that she was fine. Tracy settled down to wait.

**********************

    Tracy looked up again at her sky, estimating the time from the sun’s position and worriedly noting the clouds. The sun in her ball matched where the real one would be, but Tracy didn’t know if there were actually clouds in the sky right now. She hoped not. It had been a few hours since the battle with the gym leader. Shortly after the battle, Ryland had gone to the Pokémon Center. Tracy could tell when they put her ball in the machine because the walls started glowing with soft light, easing her bruises and clearing out the lingering ache from the Electrike’s shocks. It felt wonderful, and she closed her eyes as she usually did to bask in the warm glow.

    After that, she wasn’t sure what was going on. She’d been waiting for a while. That was normal when they were traveling, because Ryland used different members of the team when she battling. Tracy understood that, but she didn’t think there would be any battles right now. They had just beaten a gym. So what was her Trainer doing?

    The wait gave Tracy time to think, and her mind went back to the time before she met Ryland. Tracy had grown up in a mansion. With her rare silvery fur, Tracy was prized as a pet even more than other Eevee. She’d never wanted to be a “pet,” though (although she did pride herself on her appearance and fashion sense). One day, a shady group of Trainers she now knew were from Team Rocket had more or less taken her wealthy owners hostage in their own home. Tracy had tried to stop them, of course, but she didn’t have any training back then, and the fight had been pretty one-sided. It had almost felt condescending, because the enemy Pokémon wouldn’t even attack her properly. No one wanted to scar the expensive shiny Eevee, or damage her perfect silver coat. She hated that feeling, the idea that she only mattered because she looked special, that she was just a pet.

    That was when Ryland had shown up and turned the tables, taking on the grunts one by one until they didn’t have anything left to stop her. Tracy’s owners had been very grateful and offered to reward her; seeing her chance, Tracy had run to the Trainer. She had a comfortable life there, but what she wanted was adventure. Deep down, the shiny Eevee knew she had been born to be more than a pet. Her owners had given in, and Tracy’s adventure had begun.

    Ryland wasn’t like everyone else she’d met. Tracy never felt like she was special just because of her fur; here, she was special because she was one of Ryland’s Pokémon. She got scraped and bruised, sometimes even cut or burned. Tracy always cleaned herself up as well as she could, but in the end she wore the marks that were left with pride. Each one said that she didn’t have to be treated like an expensive pet, that she could be as useful as everyone else. And she still looked fabulous.

    She’d been sitting there, occasionally getting up to pace, for a while when the sky started pulsing with red light. Tracy immediately sprang to her paws in anticipation, her pendant swinging back and forth with the movement. Sometimes that meant a battle, but right now she hoped not. They’d just beaten ­the Mauville Gym, and that meant it was time to celebrate! Hopefully the signal meant that Ryland had finally reached wherever she was taking them.

    A moment later, there was a rushing sound and everything went white. When the light faded to normal, Tracy found herself standing on the warm sandy shore of a wide lake. The sun was shining, but to her delight there were no clouds to be seen. This is perfect! Tracy allowed herself to take in the scenery before turning back to Ryland. Her Trainer had another ball in her hand now, and with a flash, Talon the Combusken appeared next to her. Talon had been Ryland’s starter; he’d been a Torchic when Tracy had first joined the team, but he evolved soon after.

    One by one, Ryland sent out the rest of her team, and Charla the Butterfree, Mira the Misdreavus, and Blitzy the Ponyta appeared on the shore with them. League rules allowed a Trainer to carry a team of six Pokémon with them, but Ryland hadn’t caught a sixth yet. She was waiting to find the right Pokémon, though Tracy didn’t know who that might be yet. Ryland had told her several times that she was going to have her evolve, but she seemed to be taking her time deciding on that too. Tracy most wanted to be a Flareon – that beautiful coat, even larger and fluffier than her own, would be amazing – but she knew that wouldn’t happen, not with Talon and Blitzy filling the Fire-type role on the team. Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Espeon were all still possibilities. She had a suspicion that Ryland was leaning toward Jolteon, since electric Pokémon were pretty rare. Tracy didn’t want spiky yellow fur, though. That would throw off her whole look.

    With all of them out, Ryland clapped her hands together. “Great job, team! The Mauville Gym was pretty tough, but you did a great job.” She looked around at them all. “Sorry it took so long, but I had to get something for everyone.” She knelt down and slung her bag off her shoulder onto the ground in front of her and started taking things out. Most of it seemed to be food; Tracy’s ears pricked up and her mouth started watering when Ryland pulled out her favorite, a fancy rice cake wrapped in seaweed. The five Pokémon started crowding around excitedly as she pulled out more treats, and Ryland laughed. “Go on! Don’t be shy, I got this for all of you!”

    Blitzy arched her neck down, picking up an apple in her teeth and backing off a few paces. Tracy and the others waited, not wanting to come too close to Blitzy’s fiery mane, but once she’d moved away they dove in. Mira swooped down and grabbed a candy; Charla pursued her, but the Misdreavus vanished with it. Defeated, the Butterfree flapped back down, and Ryland held another candy out to her. Talon waited patiently while Tracy picked up the rice cake and retreated, dropping to her side on the warm sand to eat it.

    Tracy carefully laid the cake on her outstretched forepaws to keep it from touching the sand and took a bite. There was a tasty slice of meat inside with the rice, and Tracy enjoyed every morsel. She looked up once or twice to see Ryland smiling at her munching noises.

    When she’d finished, Tracy got up again and shook herself. Some of the sand came out of her fur, but not all of it. To get clean, she’d have to go swim in the lake. Oops. Not sorry. She ran over to Ryland and put her head down to work the pendant off her neck. It was hard, especially getting it over her ears, but Ryland took pity and helped her pull it off. The Eevee gave her Trainer a quick lick of thanks and ran back to the lake, throwing herself into the water with a splash.

    Water was fun too. Tracy enjoyed paddling around, and she marveled at how clear the lake water was. It was a nice day and the water wasn’t too cold, so she paddled a little further from shore, stopping when Ryland stood up, obviously concerned. I guess that’s far enough. The water still wasn’t too deep out here, and she started diving down, trying to touch the rocks on the bottom.

    It was on the fourth dive that she felt it. As she neared the bottom, there was a sort of buzz, an expectant hum she could feel through her whole body. What was that? Tracy asked herself as she broke the surface. She sucked in a deep breath and dove back down. There it was again; a shiver of anticipation went through her. It seemed to be centered on a pile of rocks. Her air ran out again, forcing her back up, but she immediately returned. This time she made it out: one of the stones near the bottom was a glassy blue. Tracy’s heart sped up. That’s a water stone! If she touched the stone, Tracy knew, she would evolve. She was old enough for it now. Should I? The Eevee thought it over. She’d always wanted to be a Flareon, but as a Vaporeon or Espeon she’d fit into the team better, and she didn’t have anything against either of those – in fact, she secretly admired the grace of both potential forms.

    What could Vaporeon do? Tracy knew a few things about all the different forms. Some of it had come from her parents, and Ryland had told her the rest. If I evolve into Vaporeon, I’ll be able to breathe underwater and use water attacks. Ryland said water attacks won’t work on me either, like fire doesn’t work on Flareon. It would just make me stronger. I think she said Vaporeon can learn ice moves too. That would be cool. Tracy took a moment to imagine surrounding herself with flowing tides and shooting water in forceful bursts, like that Lapras on TV.

    A little guiltily, she thought of her Trainer. Tracy knew Ryland wanted to evolve her. She hadn’t yet, though. It wasn’t because she couldn’t get a stone; they weren’t that hard to find. It wasn’t because Tracy wasn’t ready either. You know what? Tracy thought rebelliously. She’s taking too long. I can make my choice right now. And I’m not evolving into Jolteon. That cemented her determination. Tracy submerged again and swam back down to the bottom with a determined stroke, passing beyond her comfort zone. This close, the water stone’s energy seemed to pull her in like a magnet. Every part of her body felt awake; nervousness and anticipation fluttered together in her stomach. Finally, wide-eyed and running out of breath, Tracy pressed the pad of her right paw against the water stone.

    Nothing happened for a moment, but then there was a jolt in her chest, like a switch had just been flipped. It spread all through her almost like another shock, and suddenly her paw, still in front of her, lit up white. She might have gasped, but energy was coursing through her body like she’d never felt it before, freezing her in place. She couldn’t move, but she could watch. And she could feel.

    The bottom got further away as Tracy’s paw grew and her legs lengthened. At the same time, her ears were shrinking and moving down her head so they could turn into fins. She could feel her tail too, getting longer… and longer… and longer. A tinge of blue shaded her vision, and a new feeling awakened in the back of Tracy’s mind. I can feel the water now, she realized. Really feel it – not just on me, but around me too. How it moves.

    The Eevee’s – no, the Vaporeon’s – glow was dying away now, and Tracy regained control of her limbs as the evolutionary energy finished its work. Life seemed to have frozen for a moment while she evolved, but it was back now, and Tracy was out of air. Her vision swam when she tried to go back up. Water. Breathe water. Instinctively, the new Vaporeon opened her mouth and swallowed. Instead of going into her lungs or stomach, gills opened on the sides of her neck and the water flowed back out, giving her oxygen again. She swallowed again and again, falling into an instinctive rhythm of drafts of water across her new gills that took away her need for air. Her heartbeat slowed to normal as the moment of panic passed. I’m actually doing it. I can breathe underwater!

    What do I look like now? Tracy stretched a paw out in front of her face. Instead of the normal Vaporeon light blue, her skin was a darker shade with a hint of violet in it. Tracy immediately liked the color. It fit her. She curled her new long tail around; the movement sent her into a circle. Her tail fin was there, but it had a pattern of purple and white instead of being all one color. She flourished it back and forth a few times, noticing how it propelled her through the water.

    On a whim, Tracy turned and darted out at top speed. It took a few moments for her to find her natural rhythm, but soon she was flying through the water. It was swimming like she’d never felt it before. Being in the water felt free, more than all the running the Vaporeon had ever done.

    She came around in a wide circle, almost reaching the middle of the lake. As she came near the shore again, something caught her attention. She couldn’t say how she knew, but something was splashing out ahead of her, in the shallows. After a moment, she realized it was Ryland. Oh no! She probably thinks I’m drowning back there! Tracy turned, arrowing toward Ryland’s frantic splashes. For a few minutes, she’d forgotten her Trainer would be watching for her.

    Tracy made it to where Ryland was and popped her head out of the water so Ryland could see she was all right. Shock registered in the girl’s eyes for a few moments. “…Tracy, is that you?” The Vaporeon nodded, and the tension went out of Ryland’s movements. She started splashing closer, even though the water came up past her waist. Tracy obligingly came closer so her Trainer could throw her arms around her. “I was worried about you,” Ryland whispered. Tracy laid her head on the girl’s shoulder in apology. She hadn’t meant to worry her Trainer.

    Finally Ryland released her and straightened up. “So, you evolved into a Water-type. I guess… I guess that’s all right. I didn’t have anyone like that on my team, so… I guess we’re looking for an Electric-type now, huh?” I knew it, Tracy thought. If her evolution now meant not evolving into a Jolteon, then it was worth disappointing Ryland a little. I’m not sorry about that part. Not at all.

    Ryland looked at her a few moments longer before turning back to land, beckoning Tracy to come along. She watched her Trainer struggle through the water for a moment, then went over and nudged Ryland’s waist, turning and offering her back. Ryland got the hint and pushed off from the bottom, wrapping her arms around Tracy’s neck. It was harder to swim while pulling her Trainer along, but Tracy powered through the water with her strong tail until it was shallow enough for Ryland to walk easily. She bounded out of the water alongside her trainer. Ryland went to pull out a towel; Tracy instinctively went to shake herself dry when she realized it didn’t matter. The water on her was quickly drying up on its own; droplets sank into her skin and disappeared. That was useful.

    She made her way back up the beach to where Ryland was and picked up her pendant in her mouth, looking pleadingly at Ryland. Taking it off was one thing, but it was really hard to get the thin cord on over her head with her paws. Ryland paused in toweling off and looped Tracy’s pendant over her head again. “Thanks,” Tracy said, even though she knew humans couldn’t understand her. Her voice was different now, she noticed. She didn’t sound so… small anymore.

    By this time they’d drawn the attention of the rest of the team; Blitzy came trotting over followed by Talon, while Charla and Mira abandoned their aerial game of tag to come down and see her too. Tracy smiled, enjoying the attention. “Hi, everyone.”

    “So, yeah,” Ryland announced a little unnecessarily, “Tracy… just evolved. That means we’ll need to find an Electric Pokémon now, before we face the next Gym. Are you all ready?” The five Pokémon raised their voices in a chorus of agreement. Ryland pulled out their balls and returned the whole team, one by one. Tracy was last.

    “So then, since you evolved into a Vaporeon…” Tracy felt the fins on her head go down a little. I hope she’s not mad at me. “We’ll just have to find out what you can do now.” She smiled reassuringly; Tracy returned the smile, relieved. Ryland patted her head, and then everything went white again.