Eevee had, whether it liked it or not, settled into life at Luke's house. The bandage tied in a neat bow stood out sharply against its otherwise filthy coat. Luke had considered bathing it more than once, but with the wound still healing, decided against the infection risk.
Eevee had claimed a corner of the courtyard as its own personal nest — and in the process, wrecked every single potted plant out there. Leonard, somehow, took it all in stride.
"It's fine, it's still just a kid, ha ha ha..."
Crack—
Another pot went down.
Leonard's eyebrow twitched. His chopsticks trembled slightly over his bowl before he finally set both down with a resigned thud.
"Going for a walk."
Luke laughed. "Mom, I'll pay Dad back for the plants later."
"What plants are you even thinking of replacing them with?" Linda asked, surprised.
"There's a Sudowoodo down south — doesn't even need watering."
______________________________
Walking into the wrecked courtyard, Luke found the grimy Eevee sharpening its claws against a rock. Its ears twitched at the footsteps, immediately on alert — then relaxed slightly, tail giving one small wag before drooping again once it registered who it was.
"Vee..." It let out a dispirited noise and flopped down, licking absently at its bandage.
"If it's itchy, that usually means it's healing up." Luke smiled. "Hold still, let me change that."
Three days in, and the recovery was genuinely fast — no doubt helped along by the world's Pokémon Potion, a spray with almost absurd healing potency, at least on Pokémon specifically. Diet-wise, Luke had it fully covered too — with Pokéblock Craft at Lv5, even something as picky as a Hoopa would've found the food impressive.
Eevee lay across his lap, clearly unwilling but tolerating it.
"Might sting a little. Bear with me."
"Vee..." Eevee turned its face away, sulking.
Tears welled up as Luke worked, though it never made a sound. He couldn't help but smile and rub its head gently — Eevee stiffened, on the verge of baring its teeth, before letting out a low, grudging purr instead.
"Couple more days, maybe I'll give you a proper bath."
"Vee!!" It wriggled free of his grip in protest.
"Come on, every girl wants to look nice, rescue situation or not—"
Eevee twisted fully out of his arms this time, glaring with real fury.
"Vee!"
Luke paused, then sighed. "Alright, fair enough. But — are you actually open to being caught by me?"
"Vee."
Eevee shot him one cold look, then turned and burrowed straight back into its makeshift nest without another word.
Luke, effectively dismissed, felt his mood sink a little.
His uncle was waiting by the door. "Still won't let you catch it?"
Luke nodded, sighing. "I think I said something wrong."
"So what now — send it to a rescue center?" His uncle scratched his head. "Or ask around, see if a neighbor wants it?"
Luke glanced back toward the courtyard. "No. Let's just release it back into the mountains."
He'd never had any real interest in becoming a Trainer, and this Eevee clearly had a fierce, independent streak. Forcing a capture on it now felt genuinely unfair.
"Kojie..." Haunter drooped too, picking up on the mood. It had been quietly hoping for a new companion — had even practiced its greeting-fist routine with Zigzagoon in preparation. (Zigzagoon's subsequent trip to the Pokémon Center was, for the record, unrelated — it's immune to Shadow Punch, don't believe rumors.)
______________________________
Review week wound down, and Eevee's attitude only grew colder. Luke pushed open the courtyard door one morning to find the Pokéblock bowl completely untouched, which stung more than he expected.
He changed the bandage one final time, tied the bow neat as always, and stood at the gate.
"You can go now," he told Eevee.
"Vee?" It looked confused for a second — then rose stiffly and walked out unsteadily, without a shred of hesitation, brushing right past Luke on its way toward the open fields.
Dusk was settling in. Luke followed at a distance as the sky darkened along both sides of the path.
"If you ever remember the way back, the door's open," he called out.
Eevee was already far ahead, its shape blurring into the fading light. Luke's hand finally drifted to the Poké Ball tucked inside his jacket.
"If it looks back even once, I'm throwing it," he told Haunter.
"Kojie." Haunter nodded, dead serious.
Luke genuinely, desperately hoped it would turn around. One glance back and the guilt would evaporate entirely.
But Eevee vanished around the bend without a backward glance, and something hollow settled in Luke's chest — a quiet, indescribable kind of sad.
"Let's head back, Haunter."
"Kojie..." Haunter drooped too, floating along in silence.
Tucked among the reeds along the field's edge, Eevee had actually been watching the whole time — until Luke's shape disappeared completely. Only then did it quietly turn and slip away into the dark.
______________________________
That night, his uncle showed up looking like he had big news.
"Had someone come look at the saplings — turns out it wasn't Eevee chewing through them at all!"
"Huh." Luke didn't react much.
"Why aren't you thrilled? That means you could've just caught it clean, no guilt involved!"
"It already left today," Luke sighed. "And it still never agreed to let me catch it."
His uncle's eyes went wide. "You could've just thrown the ball at its head and called it done!"
"I wanted to. It never gave me the opening — wouldn't even look back once."
If Eevee had no attachment left to this place, Luke wasn't going to force the issue. Respecting a Pokémon's own choice mattered to him, capture or not.
His uncle rubbed his chin, clicking his tongue. "Well — you're still coming up the mountain with me tonight either way. Turns out I know exactly what's been at those saplings now."
"What is it?"
"Raticate." His uncle looked pained. "Turns out they need to grind their teeth down regularly, and the mature trees don't cut it, so they've been going after the new saplings instead."
Luke's jaw tightened, mildly fed up at this point. "Can we just burn them out?"
"Better not — just scare them off properly."
"Haunter!" Luke called into the house. "Grab the fire extinguisher, we're heading up the mountain!"
______________________________
The moon hung bright overhead, stars sparse, the sky freshly rinsed clean from a light rain earlier. Luke led the way, his uncle trailing nervously behind.
"Should I try talking him down at some point..." his uncle muttered to himself.
Before they'd even reached the site, a sharp shriek tore through the trees.
"Rattata!"
"Vee!"
It sounded like a genuine fight already underway. Luke bolted into the woods and stopped short, eyes wide.
Under the bright moonlight, Eevee stood surrounded by a full pack of Raticate and Rattata — expression utterly unbothered, almost contemptuous.
The familiar bow caught the light. Luke's breath caught in his throat.
"Vee!"
Eevee dodged a Bite with a burst of Quick Attack, slamming a Rattata clean off its feet. Breaking through the surrounding pack, it kicked up a wall of sand straight into the lead Raticate's face.
"Rattata!" The bulky Raticate shrieked, claws flailing wildly through a barrage of Fury Swipes — all of which Eevee slipped past effortlessly, sinking its teeth into the Raticate and pinning it down hard with Bite.
His uncle stared, stunned. "It's actually THIS strong?"
"Vee!"
Two more Rattata rushed in from the side. Eevee hadn't fully registered the threat yet when a familiar voice cut through the chaos.
"Dodge — Quick Attack!"
"Vee?"
It hesitated for just a second — but its body was already moving on pure instinct before its brain caught up. It glanced back despite itself, and tears were already welling in its eyes.
"Don't space out," Luke barked. "Left side — Swift, now!"
"Vee!" Eevee sniffled, sidestepped the incoming charge, and a spinning volley of stars slammed the attacking Raticate flat.
With their leader down, the remaining Rattata scattered in a full panic, shrieking off in every direction.
Eevee moved to give chase — until Luke's voice stopped it cold.
"Eevee!"
It froze completely, hastily wiped its face with one grimy paw, then kept walking without turning around.
Then its shoulders hunched instinctively.
A Poké Ball landed square on its head.
Eevee, eyes still wet, shot Luke one last furious glare — right before dissolving into a beam of red light.
"You sure that thing's not about to pop right back out?" his uncle asked, swallowing hard. That glare had looked anything but consensual.
Luke just sighed, exhausted. "Should've seen this coming way earlier."
"All that attitude, and it's a total tsundere underneath."
Silence settled over the clearing. Then, a single soft click.
Thunk—
No shake. No struggle.
A perfect, clean capture.