Friends and Secrets

Gary looked at Joey, who was staring into the fire, looking thoughtful but slightly sad. Her
charmander, Inferno, was curled up by the girls side. They had set up camp for the night in a
small break in the trees of Veridian forest, next to the river that split the forest into two halves.
The night was chilly, but the fire in the middle of the encampment gave off a considerable
amount of warmth.

"Is anything wrong?" Gary asked.

Joey was snapped out of her trance as she looked up in surprise at being addressed. Slightly
embarrassed, and blushing slightly as a result she replied, "No, I'm fine. Just thinking."

Gary smiled softly at her reply. "You're not homesick are you?" he inquired, "Because it's not
uncommon for a new pokemon trainer to be homesick early in their journeys."

With a laugh Joey answered, "I'd been out on a pokemon journey for a year before I met you, If
you remember correctly." She adjusted her glasses slightly, then sighed and wrapped her arms
around herself. "It's cold," she added.

"How can you be cold?" Gary smiled. Then he remembered that he had his long sleeved shirt on,
while Joey only had a small assortment of brightly coloured short sleeved t-shirts. The one she
wore now was a golden yellow. When Joey glared at him, he managed to suppress his laughter
and take out one of his pokeballs.

After enlarging the pokeball to its maximum size, Gary tossed the ball onto the ground in front
of Joey, where it burst open. The white light that emerged from the ball formed into the shape of
a large dog, over 6 feet tall. The light then faded into the colours of the pokemon, striped orange
and black with cream coloured fur on his chest , ankles, head, muzzle and tail. Once fully free of
the ball, the noble pokemon shook his fur, sending a cloud of embers into the air.

Joey crept back in surprise, her eyes fixed on the dog pokemon in front of her, who was looking
back at her. "What kind of pokemon is that?" Joey squeaked, her voice shaking from fear.

"He's my arcanine," Gary replied, eyeing the tension between the two. As he watched, his
arcanine took a step forward, and Joey crept back more. "Arky, stop teasing her."

At his masters call, Arky sat down and watched Joey.

Joey stared up at the arcanine and slowly gulped. "So his name is Arky?"

Gary sighed. "Yeah, it's pretty lame, but it's the only thing I could come up with."

Taking a deep breath, Joey stood up and cautiously walked over to the large dog pokemon. "He's
pretty cute," she said, reaching out a hand to pet him.

Arky licked Joeys outstretched hand, happy about being complimented. Gaining confidence,
Joey scratched the arcanine behind the ears. "He's really warm too," she commented.

"He can sleep next to you and keep you warm if you're cold tonight," Gary told Joey and hinted
to Arky. The dog pokemon took the hint, and scooted next to Joey, making her laugh.

Joey smiled, and gave the pokemon a hug. "Know what you should call him?" she asked Gary.

Gary smiled, glad that he had made Joey happy. "What?"

"Lucky," she replied.

Gary looked at his arcanine, then back to her. "Why should I call him that?" he questioned
curious to see what her response would be.

Joey gave him a warm smile. "Because he's lucky to have you for a trainer," she giggled.

Arky barked in pleasure at the name.

"He seems to like it," Gary considered. "And it's a better nickname then Arky. You up to the
name change, buddy?" he asked his pokemon.

Lucky smiled in agreement, and accepted his new name happily.

Gary sighed cheerfully and looked up to the sky, where the moon was rising higher into the sky.
"I'm gonna get some sleep so we can start early in the morning."

"That's fine with me," Joey replied. "I'm gonna get to know Lucky better."

The brown haired pokemon trainer nodded. "Goodnight then," he said. "Don't stay up too late."

Joey smiled. "I won't."

Gary then laid down in his sleeping bags with his back turned to the fire.

Lucky waited until he was sure his trainer was asleep. Then he nudged Joey with his nose. She
sighed and returned her charmander to his pokeball, then stood up and walked away from the
firelight, Lucky following.

"How long are you going to keep it a secret from him?" Lucky asked in pokemon language.

Joey sighed and took off the black hat she wore, letting two purple cat ears spring up. "I don't
know," she replied, still speaking human. "I'd like it best if Gary didn't know." The pokemon
trainer closed her eyes and concentrated. A white light covered her entirety, and her short human
form shrunk down into a small cat creature, where the white light subsided. The mew that had
replaced Joey looked up to Lucky with the same bright blue coloured eyes.

Lucky sat down on the ground and watched Joey with a small bit of curiosity and caution. "He'll
find out someday. It would probably be best if you told him what you were now," Lucky advised.

Joey sighed as she stretched her muscles out. "But what if he tries to capture me or something?"
she protested. "You know that Gary's a good pokemon trainer, I don't doubt that he could
capture me. I'm still a low level."

"I don't think he'll try anything like that," Lucky replied.

"I could lose the respect he has for me. He probably wouldn't help me if he knew I wasn't a
human," Joey continued.

Lucky watched Joey, thinking to himself. Out loud he said, "It'll still be worse the longer it
takes you to tell him."

Joey sighed sadly. "I know."

Seeing that he had upset his new friend, the arcanine changed the subject. "Is it hard staying a
human?" he asked.

The mew laughed softly. "Very hard. I don't have to concentrate on staying in my human from
anymore, but it'll start to hurt if I stay in the form for more then a day. I usually transform back
after Gary goes to sleep and spend some time in my natural form."

"And you can't transform fully either, right?" Lucky inquired further.

Joey shook her head. "Nope. I keep my ears and tail. Though it isn't so bad. don't know how I'd
balance without my tail, and human hearing isn't nearly as good as my own, even with a hat
on." At that she chuckled lightly.

Lucky gave a deep sigh. "Well, I won't tell Gary about you being a mew, but I can't guarantee
that he won't find out on his own."

"Thanks, Lucky," Joey smiled, looking at the arcanine. "I can tell we're gonna be really good
friends for a long time."


(c) Joey Oak            May 8, 2002

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