Second Chances

Donovan was an average kid, though he didn't really ever leave his house. He preferred to spend time indoors with his pokemon, Ninetales. When he wasn't playing, he was stuck doing chores around the house. His parents cared for him very much, but they were falling on hard times and there was talk that Donovan would have to move out, he didn't want to though, he liked where he lived and didn't want to leave all of the memories behind. The story begins during an average day of school.

"Come on, Come on" Donovan said, excitement building. It was the final day of school before summer break and he wanted out of the prison known as a classroom, it was only a minute away from the final bell and it couldn't be any slower. His teacher was giving a lecture about strange effects emerging from Evolution Stones, but he wasn't paying attention. Finally, the bell rang and Donovan took off out the door, excited that summer had finally started. Even better, his parents had been talking about him being able to go on a journey, though, he had his doubts, his parents recent financial troubles had put them on the rocks and he was worried that things wouldn't get better.

He set the negative thoughts out of his head and climbed onto the bus, excited to get home. Many kids had Pokemon that were small and tame enough to be on the bus, but Ninetales wasn't small enough, even if she was tame. She tended to wait by the bus stop for him to arrive, so she could walk home with him. He liked having her company and even sometimes found himself considering her a parent, though he never admitted this out loud. His stop was first and sitting there waiting was her. He stood up and made his way off the bus, someone yelling "Who's your babysitter" behind him, but he didn't care. He climbed out and walked over to Ninetales, she moved up closer to him and they hugged.

"I promise, this is the final time we'll be apart, at least till school starts again" he told her. She nuzzled him gently and they started home. On the way, the negative thoughts surfaced again, he couldn't pull his mind away from how things were looking and he had a sense of foreboding on his mind, he shrugged it off and they continued on. Along the way, Ninetales got up closer and began to nuzzle him again. He stopped and hugged her again, happy that she cared so much for him.

"I love you Ninetales" he said. she responded with her usual "Nine" and they continued on, sometimes, Donovan wondered if she could speak english. He put it off and they continued onwards. As they approached the house, Donovan began to see smoke. the house had a fireplace, but this seemed...different. Ninetales took off running, a look of fear on her face and Donovan took off after her. When he got there, he was greeted by a dark sight.

The house was aflame, the fire department was there and fighting it. Donovan ran towards the house, yelling for his parents. Before he could get close, several guys grabbed him and said he couldn't go in.

"My parents are in there" he yelled and struggled to break free, but they continued to hold him. He eventually stopped and collapsed to the ground, his mind reeling. Ninetales walked up and began to push on him with her muzzle.

"Ninetales" she said weakly. He looked up and embraced her, tears streaming down his face.

"I hope they're okay" he said.

After an hour, the fire was put out, but the house was all but gone at this point. The firemen were searching the premises for signs of anything. Donovan was sitting with Ninetales, her tails wrapped around him to keep him warm. He was used to it, she did this kind of thing all the time, to keep him warm and to comfort him. She was also nuzzling him affectionately, occasionally speaking out, he liked to think that she was reassuring him that it was going to be alright. He suddenly heard footsteps and looked up, one of the firemen was approaching, his face grim.

"Young man, we found your parents" he began.

"What happened" Donovan asked, fearing the worst.

"I'm sorry, but your parents are...gone, but if you come with us, we'll help you find a new home" the firemen said. His entire world fell apart right there, he broke down and began sobbing. Ninetales curled her tails around him tighter, almost like an embrace and placed her head on his shoulder. He raised his arms and hugged her, still crying. Ninetales didn't like seeing him like this and she wanted to do something.

"I don't want to go to a different home, I'll be fine on my own" Donovan said.

"I'm sorry you lost your parents, but we can't leave you out here" the firefighter said.

"No, I won't" he yelled, Donovan broke out of her tails and took off running, she and the firefighter took off after him, but they both lost him. Ninetales waited till he had gone away and began to sniff out Donovan, she knew what she wanted to do to help him, now she just had to find him.

After about an hour of following the trail, Ninetales eventually found Donovan in a clearing, curled on the ground, sobbing. She walked up and placed a paw on his shoulders. he flinched and looked up to see her.

He sat up and said "Ninetales, I'm so glad to see you" and embraced her, she lifted a paw and placed it on his shoulders and wrapped her tails around him again, he felt warmer now and relaxed into it, tears still streaming down his face.

"Please, no more crying" Donovan heard a voice say, it was feminine, almost motherly. It was Ninetales!

"You..You spoke" he said.

She nodded and said "yes, I've always been able to talk, but I wanted to wait to reveal it." She pulled him closer and they hugged again, she continued "I don't like it when you feel this way."

He buried his face in her mane, letting the feeling of her soft, warm fur comfort him. Eventually, he said "I know, but I lost my parents, as you heard, and I don't want to go to some random family, what if they won't let me keep you?"

She lifted one of her tails and used it to wipe a tear off his face, he opened his eyes to see her cast some sort of spell on it and it crystallized. She handed it to him and he held it in his hands.

"Pour your memories into this, they'll never leave you" she said. He started thinking about all the good times he had with his parents, he opened his eyes to see the the crystallized tear was glowing, strange wisps swirling around within.

"Are those..my memories" he asked.

She nodded and said "yes, this way, they'll never leave you." She picked up the tear and with another spell, put a string of braided fur from her tails through it, creating a necklace. She handed it to him and he put it on. She pulled him closer again and they hugged.

"Thank you... for everything" Donovan said.

"Of course, I wish I could bring your parents back, but I think I may have something that would work" she said.

"What?" he asked, pulling back.

"Well, how would you feel if I were your mother" she asked. He was surprised by this, but he actually wanted it.

"I would love that, but how?" he said with a smile. She tightened her tails around him and nuzzled him to get his attention.

"Well, I can change you into a young pokemon and care for you, but only if you want this" she said.

"I do, please, if you can, I would love nothing better" he said.

"If I do this, there's no going back, you know that right" she asked.

"I don't care what happens, I just want to be with you" he said. They hugged again and when they parted, she moved to his side and sat down. He leaned over and lay himself on her body, resting his head on her mane, letting her fur comfort him again. She tightened her tails around him again and placed her head on his and they stayed like that for a bit. During the time, she comforted him. Eventually, he calmed down and yawned, tired from all that had happened.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

He nuzzled into her fur and said "I am, but can you do one thing for me?"

She purred comfortingly and said "Of course, what do you want?"

He felt her purring and began to relax, the sound of her loving heartbeat beginning to lull him to sleep, he said "could you make it as painless as possible?"

She nuzzled him and said "of course I can", he began to fall asleep, but was having trouble doing so. Sensing this, she pulled her tails up to cover him more and purred again, hoping the sounds of her heartbeat and purring would help lull him to sleep. His eyes closed, but he still wasn't quite asleep yet. She continued this for some time, eventually, she felt as his mind drifted off and stopped. She tightened her tails around him and with a motherly smile on her face, began to cast the spell to change him.

The next morning, Donovan woke up to see that he was covered up by Ninetales's tails. He stood up and pushed his way through and climbed out. Yawning, he looked around to see that everything was much bigger then it had been. He looked over himself to see that he was a Vulpix now, he had the tails, the rust red fur, everything.

"Good morning" he heard a voice say, he turned to see Ninetales looking at him. He smiled and jumped on her, saying "thank you for this, it's amazing."

She laughed and said "your welcome, I was happy to do it."

He climbed down and lay down between her two front paws and curled up against her chest, listening to her heartbeat. She purred at this and he could feel it, making him curl up against her even more. She lay her head down and her mane acted as a sort of blanket. They cuddled with each other for a bit before Donovan fell asleep again. Ninetales laughed a little at him falling asleep again and decided to sleep as well, she would teach him some of his new abilities later.