So Close To The Top

A/N: My apologies everyone who was waiting for this chapter, I know it should've been completed earlier and I'm sorry, but it's finally here. The third chapter of So Close To The Top. Hope you guys enjoy.

Chapter 3

Ryan

I woke up after I had Flareon stir from her sleep and wake me up "Good morning little Eevee." She smiled and nuzzled me lightly, licking my ears as I yawned and looked around almost clueless. "As Knight probably told you, you will be seeing your old family." I nodded and looked up at her, now being much smaller was still a little intimidating, but it wasn't going to get any better for a while "You are going to be looking your very best, okay?" again, I nodded and let Flareon clean me and straighten out my fur, making me look a lot more tidy than I was. "Now, I know you're only young, but please don't go and mess up your fur. It's not as easy as it looks to clean it okay?" she said with a voice that was stern, but at the same time I felt like I had to obey it.

I found myself shivering slightly "Y-you are still going to protect me from my sister, right?" my eyes were going slightly wider now that I was adjusting to the light, obviously this was an issue for newborn eevee and I would have to deal with it. She just curled around me and smiled, playfully tugging at one of my ears.

"Do you think I would let her get close to my baby boy? No way, not until you're strong enough to fight for yourself. Don't worry about the girl; she's irritating, but harmless for the most part. She won't be getting anywhere near you, other than to look." Flareon assured and curled around me tighter as if to show it as proof. I noticed how she called my sister 'the girl', reminding me that she was no longer my sister because of my current state, and she certainly wouldn't see me as her brother. However, in the night I had another realisation. She was going to be a trainer very soon and I knew what my old parents would be thinking when they see me.

"Flareon, don't let her be my trainer, I know already that I would be suffocated from the amount of cuddles she would give me." I shuddered at the thought. Flareon just chuckled and sat up next to me, keeping me close with her tail. "I still can't believe all this is happening to me." I sigh as I looked around the room, feeling a wave of nostalgia brush over me. I could picture in my mind exactly what my room did look like and I was able to see myself and my pokemon playing around in my room whilst I and my sister trying to sneak in and take Flareon. It brought a few tears to my eyes, but a smile was clearly evident on my face.

She nudged me and gave a slight frown to me "Trying to remember everything is not going to do you much good. You're smiling about it now, but soon it'll bring tears for other reasons. Trust me, as your mother I'm saying this so you stay happy." She leant down and nuzzled me again "I'm not saying forget who you are, but have it as something in the back of your mind now." She said to me. I don't know whether it was my younger state of mind or something else, but I felt like I was being attacked at that point and I couldn't control what I was feeling.

"Hey, Flareon, they're my thoughts, stay out of it." Immediately I regretted saying this because I was quickly growled at and Flareon latched her teeth onto my ear.

She was clearly not happy, and now, what Knight had told me about how they will see me as their son now, was coming into my mind "I know you're not used to this Ryan, but I am not giving you any special treatment just because of who you were." She said quickly and with a tone of dead seriousness. I feebly whimpered as I started to feel pain creeping up on me as her teeth dug into my ear. She let go and cleaned my ear again. "Do you understand?" she raised an eyebrow. I nodded slowly, my ears hanging low. "Good, now, stay looking like you are and we'll have no problems. We're going to meet the other pokemon today, introduce you to them. Knight and I both think that it would probably be best if we didn't tell them about your past, so when they make a fuss just say nothing." I just sat there and nodded for her before I felt my legs quivering and I was slowly slipping to the floor because my young legs were unable to hold me up much longer. However, Flareon held me up "You're gonna need to keep trying to stay up otherwise you'll never be strong enough." She explained and I was left to stand on my wobbly legs.

At that moment Knight came in and smiled at both of us "Ah, good, my family is up and ready." He walked over to us and nuzzled Flareon before licking me on the ear and smiling as he moved to sit behind me and next to Flareon. "Come on in everyone, my boy is awake and waiting to meet you." He called proudly as I saw the rest of my former team enter the room. I was immediately feeling intimidated by seeing them. My Weavile now looked genuinely menacing from my new perspective, and to make this even scarier for me I was now smaller than even my Riolu. They all rushed over to see me and I could almost feel Knight and Flareon's smiles grow as they were soaking up the compliments.

Unfortunately for them, there was only so much I could stand. With a mix of sorrow, nostalgia and fatigue I soon began to cry, although I managed to show enough restraint to refrain from speaking, keeping my promise with Flareon, although I felt it was done more out of fear for her reaction. Umbreon stood in front of his friends and blocked me from their view "Okay, give him some space; you're all much larger than him so it'll be a little scary for him."

Weavile stepped forwards "So, are you gonna not name him to keep your tradition for name's sake?" I looked up at him as he looked back at Weavile, obviously in a rather casual fashion.

"You're right. Flareon and I agreed that it would be best for him to find what's right for him and not be judged by the name he has." Some of them snickered and smirked at Knight "Yes, I was named through the girl's insistence. We kn-"

Knight was cut off when Golduck pushed through "Now hang on a moment. It's been about a year since…..y'know. So, why don't you call him Ryan?" she smiled, liking her idea as I felt a wave of nausea pass over me from feeling upset that they were this close to me, but I couldn't tell them.

I wanted to shout in Golduck's defence as she was practically scolded by the others "How could you be insensitive to suggest such a thing? This is not the time to be bringing that up, we should have this time to be happy, not upset everyone with that." Shouted Swellow. She was hovering above and was the only other one who could see me. I caught eye contact with her and she smiled as gently as she could at me, although now it'd become too much for me to handle and there were once again tears streaming down my cheeks.

"No. Thank you for the suggestion Golduck, I appreciate that you meant well, but for now the name still brings too much pain, especially as you mentioned, it has been around about a year since it happened, so it is particularly difficult to deal with, but again, thank you." Knight smiled and moved away again, allowing everyone to look at me again, almost in wonder of what I was. I looked back, my eyes wide open as I tried to get over what I was seeing; my former team, the team who had conquered the gyms in some style were now looking upon their former trainer and they didn't even know. They were still mourning my loos, and didn't know that they had actually been reunited.

Riolu stepped forwards and smiled at me "He has your eyes, Knight…in fact; he's almost a spitting image of what you were like as an Eevee." She giggled and stepped closer to me, but was quickly stopped when she heard Flareon's low growl "S-sorry. I just thought that I could…y'know, let him know I'm friendly." Riolu sighed, moving away to calm Flareon down as she pulled me closer. I felt like I was something on show, just to look at and not touch, but I wanted to be with my team.

I struggled to my feet and took deep breaths "Look, he's trying to walk!" one of them shouted. I look back at Flareon; she was holding a straight face, but not discouraging me. Knight stood in front of me, smiling at me, his eyes urging me on as he kept them fixed on my steps. I looked past him to see that the others were all watching with eager anticipation. I looked back down to my feet and I steadily put one paw out and placed it in front of me. I could almost feel beads of sweat form from the tension as I moved my hind paw on the opposite side. I did it, I had taken my first step, but I kept my head down, determined to make it to the group. I made a couple more steps much to my delight "He really is like you Umbreon. He has that steely determination that always pulled you through a lot of tough situations. He's gonna be a good fighter." The same voice commented.

I made another few steps until "AAAAAAHHHHH! MOM! DAD! Knight and Flareon's egg has hatched! It's so CUTE!" immediately I fell to the floor and quickly tried scrambling back the way I had came. Before I even saw her I was picked up by Flareon and she quickly retreated the both of us to her bed, covering me completely as I desperately looked around in the pitch blackness. From outside I could hear the voices loud and clear "Mom, you should have seen it. He was so small and fluffy, but I didn't get the chance to pet him. Flareon took him away before I could." I could tell the she glared at Flareon as she said that. Flareon growled and shuffled a little bit, allowing me to poke my head above. "Look, he's right there!" I saw my sister point at me with a massive grin on her face whilst she was tugging at mom's sleeve.

Mom got closer and knelt down before Knight, petting his head "Congratulations you two, he's looking very sweet. Would you be so kind as to let Sophie and I pet him?" she smiled and Knight let her pass. Mom was always a lot more gentle than Sophie, and Flareon liked Mom a lot. Initially Flareon curled around me tighter, but relaxed when she looked back at me. Mom picked me up and cradled me in her arms like a baby and smiled at me, booping my small nose "You're almost as cute as your daddy was." She chuckled and stroked my ears gently. I just stayed still and looked up at her, in awe that this was happening to me. She was my mom….was, but now she was just another human who looked after me.

I sneezed and she chuckled "Hopefully you won't be as much of a troublemaker as him. He and Ryan would always be finding some way to wind me up." she looked down to Knight, allowing me to see him. He was wearing a smug grin on his face, snickering a little at the memories she had brought up. "I'm sure Knight and Flareon will keep you in good order." She paused and sighed to herself, still smiling, but I could sense a hint of sadness in her body language "You're the best thing that's happened to these two for a long time. You wouldn't know it I guess, but you're gonna make them very happy." I felt like screaming out loud at this. This was too much for me. How everyone was talking about me as if I was gone, but I was right in front of them.

The next thing I heard was a 'tut' from 'the girl' as she cleared her throat to get mom's attention "You said that I could pet him." She whined and I saw my mom physically sadden for a split second; making me laugh a little because even she could see how much of a problem she may be for me. However, mom lowered me slightly, letting my sister stroke my fur. I shuffled a little bit because her strokes were noticeably more forceful and nowhere near as gentle as mom's, but it wasn't as bad as I had imagined it, so I was able to even smile a little, letting a small purr escape from my body. "He's purring. He must like me." She said, her volume rising slightly. Upon hearing this I started to protest with my own body and I stopped purring, but I was also trying to wriggle free of mom's hold. Mom calmly moved back over to Flareon and put me down right next to her, letting me scramble back to her warmth and safety. I looked back at the two of them with wide eyes; all the other pokemon had left the room at this point. Both of them turned to walk out of the room, although my sister was noticeably sadder than mom.

Knight padded over to me and Flareon and he got on the bed with us "So. How did it feel to meet everyone again?" he smiled.

All I could do was look at him as if I was hurt "It was terrible. I couldn't tell them who I was. They were all talking about me as if I am dead…..I know I technically am, but I was right there in front of them and they could have known and all would have been much better." I cried out to them. Both of them exchanged looks and nodded.

"I think it's probably best we tell you now. We wanted to tell them it was you the whole time, believe us. However, if we did, just think of the lack of privacy we would get. They would constantly want to talk to you. Another problem of them knowing would be that they would then treat you differently, acting like you're their trainer again, and we know that it can't be possible for that anymore. They would rely on your every word and trust me, as a young eevee, you wouldn't want all of that pressure. I could see already that you do have the normal behaviour of an eevee, so I know it would be too hard to cope with. If you want to get good memories out of them, just talk to them in a few days about who 'Ryan' is, and they all have great stories to tell about you, but for now at least, you're staying quiet." He smiled and nuzzled me "Hey, it's not that bad, Flareon and I have got you covered. You won't be under any pressure situations whilst we're with you."

I scowled at him for a second before sighing "Okay…..can I at least try to walk again. I nearly had it until my….uh, the girl stopped me." I pleaded whilst looking on at the empty room.

Knight just smiled at me and then chuckled to himself "You know…they're right, you do look like me, especially with only small teeth. I can't wait until you're old enough that Flareon and I can take you on walks." My ears twitched and perked up as I heard that. "We did gain a little more freedom since you had gone. Your mom is kind enough to let us go out at any time we wish, as long as we get back before midnight when your dad locks the whole house up for the night." I smiled and wagged my tail as I thought of the fresh air I could be getting. "However." I immediately stopped 'Of course there's a catch.' "I think you'll have to wait for another few weeks, so you can comfortably walk. That is unless you prove us wrong and start walking before our expectations. Like I did." He smiled as if it was the greatest achievement of his life.

I was picked up by Flareon and placed on the floor. They let me stand up, still very wobbly on my paws. Knight stood at the other end of the room's width. I had about five metres to walk to get to him. I made the first few steps uneasily, and stumbled another few metres before I found that I had to quickstep to Knight just so I could flop onto his forelegs when I got to him. I looked up to him and smiled "Heh, you'll get it soon kiddo. You're my son; you'll get it by tomorrow." He chuckled and licked my cheek before turning me around "Now. Keep trying. You're only going to get there if you work for it." He nudged me lightly, getting me started without me expecting it, so I quickly fell to the ground. I looked back at him and whimpered, but he nudged me forwards again with a smile "You'll thank me for this when you're older." I huffed and stood up, trying to walk again.

Flareon was practically yipping in delight as I was starting to get my paws a little less unsteady as I took more and more steps, although I was still tripping very easily. An hour passed and I was too tired to continue on with walking for a while. I calmly yawned and sat down on the floor, knowing Flareon would rush to me and give me her warmth, and I was quickly embraced within it. I sleepily poked my head out from her fur and looked at Knight "I'm tired." But before he could reply my stomach rumbled loudly, causing both of us to chuckle.

"Looks to me like you're more than just tired." He chuckled and walked away "I'll just go and get you some food." But before he was out the door, he stopped and smiled "On second thoughts, I'll let him bring it in." Just a split second later and I saw my dad carrying a bottle for me and some various pieces of food for Flareon and Knight.

My dad smiled at the three of us and placed the food on the floor "For the new parents." He chuckled "Yeah, it's happy for now, but you'll see, he'll make your life hell." He joked, keeping the same, dry sense of humour he always had. He turned his attention to me "And for baby." He smiled, shaking the bottle full of formula for me.

I was not going to enjoy this.

A/N: There you go. I know this seems like a bit of a filler chapter, but the next chapter will have more action in it, and it will start to develop the plot. So, please review, I hope you guys will like it. I'll update whenever I can. Bye