this is my first story. Of course, Pokemon belongs to Nintendo. but you knew that of course.

Chapter one – Introduction

I don't remember what happened when I fell off of the waterfall. Only that it seemed to drop forever. I was soaked and I was cold. All I can remember thinking is, 'Why me?' Then I hit the water.

*SPLASH!* The noise was unheard because of the roaring waterfall. No rocks sat at the bottom, and instead, a large, deep pit where water collected.

I was unconscious by then. I couldn't feel a thing. My fire was dying, and I couldn't warm myself.

'Why me…'

I'm told I was found on a sandy shore, far from the waterfall where I fell off. At the time, I didn't know how far I had floated downstream. I don't know how long I had been lying there, or what exactly happened. My mind's a little fuzzy on the details, but I'll try to describe it as best I can.

The first thing I remember is being really cold and wet. The water had soaked through to my bones, my inner fire no more than a spark of its former self. I didn't know how much time had passed. Was it minutes, or maybe hours, but that didn't matter to me. It went by so quickly. I remember feeling warmth, somewhere along my back, no wait, my neck. Yeah, that's it. The heat was coming to my neck. It was the only thing I could feel, so I clung onto that warmth. And then suddenly, I was surrounded by it. It was like jumping into a fire, right after getting a bath, except, I stayed wet.

My fire grew slightly, from its tiny spark. I was an inch from death, on the verge of feeling nothing ever again. As my consciousness slowly began to reawaken, I began to hear faint sounds. It was an odd sensation really. A low murmur that I believed to be the river, or creek, however large it was. I heard squawking, undoubtedly a flock of Spearow, I could only hope that the source of heat I was feeling, wasn't my blood and skin being ripped apart. My body was still numb, so I didn't feel any pain. The source of heat left me for a moment, before returning to my neck. I then heard the swishing of the wind. 'Wait, swishing?' My mind took note. It wasn't really a thought, just awareness. We had begun moving. My mind was slowly returning, but not at full power. I couldn't open my eyes, couldn't move my paws, heck, I don't remember even breathing. Someone was obviously carrying me.

What felt like an eternity later, we had stopped. The cold wind swept past us and I could hear rustling. Soon after, my mind registered the feeling of grass tickling my otherwise lifeless body as I was carried through. It took a long time, my mind wandering in and out of sleep, as I was too tired to care. Then a thought suddenly came to mind. 'What if I'm going to die? What if this person, whatever it is, is going to eat me?' I don't know how it got there, but it did. My mind began to panic, but my body didn't move.

'Why can't I move? Is my body to worn?' I tried to move my body, but a twitch was the only result. However, another thought came to me. 'What if this isn't a predator? What if I'm being helped?' The grass ended there and I was back to the openness and cold wind. My foot twitched again, but I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I was surrounded by strange smells and a nice, warm feeling. I was almost content there, my mind still too tired to analyze my situation. However, I tried to shake my head to force myself awake, but only succeeded in nodding off to sleep again. 'Wonderful.'

Eventually, I did manage to wake up, enough of my energy restored to take in my new surroundings. I was in a cave, and I was warm. I turned my head around to find a large red mat of fur with a yellow end around me. It was asleep, and I didn't recognize the species. Not that I knew many. I could feel my inner fire again. It was still small; no doubt I hadn't eaten in what, two days? I slowly began to get up, my small legs shaking horribly. And so I fell with a "whoof" sound behind me. I turned my head to find that my fall had indeed awakened the mat of red and yellow.

"Ah, so you're awake. I was beginning to wonder if you had died out there." The large mat said in a somewhat low voice. I stared at him, mouth agape. He lifted a paw to close it and then smiled at me. My mind had gone numb, as I just stared at him, not sure what to think. And then suddenly, he looked away and called. "Honey, he's awake!"

I flattened my ears to this. Whatever he was, he was very loud. A moment later, I heard a sound behind me and turned to look. Before me stood another mat. Slightly smaller, but looking just as strong. I didn't know what to think. And before I knew it, she was in my face looking into my eyes. I tried to back away, but limbs failed me. I was left there, gawking at her.

"Hello, I'm glad you woke up." She said in a very sweet tone. Her amber eyes were sparkling. I didn't know it, but my mouth had opened again. She giggled and closed it for me. "What's your name?"

I didn't hear him; my mind was still exploding from her beauty. I didn't answer. Then the low voice suddenly dragged me from my thoughts. "What's your name, boy?"

I suddenly flipped around, eyes wide. I had forgotten about him, and he really startled me. I still couldn't answer.

"What's your name?" He asked again.

"Oh, Flare, you can't really expect him to answer you. He just woke up and I bet he's starving." He grunted and nodded. I was then nudged and a leaf of food materialized before me. It was full of berries and nuts. I sniffed it and took a bite out of a large, blue berry. The berry left a strong, bitter taste in my mouth, and I had to try many other things just to rid myself of the taste. I was shaking my head and sticking out my tongue from an open mouth. It wasn't the best breakfast, but I devoured it none the less.

The female mat of red and yellow smiled at me. "Still hungry?"I nodded and she put another leave of the same stuff in front of me. Again, I devoured it, but with less speed. I finished and began to look around again. The cave walls were lined with strange objects. Containers that held food and medicine.

I was then shoved out of the way as the male mat rose from the bed. He then looked at the female mat and nodded, she nodded back. Then he disappeared through a hole in the wall at the far end of the room.

The female smiled at me and sat down, pulling the leaf away. She then began to speak. "Did you have a good nap?" I nodded hesitantly. I didn't really know. "Good. We thought you wouldn't make a full recovery." I stared at her with a questioning look. She sighed. "Ok, let me start at the beginning. My husband, Flare, found you at the river this morning." She waited for me to catch up after imagining it. I nodded for her to continue. "He pulled you out of the water and warmed you up. We don't know why you were in the river, or how you got there, but we're glad you survived."

'So that's what the heat was. He saved my life.' I thought as she finished the sentence. But she continued.

"He may sound serious and forceful, but he's really nice. It's just his nature. Anyway, I was wondering if you knew where your family was, so we can return you."

I was a little surprised by the sudden topic change. "My… family?" 'Do I have one?' After wracking my brain for a few minutes, I finally shook my head. "No. I… I don't know."

Her ears flattened as she saw this. She was sad. "Do you know what happened to them?"

Again, I shook my head. And this time, I looked away. I was ashamed of my memory loss.

"Well, no matter." She said. "You can stay here until you remember." She began directing me towards the door her husband had left through. "My name's Ember, by the way."

At this point, I didn't know what to expect. I had no memories, no family, and no name. I was lost, and I had to rely on complete strangers. Well, maybe not "complete strangers', since I knew their names.

Ember got me acquainted with the rooms of their home, told me the rules, and then let me go. Outside, I was greeted by the cold wind. It wasn't as cold as it was last time, and I could remember standing there, feeling the breeze on my face. I finally walked away from the den and looking back to memorize its location.

'It's awfully quiet here.' I thought, looking around at the open field. In front of me, I could see the plains that I had been carried through. The forest wrapped around it, as if it were a thick border between regions, like the sea is to continents. Behind the den, about 300 feet away, the forest continued. I noticed that the den was in a hill of some sort. And to my left, I saw three Eevee, not that I knew what they were. I watched them for a moment. They were playing tag, and I wondered if I had ever played tag with my siblings. Then my spirit sunk as I wondered if I had any siblings. I decided to approach them.

As I reached halfway, they noticed me and stopped. One of them bumped into the other, falling on his rump. I froze, not knowing if I should make the first move or not. That problem was soon set aside when one of the Eevees ran over to me and began sniffing at my legs. "You smell like the river!" She said excitedly. I took a step back and stared at her. Then the other two approached me and began sniffing me too. Again, I backed up. I wasn't trying to be rude, but it was really uncomfortable. Before they could continue, I asked them what they were playing. The first Eevee began bouncing in place. "We're playing tag! You wanna join?" She asked. The other two were grinning from ear to ear. I hesitated for a moment before saying yes, much to my despise.

The three Eevees all jumped at me, screaming "You're it!", and began bounding away in multiple directions. As soon as the surprise wore off, I began the chase. Being that they were half my size and were more agile than me, they were hard to catch. I eventually managed to outsmart one by faking a cut-off.

After that, all three of them were chasing me. Seeing this, Ember came out of the den and smiled. "Come on you three, it's time you leave him alone."

The three veered off for the den and I plopped onto the ground gasping for breath. I didn't see Ember walking to me, but didn't bother to move.

"Don't mind them. They're young and energetic." She smiled at me.

I gave her a weak smile in between my gasping breaths.

"It was nice of you to play with them though." She continued. "We're going to the river, would you like to come?"

When I heard the words "going to river" my heart froze. 'Isn't that the place where I nearly died?! What if that happens again?'

Ember noticed the fear on my face and quickly changed topics. "On the other hand, you could stay here and meet our other children."

I looked up at her. How many could… whatever they were, possibly have? "They aren't all the same age are they?" I froze after realizing what I had just said.

She laughed and shook her head. "No, no, no, no. The three you met are the youngest. The other two are about your age."

I smiled then. Feeling that I had enough energy, I tried to stand up. My legs were wobbling horribly and I fell to the ground. Ember came closer and began to pick me up. "Your body is still weak. It was a mistake to let you play such a rigorous activity outside, especially with those three."

Ember carried me back inside and put me on the bed I had previously been on. She then walked away to attend to the children.

After they left, I eventually fell asleep, only to be awoken by a scuffling sound outside. It sounded like someone was trying to get inside. Before I knew it, I had gotten up and was walking to the hole. The wind blew in again and I hesitated, waiting for it to pass. I then looked through it to find a large basket full of nuts and berries. I walked to it and began to pull it in. That was when I saw them. In front of me, two large Eevees stood at the entrance. The first Eevee saw me and instantly began snarling. He lunged at me, surprisingly missing the basket.

He landed on top of me and we rolled to the center of the room, his sister screaming at the top of her lungs. I tried to fight him off as his teeth lunged for my face. I got leverage under him and launched him into the wall. Quickly getting up, my fur drifted up, shifting slightly in the breeze from the opening and the room started to get hotter. My six tails spread out and fire licked my teeth. But just as I launched the attack, I was sent rolling to the wall on my left. I yelped in surprise and lay sprawled on the floor. I quickly looked for the source of the hit to find Flare standing protectively in front of his son. His eyes were full of hatred, and I instinctively looked at the Eevee that had attacked me. I realized that he too, had been sent flying.

The female Eevee stayed at the entrance with her younger cousins. They were scared, but she had pulled them away from the entrance.

"Don't you dare lay a paw on my son!" The gruff voice turned my attention to the Flareon. I rolled over and cowered against the wall. Never had I seen such hatred, even my voice had left me.

The male Eevee got up and walked away from the scene, leaving me with the Flareon. Flare glared at me, and for what seemed like an eternity of fear, only two minutes had passed. Then he turned and went to his family. I stayed where I was.

If you enjoyed this first chapter, then you'll want to read more. Believe me, the chapters get better, I just had so little to work with without ruining any surprises.