The Eevee Cometh - Epilogue

Valerie looked out over the Blackthorn mountains and contemplated what exactly she was doing. Sure, she was living in the mountains; duh, that was kind of obvious. But, she was also training. Why she was training she wasn't sure. Certainly that creature, the one who had called itself an Eevee, was still out there, but Valerie still wasn't sure if it had truly escaped.

Then again, there was also the possibility of other of these creatures emerging, but Valerie was likewise not sure how likely it was that they would emerge. They hadn't exactly been prolific thus far, and though dangerous, they didn't seem capable of doing too awful much by themselves if Valerie alone could take down two of them. Although, they had both escaped…

Valerie sighed and turned back to her pokémon. Matthias had grown spectacularly over the past two months, both in terms of general personality and fighting capability. He already was able to take on Electabuzz fairly evenly, though Graveler and Fearow were still above his level. The red eyes and the black mist that she had seen on him at the Tower hadn't reappeared since, and Valerie had started to wonder if it had been a simple hallucination. But, the memory sure didn't feel like a hallucination, which made her wary of believing that explanation too easily.

Valerie had missed the mountains. There was something special about being in a desolate area, fighting against the wild and surviving, even thriving. But, Valerie knew that she had come here for a reason beyond simple nostalgia, even if she didn't want to admit it to herself.

Because Valerie could feel it, feel the coming storm, and the danger looming on the horizon. Though she didn't know what it was, she knew she would have to deal with it one way or another.

*****

The boy sat, eyes wide, as the Eevee moved deftly into his room. Though completely silent, the glow from its purple eye was clearly visible against the dark night. The boy wasn't sure whether to scream or run, but he knew he should do something. But ever since looking into those wide, haunting eyes, he couldn't muster the energy to move. He just kept watching, fearful, of the spectre which loomed closer every moment.

Boy, haven't you always wondered where the nightmares go when you wake up? the Eevee said, as its face curled into a smile.

*****

Michael scratched his head, staring at the confounded machine. He just didn't understand it. Every time he reloaded the software, no matter how many times or different ways he tried it, it always ended up corrupted again. All of the hardware was working fine, but after a few uses, the machine inevitably began to start seeing errors. He wasn't sure what else to do.

After consulting every user manual he could find, as well as a couple of his fellow technicians, Michael decided to see if it was an isolated problem. It seemed to not be happening in any other machines, which gave Michael an idea. Maybe the problem was that the machine was being isolated from the network, and therefore it wasn't receiving any updates. Deciding this was as likely as any other, Michael hooked up the network cables to the machine. He wasn't intending to actually heal any pokémon, so he didn't bother to enable any of the security protocols.

As the machine started up, it began producing a high pitched whine. After running a diagnostic, Michael couldn't understand what had gone wrong. The software was gone, just plain gone, uninstalled and missing. It was as if the damned thing had escaped. Still confused, Michael installed the software once more, then ran a few test proceeds. This time, it didn't become corrupted. Michael smiled, happy at a job well-done.

Inside the network, Program Rejuvenation-Z quickly moved about. Using this 'Michael's' computer, it reproduced itself several thousand times and began assaulting the many pokecenters across the region. If even one in every thousand successfully infected the machines, its job would be done. As it was, it would likely produce at least a million copies of itself before losing data stability. While it was not exactly sentient, the modicum of intelligence instilled upon the program from its Porygon origin felt a sense of pleasure from succeeding at its task. Soon, its master would realize that it had done its job well, and then it would be rewarded.

The world around them continued, unaware of the danger which now lurked in nearly every pokecenter, just waiting to be released.