The eevee growled at their outstretched hand, his black mane puffed up around his neck. Kyrie sighed. "C'mon, Loop," they said. "You're fine, okay? I'm fine."

Loop de Loop refused to even give them a sniff. He turned his back and sat down with his tail curled tight around his body.

"Alright," Kyrie said. "That's… fine. We don't have to be friends right away."

Loop twitched his ears. At least he was listening.

"It does have to happen eventually, though," they added. "And it would be a lot easier if it happened soon."

They stood up and recalled Loop to his pokéball. Kyrie looked around at the other pokémon in the park, who were all acting much more well behaved with their trainers than Loop de Loop. They shook their head and started walking home.

Kyrie had moved out of their parents house a month ago, and had thought a pokémon would have helped keep them company in their new place. They hadn't thought that Loop de Loop, their new eevee, would hate them. Were they not feeding him correctly? They bought only the best—and most expensive—food.

They closed the door behind them and took out Loop's pokéball again. He appeared in a flash of white light on the apartment floor, shaking his head. "We should get to know each other," Kyrie said while he looked around. "You haven't been out too much in this apartment, so…"

Loop turned and stared at them, his ears perked up. Was he waiting for Kyrie to say something else? It was, at least, more attention than he had given them in the past few days. "I'm not gonna set any big restrictions," they said. "You're my pokémon, after all. So… what do you want to do?"

The eevee brightened up at once. Loop darted on the couch and dug his teeth into one of the pillows, growling and wrestling with it. Kyrie rushed to stop him.

"No, Loop!" They grabbed him around the middle and tried to detach him. Loop refused to let go. "You can't wreck my things," Kyrie protested. "I said no big restrictions, but I'd say not destroying stuff is common sense!"

Loop growled and opened his mouth, releasing his grip on the pillow to try and bite Kyrie's hand. They had half a mind to put him back in his pokéball. Instead, they tucked him under their arm and brought them to the kitchen table. Loop struggled the whole way.

"Stop that," Kyrie said. They planted him on the table. "We're going to talk."

For a moment, they thought Loop was going to bite them again. Instead, he tilted his head and sat down, staring at them.

Kyrie sighed in relief. "I need to know what your problem with me is," they said. "I don't want to have to bring you back to the Emporium, but…"

Loop yelped and tapped his paw on the table. Not for the first time, Kyrie wished there wasn't a language barrier between humans and pokémon. "Is that what you want?" they asked. "For me to bring you back and get some other eevee?"

He shook his head and snorted. Loop stood up and started running in circles on the table, chasing his tail. The behavior was why Kyrie had named him Loop de Loop, and they hadn't thought there was a purpose to it beside having fun. They squinted at him and watched.

Loop caught his tail and stopped. With a mouthful of fur, he looked at Kyrie expectantly.

"You want to chase things?" Kyrie asked.

He dropped his tail and shook his head.

"You want…

With another snort, Loop rolled on his back and started kicking at the air. Kyrie tilted their head, watching his paws swipe and claw at thin air.

The pieces clicked together. "Oh!" they said. "You want to fight!"

Loop jumped to his feet and squeaked excitedly.

"I don't know," Kyrie said. "I mean… I'm not really cut out to be a trainer. I got you to be a housepet, y'know?"

Loop pressed his ears flat against his head. "Sorry," they continued. "But, y'know, most people start training pokémon when they're kids, and I'm a decade past that. If we start doing battles, we'll end up losing to a bunch of teenagers and their super-leveled pokémon. Is that really what you want?"

He nodded furiously, with a huff that seemed to be saying, "I won't lose!" Kyrie shook their head.

"Well," they said, "I'm not gonna be a trainer, not for real, but I can find some battles for you, alright? Probably just wild pokémon, but—"

Loop jumped off the table and ran to the door. "Hey!" Kyrie said, getting to their feet. "Wait up! I just got home, let's—"

Too late, Kyrie realized they hadn't latched the front door properly. Loop pried it open and squeezed outside. Kyrie scrambled to follow him. "Loop!"

At least he was happier, Kyrie thought, chasing their pokémon down the street, but they had to wonder what they had gotten themself into.