Chapter 1

“Sabrina! It’s time for lunch! Come inside, dear!”

The little girl heard her mother’s voice, but didn’t budge. She was busy.

A few minutes later, her mother stepped onto the back porch. “Sabrina! Where are you?”

There was a quiet giggle from the nearby rose bushes, and something crashed through the underbrush. The woman studied the rose bushes for a moment, and then walked over to them. “Sabrina, I’m going to count to three. If you’re not out here by then, I’m calling your father.”

All the noises instantly stopped.

“One...two...three!” Just as the last word came out of her mouth, a furry blur of purple shot out of the rose bushes. The woman screamed in terror and fell to the ground.

There was wild laughter as a little girl emerged from the bushes. “Hi, Mommy!” she said, a strange smile on her face. “Did you like my new friend?”

Her mother blinked. “New friend?” she asked, slowly getting up.

The girl pointed. “He’s right over there, by the apple tree.”

The woman slowly turned around. She heard a strange chittering noise. Her eyes landed on a small tuft of purple fur behind the tree. A pair of large pink eyes and antennae were soon visible as well. “Venonat!” said the strange creature, hopping up and down.

The woman backed up a few steps. “Sabrina, what is that thing?”

The girl seemed hurt. “He’s not a thing! He’s my friend!” She ran to the creature and cuddled it in her arms. “His name’s Venonat. Isn’t he cute?” She held up the creature for her mother’s inspection.

“Venonat! Venonat!” the creature repeated.

“It’s unique,” the mother said at last. “Is that all it can say?”

Sabrina nodded and placed the creature on the ground, where it hid behind her legs. “He’s just like a puppy, except he’s purple and won’t bite anyone...unless I ask him to.”

Venonat chittered in agreement, rubbing against his trainer’s leg.

“Well, don’t you have some place you can keep him, dear?” Sabrina’s mother asked nervously.

Sabrina pulled out a red and white ball. “Come on, Venonat. Mommy says I can’t bring you inside the house.”

A red beam of light shot out of the ball and surrounded Venonat. In a second, he was gone.

“Where did he go?” Sabrina’s mother asked suspiciously.

“In here, Mommy!” Sabrina replied, holding up the ball. “He’s a Pokemon, just like Daddy’s Abra!”

“Oh, one of those things again.” She sighed. “Well, you can play with it later. Right now, it’s time for lunch. And you’d better wash your hands first.”

Sabrina ran into the house, giggling again.

Her mother sighed again and followed the girl into the house.

“I really wish you’d get rid of that thing, George.”

The man glanced up at his wife. “Mary, you should really give Abra a chance. He’s the best thing in home security!”

Mary glared at him. “It doesn’t do anything but sleep! How can it possibly be better than an alarm?”

George sighed. His wife never listened. “For one thing, we’re linked telepathically. It can sense trouble a mile away. That way, if our home is ever in danger, Abra will warn me beforehand.”

“Well, did it tell you that Sabrina’s taken up playing with a bug the size of a dog?” Mary asked, tapping her foot on the carpet.

George picked up his Abra and stared at it for a moment. “It’s a Venonat, Mary.”

“I suppose the sleeping fox told you that?” she asked.

“Yes, he did. He also told me that the little guy makes Sabrina very happy. Isn’t that what’s important?”

Mary sighed. “I suppose so, if it’ll keep her from practicing telekinesis so much. I swear, if only you hadn’t bent that spoon in front of her...”

Mary fell silent as Sabrina walked into the room. To her relief, Venonat was nowhere in sight.

Sabrina ran up to her father, staring at Abra. “Can I hold him, Daddy? Please? I promise I’ll be careful!”

George looked at his daughter. “All right, honey. Just don’t drop him.” He carefully placed the sleeping Pokemon in her arms.

As soon as she touched it, Abra opened his eyes (though it’s really hard to tell sometimes) and whispered, “Abra-aaaaaabra.”

“It talked!” Serena squealed excitedly. “Daddy, it talked!”

“Probably just snoring,” Mary muttered under her breath.

George ignored his wife. “He must really like you, Sabrina. Is he saying anything else to you?”

Sabrina closed her eyes and listened. A moment later, she looked at her father. “Abra says he’s hungry.”

George stood up. “I guess we all could use a little dinner. By the way, what do you feed that new Venonat of yours?”

“I tried to give him an apple once, but he didn’t want it. He really likes those red bugs in the backyard, so I let him eat those.”

“Well, from now on, you can feed him what I feed Abra. It’s good for just about any Pokemon, I think. Probably more nutritious than a ladybug, too.” George went into the kitchen and came back with a large tin can. He pulled off the lid, revealing brown pellets.

“Is that chocolate?” Sabrina asked.

George shook his head. “My own recipe.” He handed a pellet to Abra. To Sabrina’s surprise, Abra begin to nibble on it. Sabrina placed him on the floor and released Venonat.

“Venonat!” it declared, hopping up and down.

George handed him a pellet.

Venonat examined it before taking a small bite.

“What do you think?” Sabrina asked.

Venonat nodded his agreement and went back to his meal.