"hm?"

the young woman had been in the midst of replaying her most recent of memories, her mind still lingering on the circumstances surrounding her rushed exit from her family home. 

"a steenee?" 

the sight of the creature proved to be a welcome one, the wild pokemon in the midst of nibbling at a plump fruit. the juices of what appeared to be an oran berry flowed down its round chin, its pretty eyes gleaming with curiosity as they settled upon both cait and her eevee. 

"good morning," the young officer greeted. 

the steenee blinked, appearing to consider this before offering a little nod of acknowledgement. it would return to its meal then, and cait would leave it be - unwilling to interrupt. she continued onward, her pace unhurried, and her hand reaching to her eevee to offer him the occasional scratch behind the ear. 

"dart."

the soft hoot resulted in cait taking pause and peering curiously in the direction of the creature whom had produced such a sound. it appeared - if cait's memory served - to be a dartrix. 

'i've seen one or two of these before,' she thought. 

such a creature was renown for being a narcissist and obsessed with its self image. this one appeared no different, the creature in the midst of thoroughly grooming itself. occasionally, it would swivel its head in her direction before returning to its preening. 

'should i try catching him?'

the idea proved itself to be a tempting one, the girl approaching the low branch it was perched upon. dartrix made no attempt at fleeing as she closed the distance between herself  and it, merely craning its neck to peer down its beak at her. there was an air of superiority about it, as though it considered the human girl to be beneath it somehow. 

'i could try to befriend it.' 

it required roughly several minutes of her fishing out and offering various items in hopes of appealing to it. but the bird didn't appear to be at all interested in the colorful berries or the flavorful treats she had readily available. eventually, she'd produce a small and round mirror in hopes that it would desire to peer at itself. 

"dar?"

this particular form of bait proved effective, the pokemon spreading its wings and fluttering down. the dartrix settled upon the arm she offered, and she endured its weight with a grunt as it proceeded to peer at itself. 

"you're a male, aren't you?" she said. "a handsome one, too."

the dartrix crooned, appearing to understand her praise as he puffed out his chest while producing the noise. 

"eee." 

her eevee took leave of her shoulder, uncomfortable around the predatory bird and its pointed talons. 

"yes, and..." 

it required a considerable amount of time to butter up the creature, cait working at inflating his ego by offering words that would gradually feed into it. 

"it's a shame you have to be out here with all this dirt and grime," cait remarked, gesturing toward their immediate surroundings. "i'll take you someplace far better; and i'll even groom you myself." 

dartrix considered her proposal, and surmised that acquiring a human servant could prove itself to be quite beneficial.