New Additions (Part 1)

Two days had passed since the ice sculpture competition.  Clover had still not made any progress in learning to fly on her own.  To be perfectly honest, she was the worst flier I had ever seen in my life.  I had a good view of her practices from the edge of the pond.

Snow stood in front of Clover, determination written all over her face.  "Ok.  Let's try another ground takeoff.  They're a lot safer."

Clover nodded, then opened her wings and began to pump them as hard as she could.  Flapping her wings was about the only thing she had learned to do.  She kicked up more and more dirt and dust with each flap, but each time getting her another inch off of the ground.   However, as she was about one tail length up, she folded her wings and fell back to the ground.  "I'm sorry, Snow..." she panted.  "I can't do it...  This is hard..."

Snow shook her head.  "You CAN do it, you just don't know how..."

Clover got to her paws, still panting heavily.  "Well, how can I learn!?  I mean... it's not like I can just... ask another winged Leafeon!  I'm pretty sure I'm the only one!" she shouted, wincing a bit as she spoke.

Snow stepped over and leaned against her friend comfortingly.  "Hey, it's ok.  You'll figure this out."

I pulled myself from the water, not bothering to shake myself off.  "What if we ask a bird Pokémon to teach you?"

Clover's eyes went wide.  "No!  Having you guys look at me funny was bad enough.  Having a complete stranger look at me that way?"  She sighed and looked at her paws.

I thought about it.  It made sense, but still.  "What if it was a bird Pokémon that you know?  Like Streak or Night?"

Clover shook her head.  "Still weird."

Snow looked at me and shrugged.  "I've already asked these questions.  She wants to keep this a secret."

I nodded.  "I get that.  Sorry, Clover."

She nodded.  "It's fine, Splash.  You just wanted to help."

Bolt's voice called across camp.  "Splash?  Can you come here?  Inferno's on watch and I have no one to talk to."

I sighed with a smile, trotting over to the Jolteon as Clover resumed her flight attempts.  "What's up, Bolt?"

He smiled at my approach and sat down next to the prey pile.   He pulled out a Pidgey for himself and a fat Magikarp for me.  I nodded thanks and sat down next to him as he started speaking.  "Splash, I'm trying to think of names for Espeon's kits, but I can't come up with anything good."

I smiled at him.  "While that's a really nice gesture, that's not how it works."

He tilted his head in confusion.  "It's not?"

I shook my head.  "Think about all of our names.  We picked them ourselves once we figured out what we wanted to evolve into.  It's the same principle for Espeon's kits.  Hypothetically speaking, they've just hatched!  They don't know what they want to be yet!  How can you give them a name that reflects them if they don't know?"

He shrugged in confusion.  "I guess...  But then...  what do we call them until they decide?"

I took another bite of my Magikarp.  "Generally, you name them by number.  In this case, they would be One, Two, Three, Four, and Five, in the order that they hatch.

Bolt looked away, in deep thought.  "Huh.  That actually makes a lot of sense."  He looked back at me and nodded.  "That's a very good idea.  But what if one of them wants to stay an Eevee?"

I shrugged.  "Same thing.  When they make that decision, and it's final, they pick a name for themselves based on their choice."

"Huh," Bolt shrugged before finally tearing into his Pidgey.  "Haf's a goo spysptem," he said with his mouth full.

I rolled my eyes.  "I need to go and talk to the happy couple.  I've finished my Magikarp anyway.  Thanks, Bolt."

"Aee time."

I shook my head at his horrid eating habits and stepped into Espeon and Umbreon's log den.  "Espy?  Umbreon?"

Umbreon met me in the entrance with a huge smile plastered on his face.  "Hey Splash!  Espeon says the eggs could hatch today!"

My mouth fell open.  "Really!?  Congrats, Espeon!"

She smiled warmly at me, still curled up around her eggs.  "I know.  Isn't it exciting?"

I nodded enthusiastically.  "It is!  I can hardly believe it!"

Umbreon walked up next to me.  "Though I suspect you came for another reason?"

I shook my head to clear it, spraying a bit of water by accident.  "Right.  I spoke to Suicune last night.  He said that he has overloaded your eggs with luck to get that one to survive.  He knows how important they are to you two."

Both visibly sagged with relief upon hearing the news.  Espeon looked up again first.  "Tell him that we said 'thank you' the next time you talk to him."

I nodded.  "I will."

Umbreon was practically bouncing on his paws, much like Bolt usually did.  "I just can't believe we're going to have kits!  Five no less- did that egg just jump?" he said, suddenly frozen in place.

All three pairs of eyes were suddenly glued to the eggs.  Just when I thought Umbreon was getting overly excited, sure enough, one of the eggs jerked a bit, followed by another.

Espeon's happy vibes were almost overpowering me as I spun towards the entrance.  "CLOVER!!" I screeched with excitement and glee.

Less than ten seconds later, Clover was standing over Espeon, ready to help the newborn kits, and everyone else was clamoring outside the den, including Inferno.  I was pushing everyone back.  Surf seemed to be the only one who was keeping his head.  "Surf!" I called.  He looked up upon hearing my voice.  "Can you keep everyone else away?  Clover says that we need quiet!"

"Rodger!" he called back before leaping into the fray, pushing everyone away with his tail and shoulders.  "Back up!  Back up!  The kits need quiet!  Inferno!  Get back to your post!"

"Half of our Clan is already in there!" Inferno shouted back.

Surf narrowed his eyes.  "Half of our Clan NEEDS to be in there!  Now get back to the lookout post!"

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the eggs.  Espeon was still curled around them, making sure that she and Umbreon were the first ones that the kits would see.  In what felt like an eternity of ever-quieting Eevees outside and ever-increasing tension inside, one of the eggs finally splintered, cracked, and hatched into a tiny bundle of fluff.

Espeon was on the kit in an instant, licking it comfortingly as it squeaked.  "Hello, One," she said, her voice filled with emotion, which we could all feel in the den.

The kit's eyes just opening, it saw its mother and father, both on the verge of tears.  There was a short silence, and then...  "Mommy?"  My heart stopped working for a few seconds at the cuteness.

Espeon and Umbreon leaned forward and nuzzled the new kit.  Espeon spoke again.  "Yes, sweetie.  Daddy's here, too.  We love you very much."

The tiny Eevee squeaked in delight again.  I finally managed to break out of my stupor.  "Clover, here.  Check it over."

She nodded, getting various herbs and plants into neat piles, just in case.  "You can do a gender check, Splash."

Umbreon took a step back and looked at me as I gently leaned over and picked the kit up.  My eyes went wide.  "It's a girl!"

Squeals of delight ensued at the excitement of having the first kit be a girl.  Suicune really meant it when he said 'kit luck.'  I carefully brought One to Clover, who smiled uncontrollably.  "Hello, One, you sweet little girl!" she said quietly.  The Leafeon did a quick check-up as the second egg started to hatch.  "One looks good!"

As the second egg started to crack, a tear slipped out of Espeon eyes.  We all jumped and took a step back as the egg cracked open a bit more, and a fluffy, grey-blue tail stuck out.  "It's shiny!" I managed to get out before this kit hatched as well.

Umbreon managed to find his voice first.  "Two, you beautiful baby!"  As with the first kit, both parents snuggled Two close. 

And, as before, the tiny shiny kit squeaked its first word.  "Mommy!"  The kit then looked at Umbreon and squeaked again.  "Daddy!"

Espeon hugged the kit close.  "Beautiful and smart!"  She finally let me pick the kit up to bring to Clover.

The second shock came as I checked for gender.  "She's a girl, too!"  Everyone else was as stunned as I was.  A shiny girl Eevee!?  What were the odds!?

I gently handed her to Clover, still trying to get my mind around the facts.  Clover nosed the kit and started her check-up.  "You are a very, very, special girl, Two!" she murmured.

As the third egg started to hatch, I thought I had seen it all.  That is, until another shiny Eevee fell out of the eggshell.  Umbreon's eyes went even wider than they were before.  "Arceus save me!" he said in disbelief.

Espeon hugged the other shiny kit close as well.  "Hello, Three!  You're shiny like your sister!"

This time, the kit squeaked, "Twee!" in an effort to say its name.

I waited for Espeon and Umbreon to let go of the kit before I picked it up.  "This one's a boy!" I called, somewhat in relief.

Clover shook her head, trying to comprehend what was happening.  "Two shiny kits in one litter...  I'm not dreaming, right?

"Pretty sure you're not..." I muttered as Three scratched my fins by mistake.

"Hello, Three, you shiny boy, you!" Clover said happily as she checked over the third kit.  There was a short period of silence until another egg hatched.  To everyone's surprise, it was the glowing one.  Clover muttered as the shell flaked away.  "I swear to Arceus, if this one's a shiny, too..."

However, it seems that, whatever Clover was planning on finishing her sentence with, she didn't have to carry out as a brown-fluffed Eevee emerged.  Well, almost brown.  I tilted my head.  "Is... that kit glowing?"

Umbreon seemed just as confused as Espeon pulled the kit closer to her.  "I think so...  I think it's humming a bit, too..."

Espeon didn't look away from the kit.  "I don't care.  Four is perfect in my eyes."  Umbreon nodded in agreement and snuggled the kit for a few seconds before letting me pick Four up by the ruff.

"He's a boy!" I announced, bringing him to Clover to look at. 

Clover smiled as I gently placed him down.  "I think Suicune gave the kits just enough luck to get Four here to survive..."

I looked at her.  "Just enough?  We have two girls and two shinies, one of which is both!"

Clover nodded.  "Fair point."

As the fifth and final egg began to hatch, I felt a bit... buzzy around my mouth, where I had made contact with Four.  The feeling went away after about 30 seconds, but it was still strange nonetheless.  Even Clover seemed puzzled.  Judging by the way she was shaking her paws and head, she felt it, too.

It seemed as if the fifth kit was having difficulty.  It kept on trying to get out of the shell, but seemed to be getting more and more tired.  Finally, Umbreon stepped over and helped Five out.  The final kit was brown, like One and Four.  She was a bit smaller than the others, and seemed more delicate.  Espeon pulled the kit close.  "Welcome to the world, Five."

Five responded in kind.  "Mommmmy...  M sleeeppy..."  My heart melted.

Espeon snuggled Five closer as Umbreon joined her.  "I know, baby...  you can nap in just a bit..."

Finally, the proud parents let me pick Five up.  "She's a girl!" I announced as the kit slowly fell asleep while hanging.

Umbreon smiled.  "She's perfect."

Another happy tear rolled down Espeon's cheek.  "They all are."