New Additions (Part 2)

I emerged from the den a few minutes later to see Surf standing staunchly in the way of the entrance to the den, and Bolt bouncing up and down in front of him.

"Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!!!!!" he whined.

Surf set his jaw.  "No!  Not until Espeon, Umbreon, and Clover give the ok!"

I chuckled as Bolt sat down.  "But I'm their caretaker!  I should deserve to be in there with them!"  He noticed me standing in the entryway.  "Splash!  At least tell me if there are any girls!"

My eye widened slightly at the thought.  Boy, are there... I thought to myself before answering.  "Yes, there are girls."  I decided not to tell him about the shiny and glowing kits as well.  I really wanted to see his reaction for myself.

His mouth fell open in a huge smile.  "Yes!  Way to go, Suicune!  Is she- wait.  Girls?"

Drat.  I had let that slip.  "Yes.  One, Two, and Five are all girls."

His eyes went wide, as did Surf's.  "Three!?" they both exclaimed at once.

Umbreon shouted from inside the den.  "No, Three is a boy!  One, Two, and Five are the girls!"

I turned around and smiled at him.  "Har har."

Surf nudged my flank, speaking as I turned back around to look at him.  "That's really amazing."

I leaned closer and barely whispered in his ear.  "You don't know the half of it.  I really want to see Bolt's reaction, though, so don't say anything."

Surf looked mystified.  "What are you saying?" he whispered back as Bolt began blasting around in tight circles to deal with the suspense of waiting.

"I'm saying..." I began mysteriously, "...that you cannot react when I tell you this."  When gave me an irritated look, I continued.  "Oh, and Two and Three are shiny."

Surf stopped breathing in an effort not to react.  "You're joking, right?"  I shook my head.  He took a few seconds before finally speaking again.  "Well, no wonder you want to see Bolt's reaction."

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A few minutes later, Clover exited the den.  "Bolt, it's ok for you to come see the kits-" 

She was interrupted by Bolt bolting towards her at top speed.  Instead of sidestepping, she squared her stance and snapped one wing open, smacking the Jolteon in the face.  He was knocked over backwards and landed on his back, paws in the air.  Clover looked at her wing.  "Well.  Maybe these things have some practical uses after all."  She refolded her wing and marched over to Bolt, who was still lying on the ground with his paws to the sky, dazed.  "As long as you are slow and quiet."

He shook his head and rolled to his feet.  "Jeez...  Someone learned Wing Attack..." he muttered as he forced himself to walk slowly towards the den.  Based on the sparks jumping around his fur, he was itching with excitement.

Clover trotted over to me.  I leaned over to her without taking my eyes off of Bolt and whispered.  "Watch this."

Bolt finally reached the den entrance, stepping halfway inside.  "Hey, Espy!  I heard...."  He stopped abruptly as he looked towards here the kits were suckling with Espeon.  He blinked a few times, then turned around to face the camp and shook his head vigorously.  He then turned back into the den, blinked a few more times, before turning back around again, and shaking his head with more force.  

This went on for some time before Umbreon finally asked, "Bolt?  How long do you plan on acting like a Slowpoke with amnesia before you actually come inside and see the kits?"  I tried to resist laughter.

Bolt finally managed to step inside the den.  There was a short silence in which Clover and I crept closer to hear more.  "....I'm not dreaming, right?  Raikou's not going to come in here...?"

Umbreon's voice spoke.  "No.  You are not dreaming."

Espeon spoke sweetly and quietly.  "Bolt, this is One, Two, Three, Four, and Five."

"They're beautiful kits, Espy," Bolt said softly.

I opened my eyes on the familiar lake shore.  Suicune was already standing on the waves.  I stood up and trotted over.  "How long have you been waiting?" I asked jokingly.

The Aurora Pokémon shrugged as I slipped into the warm water.  "Not too long.  I wanted to ask how things are going in the Clan."

I grinned and splashed water at his face with my tail.  "This is the fourth night in a row that you've been here!  You're just as anxious as the rest of us!"

He shook his head, scattering the water droplets.  "I am not anxious, I am concerned.  Did Espeon's eggs hatch yet?"

I almost decided to keep him waiting a bit longer.  Then I remembered that he was a Legendary.  Right.  "Yes.  All five of them are fine.  Some more than fine."

Suicune sighed in relief.  "And what of the radioactive egg?"

I dove under for a second before resurfacing.  "Four?  He's fine.  He glows and has a weird energy field or something around him, but he's fine."

Suicune looked off into the distance.  "The good news about that is, you are correct.  He will be fine.  The bad news is, he may cause damage to those affected by his...  What did you call it?  Energy field if exposed for too long.  Espeon and Bolt should be immune to it, but..." he trailed off.

"Possibly Inferno, too," I shrugged.  "He's picked up an electrical resistance from sharing a den with Bolt."

The water Legendary shook his head.  "This kind of energy is akin to electricity, but is not one and the same.  Bolt is immune because it's close enough, but someone like Inferno, with an acquired resistance?"

I winced.  "Not as much?"

"Not at all," Suicune corrected.  Umbreon is not immune, either, but he may build up an immunity."

I nodded seriously.  "I'll tell him to be careful."

Suicune forced a smile onto his usually serious face.  "And what of the other kits?  With the luck I gave you, I'm guessing at least two of them were girls."

"Three," I corrected.  "One, Two, and Five are girls."

"That's nice."

"Oh, and Two and Three are shiny."

"Really?" he said with an ounce of surprise.  That was very unusual.  Suicune, surprised?

I pushed that fact aside and informed the now Luck Bearer.  "Yeah.  Espeon now has a shiny girl kit."

He smiled genuinely now.  "That's good to hear.  It seems as if I may have given her more luck than I intended to."

I barked a laugh.  "Apparently!

He moved into a trot, making me swim faster to keep up.  "And what of Clover?  Last I heard, she discovered that she had wings?"

"Yeah..." I muttered, trying to find a constant pace.  "The good news is, she's finally accepted them.  The bad news is, she is the absolute worst flier that I have ever seen."

"Hm," Suicune said, with a hint of a chuckle.  "It makes sense.  Most bird Pokémon possess the knowledge to fly from hatching, they just need to find the instinct that tells them how.  Clover, however, being a Leafeon, would have no intuition or instincts about flight whatsoever."

"Yeah," I muttered.  "It's pretty apparent.  The problem is, she wants to keep it a secret.  I've offered to ask Streak and Night- you know, the Staraptors?"

He nodded.  "I remember them.  Very helpful."

"Yeah, them.  I asked Clover if she wanted them to teach her, but she was all kinds of against the idea."

Suicune looked away with a ghost of a smile.  "Oh, I'm sure she'll change her mind in a few days."

I looked up at my idol and friend.  "What does that mean?"  Instead of answering, he showed me a side of him that almost no one ever sees: his playful side.  He grinned mischievously at my question and then raced off across the lake at top speed.  "Come back here!!" I shouted.

"I'll tell you if you catch me!" he called back.