Five New Abilities (Part 1)

My thoughts drifted as One and Three devoured the berries that I had brought them.  One had inherited her mother's Psychic abilities and Three was the luckiest Pokémon in the world.  Suicune really HAD overdosed the kits with luck, especially in Three's case.  What would the other three Eevees have?  Four's would probably have something to do with his radioactivity, but nothing came to mind as for what Two and Five would have.

Two just liked going her own way and hated when someone told her what to do.  She was extremely independent, though she still listened to her older sister's directions.  Thinking about it, was One the only one that Two wouldn't disobey or question orders with?  Aside from her personality, the only strange thing I've ever witnessed about her was her shiny fur.

And then there was Five.  The cute, sweet, loving runt of Espeon's litter.  She was only a bit smaller than her older siblings, but the difference was noticeable.  However, what she lacked in size, she more than made up for in heart.  Other than her attitude, she was just a normal, small, brown Eevee.

I gave up trying to think of other talents, shaking my head and curling my tail over my paws.  My stomach growled.  I had to hunt.

"Kits, I'm going to go out and catch something to eat for myself, ok?" I asked, standing up.

One jumped up as well.  "I want to come!  Teach me to hunt, Splash!  Please?" she asked loudly.  Next to her, Three jumped up as well, nodding vigorously and slopping even more berry juice on his fur.

I shook my head with a smile.  How did Espeon do this with five of them?  Then again, she also had Umbreon.  "One, maybe I should teach you how to swim before I teach you to hunt and battle..."

One let her ears droop and her eyes go wide.  "Pleeeeeeeeeeeease?" she pleaded.  "At least teach me how to swim!"  Three looked less interested in learning swimming than hunting.

I tried my hardest, but I couldn't say no to that face.  "Fine, let me take you to the surface."

"Yaaaay!" both kits shouted at the same time.  I couldn't help but smile. 

Shuttling the two of them to the surface using Surf, I placed both of them down facing the water.  "Ok, so we're just going to learn the basics.  Nothing fancy," I said as I stepped into the water.  It was so easy for me to use my tail for extra speed and stability, but I forced myself to keep it limp.  Both One and Three sat at rapt attention.

"Swimming is just like walking, but without something solid to stand on.  All you really have to do to stay afloat is use the same movements that you do when you walk," I explained, giving a demonstration.

The lessons continued through the day.  Eventually, One and Three got into the water to try out my tips for themselves.  They floundered at first (neither of them were really natural born swimmers), but eventually, both of them got the hang of it.  Before I knew it, it was already noon, and the kits were diving underwater just fine.  It looked like they would be able to get to and from my den without problems now.

Finally, however, my angry stomach made me stop the lesson.  "Ok, you two.  I really have to go hunt now."

"Aww..." both said at the same time with crestfallen faces and soaked fur.

Three stood back up.  "Can't we come with you?"

I shook my head, looking at how worn out they looked.  "No, you two should probably go back to my den and take a rest.  You earned it."  Three did look pleased to hear that.  "Show me what you've learned by swimming back to my den, ok?"

Without another word, both Eevees dove into the pond, stroking strongly and holding their breaths with confidence.  Finally, I saw then disappear into my den.  I smiled in satisfaction and turned towards the (sort of) camp entrance, but paused.  I could leave them alone, right?  It would only be for a few minutes, and they were in my den.  What could be wrong with that?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At first, Espeon was horrified.  What had happened to the powerful Staraptor that she knew?  The one that had taken the full brunt of an Electric Type attack from a Pikachu for his mate?

Espeon quickly turned from horror to outrage.  The humans did this to him, all of this.  The explosion, the capture, the roughness of Streak's treatment.  The roughness of all of their treatment, she thought, thinking of Surf.

Storing the anger that she felt in a corner of her mind, Espeon automatically tried to contact Streak mentally, but was still bound by the Zoroark.  Espeon whisked her tail angrily.  She had to stop the interference.  "Zorua?" Espeon asked quietly.  "Can you tell your cousin to let me check on my friend?"  She realized too late that she had forgotten the word 'please.'  Oh well.

"Um..." the Illusion Fox Pokémon's voice answered hesitantly.  "I can try, but I don't think he'll listen.  He's pretty attached to his trainer.  I don't get it."  Espeon didn't either.  "Blackstrike?  Blackstrike!"  When she only got a minor grunt from the corner, Zorua took it as a cue to proceed.  "Can you let this Espeon use her Psychic abilities?  That Staraptor is a friend of hers, and she wants to check on him.  Please?"

The shadow in the corner stepped further into the light, revealing the Dark Type.  He glared at a spot above and to the left of Espeon, presumably at Zorua.  "Are you telling me what to do?" he challenged, advancing on Zorua.

"N-no, I was just asking if-"

"NO!" Blackstrike snarled.  "My trainer ordered me to keep that pink puffball under wraps, so I will!  Whether you like it or not, you runt!"

Espeon bristled at his abusive names, but said nothing.  Zorua continued to cower in her cage.  "I-I'm sorry, Blackstrike, I really didn't mean it like that, honest!"

"GOOD!" the Zoroark roared, delivering a Shadow Claw through the bars of Zorua's cage.  Espeon heard her yelp.  "Now don't speak to me again unless you want to end the day with way more than that little princess cut!"  With that, he spun on his tail and marched back to his corner.

One of the humans glanced at Blackstrike before returning to his papers.  "Good job, Zoroark," he said, sounding more like he was commenting on something written on the papers, rather than a job well done to his Pokémon.

A few seconds passed in silence.  Finally, Espeon tried to see Zorua unsuccessfully.  "Are you all right?"

Her voice shook as she answered.  "Fine.  Just fine.  He doesn't realize how hard he hits sometimes..."  Espeon shook her head, trying to come up with a plan of some sort.  Anything that resembled a plan would be nice.

Finally, after about half an hour with no words or ideas, Surf captioned Espeon's thoughts in two words.  "Now what?"

 

 



Umbreon dropped his prey where he was and took off as fast as he could.  That had been Clover.  She was with Four!  Putting on as much extra speed as he could, Umbreon practically flew through the forest, not caring anymore about how much noise he made and thanking Arceus that his shoulder wasn't slowing him down too much.

Finally, he spotted the Leafeon.  She had her back pressed against their temporary den, her ears flat against her head and her claws out.  Umbreon had almost never seen Clover's claws out.  Something was very wrong.

With a final bound, Umbreon skidded to a halt in front of Clover in full attack posture, ears flat, fangs bared, hackles up, crouched low, and rings glowing brilliantly.  What was in front of him, however, made him hesitate. 

It was a Liepard.  She didn't appear to want to attack, but Umbreon knew that these Pokémon were all about trickery.  However, he recognized this Liepard from somewhere...

He turned his head a bit, still keeping the Liepard in full view, but addressing the terrified Leafeon behind him.  "Clover, are you all right?"

He could hear her trembling breath and voice as she answered.  "Umbreon, keep her away from me, get her away.  Chase her off."  Umbreon could smell her fear a mile off.  Had she forgotten that she knew Aura Sphere?

Before Umbreon could do anything, Four's quiet voice came from the den.  "What happening?"

Umbreon didn't take his eyes off the Liepard.  He wasn't afraid to demonstrate his battling abilities again, as he had with the human.  "Four, stay inside," he ordered.

The Liepard didn't move at all, except to roll her eyes.  "Clover, I don't want to hurt you," she stated factually.  She knew Clover.  And her voice sounded familiar...

Umbreon knew this Liepard.  He wracked his brain, but couldn't remember the name.  As luck would have it, Clover whimpered it for him.  "Terror!  Leave me alone..." she trailed off in a sob.

Umbreon took a step towards the Liepard that had both hurt Clover and led Splash to her.  "Terror," he stated simply.  "What do you want?" he growled.  He didn't trust this Pokémon one bit.

Her muscles were still relaxed as she peered curiously at Umbreon and answered.  "My humans abandoned me after you and your Legendaries destroyed their workplace.  I'm on my own now.  I'm doing all right, but I smelled Clover nearby and thought I'd come and say hello."

Umbreon stood back up to his full height, but kept his muscles tense and his ears back.  "Say hello?" he asked incredulously.  "You scarred her for life!  She can barely get within ten steps of a Purrloin thanks to you, and you have the nerve to say that you just 'stopped by' to say hello!?"

Terror sat down in a leisurely manner, not responding at all to Umbreon's aggression.  "Please, Umbreon.  If I wanted to attack, I would have.  Your shoulder is hurt, Clover is too terrified to do anything but run, and I believe you have a small Eevee with you, radioactive, judging by the smell."

Umbreon tried not to let his surprise show, instead feeling the weight of his red stone and moon dust leaves around his neck.  "So?  I managed to take down a human with ease in this condition.  Rather brutally, I might add."

Clover voice was shaking worse that one of her sprouts in a windstorm.  "Yeah, Umbreon was vicious.  And he will be again if you don't back off!" she said, trying and failing to sound brave.

Terror's eyes went wide in a mocking expression.  "Clover, I thought you of all Pokémon would be happy to see me."  Clover began to answer, but the Liepard cut her off.  "How are your wings treating you?"

Both Clover and Umbreon froze.  Umbreon was the first to find his words again.  "How dare you.  Clover hates it when Pokémon look at her wings, let alone talk so casually about them.  And why would she be glad to see the Pokémon that tormented her throughout the worst time in her life thus far, the time that has been giving her nightmares ever since she got back!?" Umbreon demanded, charging up a sludge bomb.

Terror didn't respond to his actions, yet again.  "I thought she'd be glad to see me since I know where her Glaceon friend is."  Clover's ragged breath caught, even though she knew where Snow was, too.  Terror continued.  "Her and a few others in your Clan," she finished.

Umbreon was still on guard.  It was almost definitely a trick.  Even though the little instinct that warned Umbreon of lies was silent, he ignored it.  "Yeah?  Who?"

"Just that male Vaporeon and your Espeon friend."   Umbreon froze.  Hope flared like a light in his chest.  Every word rang true with his internal lie detector.  She knew where Espeon was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Bye, Soursap!" Bolt called over his shoulder, letting Two climb up on his back again.

"Bye, Bolt, Inferno, Two, and Five!" Soursap called back from his trainer's doorstep.  "Come back and visit sometime!" he said before closing the door.

Bolt might come back, but not to visit.  Soursap had no idea how grateful he was to be outside with endless space again.  Apparently, everyone else did, though.  "Bolt, you look like one of those mini-suns that Chris had in his den.  Lower the light level," Inferno commented at he helped Five up.

Bolt obliged, turning off his excited glow.  "I can run again!" Bolt crowed.  "Watch me!"  Completely forgetting about his passenger, Bolt blasted away as fast as he could run.  Two, not having any time to grab Bolt's spiked fur in her teeth, flew off Bolt's back with a startled screech.

Bolt immediately skidded to a halt, almost falling over himself.  "Two!?" he called, turning around.  What was he thinking!?  How could he just forget Two like that!?  "Are you ok!?  I'm sorry!  Where are you?" Bolt called as he searched for his niece.

Inferno seemed just as confused as Bolt was.  "Where'd she go?  I lost sight of her when she fell!"

Five was just as concerned as Bolt.  "Two?  Where are you?" she called, searching for her shiny sister.  Deciding that Inferno's head was in her way, she stood on his back and put her front paws on his head, peering over his ears and swirled fluff tuft.  "Two?" she called again.

Bolt would have laughed at his friend's expression and predicament, but right now, he had a missing kit to think about.  "TWO!?" he yelled.  Where in Arceus's name could she have gone?  He had only lost her for a second!  He looked up at Inferno, fear written all over his face.  "Where is she!?"

Inferno was losing his cool, too.  "I don't know!  She can't have just vanished into thin air!" he shouted as he did his best to track her scent with Five on his head.  Bolt shook his head vigorously.  Inferno was right.  She couldn't have just vanished, just like that. 

Something clicked in Bolt's mind.  She couldn't have vanished... or could she?  He looked up at the Flareon.  "Inferno?  Doesn't Umbreon know Phantom Force?" he asked slowly.

Inferno, too, looked up slowly.  "Yes.  Yes he does."

Bolt tilted his head in thought.  "You think Two might have inherited it from him?  And used it accidentally when she fell?"

Bolt shrugged.  "It makes the most sense.  She vanished into thin air, her scent ends very abruptly, and there's no sign of her anywhere."

A short silence fell before Five piped up.  "So how do we find her?"

Bolt thought about it.  "I think we just have to wait for her to figure out how to come back.  She's smart.  She can do it."

Five nodded quietly and slid back down onto Inferno's back.  The Flareon looked at Bolt suddenly.  "How does Umbreon know Phantom Force anyway?  I thought it was a pretty exclusive move."

Bolt shrugged again, beginning to pace and speak quickly.  "I don't know.  I once asked him about it, but he evaded the question and changed the subject.  Something must have happened that he doesn't want to talk about.  But still, Phantom Force?  How did he learn that?  I mean, sure, it's useful, but still!"

Inferno rolled his eyes and threw his head back in exasperation.  "Bolt!  Run in circles!"

"...Right.  Sorry."  Bolt began blasting in tight circles, trying to figure out what to do.  Wait.  Was that a cold spot there?  He stopped suddenly, putting a paw through the air in front of him.  It was colder there!  Umbreon had once walked through Bolt with Phantom Force, and it had given him that cold sensation.  Two was standing right in front of him!

Inferno, however, was confused.  "Bolt, what are you doing?"

Bolt turned to look at Inferno.  "Two's right here!  I was right!  I can feel her!"  He looked back at the empty space in front of him.  "Two, if you can hear me, try jumping back through to our side!  You just have to open up another gap like you did the first time, ok?"

Inferno gave his Jolteon friend a look that said 'you're insane.'  However, less than a second later, a small black hole opened up in mid-air and Two tumbled out, breathing heavily.  Bolt dashed up and hugged his shiny niece tightly.  "Two!  Thank Arceus you're ok!  I know it was an accident and it was kind of my fault, but don't ever do that again, ok?" he said, rushing his words.

Two seemed a bit stunned.  "Sorry, Uncle Bolt.  I didn't mean to.  Suddenly everything was dark and fuzzy and you couldn't see me and I didn't know what happened!"

Inferno and Five trotted over happily.  "Two you used a move that your father knows.  You used Phantom Force."

Two nodded at him.  "I heard.  I need to practice that..."

"Not now you don't," Bolt said, gently sliding Two onto his back again.  "We are going to the river and you are going to rest."

Two nodded, her paws sagging over Bolt's fur.  "Ok.  But Uncle Bolt?"

He turned his head to see her.  "Yes, Two?"

She gave a small smile.  "Promise you won't run until we get there?"

Bolt chuckled as Inferno burst out laughing.  Bolt just smiled warmly at the Eevee who usually acted so tough and distant.  "I promise."