As I carried my catch back to camp, worries bounced around my head. Any second, I half expected to hear Eevees crying out in pain or fear. The silence was even worse. I couldn't know if something happened to them or not. I shook my head, almost dropping my Magikarp. Three was super lucky and One was Psychic. They would be fine.
Still, I couldn't help but be apprehensive as I entered the (sort of) camp entrance. I glanced around the camp. Nothing was out of order. Well, things were out of order, the camp was still in shambles, but nothing was different that I had left it. Sighing in relief, I dove into the pond, still with my Magikarp in my mouth, and swam into my den.
"Hi, you hoo," I managed around my catch. One and Three were play-wrestling and having a grand old time. They broke away from each other as I entered.
"Hi, Splash!" One called happily.
Three rolled to his paws. "One and I were playing while you were gone."
I smiled, setting my Magikarp down. "That's good to hear. You two can keep playing, if you want. I need to have something to eat," I said as I settled down near my bed and began eating.
Three crept up next to me. "Hey Splash?" I could only nod with my mouth full. This tasted so good after not eating in a day... Three took his cue to continue speaking. "One and wanted to know if you could teach us how to battle...?"
I stopped in mid-bite. "Why?"
The shiny Eevee looked at the ground. "Well... we wanted to help you find Mommy and Daddy and Uncle Bolt and everyone..."
One came up on the other side of me. "You told us that we would have to know how to fight to go outside the camp. Can you teach us?"
I let out a sigh, turning away from my food. "I don't know... I don't know how your mother would want me to do this..."
One let her ears droop and her eyes go wide. "Please? We want to help!"
I hesitated. On the one paw, having two more sets of paws, even if they were small paws, to aid in the search would be useful, especially considering their abilities. On the other paw, teaching a kit to battle is a huge milestone. It's usually reserved for parents only.
An idea came to me. "Ok, kits, if you help me clean up and repair the camp, then we'll talk about battle lessons." That would test their commitment and work ethics. There was a lot to do around camp to make it look like home again...
Both Eevees lit up. "Ok! Thank you, Splash!" With that, both of them raced past me and dove into the pond. I let out a long breath. Someone needed to watch them and make sure they didn't hurt themselves. And that someone had to be me. I glanced down at my half-finished Magikarp. How in the world did Espeon and Umbreon do this?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Espeon awoke from a small recharging nap to her name being called. It was Zorua's voice. "Espeon! There are humans coming to look at us!"
Within a second, Espeon snapped the tiredness off of her mind. "Thank you, Zorua." She then did her best to contact Surf and Snow. "There are humans coming to look at us. If we don't do something, then they may take one of us."
Both grew more awake as Espeon spoke, though she was mentally yelling to the two Eevees next to her. Surf instantly responded by melting into a puddle. Snow panicked for a few seconds before creating a wall of ice between her and the door of her cage. Espeon had no choice but to conceal her presence. She could work her powers inside her cage perfectly well...
Espeon lowered her shield for a moment. "Zorua? Will you be ok?"
Her new friend's voice answered. "I'm small, but I can still use illusions," she stated as Espeon felt the little black fox Pokémon cast an illusion on herself. She now looked like a Rattata.
Espeon resumed her essence shield just as a male human walked in. He didn't look like anything special. "Hey, I'm looking for a present for my wife? I'm kind of short on cash, and she always wanted to be a trainer... I want to get her something no one else has..."
The human behind the counter gestured to the rows of cages, rolling his eyes when the new human turned away from him. Espeon didn't need Psychic powers to tell that the new human meant well, and the burly human didn't care.
The new human looked among the cages for a few seconds, passing right over Surf's, then Snow's, then Espeon's. He hardly noticed any of them. He pointed to another area, where Espeon could hear running water. "Talk to me about that Feebas." Secretly, Espeon wondered if getting your mate a Feebas was the best idea in the world... Oh well.
The new human bought the Feebas, caught it in a Poke Ball without any problems, and left. Espeon relaxed. Surf reformed himself and spoke as Snow worked on removing her icy barrier. "Espeon, we need to get out of here. I have to find Splash."
Espeon did her best to look at him with little success. "And what about me? My mate and all of my kits are missing. You think I don't want to get out of here?" she said in a cool tone.
"Sorry," Surf said apologetically. "I didn't mean it like that..."
Espeon looked away. "As am I. I think being trapped in this tiny space with no Psychic abilities is getting to me."
"Tell me about it..." Surf trailed off, deep in thought. Espeon closed her eyes. What could they do? Surf spoke again as the burly human got up and left the room. "Espeon?"
"Yes?" she asked as the human closed the door behind himself.
"Promise me something?" he asked as Snow finally managed to break her ice wall down.
"What?" Something in Surf's voice told her that something was off...
"I'll always have your back."
"What does tha-" Espeon was cut off as Surf used Dive, escaping his cage and leaping with a furious shout at the dark corner where the Zoroark was hidden.
Clover spoke before Umbreon could say anything. "...What's in it for you?" she whispered, even though her voice was still shaking uncontrollably. Umbreon kicked himself. He was so blinded by her words that he forgot to use his common sense. Of course she had an ulterior motive!
Terror tilted her head, acknowledging Clover. "You got me. I also have a friend in there. I think you know her as well... A Zorua?"
There was a tense silence in which Umbreon still stood at the ready to attack at any moment. He let his built-up Sludge Bomb die down, though. Finally, Clover spoke. "...she was the only one that was nice to me..." she said in barely more than a whisper.
Terror began licking her paw. "She's a good Pokémon. I also have a small score to settle with her cousin, a Zoroark who is also there and is not as friendly."
Umbreon gave her a skeptical look. "So you want us to do what? I don't think you just sauntered in to tell us about our Clan mates, did you?"
The Liepard mocked looking offended. "Why Umbreon! Why can't I be a nice Pokémon? Since when can't I give you piece of useful information that I know you would appreciate without having some kind of scheme hidden behind my back?"
Umbreon narrowed his eyes. "Since you lived up to your name, terrorizing one of my very good friends," he shot back.
Terror became serious again. "Look. I know something that you three want, and you can do something that I cannot. You groom my fur, I groom yours."
Clover quietly slipped inside the makeshift den while Umbreon spoke. "And how do we know we can trust you?"
Terror tilted her head again. "If I teach your radioactive son how to control his extra energy, would that do the trick?"
Umbreon was intrigued by the notion that Four could possibly do that, but before he could ask what else Terror could suggest, Four poked his head out of the den. "I can do what?"
Terror leaned around Umbreon. "It's all mind over matter. I knew anther Pokémon that got caught in an experiment that the humans were doing, and he ended up with the same sort of buzzy energy that you have. He could control it, pushing it onto his enemies in a Toxic-like attack. He died later, but I don't see why you couldn't learn to control that energy, too."
Four looked struck. His eyes went wide with fear and excitement at the same time as Umbreon moved in between the two. "That's enough! Terror, stop scaring my son, or I swear to Arceus, I'll show you an actual Toxic-like attack!"
Terror took a step back with a smile still on her face. Umbreon was beginning to dislike that smile. Her eyes touched Umbreon's red stone. "Fine, then, use that promise stone. Any promise that's made on it has to be kept or the stone breaks. If that happens, then you two can do whatever you want to me."
A promise stone? Umbreon had no idea that this was what the stone was. Then, his lie detecting instinct alerted him. "There's no such thing as a Promise Stone."
Terror rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll put all my claws out in plain view. There's no real way to prove that I mean what I say, except that I say I'll stand by it. We both have common interests right now. Work together to achieve a common goal. I have no doubt that your battle abilities exceed mine, though Clover's are questionable. If I do misspeak, which it seems you can detect with no trouble at all, then I expect you would attack me, which I would understand. All I need is some backup when we go to find your friends. Do we have an agreement?" she asked, placing her paw on the ground in front of her.
Umbreon thought about what she had said. Not once did his lie-detecting instinct tell him that anything that the Liepard said was untrue. He looked back at the entrance to the den, where Clover and Four were standing and watching. Clover seemed less afraid now. Umbreon sent her a questioning glance. She hesitated for a long time, but finally nodded. Umbreon turned back to Terror. "Fine. But only if you teach Four how to use his radioactivity as well," he stated as he placed his paw on top of Terror's.
"Deal," she said, looking serious for the first time since Umbreon had seen her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As it turns out, walking the whole way to the river was almost painful for Bolt. He had made a promise to Two and he planned to keep it, but walking for hours on end to Bolt felt like he going the same speed as a Slugma. How did Inferno do this!?
Said battle partner seemed to notice his discomfort. "Hey, Bolt, I think I heard something up ahead. Two, come here. Bolt, can you run ahead and see what it was?"
Bolt smiled at his best friend as the shiny Eevee gave Inferno a grumpy look, but jumped to the ground anyway. "Sure. One sec!" Bolt said before blasting off at his full speed.
Bolt loved running. Only Inferno would say that he heard something to give Bolt an excuse to run without breaking his prom-
Bolt wiped out as something hit his paws in mid stride. He rolled over several times before being able to stand on his paws again. His fur crackled threateningly. No one stops Bolt from running and gets away with it. He scanned his surroundings warily. Whatever had tripped him before hadn't been there before, and definitely wasn't there now.
Ears flicking back and forth and nose pointed upwards, Bolt detected the smell of... a Ground Type. That wasn't good. But there was something else...
Suddenly, Bolt saw two eyes the color of sand staring at him through the shadows of the trees. The full smell hit him. He knew what that was.
Garchomp!
Bolt skidded on his paws and blasted back towards Inferno at full tilt. He had to warn him and get the kits to safety! "INFERNO!!!" he yelled.
The Flareon stepped out from the bushes with Two and Five, looking surprised. "Bolt, you know that I didn't actually-" Bolt ignored him, dashed past him, and grabbed Two by the scruff. Just as she started to complain, the Garchomp burst through the ticket, roaring loudly.
Bolt looked at Inferno. "RUN!"
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