One sat back down, looking at the floor. "I guess. Something just told me that there was someone new around. I don't know who it was."
I nodded. "It was a human. But you were right, One. Did your mother teach you how to do that?"
Three wandered towards the Vaporeon box that Inferno had given me as One tilted her head and looked at me. "Teach me how to do what?" she asked, confused.
I sat down and curled my tail over my paws. "Detecting when someone else is near you is a Psychic power. Have you been able to do that before?"
She closed her eyes in thought. "Ummmm.... Not really. Whenever I know someone else is near me, it's because I can smell of hear them. Like Daddy, I guess," she said factually.
My mind reeled. Could she control it? There was no question that she had some of her mother's powers, but could she control it? "One, try and look for your siblings. Or your mother."
"But I'd have to go outside for that!"
"No, with your mind," I amended. When she only gave me a tired look in response, I tried to remember how Espeon had explained it. "Try to... feel them with your mind. You know how your sisters and brother think, right?"
Three shrugged, pawing through the shells that I had put inside the box. One slowly nodded. "I guess so... How do I do this?" she asked, desperation and confusion in her eyes.
I took a breath. I was not Espeon. I wasn't One's mother, nor was I even close to a Psychic Type. Nevertheless, I had to at least try to coach her. "I'm no expert, but I'll try to teach you." One sat down in front of me, ears up and eyes attentive. "You know how they think. Maybe not their thoughts exactly, but close. Try and hear that with your mind, not your ears."
One gave a tiny nod, then screwed her eyes shut, focusing hard. Even Three broke away from my shells to watch his sister. I could almost feel One's focus. Wait. Could I actually feel it? Was she tapping into Psychic power? One? I asked mentally.
...Mommy? I heard dimly in response. One had used telepathy.
"One, that's me! You contacted me!" I said happily. The bright female Eevee's face, however, fell upon hearing the news.
"But I didn't find Mommy..." she trailed off sadly.
I put my paw on hers as Three continued to look on in confusion. "No, listen, this is a wonderful thing! You can use mind reading!"
One glanced up at me. "Really?"
Nodding excitedly, I removed my paw and stood up. "Yes! Ok, try and contact Three and I mentally, like your mother does. The more you practice, the better you'll get. Then, when the humans leave, you can help us find everyone!"
One jumped up, too, just as excited as I was to help. "Really? With Three's luck, my new powers, and your... everything else, we can find everyone in no time!" Her tail flicked back and forth animatedly.
I pulled Three away from my ice sculpture as I answered. "Absolutely. But don't expect to be as good as your mother within a short time. She spent years getting that good, and I don't think I've ever met a Psychic as talented as her."
One shook her head, still smiling. "Of course not! No one's as good as Mommy!"
"You might be one day." I placed Three on the floor, ignoring his indignant words. I sat a short distance away from him, making sure that One was the same distance away from both of us. "Ok, let's play a game. This game is called Messenger Pidgeot. I'll think of something, a message. One, you try and read my mind to find out what it is. Then, you try and tell Three what the message is with your mind."
Three jumped to his paws. "Then I think of a message?" he chirped.
"Right!" I nodded. I was optimistic. If One could hone her skills, she could help us find Surf and the others. I only hoped that she really was as skilled as her mother.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Espeon rested her head on her paws as the Rapidash started moving again. Their plan had failed. Umbreon was missing. So were all of her kits. The only two friends whose whereabouts she knew were captured by humans, along with herself.
She closed her eyes, letting her powers die down and her jewel go dark. She'd give up all of her powers in a heartbeat if it meant that she knew her family was safe. She'd give anything to know that.
Dimly, Espeon heard the thoughts of others, but she shut them out. Her mind began to fill with what ifs. What if Umbreon had been injured or killed? She had only contacted him for a split second. What if her kits had shared the same fate, or worse? What if they were alive, but alone? Trying to navigate the forest without training or protection? What if she had detected the humans earlier?
What if she had? She would have sensed the Electrode, if that was what caused the explosion. She could have alerted everyone else in the Clan, gotten everyone to safety. None of this would have happened if she had been alert. If she had been listening. If she had been watching.
Someone said her name mentally. Espeon didn't want to talk with anyone right now. It was Snow. She kept persisting.
Espeon!
Finally, Espeon let her mental wall down. She opened her eyes again and lit up her jewel. What is it, Snow?
Your sad vibes are kind of overpowering here. Surf and I are both really depressed now.
Oh. Sorry, Snow. I didn't realize that I was putting out. I'll try and-
No, keep going!
Espeon didn't follow, but she didn't read Snow's mind. Instead, she just responded with ...What?
If your vibes are this overpowering to us, then it must be having some kind of effect on the humans! Everything clicked in Espeon's mind. She had to try and keep up the somber mood as Snow explained. You said that they would have to feel bad for us before you could manipulate their emotions to let us go. If your sad vibes keep up, they'll have to feel bad for us!
Espeon put a lot of focus into keeping a façade of sadness, but sent Snow a small burst of happiness. It was brilliant. Espeon was already feeling down in the dumps. It wouldn't be hard. Good for Snow for thinking positively when she couldn't. She just had to keep being sad, or at least put out sad vibes.
Before she could put more energy into the new plan, however, the Rapidashes slowed to a halt. Wherever the humans had been going, they had arrived.
Umbreon took only Five's red rock as he padded slowly away from the remnants of his den. It was the only thing that he had left. It gleamed in the sunlight, like Espeon's gem did when she was happy. He gripped it gently in his teeth as he walked back over to Clover and Four. The rock was like a promise. Umbreon would find Espeon and the other kits. The rock gave him hope. Five had said there was something special about it when she had brought it back. He tried not to think about his wrecked telescope.
Clover was just finishing gathering herbs from her den. Four was looking at the ground near the far side of a tree. Umbreon walked up just as Clover finished with her herbs, putting them all into a leaf pouch that she had made. "There," she muttered. "That's as much as I have."
She turned and saw Umbreon approaching. "Hey. I saw you over by your den. Are you ok?" she asked with a concerned tilt of her head.
Umbreon put down the stone. "No. I am not ok," he murmured quietly. "Espeon's missing. Four of my other kits are missing. My home is destroyed. I'm not ok."
Clover walked closer and put her tail over his back comfortingly. "Hey... It'll be ok. You're the strongest and most determined Pokémon I know. We'll find them. I know where Snow is, but I can tell how shaken up you are. We'll look for Espeon first."
Umbreon smiled in appreciation. "Thank you, Clover," he said in barely more than a whisper. He looked at the red stone. His promise to Espeon.
Clover looked at it, too. "What's this?"
"A... rock that Five found. It looks like Espeon's gem when she's happy." Umbreon tried not to tear up as he spoke.
Clover glanced at him and smiled. "Say no more." A touch of her paw on the ground and a bit of focus sprouted small vines from the ground. They snaked around the rock, fastening it, then looped around and met in the middle. Clover used a small Leaf Blade where the vines met the ground. Picking up the stone off the ground, she slipped the vine over Umbreon's head, letting the stone fall around his neck, onto his chest. "There," she said, sitting down.
A promise.
Umbreon smiled. As he was about to thank Clover, Four piped up. "Daddy, what's this glittery stuff?"
"What glittery stuff?" Umbreon asked as he walked over to where his son was sitting, felling the small weight of the stone against his chest. Four said nothing, only pointing a paw to the ground in front of him. Sure enough, silvery dust littered the floor of the camp. It looked vaguely familiar.
Tentatively reaching out a paw, Umbreon touched the dust. Energy surged through him. "It's the moon dust that Splash and Surf got me for Snow Day. I was keeping it in a jar of ice that Snow made. I guess it got thrown and broken during the explosion," he explained. What was it with him finding destroyed Snow Day presents of his?
Clover came up behind him. "Then you'll probably need it later." Clover started to use her tail to sweep the moon dust into five small piles. Before long, Four and Umbreon, who had better tails for sweeping, joined in, until almost all of the dust had been piled. Clover then used the same technique that she had for Umbreon's red stone, holding each of the five piles in thick leaf balls strung together on a vine.
Clover, once again, strung the dust around Umbreon's neck. The new addition hung lower than the stone, keeping it unobstructed. She sat down, admiring her work. "There. One for each of the family members that you rescue."
The rush from touching the stray particles of moon dust died. The pain from his shoulder returned, but he still made a point not to acknowledge it. Pain was a message. Until Espeon was safe, that message would go unread.
Still, the ache remained as he adjusted the moon dust spheres on his chest. The rush from the dust had made the pain go away for a bit. At least he knew that, when he needed to save his family, the dust would fix his shoulder. He needed all of his strength that he could find. He would not rest nor take any breaks until his family was safe.
Umbreon nodded thanks, glanced around the camp, then stood up. "Come on, you two."
Four, still buzzing, bounded over next to Umbreon as he walked toward the camp entrance. "Where are we going?"
Umbreon looked down at his son as Clover fell into step behind them. "Your mother and I have a special place. We agreed that, if we were ever separated, we'd go there and wait for the other."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bolt took another flying leap, easily clearing the short distance between the two trees. Turning a circle, he quickly jumped back to the Emergency Tree, where Inferno was perched precariously, along with Two and Five. "See? Easy!" he called.
Inferno was trying very hard not to look at the ground. "Easy for you maybe..."
Five looked up at Bolt. "Uncle Bolt? Can you give me a Rapidash ride across?"
Bolt looked down at his younger niece, who was flicking her tail excitedly. "Sure, Five. Just hold on tight!" Bolt flattened himself to the branches as Inferno crept near the edge of the branches, reaching one paw out tentatively towards the next tree over. Five scrambled up onto Bolt's back, grabbing his white, spiked fur in her teeth. Bolt tried especially hard to hold in any residual electricity.
He stood up, making sure that Five had a good grip. "Hang on!" he called back, doing a practice jump straight up, just to test Five's grip. He did not want her falling off between trees. She held firm. "Here we go!" he yelled as he dashed forwards and jumped around Inferno, landing perfectly in the next tree over. Bolt followed up by going three trees over before stopping. The branches were thicker in this one. Finding a convenient hole in the trunk, Bolt stopped just under it, letting Five bounce into the safe spot.
"Thanks, Uncle Bolt!" she squeaked happily.
Bolt smiled, bounding back through the trees. After moving Two the same way, Bolt went to help Inferno, who was attempting to move to the next tree. Which was a bigger distance away.
"Careful!"
"Watch out!"
"Back off!"
"Move over there!"
"I'M FALLING!"
"BACK UP!"
"AIYEE!!"
The fall was narrowly avoided.
After about 20 minutes of nerve-wracking movements and jumps, Inferno finally made it to the tree that allowed easy access to the ground. Which was the one that the Flareon fell from.
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