However, this left me without motivation to stay awake. Surf was away, One through Five were still sleeping, their parents were talking quietly about their kits' evolutions (we all knew that Two would become an Umbreon, but until she herself said something, we weren't allowed to make the suggestion), and Clover had gotten Bolt to go looking for Chople Berries for a possible new recipe. This was actually a ploy to get Bolt distracted so that the rest of us could sleep. Bolt had two speeds: Off and High. And last night, he was at High speed.
My near-doze was unceremoniously interrupted. "Splash! Splash!" a frantic, energetic, and feminine voice called, startling me so badly that I fell into the pond. Shaking myself fully awake, I swam back to the surface to see a sheepish Sunbeam. "Sorry..." she muttered apologetically.
"It's fine. I probably needed that anyway." I pulled myself out of the water again and sat down in front of her. "What happened?"
Her excited aura returned. "You remember two days ago? When Mother and I came back and Four asked me to look at what he could evolve into with his extra energy?"
I leaned forward a bit. "Slow down. But yes."
Sunbeam took a steadying breath. "Right. I finally got the hang of using Future Sight without Cresselia's help, but I still couldn't see much. Just colors and blurry shapes." I nodded, wondering where this was going. "So I had to use logic instead. What colors do the different evolutions of Eevee turn when they're shiny?"
"Uh..." Her question took me aback. "I know a few... Umbreons turn blue, Vaporeons turn pink, and... Espeons and Jolteons both turn green, I think. That's all I know."
Sunbeam tilted her head thoughtfully. "Green?"
I nodded, trying to recall what I knew. "Yes... I think the Espeon is a much deeper green." How did I know about this?
I could almost see the wheels turning inside her head. "Hm... That could work... I'd need to go by the library again to see a picture. I need to be sure it's the color I saw!" With that, she turned and bounded back towards her den.
"Wait!" I called after her, standing up. "What color?" Sunbeam either ignored me or didn't hear me. Knowing her, probably the second option.
I sighed quietly and rose to my paws. Sitting around wasn't going to get anything done. I trotted over to Clover's den, the occupant of which was busy organizing certain berries into a small pile near a bowl made of ice. I leaned in as she started counting a certain kind of red, three-sectioned berries. "Hi, Clover. I should probably find Bolt. He's been out all night."
The Leafeon nodded, looking up at me. "That might be a good idea. Arceus knows when he'll give up the search on his own."
"When do you think it would occur to him that you could grow them in a few seconds?"
"Not for a while..." she answered thoughtfully.
I nodded, taking my cue. "Well, I'll go track him down. Snow's still out hunting, so I'll go solo."
Clover went back to her Chople Berries as she answered. "I'll tell her to look for you when she comes back."
"Thanks!" I called back, bounding away towards the camp exit. Fall was nice. The air was crisp, the trees had turned all sorts of colors, and the ones that had already fallen littered the ground, making everything smell nice and pawsteps crunch on the forest floor. Hopefully, though, there weren't too many yellow leaves still on the trees as to camouflage any tree-climbing Jolteons.
Two stood at the edge of her family's den, watching the stars come out. Splash, Bolt, Surf, Snow, and Inferno had been gone for almost the entire day, and Sunbeam and Espeon had left later to look for them and check out Sunbeam's book place at the same time. Umbreon had taken up watch for them from the lookout post, having the best night vision. Two looked back up at the sky. She knew the phases of the moon well enough by now to know that tonight was not only a full moon, but a blue one. She loved blue moons.
Unfortunately, with so few evolved clan members in camp, no one would take her to see it. Her father was busy and Clover was watching her three other siblings until the rest of the clan returned. Flicking one ear in frustration, she slipped through the camp entrance and jumped up the steps to the lookout post. "Dad?"
He turned his gaze away from the forest, looking at her with mild disapproval. "Two, you know you're not supposed to be up here."
She ignored the comment and continued on. "Dad, can you take me to see the blue moon?"
"No, Two. I'm sorry. That would leave just Clover alone in camp with your brothers and sister."
Two had expected this answer, but it was still upsetting. "But I want to see the blue moon! They don't happen every night!"
"You can watch the moon from camp," he father said patiently.
"There are too many trees in the way," Two retorted. "There's this tree that I can climb. It's not too far from camp and it gives a perfect view!"
Umbreon closed his eyes, still keeping his patience. "Two, not now. Maybe I can take you when everyone else gets back, ok?"
"But then I can't see it come up!"
"Not now! If you keep this attitude up, I won't take you to see it at all!"
Two growled angrily. "Fine!" she yelled before jumping into the ice slide back into camp, seething. It wasn't even that far! She could even see the camp from the top anyway! Why couldn't she go alone if he was too busy?
The last thought stuck in her head. Could she go on her own? She was the best of all of her unevolved siblings at fighting, if it came to that, and she could escape using Phantom Force any time she wanted. Another use for Phantom Force would be slipping past her father undetected...
She glanced around camp, making sure no one was watching. Then, she leaped high and opened up a hole between dimensions and landing perfectly on her paws in the dim reverse world. Resisting a smug grin, she marched straight through the camp wall, directly under her father's watch point. Breaking into a satisfied run, she bounded towards the tree that she knew so well.
Leaping back into the normal dimension as she reached the trunk, Two didn't even pause before jumping up to the lowest branch, working her way up until she was perched at the top. She sighed heavily. She was in the shadow dimension for a long time. That took more out of her than she had expected.
A Noctowl flew to the tree, landing nearby. Two only gave the bird Pokémon a cursory glance before returning her gaze to the horizon, where the first blue rays of moonlight were starting to appear. He wasn't going to attack her.
"Whoooo are you?" hooted the Noctowl.
"Just watching the moon," Two replied without looking away from the sky. The Noctowl seemed satisfied with her answer, sitting on a higher branch and thinking quietly.
After only a few minutes out, noises reached Two's ears. No. Not noises. Voices. Human voices.
"Look who's out past her bedtime!"
"Leave me alone!"
"Aw, what's that you have there? Aww, you got a Pokémon, how cute! Sarah's all grown up now!" The tone was acidic and mocking. This was not a nice human.
"Go away! Leave me alone or I'll make you! Go, Starly!"
"Did you catch that thing yourself, or did your mommy do it for you? Either way, I don't think it'll do too well against a Rock Type! Go Rhyhorn!" This was turning into a fight!
Two stood up on her branch. "She's in trouble..."
The Noctowl spoke quietly. 'What are you going to doooo?"
Two hesitated. This was a human. Not only dangerous, but unnecessary. But... How could she walk away knowing that someone was being bullied like that? "I'm going to defend her."
"Are yooooou sure? You're young tooooo begin with."
"I can fight!" she snapped back. "I'm the toughest out of all of my siblings!"
The Noctowl looked away. "If yooooou say so..."
Two huffed and started climbing down the tree. She didn't need the approval of another Pokémon to defend someone. It was simple. Fight the Rhyhorn just enough to weaken it until the girl human could take care of it herself, then run. Not that hard.
No comments:
Post a Comment