"OW!"
I shook my head out, rubbing my fin. If that was Bolt getting back at me for tearing him away from that Dedenne, I swear to Arceus... I stood up and stretched, still irritated. Clover may have had that vine installed for a reason, but that didn't mean I had to be happy about it.
Slipping into the pond, I could see Umbreon framed against the night sky on shore. He looked just as anxious as he did when Sunbeam and Espeon were in danger. I quickly swam to the surface, leaping out of the water to land in from of him.
He immediately took a step towards me, worry shining in his eyes. "Oh, good! You're up!"
"Yes, I'm up. Slamming one's head against their ceiling will tend to do that." I immediately regretted the snappy comment, but Umbreon didn't seem to be paying attention.
"Two's missing."
"What!?" That shook me out of my sleep-deprived mood.
Umbreon nodded. "She jumped up to the lookout platform with me while everyone was away, asking me if I could take her to see the moon. I told her no, and she ran off in a huff. I thought she had gone back to Clover, or was pouting in our den, but no one's seen her! She's not in camp!"
I thought hard. What would Two do if she was upset because Umbreon had told her not to do something?
Do it anyway.
"I bet she went to her tree. She probably used Phantom Force to get out unnoticed."
His eyes strayed to the bush den. "That explains why Snow couldn't find her scent near the entrance..."
"The three of us will go to look for her. You, me, and Snow. I know where Two's tree is," I said confidently, trying to steady Umbreon with leader-like authority.
He stood up quickly and ran towards Snow's den. "Meet us by the entrance!"
I nodded and trotted quickly towards the entrance of camp. Two couldn't be that reckless, could she? Sure, she could fight, but still...
Umbreon ran back to me, skidding to a halt beside me. "Snow's getting up. She'll be here in a second." He let out a quiet breath. "I had a nagging feeling that she might do something like this, but I thought she'd have more common sense..."
"It's not your fault," I said as Snow ran towards us. "She does what she wants, when she wants to do it. You told her not to, and she went anyway to spite you. That's her fault, not yours."
"It's a little my fault..." he muttered quietly as Snow stopped beside us.
"Ready when you two are."
I nodded at her, then led the way into the forest. "Two's tree is this way. With any luck, we won't need Snow's tracking skills because she'll be there, safe and sound."
Two burst out of the bushes, knocking the Rhyhorn's charge away with a Quick Attack to the snout. Forced to change course, the charging Rock Type curved away from the exhausted Starly lying on the ground.
Both humans, a young girl with shoulder-length brown hair tied in pigtails and a slightly older boy with freckled cheeks, stopped and stared. Two didn't like that. She turned to look at the girl's Starly. "Well!?"
The Starly flapped into the air again, looking just as startled as the humans. "R-Right!" she chirped.
Two rolled her eyes and turned back to the Rhyhorn. It didn't move. Was it really so dependent on its trainer that it had to wait for orders to attack?
The girl human behind her found her words first. "...That's a shiny Eevee."
"That's a shiny girl Eevee!" the boy corrected. "She's ours, Rhyhorn, get her! Use Fury Attack!"
"Leave her alone!" the girl shouted. "Starly, protect that Eevee!"
Two laid her ears back, easily jumping away from the Rhyhorn's charge. It may have been a lot bigger than her, but it was slow and stupid. "I don't need your protection!" she shouted over her shoulder. "I came here to protect you!"
No one listened to her. As the Rhyhorn stopped, attempting to turn around for another attack, the Starly swept in from above and used Wing Attack on the Rock Type. Two growled in frustration, crouching low and firing Swift from a distance. She couldn't use Phantom Force. That was a secret.
Evading the charge again, Two and the Starly both used Quick Attack at the same time, managing to knock their opponent off balance. It was already slight injured from its previous fight, so this was easy.
"Rhyhorn, change tactics! Use Rock Blast on the Eevee!" His Pokémon instead used it against the flying Starly, knocking it out of the air and out of the fight.
"Starly!" the girl cried, running over to her fallen bird Pokémon.
Two fired Swift again as the boy scolded his Rhyhorn. "I said on the Eevee! Not- oh, forget it! Just attack!"
Two swished her tail. This was going to be easy.
Two Quick Attacks and a Swift later, the Rhyhorn was barely standing, and Two hadn't been hit once. She ended the battle quickly with a final strike with Bite. The Rhyhorn went down heavily.
"Ha!" she said, stepping away. "And Dad said I couldn't handle myself out here!"
Suddenly, her fur began to glow white. She was evolving. Both humans watched in amazement as Two grew bigger, leaner, and quicker. The light finally died down, and Two blinked in confusion. She looked at herself. Short, black fur, rounded ears... and glowing blue rings on her shoulders and flanks.
She had evolved into an Umbreon.
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