Snow Day Magic (Part 2)

I watched Three push his leaf-wrapped gift into the closed off area that Snow had made with a bunch of ice.  This way, no one could see who was placing which present.  She and Clover had taken this whole Secret Stantler thing pretty seriously.

Bolt and Inferno were standing on their toes, poised and watching the shiny Eevee as his tail vanished behind the ice.  Inferno's tail swished, and Bolt bounced on his paws, glowing brightly.  "Almost time...  I got the best present," Bolt muttered.

"Bet mine is better than yours," Inferno said, a challenging smile on his face.  Bolt, surprisingly, ignored him.

Surf inched closer to me so that our sides were touching.  "I haven't seen you put anything in there."

"I know," I said, keeping my eyes on Three.  "It doesn't need a package."

He watched me for a few seconds.  "...Are you going to tell me, or are you going to make me guess?"

"Neither!"  I slapped his flank with my tail.  "That would ruin it.  You know how into this Snow, Clover, and Bolt are."

He shrugged.  "Fair enough."

Finally, Three bounded back out.  "Ok!  Done!  Sorry about that!"

Bolt shot to his paws.  "Can we start now!?"

I tried to resist laughing.  "Sure!  Everyone, get your Snow Day present!"  In the following stampede, I was one of the three Eevees who didn't get stepped on or tripped over.  The other two were Bolt (who got in, grabbed his present, and got out before anyone else even stood up) and Espeon (who simply lifted her gift telekinetically).  I just waited until the chaos had subsided, then walked in and taken my leaf-swaddled gift.

Inferno put his package down.  "Who goes first?"

Snow looked around at the assembled Eevees.  "Let's let the kits go first."

The three Eevees cheered as Sunbeam tried to regulate.  "Go backwards, ok?  Five first."

"Oh boy!" the excited kit squeaked, tearing the leaf wrapping off.  Inside was a beautiful headband of flowers, woven with effort and care.  The main color was pink, but there were also white, blue, and yellow flowers spun in.  Five gasped in delight.  "It's beautiful!" she yelled excitedly before spilling it onto her head.  "And it fits!  Clover, was it from you?"

The Leafeon shook her head.  "Close!"

Five's eyes instantly moved to the Glaceon beside her previous suspect.  "Snow?"

Snow broke into a smile, nodding happily.  "I'm glad you like it."

"I love it!  I'll wear it all the time!"  She bounced around happily, kicking up powdery flakes as she danced with her wreath.  I smiled warmly.  How was she so cute?

She finally stopped, bounding back towards her other siblings.  "Your turn, Four!"

Four was less energetic than his sister, but his crackling buzz betrayed his excitement.  His gift looked like a squashed blob on the outside, but once the leaves were torn away, a plush Eevee was revealed.  Four looked confused.  "Why...?"

Surf stepped forward.  "It's so you can have someone to cuddle with at night.  I know you always sleep outside your nest, and I also know you want to sleep next to someone."  Four broke into a smile, looking back at the toy Eevee. "I also asked Bolt and Inferno to set it up so it would stay warm."

Four gave it an experimental hug, then pushed himself right up against it.  "Thank you, Surf.  It's perfect," he said, beaming.  Espeon smiled, lifting her son and his new toy back to the rest of his siblings with her mind so that Four didn't have to move. 

Three broke away to get to his present, tearing the leaves off as Surf sat down beside me again.  Under the leaves was a deck of human cards.   I knew who had given the gift because he was swishing his very fluffy tail back and forth as Three pawed through the deck, coming to a note at the end.  He read aloud.  "I'll teach you to play if you figure out who gave this to you."  He looked up and around at the assembled Eevees.  "Inferno?"

"Lucky guess!" he replied enthusiastically.  "I's a game called Go Fish, but I'll have to teach you how to play after everyone opens their presents.  I'll teach all five of you."

"Thanks, Inferno!" Three chirped before collecting the cards and stumbling back to his spot, losing quite a few of them on the way.  Sunbeam helped him clean them up as their shiny sister started unwrapping her present, her face neutral.  I felt bad for whoever pulled her name.  She'd be hard to find a present for...

Whoever got the present had clearly overcome the challenges, as Moonlight unwrapped a painted canvass depicting a magnificent blue moon shining over a forest.  Moonlight's eyes widened as she studied the detail.  "Who made this?  This is...  This is amazing."

"You like it, sis?" Sunbeam said as she took a step forward.  Moonlight could only nod.  "Well, thank Five and Snow, too.  They're the ones with the real artistic talent.  I just helped."

Moonlight turned around.  "Thank you.  All three of you."  The smile on her face gave away how happy she was. 

Sunbeam helped her sister move it back to her spot with telekinesis before opening her own present, which was a metal thing much like what I had gotten Surf the year before, the incense like the sea.  Except Sunbeam's was pink and purple, and I couldn't quite place what it smelled like.  Sunbeam smelled it for a while before slipping it around her neck and looking around.  "This is neat.  I really like the scent.  Was it... Four!" she said, not even trying to hide the usage of her telepathy.

Her radioactive brother sat up, smiling.  "Well, I wanted to find something pretty for you, because you're pretty, and it smelled cool, so..." he trailed off as Sunbeam smiled warmly at him.

"Aww...  Thanks, Four!  I love it!  I have no idea what it smells like, but it's good, and I love it!"

Inferno didn't even ask who should go next.  He just started ripping the leaves off as soon as Sunbeam sat down.  I rolled my eyes with a knowing smile.  I knew it was going to be him or the other troublemaker.

A very eager Inferno tore the wrapping off of a huge cake, which the Flareon gazed at with wide, stunned eyes.  "I love it," he furtively whispered.  Clover tried not to laugh behind him.  Though Inferno was in no state of mind to puzzle out who was the maker of his gift, it wasn't too hard to figure out who his Secret Stantler was, based on the decorative berries in the icing and Clover's happy smile.

Bolt watched his best friend stare at his cake.  "...Can I open mine now, or are you still busy staring?"  When Inferno only nodded, Bolt tried not to laugh, focusing instead on his gift, which was a carefully-wrapped pack of rechargeable human batteries.  Umbreon had to tell Bolt that he was the Secret Stantler after several rounds on unsuccessful guessing.

The general vote was that Umbreon and Espeon open their gifts next, and Espeon let her mate go first.  Inside the haphazardly-wrapped gift was a jar made of ice.  Inside was a large collection of beautiful stones of all different colors.  Umbreon bent down, looking inside, then immediately shifted his gaze to his youngest daughter.

She tilted her head, making her flower wreath slip to one side.  "You really liked the pretty red stone I found, so I got you more!"

Umbreon smiled, walking over and nuzzling his daughter.  "Thank you, Five.  I love it."

Espeon waited patiently for him to sit back down with his jar, then opened her own present, which was a beautiful string of pearls.  She immediately looked at me, but I shook my head.  "Wasn't me."

She looked around with a small smile.  Umbreon had already given a gift to Bolt, and Surf got Four his Eevee doll...  Finally, she slipped it on.  It hung a bit low, but it was still beautiful.  Bolt looked at Inferno.  "Told you my gift was better than yours."

Espeon turned around to look at the Jolteon.  "Bolt?"  He nodded, a bit sheepish.  "It's lovely.  Thank you very much."  I noticed Umbreon looking critically at Bolt for a half second before returning to smiling at Espeon.  I really hoped that this wasn't going to develop more drama...  We had enough of that last year...

Snow let Clover open her gift next, which was a large, heated pan for water, which she could use to grow water plants during winter.  Due to the gift's practicality, it was fairly easily placed as being from Moonlight.  Clover still thanked her profusely.

Snow received a large tub of ice cream from Three, who had apparently discovered the sweet stuff,  tasted it, gotten a brain freeze, and figured that it was the kind of thing that a Glaceon might like better.  Snow laughed at his story.  "Well, it's true.  Thank you."

Finally, Surf and I were the only ones left.  Naturally, he pushed me to go first.  "All right, all right..." I said, trying to hide my relief that he had asked me to go first.  He watched closely as I unwrapped a series of orbs on a stand, 12, to be exact.

"This seems like the kind of thing that a certain Psychic would make..." I said, looking at Espeon, who nodded.

"There's one for each member of the Clan.  I included a list for which orb is which and what the colors mean."

I smiled.  "Thank you, Espy.  Practical, yet thoughtful and beautiful.  Just like you."

"Why, thank you.  Do you want some help with Surf's present?"

Surf looked at me.  "Help?  I figured mine was from you, but..." he trailed off, looking at me curiously.

Espeon walked up to the two of us.  I looked at her seriously, but spoke so that everyone else could hear.  "You're in charge until we get back, ok?"

"Back?" Surf asked.

I nodded just as Espeon teleported the three of us to the spot that I had brought her to a few days earlier.  Soft sand, a sea breeze, and waves gently lapping at the shore.  I turned to look at Surf as Espeon stepped back to give us room.  "Do you remember this place?"

He could only nod.

I looked out at the ocean with him.  "I kept thinking 'what would remind him of how much I love him?'  And then I thought of something.  We fell in love when we walked from this very beach to the spot where we decided to found the Eevee Clan.  So I figured, why not make that same trip and fall in love all over again?"

I was dimly aware of Espeon smiling and teleporting away as Surf broke into a loving smile.  "Splash, I love you so much."  He stepped towards me and kissed me deeply with the smell of my last gift to him merging perfectly with the smell of the sea behind him.

 

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Hello, readers!  I know I usually post my author's comment in the comments section, but I have amazing news that I really, really, really want to share.  First off, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!  Happy holidays!  Proof that my sister is the best sister ever: for Christmas, she got me the entire Eevee Clan in miniature!!  I love them all and have fond places on my laptop for them to sit as I type my new posts (it's a thing I do to get inspiration, don't judge).

 

Secondly, SHINY POKEMON ALERT.  Over the week before Christmas, I was hoping to get a little Christmas miracle, so I went Eevee chaining.  Finally, after a lot of hard work, I find my first ever shiny Eevee!  Then...  I accidentally use the Masuda method and get ANOTHER shiny Eevee, and she, that's right, I have a shiny female Eevee, the odds of which of getting one is 0.00875% (yes, I did the math), is perfectly suited for being a Vaporeon, and I love her so much, and she is definitely going to feature in my blog at some point.  THEN, as if that weren't amazing enough, I'm training a Jolteon when I just walk into a shiny Sandshrew.  I can never win anything with a scratch-off ticket, and yet somehow I obtain 3 shinies within a week!?  Thank you, Arceus, or whichever Pokémon regulates luck!!!

 

Finally, sorry about posting later than usual today.  I didn't have access to my laptop until about noon.  I hope the adorableness of this post makes up for it.

 

As per usual, comment, comment, comment, follow, follow, follow, and share this blog with everyone you know!

 

~Chief

Snow Day Magic (Part 1)

I dove into the pond, early morning light glittering through the sheet of ice on the surface of the water.  It must have snowed again.  Fitting, since Snow Day was rapidly approaching.  However, like yesterday, the ice broke when I touched it with my nose.  Still not cold enough for ice skating.

Surf bumped my flank from behind.  "Good morning, beautiful."

I smiled, turning around and touching noses with him.  "Hello, handsome."

He pulled away quickly as my nose touched his.  "Jeez, your nose is cold!"

I shrugged.  "Sorry.  I was just trying to break the ice."

"I thought only Inferno made jokes that bad," he said with a smile.

"Eh, I have my moments."

He swam closer, touching his (not cold) nose against my fins instead.  "Well, we have a Clan to run, and bad puns won't do that for you."

"Yes sir," I said with a hint of playful mocking, then jetted towards the surface, shattering through the thin ice and landing on my paws on shore.  Surf landed next to me a second later.  Most Eevees were already up and about.  Espeon and Sunbeam were practicing their Psychic powers, Three through Five were wrestling together, Umbreon was out with Clover on a hunting patrol, and Moonlight was helping Snow clear the results of last night's sleet from the inconvenient places around camp, namely, Bolt and Inferno's rock den, where the two were iced in.

Inferno's voice issued from the inside, muffled by the snow.  "How is it that we get snowed in here, and the pond isn't even close to skating conditions?"

Moonlight shrugged.  "I don't know.  Maybe Articuno doesn't like you two."

"Hey!"  I couldn't tell who said that.

I watched Moonlight dig through the snow around the rock den.  Espeon had confined her to camp until Snow Day, which Moonlight had surprisingly complied to.  I guessed that she still felt guilty about running away and getting captured.  She had dutifully stayed in camp without complaining, for the most part, for a week already, and she only had a few more days until Snow Day.

Speaking of Snow Day...

I turned back towards Surf.  "Actually, can you supervise for a little bit?  I'm going to go check on Streak and Night.  See how the Starlys are doing."

He paused for a moment, then nodded.  "Sure.  Hurry back, though!"

"I will!" I called over my shoulder as I bounded out the camp entrance.  I was going to visit the Staraptors, but I also had to find a present for Surf.  He wore my present from last year almost all the time, the one that smelled like the sea.  I had to find something just as good this year.  The pressure was on.

I slowed as I approached the nest.  "Streak?  Night?  It's Splash!"

Night jumped onto the edge of the nest, shushing me quickly.  "They're still sleeping!" she whispered.

"Sorry!" I whispered back.  That explained why it was so quiet.  Starlys were loud...

Night flew quietly down to the ground.  "What's going on?"

I tilted my head towards the forest, indicating that we should walk as we talked so that we wouldn't wake the chicks up.  Night nodded and followed.  After a bit, when we were farther away, I spoke in a normal volume.  "I'm trying to think of something to get Surf.  He loved his present from last year, and I have to find something just as good this year."

Night thought for a moment.  "Funny.  I'm in the same place with Streak.  What does he like?"

"The ocean," I responded instantly.  "He met me on a beach.  He had been living in the ocean, but came with me when we met."

"Aww..."  Night smiled and tilted her head at me.  "That's so sweet..."

I smiled, thinking about it.  "Yeah...  I love him so much."

"Well...  You need to get him something that reminds him of that choice.  He loved the sea, but he loved you more."

I looked at my paws, smiling.  "You're such a romantic."

"Darn right I am..." Night said back, nudging my shoulder playfully with her wing.  "I don't know him well enough to tell you exactly what to get him, and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you, but you'll have to figure something out.  Just let that set the Klinks turning."

I nodded, a plan already coming to me.  "Thanks, Night.  That was really helpful."

"My pleasure!" she chirped happily.

"And if I were you, I'd take advantage of the fact that Streak's always getting himself hurt instead of you."

She tilted her head with an amused smile.  "That could work...  Thanks, Splash.  Glad I could help."

"Yes, thank you."

She spread her wings.  "I should get back before Streak wakes up and loses his feathers worrying about me."

I laughed as she took off.  "Bye!"

When the Staraptor was out of sight over the trees, I sat down.  Remind Surf of the day we met...  I could do that.  It would be a bit complicated, but I could do it.

Clover bounded over to Snow after she dropped her prey on the pile.  Umbreon could organize it, and she had to talk to Snow.  The Glaceon looked up from watching Moonlight finally free the battle duo from their den.  "Clover!  You're back!"

"I am!  And I had a neat idea for Snow Day," she said quickly, skidding to a stop.  "Have you ever heard of a Secret Stantler?"

"Secret Stantler?" shouted a hyperactive voice behind them.  "I LOVE Secret Stantler!" Bolt yelled as he ran over, kicking up powder snow as he did so.

Snow looked confused.  "What's a Secret Stantler?"

Clover started to explain, but Bolt ran her words over with his own.  "So everyone gets one Eevee in the clan to give a present to at random, but no one else knows who has to give a gift to who.  When everyone opens their present on Snow day, we have to try and figure out who their Secret Stantler is!"

Snow blinked a few times at him.  "...What?"

Clover spoke slower than the Jolteon had, explaining what he had missed.  "The Secret Stantler is the giver of your mystery gift.  Everyone in the Clan picks another Eevee's name at random, then gives them a present without revealing their identity.  When everyone opens their present from their Secret Stantler, they have to try and figure out who gave the gift."

"Oh..." Snow nodded.  "Yeah, that sounds fun!  We'll have to run it by Splash when she gets back, though."

"Great!" Bolt shouted, bouncing as he did so.  He was already glowing brightly with excitement.  "I'll go tell everyone!  You two make the leaves for the names!"  He didn't even give them time to agree before bolting off towards the nearest Eevee he could find, which happened to be Umbreon.

Snow looked at Clover.  "...I guess we're making name tags."

Clover nodded, standing up and starting to clear a patch of bare ground near their bush den for the plant that would supply the leaves.  "Frost-covered waxleaf works pretty well..."

Snow watched her as she pushed her paw into the ground, leaving the correct seed in the dirt.  She spoke as Clover started growing the plant.  "Are you ok?  You seem a bit tired."

Clover stopped growing the sprout.  "I do?" she asked quizzically, tilting her head at her best friend.

Snow nodded.  "Did you sleep ok last night?"

Clover nodded, returning to the plant.  "Yeah.  Fine.  I guess I just wore myself out hunting."

"If you say so..." Snow said, skeptical, but accepting the answer for now.

Finally, the leaves were ready.  Both Leafeon and Glaceon each carefully bit the leaves off the stem and laid them flat on the ground.  Snow blew an icy breath over the leaves, covering them with a uniform layer of frost.  Neither said a word as they each wrote the names of all of the Clan members in the frost with their claws. 

Clover stood up.  "I'll go dig a dip in the snow to put these in and choose from.  Can you fold the leaves so no one can read the names yet?"

"Sure."  Clover trotted towards the middle of camp then began scooping snow, trying to appear energetic.  Snow was right; she was tired and it had been from lack of sleep.  Why did Snow have to know her so well?  While she enjoyed the companionship greatly, it made it very difficult to keep secrets.

What it Feels Like (Part 3)

Sarah apparently didn't care that Moonlight had found a name.  "Umbreon, calm down.  It's ok.  They're nice.  They have other Pokémon that you can play with, too!"

Moonlight growled in frustration, turning her back on the humans and going back to the windowsill with a running jump.  Great. she thought sulkily.  More Pokémon who can see the result of the biggest mistake of my life.

"Umbreon?  What's wrong?" Sarah asked, confused.

"What's wrong!?" Moonlight snapped, turning back around to glare at the girl.  She looked out the window again as she listed.  "Where do I start?  I evolved without meaning to, which proved my father right, you keep calling me by his name, and, oh, what else," she added mockingly.  "Right!  I remember!  I am trapped in this Arceus-forsaken place against my will with no way to ever do what I want again!!"  She ground her teeth, staring out the window with her back to the humans.
After a few seconds of silence, the father human spoke quietly.  "Sarah, maybe she needs some time to adjust.  This is throwing a lot at her at once."

"But..." Sarah said quietly, watching her new friend.  Why was she acting like this?

Her mother stood up.  "Come have some dinner.  Give Umbreon some time to get used to this."

Moonlight said nothing.  She stared defiantly at the night sky.  Her name was unnoticed, her feelings were misunderstood, and her freedom was gone.  She couldn't even jump dimensions and escape.  She would still be bound to the human girl and her Poke Ball.  There had to be a way...

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that the humans had closed the door after they had left.  "Great.  Now I have to figure out how to get that open."  She knew that humans turned the round thing on it to get it open, but Moonlight only had paws to achieve the same goal.  She could use Phantom Force to go through it, but it would tire her out.  She needed as much energy as possible.

She glanced back outside.  Why did she care if she could move around the human den?  It was getting home that mattered, and she couldn't do that.  Maybe if she acted up, the girl would give up on her and release her?  "No..."  She had seemed pretty determined to befriend her.

So consumed with her thoughts, she almost didn't see the Vaporeon run past the human den.  Almost.  She saw a tail disappear behind another building.  "It can't be..."  How could she have tracked her all the way here?  "Splash!?  Over here!  It's me, Moonlight!  I'm in here!!" she shouted, reaching up and clawing the glass.  "Wait, you don't know that's my name.  It's Two!  My name is Moonlight now!  I..." she sat back down slowly.  Splash didn't know that she evolved.  She'd be looking for a gray Eevee, not an Umbreon.  Her being shiny would probably do the trick, but that was if Splash saw or heard her.  She knew she sounded different than when she was an Eevee.

"Splash...  Come back.  I wanna go home..."

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

 

I darted between the buildings, trying to make sure that the humans who had been chasing me were off my tail.  I couldn't believe it.  Two hadn't been at the Pokémon Center.  Where else could she be?

 

I spotted Snow as she turned a corner and raced towards her.  "Hey!  Any luck?"

 

She shook her head.  "No.  I got the humans off my tail, but I can't find any trace of Two."

 

Umbreon jumped back into the normal dimension.  "She has to be somewhere in this town.  I'm not leaving until I find her."

 

I sighed.  "Umbreon, she could be in a Poke Ball.  We'd need Espeon."

 

"This is my fault!  I'm not coming back without her!"

 

Snow stepped towards him.  "Then I'll go.  I'll run back to camp and tell everyone what happened and where you two are, then I'll come back with more Clan members for a bigger search party."

 

I nodded.  "And we can keep looking for Two in the meantime."

 

Umbreon nodded, looking at the ground in front of him.  "All right...  Hurry back."

 

"I will."  With that, Snow turned and trotted away, back towards the forest.

 

I looked back at Umbreon.  "Let's start checking the individual human dens."

 

He nodded.  "I'll use Phantom Force again so that-"

 

"No, you are already very tired.  We'll look in the windows."

 

"Fine."

 

We set off between the buildings, occasionally jumping onto a windowsill to peek in if there were no humans in sight.  Two would stay as far away from humans as possible, especially if she were trapped in a human den.  I knew this was a long shot, but Umbreon still felt responsible.  Maybe when Snow came back with Espeon, she'd be able to convince him otherwise.

 

Moonlight watched the corner of the building where she saw Splash's tail disappear like a Talonflame.  "Come on, Splash...  Come back..."

After several minutes, she was about to give up hope when the Clan leader walked back into view, peering into a window of another human den.  Moonlight jumped back up on the glass again.  "SPLASH!!  Over here!  It's me!"

The Vaporeon turned towards Moonlight's voice, knitted in confusion, then lit up in relief.  "Two!" she called, running over and jumping onto the ledge on the other side of the glass.  "You're ok!"

Moonlight nodded.  "How did you find me?  I'm not even sure where I..." she trailed off as Umbreon stepped around the corner.  Great.  Now she had to answer to him.

His eyes found Splash sitting on the window ledge, then Moonlight on the other side.  Instead of anger, his eyes filled with relief as he practically leaped up next to Splash from where he stood.  "Two!  You're safe!  You're not hurt!"

Moonlight felt like she should correct them about her name, but she was still watching her father.  "...You're not mad?"

He shook his head.  "Of course not.  I've been worrying myself sick ever since I found out that no one knew where you were.  Splash can tell you that."  The Vaporeon nodded in agreement.

Moonlight hung her head.  "I...  I'm sorry, Dad."  That was the first time she had ever said she was sorry and truly meant it.  "I was upset and I heard the humans and I evolved and got caught and..."  Neither said a word.  Moonlight couldn't look at them.  "I just wanted to prove that I could take care of myself..."

Umbreon spoke gently.  "It's all right.  I know.  I know you.  I shouldn't have been so strict on you."

"But I'm the one who ran away!" Moonlight shot back, looking back up at her father.  "And now I'm stuck as an Umbreon.  I'm not even sure that's what I wanted.  And I belong to a human now, and...  I just want to go home, Dad."

Splash looked at Umbreon.  "We need to break her Poke Ball.  Two, do you know where it is?"

"Moonlight.  It's...  Moonlight."

Umbreon smiled.  "You found a name."  When his daughter could only nod, he continued.  "Moonlight.  It's good for you.  And that's your proof that this evolution fits you."

Moonlight looked up, managing a tiny smile.  "I think Sarah has it on her.  That's the human kit."

"I believe I can get that from her," said a familiar feminine voice from the ground.

Both Eevees outside turned around.  Umbreon lit up.  "Espeon!  Two's safe!  Her name is Moonlight now and..."  He stopped as she gave him a look that said 'I know.'

Her gaze shifted to Moonlight.  The shiny Umbreon thought she would be glad to see her mother, but she actually found it harder to meet her eyes.  "Moonlight."

"I'm sorry I ran away, Mom..." she whispered quietly.  Espeon's expression told her that there would be a discussion about this later.

Espeon looked at Splash.  "Snow is coming back with Surf.  He should be able to break Moonlight's Poke Ball with Iron Tail."

"Good thinking," she nodded.

"It was his idea..." Espeon shrugged with a small smile.  May I come up so that I can see where I'm teleporting to?"

Splash nodded and jumped down, as did Moonlight, who spoke as her mother bounded gracefully onto the windowsill.  "I can distract her.  She's not mean, just...."  She couldn't find a good word to end that sentence with.

Espeon nodded, turning the knob and opening the door with her mind.  Moonlight acted like she wasn't jealous and trotted out.  She knew that her mother would teleport in behind her and try to stay out of sight.

"Sarah!" Moonlight called loudly.  "Where are you?"  She caught the smell of human food (ugh), remembering that they were having dinner.  That would make it harder for her mother to sneak the Poke Ball unnoticed...

The humans hadn't noticed her enter the room.  The father was talking.  "But I'm very proud of you, Sarah.  Catching a wild Pokémon like that with only one Great Ball!  And she looks feisty, too.  You'll become a very good trainer with her."

The mother nodded.  "But you need to take care of both her and Starly now.  And you'll probably have to train her.  She seems a bit stubborn."

Sarah nodded.  "But she's so great!  You should have seen how she made Matt run away!  I'll always take Umbreon with me!"

That was it.

Moonlight broke into a run, then jumped up on the table, knocking something breakable over with a crash.  "DON'T call me Umbreon!!" Moonlight snarled.  "My name is MOONLIGHT!"

The three humans jumped at her entrance.  Sarah was the first to react.  "Umbreon, no!  Don't jump on the table!  No Pokémon on the table!"

"My name is Moonlight, you stupid human!  Don't you get it!?"  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Espeon focusing on Sarah from behind.  She just had to keep the girl distracted.

"Umbreon, get off the table or I'm putting you back in your Poke Ball!" the tiny girl said, trying to look stern by putting her hands on her hips.

Moonlight couldn't have her trying to take the Poke Ball that Espeon was trying to get.  She swallowed her pride and acted submissive, walking very slowly to the edge of the table.

"Good girl.  Get down."

Moonlight held back the baleful glare and jumped to the floor, hoping her mother had been quick enough.

"Good girl, Umbreon."

Biting her tongue to keep from snapping again, Moonlight subtly glanced back towards where her mother was sitting with a Great Ball hovering next to her.  "I'm out of here.  Mom, throw me that, please."

Espeon nodded, telekinetically tossing the Poke Ball to Moonlight, who caught it in mid-air.  The humans looked at her in surprise, then towards where Espeon had been a second after she teleported away.  Sarah just watched Moonlight. 

"Sorry, but I'm wild."  She turned around and ran, jumping into the shadow dimension as soon as the humans couldn't see her.  She was surprised at how easy it was all of a sudden.  Probably because she was a Dark Type now.  Huh.

"I could get used to that..." she muttered around the Poke Ball as she ran through the wall of the human den, finding Splash, Espeon, Umbreon, and the just-arriving Snow and Surf.  She jumped back into the normal world as a few flakes of snow started to fall from the sky.  "Got it!"

Everyone turned to face her as she threw the awful thing towards Surf.  True to his personality, he didn't say a word as he jumped, charged up Iron Tail, and smashed the Poke Ball into pieces.  Moonlight felt an immediate difference.  It was like a cord had been cut somewhere.  She felt free again.

Splash smiled at him, then looked back at Moonlight.  "Thanks, Surf.  Let's get Moonlight back to camp before those humans come looking."

Nothing else needed to be said.  Moonlight followed the group as they ran home, tiny bits of snow glittering in the light of the blue moon.

 

What it Feels Like (Part 2)

Umbreon took a step back.  "She can't...  She wouldn't..." he whispered, looking at the ground.

I wanted to say something to console him, but nothing I could think of would help.  It was a bad situation.  "How could she have been caught?  If she evolved, that means that she won."

Snow sat down, deep in thought and worry etched onto her face.  "I don't know...  Maybe she only defeated one trainer.  Or maybe she got hurt during the fight."

Umbreon shook his head.  "Unless something was seriously wrong, she'd still have a lot of fight left.  More than enough to break out of a Poke Ball."

I glanced back towards the human town.  It was a grim thought.  I shook my head slowly.  We had to save her.  "This search party just turned into a rescue team.  Let's think.  Where would she be?"

Snow stood up.  "If she was hurt, then her trainer would take her to a Pokémon Center to get her fixed up."

Umbreon stood up as well.  "Then that's where we'll go."

"Not without a plan!" I said, pushing him back to a sitting position with my tail.  "We can't just walk into that human town.  Espeon and Sunbeam were in a big city, and the last time we went in here, we split up to be inconspicuous and Clover still almost got killed by Fire Types."

Snow shrugged, sitting down again as well.  "I'm not splitting up again.  That has gone wrong too many times."

Exactly," I nodded.  "Let's figure this out.  Umbreon, you can jump dimensions.  You can scout out the Pokémon center and see if you can find her."

"But I can't catch scents in another dimension."

"And that's where Snow and I will come in.  If you don't see her, come back and tell us.  I'll cause a diversion while you help Snow get in and try to track her."

Snow tilted her head.  "What if something goes wrong?"

I thought for a moment.  "If the two of us are spotted before Umbreon gets back, we'll tag team, Water and Ice.  We're both pretty fierce.  If I get caught during the diversion, I can melt into a puddle until you two get back.  You'll have to help me get away.  And if you two are seen inside the Pokémon center..."

"I can get both of us into the shadow dimension," Umbreon finished.

Snow nodded as I weighed the plan.  "Sounds good.  Meet back here if we get separated by accident."  Both nodded in agreement.  "Perfect.  With any luck, we'll find Two, get her out, break her Poke Ball, and get back to camp without a hitch."

Umbreon stood up again, following a few paces behind me.  "Yeah, like that happens a lot..." he muttered under his breath.  I wanted to say something to refute him, but I had to admit that he had a valid point...

 

The shiny Umbreon had no idea how long she was inside the Poke Ball.  It could have been only a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity.  She didn't care. 

 

Having no one around to judge her, she had nearly cried her eyes out.  Her father had been right.  If only she had stayed in camp like she was supposed to, if only she had left the humans alone, if only she had been more aware...

 

"If only," she whispered to herself.  What a stupid pair of words.  She couldn't change what she had done, no matter how much she wanted to.  Now she'd have to pay for her arrogance with her freedom.

 

She was hungry and thirsty, but pride kept her from touching the things that had appeared in the Poke Ball for her.  "I'm not a pet," she growled.  "I'm wild.  And I plan to stay that way," she finished, kicking some dirt at the bowls.  Just because she had been captured didn't mean she was suddenly tripping over herself to please this human.  Having nothing else to throw her anger at, she sat down in the middle of the clear area, defying everything in the Poke Ball.  She had been upset before, but now she was just angry.

 

The human girl's voice addressed her.  "Ok, Umbreon, ready to see your new home?"

 

Can't-be-called-Two-anymore stood up, glowering.  Before she could say or do anything, everything around her vanished in a bright white haze.  Her vision cleared a moment later, showing her that she was now in the girl's room.  A bed in the corner, large pink rug on the floor, a chest of drawers, a window, and a bunch of toys on the floor.  The shiny Umbreon lowered her ears.  This was where this girl expected her to live?

 

The girl, Sarah, not-Two remembered, knelt down next to her.  "What do you think, Umbreon?  Do you like it?"

 

The Umbreon who couldn't be called Two refused to look at her.  "My name is not Umbreon," she growled quietly, trotting towards the bed.  She could see a space under it that she could fit.  "I don't know what my name is, but it is not Umbreon."  She refused to be called by her father's name.  That only made her feel worse.

 

Sarah stood back up as not-Umbreon slipped under the bad.  "Ok...  I'll leave you to explore.  I want to you meet my family!"

 

"Not gonna happen..." the voice under the bed growled, but Sarah had already left.  Shifting on her paws so that she was laying down, Umbreon's shiny daughter fumed quietly.  She had to figure out a name so that the human girl would stop addressing her like her father.  But it had to be the right name.  Something that fit her.

 

She slipped out from under the bed.  Sunbeam's name fit her perfectly.  She was bright, happy, smart, and warm.  How could her shiny sister find a name for herself that fit just as well?

 

The window caught her eye.  She was supposed to live somewhere where the biggest piece of the outside world was a tiny pane of glass?  Nevertheless, she crouched low and judged the distance to the windowsill.  What would have been a very difficult jump for her before was now easy.  She landed perfectly and silently.

 

The blue moon was still visible.  She sat down and watched it, getting distracted by her reflection.  She actually did look a lot like Umbreon.  Her frame was a lot like his, except she was leaner and quicker.  He was stronger.  Her black fur, unlike his, had a light sheen to it, the way that the night sky was never truly black, and her eyes were a dim yellow, not red.  Moving her tail around to her side, she looked at its color.  It was glowing electric blue, rather than bright yellow.  In fact, her eyes were a brighter yellow than Umbreon's rings.  The color of her own rings reminded her of something...

 

Her gaze trailed away from her tail back to the blue moon.  Clouds were beginning to form around it, giving it a blue glow.  She moved one of her ears so that the reflection laid over the outside world.  The color was a perfect match.  She was like a walking night sky.  Her fur matched the night, her eyes reflected the stars, and her rings glowed like a blue moon.

 

Just then, Sarah came back into her room, followed by two older humans, who must have been her mother and father.  "Umbreon, come here!  Come meet my mommy and daddy!"

 

"I already told you..." the shiny Umbreon growled, standing up and jumping off the windowsill.  "Don't call me Umbreon!"

 

"It's ok," Sarah soothed.  "They're not mean like Matt.  You don't have to fight them, Umbreon."

 

"My name is NOT Umbreon!!  It's..."  She paused, thinking.  Night was taken.  Plus, it didn't feel right.  What felt right?  "My name is..."  What fit her perfectly?  What one word could describe what she liked and who she was?  She closed her eyes and said the first word that came to her.  "...Moonlight.  My name is Moonlight!"