Her first worry, of course, was for her kits, Splash, and the rest of the Clan. It might have been Sunbeam's and Moonlight's job to discover the source of the poison in the river, but that wasn't going to stop their mother from speculating. Her worst fear, of course, was the humans from the white building we behind it, but they were far upstream... It would have to be either a strong toxin or deliberate poisoning to have effects this strong this far downstream. Even so, she wouldn't put it past them... She hoped to Arceus that, even if it was coming from the white building, her two eldest kits wouldn't get caught up with them. They may technically be adults, but that wouldn't ever stop Espeon from worrying about them.
And then there was the meeting that she and Umbreon had before they parted company a few minutes ago. Espeon was only slightly ashamed to admit that she snuck a peek at Bolt's thoughts before he had taken off. Poor Bolt... It really wasn't his fault... She was tempted to ask Bubbles to introduce her to Buttercup later, to see if she could set the record straight, but not only did she have bigger things to worry about, but Bolt would be mortified if he found out about the meeting. Espeon set it lower on her list of priorities, but she definitely wanted to help Bolt find love somehow. The poor Jolteon deserved it...
"Espy, look!"
Espeon blinked once to bring her thoughts back to reality, then bounded over to where her mate was standing. There was a very small pool of water a few steps in front of him, easy to miss, but it was there. As Espeon watched, the surface rippled slightly. "A spring!"
"That has to have clean water," Umbreon said, looking at her with a smile.
Espeon took a step forward. "I'll make sure..."
"No, I'll get it," Umbreon said, stepping in front of her. Espeon smiled. She would be fine... If anything, she would be able to detect impurities more accurately than he would. But he always had to make sure she was safe, and she loved that he protected her, so she let him.
He lapped quietly at the water, expression cautious at first, then relaxing. "It's clear, all right..."
"Then let me have some. All this talk of water has made me thirsty..."
A screech cut through the air before Espeon could drink from the spring, causing both of them to flinch towards the ground and look sharply towards the sky. They knew that call.
"Mandibuzz!" Umbreon growled, voicing Espeon's thoughts and fears.
Both bolted for the trees, finding suitable cover, but still able to see the sky. A blur streaked past overhead, but it was white, not dark brown like Mandibuzzes should be. Espeon frowned as the real Mandibuzz came into view, chasing whatever they could see overhead.
Espeon reached out her Psychic powers as far as she could to touch the mind of the Mandibuzz's quarry, unable to transmit her own thoughts, but able to catch snippets of their thoughts. He knew he could outfly the Mandibuzz. But he had to get past it. Someone was waiting for him. He has a job to do. He had to look for them, but he had never-
He cut off sharply as the Dark Type bird used Smack Down, firing a small rock that struck the other Pokemon squarely in the chest. The wind knocked out of him, his wings locked and he plummeted towards the ground.
Espeon wasted no time. "Umbreon, run! We have to save him!"
Umbreon said nothing as he tore after his mate as she tried to trace their trajectory. The Mandibuzz would either try to snatch the other Pokemon before he hit the ground, not letting him escape, or it would try to ensure that he hit the ground. From that altitude? A bad fall might kill him.
They finally stopped, close enough to where the fall would occur. Umbreon growled as Espeon tried to find the other Flying Type with her eyes before she stopped him with her mind. "Espy, help that other Pokemon. I'll take care of the Mandibuzz..." With that, he bounded up into one of the nearby trees, waiting for an opening to strike should the vile bird Pokemon come too close. Espeon was worried about him, but no one was tougher than Umbreon when he wanted to be.
Espeon locked on to the falling Pokemon just before she also saw the Mandibuzz swooping after him with extended talons. Apparently, retrieval was this bird's job. Espeon tightened her focus. She had to time this perfectly.
The other Pokemon was starting to regain control of his flight too late, rolling onto his back before he would have hit the ground... Espeon stopped him with powerful telekinesis when he was only about a tail-length off the ground, leaving him with a stunned expression as he watched the Mandibuzz streak towards him, then get intercepted and knocked aside by a furious Umbreon with a Dark Pulse-fueled tackle, bringing both of them to the ground.
The mystery Pokemon stayed frozen for a few seconds, then churned his paws in the air. He was no bird Pokemon. He was about Umbreon's size, had four legs and light cream-colored fur except for a sky-blue ruffle around his neck and what looked like boots of the same color, with a few wispy feathers trailing off the back of each one. His tail was also comprised of short feathers that matched his fur color, and he wore a pair of flight goggles on his forehead, caught now by his short, triangular ears. When Espeon thought most spectacular, however, was the pair of large, beautiful wings that extended from his shoulders. From a distance, they looked white, but in the sun, Espeon could see the slight glimmer of sky blue in his feathers.
She had never seen anything like this Pokemon before. The basic shape looked familiar, though, especially with the wings... Suddenly, she remembered. The Pokemon hit the ground as she forgot to hold him in shock.
He looked eerily similar to Clover.
Espeon shook her head out and bounded out from her hiding place to help him up, the overturned Pokemon kicking his paws at the air and beating his wings against the ground as he tried to get up. "Careful, careful, here," Espeon whispered, levitating him back into the air and onto his paws.
His eyes darted back and forth between Espeon, whom he thought was a bit too close for comfort right now, and Umbreon, still wrestling with the Mandibuzz. Despite being grounded, the bird was putting up a fight, the two battlers well-matched, but Umbreon still having a clear advantage. Still, the Dark bird wasn't going down without a fight. The mystery Pokemon stammered quietly. "Wh-Who...?"
"I'm Espeon, that's my mate, Umbreon. We're here to help. Come here, we can hide." He followed her hesitantly, clearly still somewhat in shock. Espeon was trying to push down her own surprise and not read his mind (yet). She had to make sure he was safe first. Leading him to a small bush and holding the twigs apart with her mind, she slipped through first and tried to ensure that he had enough space to follow, wings included. He was able to pull them surprisingly close to his shoulders, however, pushing himself in after her.
Espeon let the bush fall back into place, then let out a loud call to tell Umbreon that they were safe. Her mate immediately took her signal, kicking off of the Mandibuzz to bound into the Shadow Dimension with Phantom Force. The Bone Vulture Pokemon struggled to her feet, looking around with glaring eyes for Umbreon before taking off and scanning for her quarry.
The Pokemon beside Espeon started to whisper something, but Espeon mentally cut him off. Shh, stay quiet. Think whatever you wanted to say.
Why did you save me?
You needed saving. We know that Mandibuzz. It has attacked one of my good friends many times... Any enemy of that bird is a friend of ours.
...Oh... She finally gave in and glanced at his memories, trying to hold back a reaction. He knew about the white building. He had been inside. That was why the Mandibuzz had been chasing him. They wanted to get him back. But that wasn't what surprised Espeon the most.
The white walls and small cages were all that he had ever known.
The outside world was new to him, huge and, though he pretended he didn't think so, terrifying, at least for the first time. He had never seen wild Pokemon before, though he knew what an Espeon and Umbreon were. He was desperate to believe that Espeon was his friend and ally, but the only friends that he knew of before this were two others from inside, the ones that he had been trying to search for. He trusted Espeon for now, but they were the only ones that he REALLY trusted.
Umbreon suddenly jumped back into the real world behind them, scaring the poor Pokemon out of his feathers. Luckily, he stayed quiet. "It's okay, it's just me," Umbreon whispered quietly.
Espeon was immediately worried as she looked her mate over. "You're hurt..." she said quietly, eyeing the slashes that the evil bird had given him.
He shook his head a bit, smiling slightly. "I'm fine. I dealt worse than I got. That thing'll have to land soon, I poisoned it with Sludge Bomb..."
Surprisingly, the new Pokemon didn't react to that, only nodded silently. Espeon whispered to him, "Are you okay?"
He nodded. "Just a bruise... I'm fine..."
"Good..." Umbreon said as his mate nodded. After a few seconds, Umbreon spoke again, this time voicing the question that had been echoing around Espeon's mind since she had seen this Pokemon clearly for the first time. "...Who... are you?"
He replied quietly, still watching the Mandibuzz overhead. "I'm Aveon."
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Author's Comments- I am putting this here today, because I have an important update. PLEASE READ THE IMPORTANT UPDATE. You probably saw the art and read the post last week (or, at least I sincerely hope you did), but the design for the mystery Pokemon in Part 1 has changed slightly. The shape remains the same, but the colors are different. My sister is redrawing a picture, saying that, quote, "The first one looks like crap on a screen." However, we are both seriously impressed by the art featured in this week's post (three cheers for my sister!!), and I have seen the amazing work that she has done thus far on the updated artwork. I will change the post correspondingly (and show you the changes after whatever post it happens on for those of you who are too lazy to scroll back to look (I'd be one of those people, if it helps at all)) when it is finished.
Comment, comment, comment, follow, follow, follow, and tell me what/who you think these new characters are!!
~Chief
