Super Mario Bros.

Sylvia the Sylveon Chapter 2: Goodbye, Floccesy Ranch

He said it wasn't his intention to make us sad. I understood that completely, and everyone else did too. But in the end, we were all sad anyway. I cried in Bambi's fur upon seeing him leave. Later I heard Bolt and Konoha getting into a fight about Moondancer, with Bolt claiming that Moondancer abandoned us. Konoha defended Moondancer's decision, and despite Lucretia and Vapor working together, Bolt and Konoha just wouldn't stop fighting. Alseides suddenly grew quiet and aloof, just like Moondancer. Yuki cried for a bit, then acted like nothing happened. Later on, I heard the sound of Mother crying in Father's fur. She said something about wishing that her little Moondancer was still the rambunctious little Eevee he was before, but Father reminded her that all kids grow up someday, and when they've decided what they want to be or do, parents have to let them go, even if it means losing them. I wonder if I'll break down crying if my kids-if I have any-decide to leave and pursue their dreams?

Strangely enough, Moondancer's absence affected Darien, Vicky, and Serena as well. Darien and Vicky kept asking each other about whether they've seen Moondancer or not, and they ran all over both the house and the ranch looking for him. "Moondancer! Moondancer! Where are you?" They kept calling out. But Moondancer had already left by then. Serena didn't seem to care much. She just played with Bambi the entire time. Serena never did care much for Moondancer. Oftentimes, she never even knew he was even around, or even had a name for that matter. Lucretia, Yuki, and I were the only Eevee she ever interacted with. Moondancer never interacted with her either, mostly because he didn't like her. He called her dribbling and addle-brained, and I could tell from the way he said those words were that he meant them to be taken as insults, even though I didn't like the way he treated her.

Later on, Darien jumped in his car and drove away just to look for Moondancer while Vicky had to stay and watch Serena as she (Vicky)'s not too fond of babysitters. Even though I was happy that they cared about Moondancer, it still made me confused as to why some humans would care about Moondancer in the first place, as they never really noticed him before. They never treated him bad, that's good, but they didn't seem to pay him much mind either, so I wondered why they cared about him so much. Father told me later that to Darien and Vicky, all the Pokemon that live under their roof are special and deeply loved, even if said Pokemon chooses to be aloof and indifferent to their offers of kindness. I know Serena loved me and Bambi very much, so I'm okay with her caring about me, but she never interacted with my siblings much either save for Lucretia and Yuki. I know for a fact that Moondancer often walked away whenever she approached him, Bolt would hiss or bite if she got close, and Alseides would be so busy playing that he'd never notice, no matter how hard she tried to make her presence known.

After about a week of searching and worrying, Darien and Vicky finally stopped, and things were going back to normal. But then again, life without Moondancer didn't seem much different from when he was still around, since he hardly ever interacted with anyone. Something inside me wondered if maybe he really wanted something more out of life than being cooped up in a big ranch, not being allowed to go anywhere until some human came around to adopt him. I've seen humans adopt Pokemon and eggs from the ranch lots of times. A boy named Motoki adopted an egg that, right then and there, hatched into a Sentret. Two girls adopted two Vulpix eggs. I know because I saw a Ninetales lay those very eggs. A girl much older than Serena named Amy came and caught a Mareep, a Lillipup, and an Azurill here in the ranch with the help of her only Pokemon, a Snivy. I wondered if maybe my siblings and I were just as vulnerable to being captured by those machines called Pokeballs as those Pokemon that Amy caught were. Do we belong to Darien and Vicky, or are we considered wild? That always crossed my mind whenever trainers and their Pokemon came around.

I would find out much later that it'd prove to be true.

After about a week, Bambi and I played in the field were the purple flowers used to be. They all withered away because it was autumn around that time, but the orange, yellow, red, and brown leaves, both on the trees and the grass, were fun to jump into. We covered ourselves with leaves, we made big piles of them, we hid in them, we popped out of them, and we jumped right out of them as quickly as we'd hide in them. It was fun. But still, playing in a big pile of leaves and throwing them all over the place didn't make me forget about Moondancer or the hole he left in not just my heart but everyone else's. But I knew that wishing he'd come back wouldn't make him come back, so I had to deal with it.

"Aren't these leaves pretty, Sylvie?" Bambi asked as he showed me some piles of very pretty red leaves he found on the ground. A day after Moondancer left, Bambi's fur turned orange, like the sky when the sun would set, and that interested me more than the leaves. I heard somewhere that Deerlings' fur change color depending on the season. When its spring, a Deerling's fur turns pink. That's my favorite color, and Bambi likes it to. When its summer, its green. When its autumn, its orange, and when its winter, its brown. But my curiosity for his change in fur color has since faded away, and the leaves he found were particularly big and shiny-looking. I smiled.

"Yep! Very pretty! I'll see if I can find some pretty yellow ones," I said as I went to look for some big yellow leaves, or, to be more specific, yellow leaves that didn't have any cracks or chips or rips in them, or weren't completely destroyed and ripped up, as I had been finding a lot of those lately.

But when I got close to the house, I stopped as I saw a car pull up by the gate. I hid in a big pile of leaves that Bambi and I hadn't touched yet. The car is shiny and black, and I saw four humans dressed in white coats come out from both sides and walk right up to the door. They're all male and one of them, who has a big bushy head of brown hair the same shade as my fur and a small beard on his chin, knocked on the door. Bambi came by my side once that happened.

"What'cha doin'?" Bambi asked. I shushed him and he clammed up as soon as he saw what I was looking at. Soon, Darien answered the door.

"Hm? Hello there. What can I help you with?" Darien asked.

"Are you by any chance the caretaker for this ranch? Darien Carter?" The man with the bushy hair and beard asked.

"Yes, I am," Darien replied.

"I am very sorry to intrude on your property, and I have no intention of trespassing, but my name is Dr. Frederick Navarro, and I am a renowned scientist from the new region. My colleagues and I have been researching the Pokemon called Eevee, and in our research we believe we may have unveiled evidence of the existence of a new, previously undiscovered evolutionary form," The bushy-haired man, Dr. Navarro, explained calmly.

"A new evolutionary form? Did you yourselves discover it?" Darien asked, surprised by the news.

Bambi and I looked at each other with confused faces. A new Eevee evolution? But there's only seven of them! Flareon, Jolteon, Vaporeon, Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, and Glaceon. How can there be an eighth one? How is it even possible?

Dr. Navarro cleared his throat. "Technically, no. Some higher-up scientists witnessed an Eevee that was imported from Kanto come into contact with an item and it evolved into something that was not seen in this world before. They recorded a video of it, though they have not released much information on this evolutionary form or the name of the item it came into contact with. They're rather private about the matter, and they have not released the video to the public, even though they allowed us to view it. They say they want to keep their research hidden until they studied the Pokemon further. However, we ourselves have discovered an item that looks just like the one in the video and it possesses the same properties and characteristics as the one in the video, and we would like to see if what the scientists recorded is true, and make this new evolutionary form of Eevee known to the world," He explained further.

Darien raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. I could tell that he looked suspicious of them. "I take it you all don't have an Eevee to test your hypothesis on?"

"Unfortunately, no. That's where you come in, Mr. Carter. We heard that you have been breeding Eevees in Unova, and that you have quite a number of them. Eevee are near impossible to find in Unova, as they are not indigenous to this region. We were wondering if maybe, with your permission of course, we could take one off your hands to ease the burden on both you and your ranch," Dr. Navarro asked.

My ears twitched and I tried not to gasp lest they discover me. I heard the words "take something off your hands" more than enough times to figure out that it means they want to take something or someone away from you to keep for themselves. Somehow, I had no idea how, they found out Darien has a lot of Eevee in his house even though there aren't very many in Unova. Then I wondered if Darien would actually consider giving one of us away, separating us forever. Would he take Bolt? Or Alseides? Lucretia? Yuki? Even...me? They can't take Moondancer since he evolved into Umbreon, and from what I hear once an Eevee evolves, it can't evolve any further. It stays the way it evolves into forever. As much as I'd like to evolve, I don't want to be separated from my family. I prayed that Darien wouldn't give me or any of my siblings away. Moondancer being gone made us sad enough already.

Thankfully, my prayers had been answered.

"You're asking me for an Eevee? Can't you catch one of your own with a Pokeball? Why haven't you gone to Kanto? There are wild Eevees in abundance over there," Darien asked them suspiciously, his tone of voice turning austere.

"Due to obligations we need to attend to here in the meantime, we are forbidden from going as far as Kanto. Again, we hate to intrude on you like this, but in the event that you wish to rid yourself of an Eevee, we would be more than happy to take one off your hands. It'll prove to be-" Dr. Navarro didn't get to finish his sentence.

"I'm sorry, but I don't breed Eevees to fancy the likes of you money-grubbing dopes! They're mine, and you have no right to just barge in and ask for one, especially for free. Besides, there's lots of wild Eevee in Kanto. Go over there and catch one! It's not that hard! Now off my property or I'll have you arrested for trespassing!" Darien yelled with gusto in his voice. With that, he slammed the door right in front of them. Looking sad, the men all went back into their car and drove away. I exhaled a big sigh of relief, thankful that I or my siblings didn't get taken away.

"Yay! You're not gonna be taken away!" Bambi chirped happily, pleased with the fact that neither me or the rest of my family are going to be taken away. I had to admit, I was relieved too. Very relieved.

"I'm so glad," I said. But then what the man said echoed in my head. "A new Eevee evolution...I wonder what it could be. What type is it?"

"Dunno. Maybe it'll be really cool. Oh! Maybe it'll be the perfect evolution for you!" Bambi exclaimed happily, with a big smile on his now rosy red face.

"What?! Me?!" I yelped, popping out of the pile of leaves with some still being stuck to my ears, head, and fur. "What brought that up?"

"Isn't that why you didn't decide what to evolve into yet? Because you thought that since everyone else claimed one you couldn't evolve into any of them?" Bambi asked.

"Well...I guess..." Admittedly, I wasn't sure about what I could evolve into. My seven siblings already claimed all seven evolution forms, and I felt like I couldn't decide on any single one, not just because they were all taken, but because I felt like if there were two of the same Pokemon, it'd be hard to find out who's who. Well, then again, since I'm a girl and still had the collar Serena gave me, it'd be pretty easy to tell if me or one of my brothers evolved into the same Pokemon. Not only that, Bambi looks so excited, and normally he's never excited about anything.

"Think about it! You'll be your own Pokemon! You won't be mistaken for someone else and you won't have to feel like you have to be like your siblings!" Bambi exclaimed.

"I guess it'd be nice. But we don't know what it is yet. I don't want to evolve and then find out I don't like it," I told him.

"Maybe there's a picture or drawing of it somewhere?"

"Dunno. He said a video of it was recorded, but we don't know what a video looks like."

"Aren't videos stuff they show on TV?"

"Possibly. Maybe that's it. But they said the higher-ups didn't release the video to the public so there won't be many people or Pokemon who know about it."

Bambi's ears drooped and he looked down. "Oh. You're right."

Feeling bad about making him sad, I tapped his leg with my paw. "Don't be sad, Bambi. I'm sure we'll see the new Eevee evolution someday, and when I see it, who knows? Maybe I'll love it, or maybe I'll hate it. But I wanna see it first before I decide on whether to evolve into it or not," I told him. With that, Bambi smiled and we went back to playing until lunchtime.

Unfortunately, an argument flared up at lunchtime, and it was about what happened today. Vapor brought it up.

"A new Eevee evolution. That sounds very interesting! I wouldn't mind seeing it myself," Vapor said as he finished his food.

"No way! I'm sticking to being a Jolteon when I grow up!" Bolt proclaimed arrogantly as he took a bite of his own food.

"Moondancer's lucky. He got to evolve into what he wanted so he's safe," Alseides said.

"That's true," Yuki piped in.

"I'd love to see what it looks like. I wonder if it looks cute and cuddly. Or would it be strong and cool? Or refined and elegant? Or pretty and beautiful? Ohhh! Just thinking about it makes me want to jump all over the place!" Lucretia wondered out loud, dreaming about all the possibilities of what it could possibly look like.

"But in order for them to see what it looks like, they need an Eevee. What if those guys come and catch us?" Al asked fearfully.

"They won't," Konoha piped in. "Darien told them that he's not giving any of us to them so we're safe."

"How do you know, smartypants? You sure he didn't say that just to think about it later?" Bolt inquired rather bitterly.

"I'm not lying! I heard him say so myself! He didn't sound like he was going to give us away!" Konoha exclaimed.

"Can you please calm down? Mama and Papa are trying to sleep," Lucretia tried to take charge, but Al suddenly stepped in rather angrily.

"That's why Moondancer left! He's afraid that Darien and Vicky are gonna give him away so he bolted before they could send him to some trainer! He should have considered what leaving us here would do for us! We might get taken away!" Al suddenly shouted.

"He said he wanted to get stronger, but that doesn't mean Darien and Vicky are actually going to give us away! They love us!" Konoha argued.

"I agree. Let's have some faith in them, shall we?" Vapor said.

"Oh, you're one to talk! You've never left the ranch so don't act like you know everything!" Al shouted angrily.

"That's not what I'm implying at all! Stop jumping to conclusions, Al! You're being ridiculous!" Vapor snapped back.

"Think about it for a second! What if Darien actually DOES decide to give one of us away?! It could me me or you or you or you or even you, Syl!" Al screamed while pointing to Bolt, Vapor, Konoha, and me. But he didn't stop at me. "You're the only one who hasn't decided what to evolve into! They'll take you and evolve you against your will!"

"Don't drag Sylvia into this!" Yuki exclaimed, shocked by Al's preposition.

"Yeah! And besides, I know they won't give me away! I'm too awesome for them, and I'm already gonna be a Jolteon, so they won't need me!" Bolt proclaimed proudly.

"They can't understand us so they'll do whatever they want with us!" Al snapped back.

"So?! Just because we can't talk like they can doesn't mean we can't get our message across!"

"Humans don't think we're capable of feeling anything!"

"BOTH OF YOU, STOP!" Finally having had enough of their senseless bickering, I leaped on them both and smacked them on their heads with my paw. Once they looked at me with surprised faces, I decided to take this opportunity to take control despite being the youngest. "Al, I know you're upset about what happened today, but Darien said that he's not going to give us away, and I don't think he'd be the type to just let them come in and take anything they want and just walk away. Nobody's going to take us away! Mom, Dad, Vicky, and Darien won't let them! Bolt, you need to stop making things worse by acting all stuck-up and selfish! Plus, I know what you mean when you say you want to get your message across, and don't think attacking anyone is going to solve anything either!"

"Quit gettin' an attitude with me, Syl!" Bolt snapped.

"I'm not! You two need to stop arguing! We don't know what'll happen so we can't worry about it just yet!" I pleaded.

"Stop acting like you're the smart one. You're the youngest so know your place!" Al exclaimed.

"Alseides! That's no way to talk to Sylvia!" Lucretia snapped.

"You know what? Forget it. I'm out," Yuki said as he let out an exasperated sigh and left the room. Finally the fight ended when Mother and Father came into the room and scolded Bolt, Al, Vapor, and Konoha for arguing. After I finished my food, I decided to go out into the ranch.

That's where I saw my first Pokemon battle.

Once I got to the hedges, I saw two human kids standing about 20 feet away from each other. One was a girl, another was a boy. One girl had blonde hair in a ponytail, deep blue eyes like the night sky, and light skin. She was wearing a purple vest over a blue, long sleeved shirt, a pair of beige jeans, and long brown boots. The boy had messy black hair, purple eyes, and slightly darker skin. He was wearing a black, white, and green hoodie, blue jeans matching the girl's eyes, a red hat on his head, and orange and black sneakers. Both had Pokeballs in their hands.

"Are you ready to go, Leonard?" The girl asked, her eyes blazing with courage.

"Oh yeah! But I'll let you go first, Jenny!" The boy, Leonard, told her.

"Alrighty then! I choose you, Minccino!" Jenny threw her Pokeball and out came a grey chinchilla-like Pokemon, a Minccino.

"Cute! But let's see how tough it is! Go, Blitzle!" Leonard threw his Pokeball and out came a black and white Blitzle who whinnied as he appeared.

"Minccino! Use Pound!" Jenny exclaimed. Her Minccino charged right at the Blitzle.

"Dodge, Blitzle! Then use Quick Attack!" As ordered, Blitzle dodged the Minccino's attack and he then charged right at her. He managed to ram into her and send her flying somewhat.

"Minccino! Don't give up! Use sing!" Jenny proclaimed. Promptly, Minccino got back up and proceeded to sing. I could see Blitzle getting dizzy and beginning to fall asleep. Thankfully, I didn't fall asleep even though I heard it. But I did wonder why these trainers were making Pokemon fight.

"Why are they fighting?" I asked myself out loud. I had no idea that someone was eavesdropping on me.

"They're battling!" A high pitched voice suddenly chirped right next to me. I turned to my right and saw an Emolga right next to me. An Emolga of all Pokemon! They're usually not seen around Floccesy Ranch! I've seen one before, when a trainer came to pick up and egg. She had an Emolga, and if I remember correctly, she said she was from a place called Driftveil City, and lots of Emolga are from there.

"Umm...hi?" I said, surprised by her sudden appearance.

"Hi! I'm Remi! Wanna watch this with me?" The Emolga, Remi, introduced herself happily and asked if I wanted to watch the battle with her, even though I was already watching.

"I thought Emolga didn't live here on the ranch," I said.

"I don't live here. I'm from Nimbasa City! But my friends put me and another friend of mine in charge of gathering as much food as possible for the winter, so I'm traveling south of Unova to get lots of berries!" Remi explained.

"Do you know why they're fighting?" I asked as I saw Jenny tell her Minccino to use DoubleSlap on a sleeping Blitzle, and Leonard looked extremely surprised that she managed to get the upper hand.

"The correct term is battling. Trainers do this with their Pokemon all the time. They battle each other to make their Pokemon stronger," Remi explained.

"They do?"

"Yeah!"

"But isn't fighting bad?"

"In this case, battling's a form of communication between them. Fighting doesn't have that. Fighting is when people catch Pokemon without Pokeballs and make them fight each other for money, even to the point of death."

"But battling almost looks just like that! How can that and fighting be different?" I asked as I saw Blitzle wake up and try to get the upper hand, but Minccino slapped it with its tail multiple times.

"I wish I had the answer to that. That's just what I heard from other Pokemon. Sorry if I confused you. Oh! I gotta run! My friends are gonna get mad if I don't get some berries! See ya!" Remi said, then decided to fly away.

It was at this point that Blitzle was completely knocked out. Jenny and Minccino had won the battle. Leonard looked really angry when he made his injured Blitzle return to its Pokeball. They exchanged a few words and Jenny left. Leonard didn't, and I heard why.

"She thinks she's so tough. Forget it. I'm stickin' around to catch some Pokemon. I'll teach her to act all conceited and important!" Leonard grumbled angrily to himself.

I was about to leave until I saw Bolt suddenly hop out from the hedge. He saw me and was about to say hi until...Leonard spotted him.

"Whoa! Is that an Eevee?! Oh my God! I gotta catch it!" Leonard yelped with surprise, then got a Pokeball out.

Bolt and I both heard it and we froze with fear. Leonard actually wanted to catch Bolt! I remembered Darien saying that Bolt and the rest of us belonged to him and him alone. Surely this random kid won't be able to catch us! I gestured for Bolt to leave, but he didn't notice. In fact, he seemed to take Leonard's wish to catch him as a challenge.

"I'd like to see you try, human kid!" Bolt hissed, though all Leonard heard was "Ee! Eevee! Eevee! Ee!"

I hid in the hedge myself, hoping and praying that he wouldn't see me.

"Go, Tepig!" Leonard threw a Pokeball and out came a Tepig.

"Tepig Tepig!" Tepig oinked as he appeared.

"Tepig! Use Flame Charge!" Leonard demanded. Tepig covered itself in flames and charged right at Bolt, who somehow managed to get out of the way. Unfortunately, Tepig tried again, and he managed to hit Bolt.

"Great! Now use Tackle!" Bolt fought back by using his own Tackle, but somehow Tepig proved to be stronger and knocked him away. Tepig did it again. And again. Bolt tried to dodge them all and fight back, but Tepig is proving to be too strong.

"Bolt!" I cried out, but Leonard thankfully didn't hear me. Bolt tried to get up, but Tepig attacked him with another Tackle attack. Soon enough, Bolt couldn't get up. But he did see me and talk to me.

"This is nothing...he can't catch me..." Bolt muttered weakly.

I feared the worst. "Bolt! You have to run or he'll catch you! Go! Now!" I pleaded. Bolt barely managed to stand up. But I saw it. Leonard got a Pokeball out.

"Pokeball! Go!" He threw it.

It flew right toward Bolt.

No. I couldn't let my brother get captured. Who knows what could happen. Not caring about whether I got spotted or not, I flew out of the hedge in a desperate attempt to save him.

I failed to notice a big root right by my foot, and one of my forelegs got caught on it. I tripped as a result. It also forced me to witness a scene I never thought I'd see.

As soon as the Pokeball hit Bolt on the head, he turned into red light and got absorbed into the ball. It fell on the grass and it shook. Leonard took a look at me in surprise for a moment, but then focused back on the ball. I prayed that Bolt would somehow break out of it and return to me.

Sadly, my prayers were unanswered.

The light on the ball disappeared, and it stopped shaking.

Bolt had been captured by the trainer.

And I failed to save him.

"NOOO!" I cried and howled into my paws while Leonard jumped for joy, completely unaware of the sadness he caused me and was going to cause my family.

"Yeah! I just caught a rare Pokemon! Oh yeah! Go me! Aw yeah! Am I awesome or what?!" Leonard howled happily as he jumped up and down like a madman.

Then he tried to grab the ball. Once I got my leg out of the root, I did something that I'd normally never do.

"BOOOOLT!"

I kicked the Pokeball away, and I bit Leonard's wrist.

"Ow! Get off me, you mutt!" Leonard shrieked in pain, but I didn't care. I bit him as hard as I could, even though I hated doing it. I needed to believe that I could somehow save him. I needed to save him. Sadly, even my attempt at saving him like this didn't work. With great force, Leonard smacked me and knocked me onto the grass. He grabbed the Pokeball with Bolt in it and, with his Tepig by his side, he ran away.

I chased after them.

"Give me back my brother! Give Bolt back to me!" I ran as fast and as hard as I could, hoping I could catch up to them and somehow save Bolt. I didn't realize that I completely left the ranch and was traveling in completely open and uncharted territory.

Just like Moondancer.

But I didn't care. I needed to get Bolt back. Moondancer being gone was sad enough. I didn't want to think that Bolt wouldn't be here either. As much as I never liked his selfish, arrogant, cocky, reckless, and impulsive attitude, he was still my big brother, and I was obligated to at least try to help him. Unfortunately, Leonard commanded his Tepig to use Flame Charge on me, and he was so fast, I didn't have time to dodge. I was hit so hard, I was knocked unconscious. I blacked out.

I feared for Bolt's safety. So many unanswered questions flew around in my head like a horde of scared flying type Pokemon. Would Leonard be a good trainer, or would he be bad? Is Leonard nice? Does he treat his Pokemon well? Does he treat them as more than just animals or tools he can use for battle? Is he bad? Does he treat them bad? Does he only train Pokemon to be strong and throw them away when they don't meet his expectations? That's what happened to Father, even though he was lucky and got saved by Darien and Vicky. What will happen to the family once they find out that Bolt's gone? I knew that they'd be super sad because of it. But what will they think of me once I told them everything? Would they say it's my fault, and that I let Bolt get captured? Would they understand that I just wasn't strong enough? Would they be happy with the fact that I at least tried? I couldn't help but wonder despite my being unconscious.

After a while, I don't know how long it was, I woke up in a strange building that the people inside said was called a Pokemon Center. I found that my strength had returned and my injuries had been tended to, so I used this chance to escape and try to get back to the ranch. Even though I didn't know where I was, I knew from hearing lots of conversations that Floccesy Ranch is very close to Floccesy Town, and that the latter has a clock tower and isn't very big in size. I ran out of the town, went through some huge patches of tall grass, made sure not to be spotted by any Pokemon. After a while, I noticed the gates, and I found my way back. Mother was the first to greet me.

"Sylvia! Oh, thank goodness you're alright! Where in the world did you go? I was so worried about you!" Mother licked my head, which gave me lots of comfort. But it also made me sad, and I cried into her fur. I literally fell apart in her arms. I needed to cry so bad, and she was the perfect outlet.

"Mama! Bolt's gone! A trainer caught him! I tried to save him but I couldn't! I tried, I really tried! They were too strong!" I wailed into her fur. I could hear her gasp because of my hypersensitive hearing, but all she did was stroke my fur with her paw and let me cry into her chest. After a few minutes, my chest started to hurt and we went back inside. At dinnertime, I decided to tell everyone about what happened. I didn't want to lie, even though I really wanted to spare them the agony of telling them that now two of our family members are gone and likely never to come back. Despite my trying to hold back my tears as I told them about it, in the end I succumbed to a new fit of crying.

"Oh dear..." Father muttered with shock. I didn't dare to see everyone's expressions. I didn't want to. I buried my face in my fur.

"Bolt's gone too?!" Lucretia yelped.

"A trainer caught him! That means...we don't really belong to Darien after all..." Yuki exclaimed.

"What are we going to do?" Konoha asked fearfully.

It dawned on all of us right then and there. Al was right all along! If Bolt can be captured by a trainer, than the rest of us except for our parents could get captured too! All of a sudden, a blow struck my stomach and I was suddenly thrown against the wall.

"Ow!" I screamed in pain.

"Alseides! Why'd you do that?!" Lucretia yelled angrily as she stepped between me and an extremely angry Al.

"It's YOUR fault, you brainless dip! You were there! If you hadn't been so slow and stupid Bolt would still be here! You could have saved him but you didn't!" Al screamed angrily.

"Alseides! Don't ever talk about your sister like that! She tried to save him as best she could, but the trainer and his Pokemon turned out to be too strong for even her!" Father scolded angrily, surprised by Al's sudden change in behavior. Al paid no heed.

"You should have been captured instead of him! You're way stupider than the rest of us and you're always in the way! You let him get captured on purpose! I'll bet you're happy he and Moondancer are gone!" Al yelled.

Mother was about to say something until something inside me decided it wasn't going to be ordered around. I hopped back on my feet, marched right over to Al, and looked him right in the eye.

"I am NOT happy that they're gone! And for your information, I actually TRIED to save him! I really did! I tried to fight off his Pokemon, and even after he got stuck in the ball I tried to take it away from him! I even bit him in the wrist! But he knocked me out! I chased him out into town before his Tepig used Flame Charge on me! I don't know what's gotten into you, but I am NOT going to tolerate it!" I snapped angrily. Something inside me decided that Al was not going to decide everything by succumbing to his anger and delusions.

"Look who's talking! You're way weaker than the rest of us so you should have been captured! Bolt would never have let a trainer catch him! I'll bet you talked him into it to get back at him for pulling all those pranks on you!"

"I did not! I tried to make him leave once it got bad, but he wouldn't listen to me! And besides, he got hurt so bad he couldn't even stand up properly!"

"Why didn't you save him when you had the chance?!"

"I WANTED to, but I couldn't! Stop making it sound like I wanted him to get caught!"

"Why do you always think you're right about everything?!"

"I don't!"

"Stop acting like you're so important! You may think you're so awesome and smart, but you're nothing! Nothing! Nothing! Nothing! You're just a big fat crybaby who'll never amount to anything! You'll be a big fat baby forever, and nobody will ever like you!"

"That's enough! Both of you!" Finally having had enough, Vapor got in between us. Normally, in times like this, I'd hide behind Mother or Father. But this time, I didn't back down, even though Vapor stopped our bickering.

"Al, you have to understand! It's not her fault Bolt got captured! Pokemon who have been raised by trainers can be remarkably strong. And besides, we're all still very young Eevee, and it's unlikely that Syl or Bolt would have been able to stop them even if they tried. Let's be rational here. Fighting isn't the answer," Vapor told him.

"Why do you always gotta stick up for that selfish crybaby?! All she does is get in the way and make things worse for all of us! Maybe she's the reason Moondancer left! Maybe he got sick and tired of her!" Al yelled.

"He left to get stronger, nothing else!" I snapped, horrified by his allegation.

"Stop all the blaming, please! It doesn't solve anything! Aren't you at least happy that she tried to save him?" Lucretia asked.

"I agree. Pokemon trainers can be very strong. It's unlikely that Bolt even stood a chance," Konoha told him calmly but sternly.

This time, Father decided to take charge. "Alseides. I won't tolerate this behavior you're displaying. I understand you're upset about Bolt. Believe me, we all are. However, getting angry and blaming Sylvia for it isn't going to bring him back or make things better. There are things in this world that even we can't handle. We have to either accept our limitations or learn to overcome them in any way we can. Now, I want you to go to Darien's room and think about what you've said and done," He told him sternly.

"Why should I stay with a human all day?! One just captured Bolt and now you're defending them?!" Al snapped.

I didn't want to hear anymore, even though I wanted to prove to Al that I wasn't weak and that I didn't let Bolt get captured on purpose. I wept and ran into Serena's room. I found Bambi there and I wept into his fur. He didn't say anything. He just stroke my fur and licked my head as I told him everything.

"It's okay. You tried. I think Bolt will understand. You're not a bad Eevee," Bambi told me sweetly. His high, cute voice is always full of genuine innocence but acceptance.

"If...if the trainer turns out to be a bad person, I'll never forgive myself for not being able to save him!" I cried.

Soon, Darien and Vicky realized that Bolt was missing too. They looked for him for about a week, but then they stopped. As usual, Serena didn't care. She hated Bolt. She was probably happy he's gone. Later, everyone tried to adjust to both Moondancer and Bolt being gone. On one autumn day, I was all by myself playing ball with Mary and Mali, two Mareep twin sisters. Mali wound up knocking the ball out across the fence and it rolled away.

"I'll get it!" I cried as I hopped over the fence to try and get it.

It would be the worst mistake I ever made, and to this day I still regret ever going after it.

I looked for it everywhere I went, not realizing that I was leaving the ranch and going onto the trail that led to Floccesy Town. As I looked around, I soon noticed a shadow looming over me. I looked behind me.

For just a second, I saw Dr. Navarro and two other people behind me.

Right then and there, I felt a blow across my head and I blacked out.

It would be the last time I ever saw my family, and the last time anyone ever saw me.

Later than that...this would be the last place I would ever be seen as an Eevee in general. My fate had been sealed.