Chapter 1: The Land of Fire

Autumnbreeze lay despondently in her parents' burrow. She sighed. She was depressed. Tomorrow was the Great Day of Transition. The day she would finally evolve. Eevees had many different types to evolve into, Breeze knew this. However, not in the Firelands. In the Firelands, eevees were only allowed to evolve into flareons as only fire-type pokemon lived in the Firelands. It was the law. So, tomorrow, along with all the other eevees in the Firelands who were old enough, she would travel up to Firestone Peak, the tallest mountain in the Firelands, which was just a semi-desert environment that didn't exactly have a lot of mountains. Or really anything else for that matter. She sighed again. In reality, she didn't even really want to evolve into a flareon. She wasn't exactly a big fan of fire. Plus, she hated being forced into it all, having no choice or say in the matter. It was her future, she should be able to have a say in what she has to evolve into. Her father always lectured her on this whenever she argued about it, telling her that all the other eevees in the other surrounding lands were also forced to evolve into the type of the land where they lived. At least, he told her, she wasn't being forced into evolving into a glaceon or, goodness forbid, a vaporeon. Fire-types HATED water-types. Probably because of the type disadvantage. They also scorned those they had an advantage over. Then there was the seemingly neverending war between the different lands. Even newly evolved flareons were sometimes forced to fight when things looked grim. Both of Breeze's parents had been, and still were, great warriors... Scarlet had been a good fighter too. The painful memory of her strong overprotective big sister brought tears to Breeze's eyes and she had to fight hard to resist the almost overpowering urge to cry. Just a year ago, an army from the Waterlands had invaded, seeking to claim some of the Firelands for their own territory. Fighters had been sent to fend them off and although they were successful, many returned maimed or dead. Scarlet had been part of the latter. It hurt to think of her. Breeze knew she would probably never be nearly as courageous or strong as her sister had been. She was too timid, too shy. Then there was her coat. It wasn't normal. It wasn't even shiny. It was golden. Golden with a slightly lighter golden fluff encircling her neck. It made her feel so self-concious when she was around others. Especially when some stopped to stare at this unusuall sight. That was why she liked to keep to herself, learning instead to track and hunt and sharpening her survival skills alone rather than playing with others. Her golden coat probably had something to do with the fact that both her parents were shiny. Still, there would be days when she would stop to stare at the horizon, wondering what adventures lay out there, just out of her reach. Unless they were going to do battle with another land, the pokemon that lived in the Firelands were forbidden by the king of the Firelands, Pyroar, to ever leave. Her mother suddenly sat down by her side. She jumped a little, having not heard her mom enter the burrow, but then again, she was too wrapped up in her own thoughts to notice such a thing.

''You know, it's okay. I went through this sort of thing too.'' her mom stated. ''I remember I was a bit nervous myself, though I was also excited to finally become a fire type in the Firelands, to feel more belonging in my own homeland. It's a great feeling. Though the change is scary at first.'' Her mom finished confidently, her eyes misting over slightly with nostalgia. Breeze sighed again. She didn't know what to say. Her mom so clearly didn't get it.

''And stop sighing, it'll be fine. Good night, honey.'' her mother told her lovingly. Breeze waited untill she was sure that both her mom and dad were asleep before she got up and left the burrow, taking deep breaths of clear night air once outside. She drew the air deep into her lungs and sniffed. A scent, definateley a scent. A forest? Trees, maybe? Yes, definately trees, coming from the east. She guessed that was where the Grasslands were. It wasn't really grassland, it was just called that because of all the grass-types living there. She wondered what their world was like. A thousand glittering stars winked at her from their perch in the vast black sky.

''What keeps them up there, I wonder?'' Breeze whispered to herself. Then, on a whim, she decided to take a brief night stroll. It was to be that very whim that changed her fate forever...