Okay, everyone, I'm back!

Sorry it took so long, but my brain was mush and I couldn't think of any ideas. But, anyway, about the fic.

There's going to be a some humor, a (most likely sad) attempt at romance, and a bit of adventure. And, of course, everyone's favorite characters!! But maybe you'd just like to read the fic, hmm? Then skip my rantings and read. Sorry if it's a little short!

I suggest that you read my first to fics, Escape from the Pack and Betrayal in the Tree, if you want to understand any of this.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that Nintendo does. Horrible, I know.

The world was still the night that it began.

A Jolteon, ready to faint, desperately tried to pull himself along. Blood dripped down his face and out of the corner of his mouth. His body was covered with bruises, sores, and fresh wounds. Struggling to keep himself awake, he saw a small light in the distance. His vision blurred, but he was determined to get to the light. As the Jolteon drew closer, he saw the dim outline of a house, and he heard faint laughter and indistinguishable voices. When he finally reached the door, the electric fox weakly raised his paw to knock. The door opened, and an Umbreon answered. "Yes?" she said, but gasped when she saw the Jolteon's state.

"Please," he whispered hoarsely, "help me." Then he collapsed.

"Oh. My. God," was all Umbreon said. Then, shaking herself, she screamed, "Guys, get out here NOW!" Her companions, a young brunette, a teenage blond, a dark-haired boy, and a Lucario, Mew, and Mesprit, all dashed to the door.

"What's wro...?" Lucario asked, but stopped mid-sentence at the sight of the unconscious Pokémon on the doorstep.

"What happened to him?" questioned the brunette, Kiki, clenching her stomach as if she was going to be sick. Umbreon shrugged, then closed her eyes.

"His Aura seems fine," she reported, "but I think we'd better get him inside." The others agreed, and Rose, the blond, picked the Jolteon up gently and brought him inside.

"The poor thing," Mew muttered.

"I wonder what happened," said Mesprit.

"Do you think he got hit by a car?"

"It doesn't look like any bones are broken. Maybe he annoyed a Poochyena. They can be vicious." The two started rattling off the ways that the Jolteon could have gotten beaten up. By the end of the list more than one person in the house had a green face.

"Guys." John was one of the only ones in a state to talk. Rose had run for the bathroom, and both Umbreon and Kiki had covered their ears and starting singing to themselves.

"Oh. Sorry," apologized Mew with sudden realization.

"He looks like he's been attacked," stated Lucario.

"But by what?" asked Umbreon. Lucario shrugged.

"How about you ask him yourself?" Kiki offered. Everyone turned their heads to Jolteon, lying on the sofa and slowly stirring from his coma.

Jolteon blinked once, twice. Where am I? he thought. He moved his legs to get up, but there was pain everywhere. Vision returning, he looked down at his paw. It was covered in blood. Then he remembered.

The monster. The fear that ripped into his skin and left him unable to help her, to save her. Her scream as they took her from him. The pain. Her pain.

"Are you okay?"

Jolteon tried to look up. "Vaporeon?" he asked wanly.

"Um...no..." Lifting his head, he saw an Umbreon staring at him with her deep crimson eyes.

"W-who are you?" he stuttered.

"I'm Umbreon, and this is Lucario, Kiki, Mesprit, John, and Mew." For the first time, Jolteon noticed the others looking at him curiously.

"I got them!" Rose shouted happily as she rushed back into the room, a dozen or so Potions in her hands.

"Thanks, Rose," replied Kiki as she took about half of them and started spraying the yellow fox's wounds. "So, what happened?"

It took Jolteon a few seconds to realize that the brunette was speaking to him. And then it took him a few more seconds to realize what she was talking about. After that, he took more than a few seconds to figure out how to explain it, so by the time he was ready to speak, the entire party was wondering if he had gone deaf.

"Well, it was late last night, and my friend Vaporeon and I were asleep. Suddenly, a huge bolt of purple lightning woke me up. I shook Vaporeon awake, and another lightning bolt crashed, this time right outside our door. I looked out, and a huge ball of dark energy shot our door down. I saw purple eyes glaring at me, and then..." Jolteon paused.

"What?" asked John.

"It was like my worst nightmare come to life. It dug into me," he said, shuddering. "I could tell that it was happening to Vaporeon, too; I could hear her screaming. Then, quite suddenly, I was released, but I couldn't move at all. I saw that...that thing drag Vaporeon away, and then I heard maniacal laughter. There was a flash of purple light, and then they were gone. After that I passed out."

"What thing?" Umbreon inquired.

Jolteon shrugged. "There were actually two. One was definitely a human, and the other was some kind of monster. That was the one who attacked us. It was about as tall as the human, but it was more menacing, in a way. I could only see silhouettes." The others exchanged ideas about who the attackers could be, except for Mew, who was sitting on a chair, terror in her eyes.

Mesprit noticed and asked her, "What's wrong?" Her answer drew everyone's attention.

"He's back," she whispered, trembling. "He's back and he'll destroy us all."

Well that's it for now. Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon.

Umbreon: Don't count on it.

Me: Get out of here! Anyway, please R&R!

Umbreon Mastah