Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon


Viridian Forest was always filled with activity. It was the main base of the entire Free World Army. That's what they called themselves: the Free World Army. Espeon had taken a lot of time to ponder the reason as to why that was their name, but when she had asked a soldier, he had simply stared at her blankly. Espeon had found this unsettling, and had since been nervous about the subject, so she had decided to leave it alone.

Today, as Espeon left her den and stepped into the cool morning air, she saw everyone cheerily bustling about and chatting idly at the same time. The atmosphere was so different from what she was used to. The jovial mood always relaxed her, even when she was extremely stressed out. She had long ago concluded that if she wanted to spend the rest of her life in one place, this would be it. She wondered if her friends would stay with her.

"Mornin', Angel!" a worker shouted. Espeon turned to see who had called her, but whoever it was had probably just said hi and left.

There were a lot of pokemon living in Viridian Forest, and as you can imagine, there was a lot more than one of each pokemon. So, the natives had long since developed a habit of giving each other nicknames, usually ones that related to the personalities of the pokemon they were given to. Now, as far as Espeon could tell, she was the only Espeon in all of Viridian, so a nickname wasn't really necessary, but a while after she had arrived, everyone started calling her Angel.

"Being called the name of your species is just weird," a Raticate named Fluffy had once told her, "I mean, it'd be weird if you called a human "human"?" Espeon supposed he was right. That would be sort of strange. It did take her a while to get used to it, though.

She trotted briskly down the path that led to the cave where all the high-ranking pokemon officers planned battle strategies. Before Espeon and her friends had freed Lugia, the room had almost been forgotten, but now it was back in business and it was where you could always find Lugia.

Espeon was enjoying the walk when she saw something that made her freeze. It's just an illusion, she said to herself, a trick of the light. You miss him too much. But as she took a step back, she proved herself wrong. There, a little ways off her path was an Umbreon. He was sitting by a lake, taking a drink, not really paying attention to much of anything.

Of course, she thought, this couldn't be her Umbreon. There was no way. But of course she couldn't help but check it out.

At the sound of her pawsteps, the Umbreon turned around.

"Hi," she said friendlily, "What's up?" Espeon's heart sank. This wasn't her Umbreon at all.

"Hey," the female Umbreon asked, concerned, "What's eating you?" Espeon stood there for a moment, dazed. This Umbreon's relaxed, slang-y tone even reminded her of her Umbreon.

"Oh!" Espeon realized that even if she wasn't in the presence of her friend, she was still in the presence of someone, "Nothing. It's just, I thought you were someone else."

The Umbreon shrugged her shoulders, "Sorry," she apologized.

"It's not your fault," said Espeon, "It's not like you can control who you are."

"True," the Umbreon agreed, and then she asked, "What do they call you?"

"I'm just… Espeon, I guess," replied Espeon, "But some of the people around here call me Angel."

"So they got you too, eh?" said the Umbreon with a small, humorous smile, "Before this place I was just Umbreon, but these folks started calling me Sassy, and I just can't seem to shake it off. So that's what you can call me."

"It's very nice to meet you, Sassy," said Espeon politely.

"It's nice to meet you too, Espeon, Angel, whoever you are," said Sassy. For a moment, neither knew what to say, but then Sassy spoke up.

"So, who was it that you confused me with back there?" she asked curiously.

"A friend of mine," explained Espeon, "You see, we were… separated a while ago and-" Espeon cut off, a light bulb seeming to flash above her head. Sassy seemed so familiar, even though Espeon had never met her before. Maybe it was going out on a limb, but… She turned towards her companion, who was waiting patiently.

"Hey, Sassy," she asked, "You wouldn't happen to have a brother, would you?"

"Yes," Sassy answered, her expression strange, "Why do you ask?"

"Was he kind of relaxed and funny and did he know a guy named Silver and did your mom die at birth and did you become orphaned when your dad died and decide to go different ways promising to reunite one day and-" Unable to control herself, Espeon unloaded a stream of questions, or, rather, a stream of words that were meant to be a stream of questions but turned out to be a jumbled mess.

"You know him?" Sassy interrupted, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes!" Espeon shouted, her excitement uncontainable, "And you won't believe how glad he'll be to see you!"

Sassy didn't answer, seemingly in a bewildered state. Realizing what big news this must've been to the other pokemon, Espeon contained her excitement for a moment. She couldn't wait to see the look on Umbreon's face when she told him about how she had just come across his sister in the middle of Viridian Forest! He'd be so happy to be with his long-lost sibling, and, of course, he'd be just as happy to see Espeon, too…

"It's funny," said Sassy quietly, interrupting Espeon's thoughts, "I've always known I'd come across him again someday, but now that I finally hear any news about him, I don't know what to say or how to feel." Espeon thought this a little odd. If someone came and told her where to find Umbreon, she'd be too joyful for words. Maybe it was different for Sassy. She seemed a lot more relaxed than Espeon and apparently hadn't been thinking of her brother as much as the psychic type had.

"Sassy," Espeon began, breaking the silence that had developed between the two, "You're not very sassy."

Sassy started cracking up.

"You're right," she said, pulling herself together, "I'm not. Don't know who thought of that one, but they must've had a pretty good sense of humor."

"I guess so," said Espeon with a smile.

"So, uh," Sassy started, serious, "Do you know where my brother is?" Espeon was unable to hide her disdain at this question.

"Well, no," she admitted, "We were… separated. But Suicune's trying to find him, along with some of my other friends that we were traveling with."

"Suicune?" asked Sassy, "Why's Old Waterlogs trying to find your friends? No offense or anything, just curious."

It then dawned on Espeon that Sassy didn't know the story of how she and her friends had freed Lugia, and thinking of that, she also had somewhere to be right now, didn't she?

"I've got to go!" she cried, dismayed at the thought of keeping Lugia waiting any longer. She leapt up and turned to go.

"Wha…? Where are you going?" Sassy asked, confused.

"I promised to be somewhere! With Lugia! He's waiting for me now. Oh, I am so late…" Espeon stammered, getting ready to bolt.

"Can I come?" asked Sassy.

"If you hurry!" replied Espeon, and with that, she took off at full speed with Sassy close at her heels.


Just what does Lugia want Espeon for? You'll find out in the next chapter.

Reviews are appreciated!