Chapter 2: A Surprise Discovery

Breeze enjoyed the nighttime in the desert. The harsh ground didn't bite into her paws like it did in the day. Also, nobody was really around during the night. It was peaceful. She idly wondered what she would evolve into if she had a choice. Espeon didn't really seem like such a great choice, Jolteon was nice and probably super-fast, but the thought of just running about all day seemed tiring. Vaporeon was okay, but she didn't really know much about water as fire-types hated to even talk of it. Maybe Umbreon? They were silent and mysterious. She liked that idea. Her thoughts were cut short, though, as something a bit to her left caught her eye. She turned her head to look. Yes, there was definately something there on the sand. It was dark and oval shaped. Curiously, she approached it. It was some kind of rock, but she couldn't tell what kind because it was covered in some strange plant growth. She had never seen this kind of vegetation in the Firelands. Then it occured to her that maybe this was some kind of firestone, after all she'd never really seen a real firestone, and if she touched it and evolved into flareon this very night, then she might not have to go with all the other eevees to Firestone Peak. She could stay at home and not have a thousand eevee faces staring at her or asking her about her strange coloured coat. She could just get this over with. So, a bit nervously, she reached out a paw and lightly placed it upon the strange rock. A strange rush of emotions and strength coursed through her body like a furious sandstorm. She gasped as her body was enveloped in a strange glow. She felt herself changing, molding to a new shape, which slightly unnerved her, but was also kind of excited her. Then, suddenly, it was over. The glow disappeared and the cool night breeze drifted past her. Somehow, she felt cooler than she had been before, more sleek. Which was strange as she should have more fur as a flareon than she did as an eevee. Then she looked at her paws and frowned. This wasn't right. They were supposed to be a deep red, not a golden-tan. And her paws weren't supposed to be brownish and... Then she felt her face and realised one of her worst nightmares. She was a leafeon. She had evolved into a leafeon. Her dad was gonna kill her for this...

She paced up and down restlessly. What was she going to do? She knew she couldn't devolve. She was stuck. As a leafeon. Forever. It was law that all eevees could only evolve into flareons. Nobody questioned this and she didn't know what the penalty was for breaking this law. Some lands were fine if you broke a law and would only give you a small penalty. But not the Firelands. They were renowned for being strict and harsh with law-breakers. For all she knew, they might just kill her. Especially as leafeons were weak to fire-types, therefor scorned by many. Why had she been so impulsive? Though it was true that she had never seen a firestone before. The only stone used by the Firelanders to evolve was the giant stone on Firestone Peak. The place where everyone would be heading tomorrow... Oh no. She remembered now. If her parents woke and couldn't find her, there would be mayhem. But if they woke and found her like this... No, that would be even worse by far. Suddenly she knew what she had to do. And she didn't like it one bit. She had to leave behind everything she had ever known and runaway. It would probably be best to head to the Grasslands, given her new type. She had a feeling she new where it was too. She'd never been there, but now that she was a leafeon she felt a strange pull towards the east. She only hoped she was right.

''I don't know about this...''

''Oh, quit being such a newly hatched pokemon about this. It'll be fine'' A strange bayleef chided his ivysaur friend. A third pokemon piped up cheekily, ''Yeah, scaredy eevee.''

''Hey, shut up. Some of my best friends are eevees!'' Ivysaur said venomously.

''Yeah, I can see why!'' the Snivy continued, a smug look on his face. The Bayleef sighed. ''Look, Snivy, could you give it a rest? Just for once? We're SUPPOSED to be on a secret mission. Remember?'' he said wearily. Snivy rolled his eyes.

''Queen Lilligant will have something to say to you if you mess this up.'' Ivysaur warned.

''Shut up, Ivy. We could just as easily be finished off by some random fire-type.'' Snivy shot back.

''Exactly.'' Ivy countered. ''So you shut up.''

''Guys-'' Bayleef began, but Ivy cut in to correct him.

''And Girls.'' she said. Bayleef and Snivy rolled there eyes.

''Why'd we bring her along?'' Snivy mumbled under his breath, but Ivy heard and gave him a withering look.

''Listen!'' Bayleef was impatient now. He began to rummage about in the bag that was slung over his long neck. Then he gasped in horror. ''It's gone! The mossy rock! It's gone!'' he stated, quickly panicing. ''Dratini! Why!? I was gonna give that to Bracken! It's his birthday in a few days and he's been wanting to evolve into a leafeon forever!''

''Calm down. When did you notice it was missing?'' Ivy asked, trying to be helpful.

''Just now, I looked in the bag to see if there was anything I could use to shut you two up-er...'' he noticed the looks the other two were giving him and quickly corrected himself. ''Um, to find something to eat. Then I decided to make sure it was safe, and it's GONE!''

''Hmm.'' Snivy said, ''Do you remember ever taking it out?''

A look of horror crossed Bayleef's face. ''Yes, when we took a break to eat something a while ago, I took it out and told you guys that if you traded it or lost it, I would kill you.''

''And then you went and lost it.'' Snivy snickered.

''Shut up! We must have left it behind!''

''Well, we can just go back for it.'' Ivy reasoned.

''Yeah, like now. Besides, If anyone else finds that stone, we're dead.'' Bayleef said. And with that, the three pokemon hurried back to the place where they'd had their meal, searching desperately for the mossy rock that no longer existed.