Prompt: Inspiration

The silence lingered in the burned-down clearing, and the tension between the three Pokémon grew that they could almost physically hear their own racing thoughts.

The Torchic stood in front of his friend, his glaring eyes fixated on the female Eevee whose back was on them as he tried to calm his hard and fast-beating heart.

The Chikorita hid behind him, poking an eye out to stare at the normal-type, her breaths fast and shallow. Despite the cool morning temperature, a bead of sweat had formed on her forehead, and it ran down on the side of her face.

The Eevee gritted her teeth, her wild and glaring eyes locked on the grave before her. Her beat-up body began to beg for her to calm down, but she couldn't. She wouldn't. She trembled slightly, her grinding teeth almost sparking. "...W-where..." she hissed through her teeth. "...Where...were...you?" she hissed each word quietly yet angrily. Suddenly, she stood on all four and spun to face the duo, her anger suddenly replaced by shock after she saw something that was no longer there.

The Chikorita stifled a yelp, hiding behind her friend who breathed a small fume of fire from his beak.

The Eevee ignored them. Or maybe she didn't notice them. She blinked several times, but the ghostly images of her home remained. And then she heard noises. No, they were not noises, and they were not ghostly wails either. She heard her home. She heard the life of her home. She looked left and right, her mouth hung agape as she stared at each and every ghostly frames of the Pokémon she used to know.

She heard a chuckle. A very familiar chuckle. With twitching ears, she turned to the source of the noise, and there, where the grave was before, were a small Eevee cub and a young Espeon, laughing and playing tag with each other. The Eevee, who was about her size, leaped towards the Espeon who purposely stopped and allowed himself to be tackled by the happy little cub.

"Oh no!" the Espeon cried, letting the tackle's momentum push him to the ground. "You caught m—oof!"

"I got ya!" the Eevee cried happily, bouncing on top of the psychic-type.

"O-okay—oof! Oka—ow! Get off!" the Espeon shoved her playfully. "I surrender!"

"Woo-hoo!" the Eevee cried victoriously, running around the slowly rising psychic-type in a circle. She stopped and smiled up at him, tail wagging. "What should we play next?"

"Yo!" a voice interrupted them from a distance.

Blinking, the Espeon turned his head towards the source, while the Eevee sighed, her ears and features drooping.

"Aww... But you just got here!" the Eevee whined.

The Espeon chuckled and nodded at the Charmeleon a few meters away before turning back to the little cub. He gently patted her head with a paw. "S-sorry... Duty calls, I suppose..."

"Can't you stay at least for a day?" she asked with a pout.

The Espeon bit his lower lip. His team had been accepting mission after mission ever since they became a very strong rescue team, which in turn robbed him of his time to be with his little sister. "Hey... Tell you what," he began, smiling at her. "After this mission, I'll ask our leader to give me a vacation."

The Eevee grunted, glaring on the ground. "Rescue teams are stupid. Those helpless Pokémon are stupid!"

"Hey now—"

"Why do they always have to wander off even though they knew they're too weak to defend themselves?!" she yelled.

The Espeon smiled helplessly at his little sister. He took a breath and sighed. "Once you grow older, you'll understand the importance of helping other Pokémon..."

"Yo! Hurry up!"

"Gimme a minute!" the Espeon shouted back at the Charmeleon who was waving a clawed arm at him. He rolled his eyes. "Sheesh... It's not like the world's going to end in the next hour anyway." He slightly shook his head before turning back and smiling at his sister. "I guess I should be going now."

"Do ya have to?" the Eevee pouted yet again.

"Honestly, no, but I can't let my team down, and whoever it is that need our help."

"Why can't the other teams do it?" she asked.

He took a breath and sighed through his nostrils. "There has been a lot of help requests lately. And with the limited number of—"

"I get it, I get it," the Eevee hissed. She shook her head. "But that doesn't mean you'll have to do it!"

"I have to, unfortunately... Well, me and my team, I mean," he chuckled lamely, patting her head. "Else, how are you gonna buy the stuff that you want?"

The Eevee rolled her eyes and batted her brother's paw away. "I dunno. What about carpentry?"

"I lack the muscle."

"But you can float stuff!"

"We're gonna have to take another request," the Charmeleon a few meters away said very loudly towards his two companions. "I think our client's already dead..."

"All right, I'm coming!" the Espeon groaned, rolling his eyes. He threw a sad smile at his little sister. "I made a promise. After this, I'm taking a vacation. As for you," he playfully poked her nose, making her chuckle. "You have to promise to behave yourself."

"Until you get back, right?"

"...I was hoping until you're old enough for me not to remind you often."

"No deal." She stuck her tongue at him.

He chuckled. "Fine. Until I get back then."

"Deal!" She then threw herself at him, hugging his two front paws, nuzzling them. "Don't get hurt."

The Espeon chuckled. "I'll try not to."

"You better," she let him go and glared at him.

Her brother chuckled. With a sigh, he leaned down and gave her a nuzzle. "See you soon, sis."

After a few seconds, he pulled his head back, stood on all four, and walked towards his impatient team mates. As he walked further, the scene started to fade. With a blink, the Eevee let out a breath she didn't realize she held, and she suddenly sprinted towards the fading psychic-type. However, as soon as she was about to reach him, he and everything else disappeared. She skidded to a stop, breathing heavily. After a few seconds, she slowly sat down, a few tears running down from her eyes.

Meters behind her, the Torchic and the Chikorita stared at the slowly fading orb that floated above the grave where the Eevee sat in front of a few minutes ago.

When the orb finally disappeared, the Chikorita blinked. "D-did... Did you just see what I just saw?" she asked quietly.

The Torchic, dumbfounded, only nodded in response. He didn't realize that the Eevee was approaching them until she walked past that particular grave. Startled, he quickly prepared himself in case she attacked them.

The Eevee stopped two feet away and glared at them. She had no idea how rescue teams work, but these two looked too young to be one, she thought. She sighed, her ears drooping. Earlier, she wanted to fault them for coming too late to 'rescue' them. But she knew it wasn't their fault. Still, one fact remained that really stung her aching heart.

She was alone now.

Yet, even though he was gone, her brother showed her that piece of memory. It gave her something to think about, at least for the time being.

Letting out another sigh, she slowly looked up at the duo who were still unsure if she was a friend or a foe. Earlier, she wanted them to end her. She no longer had any reason to live, but...

She took a breath to steel herself. "I..." She exhaled, shivering slightly. She took another breath to calm herself. Was she one of those helpless Pokémon that needed to be rescued now? She closed her eyes. "...I...d-don't want to be alone..." she said, mentally cursing herself for finishing it with a sniffle. She snapped back to reality when she felt something hugging her. Blinking, she found herself being hugged by the Chikorita.

"You're not alone," the Chikorita gently whispered.

Something in those simple words broke her, for she suddenly shivered as tears once again rolled down from her eyes. Her brother showed her that memory, and as she sobbed, she thought that maybe he didn't want her to suffer from what happened and move on. She doubted that she could do it, but she mentally made a new promise for him, that she would continue to live for him, no matter what.