A/N: I had this chapter finished a couple days after I posted chapter 6, but I had to make you wait. :) I got on a writing spree and have like this and 2 other chapters~ ^-^ So. Reviews.

Tamara the Hybridian - Thanks, I put some thought into it. The eeveelution place. Not the poem. That was me running off of pure inspiration, like most of my poems. x) And 'clan'? Is my Warriorcats inspiration that obvious? :O

PhantoMNiGHT - Hehe, they were thinkin' about it. *pokes Kato* And nah, I'm pretty sure you spelled it right. :)

SpyroAgain - That's funny. :) Once I had a really weird dream where I was on this floating platform made out of ice cream, and this random person challenged me to a pokemon battle, and I let out a charmander I think. o.0 Then a bunch more weird stuff happened. And yes, they SO need a dark-type gym! I didn't know they never made one. Shame on you, Nintendo!

Okay, well, enjoy the chapter! Oh, and another bonus: a list of everyone in the pack. :)

BONUS: The Pack

Feri - Male flareon, the pack's leader.

Crackle - Male jolteon, father of Kato & Feri's right-paw pokemon.

Lilac - Female espeon, the unofficial pack healer. Daughter of Petal, aunt of Ivy and Rustle.

Wisp - Female espeon, mother of Tessa & Slant.

Swift - Male vaporeon, brother of Shard, mate of Lissa, father of Blue and Green.

Shard - Male glaceon, brother of Swift, uncle of Blue & Green.

Kato - Male jolteon, son of Crackle.

Glimmer - Female glaceon, sister of Lissa, aunt of Blue and Green.

Lissa - Female glaceon, sister of Glimmer, mate of Swift, mother of Blue and Green.

Ivy - Female leafeon, niece of Lilac, granddaughter of Petal, sister of Rustle.

Rustle - Male leafeon, nephew of Lilac, grandson of Petal, brother of Ivy.

Tessa - Female eevee, daughter of Wisp, sister of Slant.

Slant - Female eevee, daughter of Wisp, sister of Tessa.

Cory - Male eevee, son of Growl, brother of Pine.

Pine - Male eevee, son of Growl, brother of Cory.

Blue - Female eevee, daughter of Lissa and Swift, niece of Glimmer and Shard, sister of Green.

Green - Male eevee, son of Lissa and Swift, nephew of Glimmer and Shard, brother of Blue.

Petal - Old female espeon, mother of Lilac, grandmother of Ivy and Rustle.

Growl - Male flareon, missing a front leg & blind in one eye. Father of Cory and Pine.

Je - Male umbreon, an outsider of the pack. Recovering from a broken leg.

"What were they talking about? First Test? Failing?" I was stretched out in Lilac's den on my back, bored (yes, bored enough to attempt rolling onto my back), while she hummed to herself and nosed around in some Oran and Rawst berries, muttering to herself about how if Cory got in one more scrape there wouldn't be enough to last through cold-time.

"Huh? Oh. There are three other packs up that way - " she waved her tail vaguely in the air - "only they're mightyena and arcanine and houndoom packs." Well, arcanine made sense, but mightyena and houndoom? Those were native to Johto and Hoenn. Seeing my puzzled look, Lilac chuckled. "It's said that years and years ago, a trainer came up from Hoenn, a canine enthusiast. He had all sorts of canine pokemon and meant to establish some sort of training place up here. But some of the pokemon wouldn't stand for that and escaped first chance they got, including a few pairs of mightyenas and houndooms. The rest is history," she explained. I grunted slightly. Trainers. Always muddling up everything, including nature, it seemed.

"Anyway," Lilac went on, "they have different traditions and customs from us. They have odd names, like that Little Yip fellow. When they do something important or different, they can even have their names changed, to Sharp Yip, or Little Growl, or whatever. Strange, but that's their way, I suppose." She shrugged.

"They also have tests to prove their worth. Pups take the First Test, finding their way back to their camp from the far end of their territory. When they get older there's a Second Test and a Third Test, too. If you fail you can be denied privileges in the pack, or if you finish exceptionally well you can be given more importance." She wrinkled her nose. "The three packs are much more warlike than we are, almost ruffians, really. They're always fighting amongst themselves and training their pups for war. Weak members of the pack can even be kicked out. They're highly territorial, too. If another predator passes through, they'll try to chase them out or capture them, if they're from another pack, for concern of 'their' prey. Our way, you know, anyone can come through, as long as they don't threaten us," Lilac finished.

Well, that was a lot of new information to take in. "Do they ever try to fight you?" I wondered.

"Not often, though we do occasionally get in skirmishes," Lilac admitted. "If any of us wanders over their borders, though, they'll either be held hostage or chased off. It's a huge hassle, so we try to stay away from them, one of the reasons we decided to just drop that pup off at the border the other day. Although," and here she smiled craftily, "the packs usually try to keep themselves on our good side. That way, if they get in trouble with any of the other packs, they can try and persuade us to help them. I remember seasons ago, when Rico's pack was locked in war with Storm's, and asked for our help. We did, but not after they promised we could hunt and gather in their land for a season." She winked slyly.

Hm. Their society was a lot more complicated than I had thought. In my home forest, there hadn't been any packs with their strict rules and complex social interactions. There were only lone pokemon living in families. Sometimes we bickered, sometimes we helped each other out, mostly we just coexisted. Predators with predators, prey with prey. There were occasional festivals, though. Celebrations to usher in bloom-time or sun-time, to commemorate the first Oran berries ready to harvest.

I mulled over this new information while Lilac went away to drag Cory, whining about why his Coming-of-Age hadn't arrived yet, away from Slant and Tessa, who were about to leave for theirs.

Lilac had told me it usually took a couple of days for a litter of eevees to return after coming of age. Those couple of days were enough to send the pack into a hive of activity, gossiping constantly about what the sisters would return as. Wisp, their mother, was a gentle, fragile thing of a vaporeon who smiled shyly anytime anyone mentioned her pups. From her dancing eyes, you could tell she was really bursting with pride and joy inside.

In those two days, I heard more about Tessa and Slant than I had ever wanted to know.

Tessa was a large, brawny, stocky eevee. Impulsive, a bit hotheaded, maybe not the brightest firefly in the forest. However, no one could deny her devotion and loyalty, both to her sister and to the pack. Rumor had it Cory had his eye on her. By the way he blushed and denied it vehemently every time anyone brought it up, you knew it was true.

Meanwhile, Slant was small and slight, shy like her mother. She was an excellent hunter but held back in battle. She liked to keep to herself but was quite smart and innovative. Pokemon were betting on Tessa becoming a flareon or jolteon and Slant, a vaporeon like Wisp. Of course, it was impossible to really tell, but that didn't stop anyone from making predictions. Evidently, there wasn't often a coming-of-age, and they caused quite a bit of excitement.

The two days dragged by and the third dawned bright and clear. Only a few clouds scudded along the ice-blue sky, while the pale sun sent out a few weak, searching fingers of sunshine to melt last night's frost. It was only a matter of time before the snows came, and then it would be a downward spiral into cold-time. Brown-time seemed to be taking its dying breaths, summoning chilly gusts of wind to strip the trees of their last leaves.

The sun rose in the sky, and pokemon went about their business. Several went out to hunt or forage for edible roots, plants, and berries. (Quoth Lilac: "Bring any healing berries to me, please! That includes you, Cory, I don't care how delicious they are!")

But Tessa and Slant didn't come. Wisp stationed herself by the camp entrance, fishlike vaporeon tail whisking worriedly over her paws. "Maybe one was an espeon," Ivy suggested helpfully. "They don't wake up 'til noon. They'd get back later." Wisp flashed her a grateful look.

Noon came and went. No Tessa and Slant.

I was lying at the edge of the cave mouth to soak up all the drama. Lilac had gone out to remove herself from all the stress, muttering some excuse about keeping the eevees from eating all the useful berries because apparently they were getting stupider every generation. Nice, Lilac. She was nearly old enough to be my mother and sure sounded like it sometimes.

Anyway... back to the present. I called out to the nearest eeveelution - coincidentally, it was Glimmer - and asked, "Doesn't anyone ever come back late?"

She cast an anxious glance back at me. "Once in a while... Very, very rarely, an eevee can actually die or get captured during coming-of-age, because of being attacked by a predator or a trainer or something. But again, that hardly ever happens," she assured me.

"Hm." The mention of trainers made my ears flatten. Mew knows I wished I could forget those months.

Time drifted by. Lilac came back. Wisp was beside herself with worry. The pack made valiant attempts to comfort her. (They didn't succeed.)

The day floated to a close. "We have to look for them!" Wisp begged, and eventually several groups of pokemon went out to tramp through the forest in search of the missing eevees.

I went to sleep.

I was in the forest. My broken leg was totally fine, a spryness in my limbs I hadn't felt for weeks. I felt like I could run for miles.

But I didn't. I glanced behind me, where Blue and Green were tumbling along, staring at everything wide-eyed. Every time I checked on the fluffy little pups a feeling of dread seeped through me, deepening with every minute that passed. But I had to. I had to lead them there. My conscience screamed against it, but my paws took me forward, forward, and the tug was so persistent, always there, always pulling...

"I'm tired," Green complained, looking like he was about to plop down in the dust.

"No, no, we're almost there," I said hurriedly, nosing the pup forward.

I led them to the edge of the forest, where a strange building stood, tiny, missing its front wall, painted pure white. My ears flattened as I nudged Blue and Green across the threshold. I took a shuddery breath, knowing what I would see.

Shelves. Stocked with row upon row of pokeballs. Each holding a pokemon captive. Feri. Tessa. Slant. Glimmer. Lilac. Ivy.

"Wh-where are we?" Blue piped up behind me, trembling.

I closed my eyes, aware of what would happen next. Footsteps. Then, a sound I knew too well: pokeballs hitting home, popping open. The pups would be dissolving into red light now, just another addition to the collection.

"Well done, Je." I almost jumped out of my skin at the voice. The one I never wanted to hear again. "Retur - "

"No!" I burst out, suddenly desperate with panic. I bolted past his legs, flying out into the forest, running at top speed. Then the scene was changing, trees melting into the ground, replaced by tall brick buildings. The buildings of Saffron City.

"JE!" I froze, heart plummeting. Her voice. I turned around, slowly, slowly.

Kiera was in front of me. On the ground. Slumped, lifeless. Crimson splashed the asphalt, one side of her fur singed. Kiera.

Fear and horror spiked me, red-hot, as her body began to move. She raised her head, eyes dull, sporting a crooked leer. "You kill me," she rasped out. "You killed me, brother." She let out the scariest laugh I've ever heard and probably ever will hear.

"Well done." I whipped around. There he was. He'd caught up to me. Arrogant grin, friend ball cocked to throw.

"NOOO
OOOO - "

"Je! For Mew's sake, wake up!"

The voice was female, exasperated. Lilac.

My eyes shot open, frantically searching the ground for a moment before I realized where I was. I slowly looked up, blurred vision clearing to reveal Lilac's concerned face. But now, all she reminded me of was Kiera, from my dream, battered and broken, but speaking, taunting... I flinched, quickly dropping my gaze back to my paws.

"You were twitching and yelling out in your sleep," Lilac went on. "I had to wake you up. Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?" Her honeyed voice slipped into my ears and down my throat, squirming its way into my heart to try to steady the frantic thud-thudding.

"No," I managed to say. It sounded like it came from far away, distant. My ears were stuffed with cotton. I was standing now, my paws itching to run.

"Je?" It took me a long time to recognize who had called to me and what they had said.

"I'm going," I told her faintly.

"Wait, what? Je, you can't - "

I brushed past her, as if in a dream. I started to speed up, bad leg held above the ground. Then, I was running, all-out running, as fast as possible hobbling along with three legs, racing past Wisp whoseemedtobekeepingsentry, intotheforest andoverthehill .

I was in the forest for the first time since breaking my leg, flying past the trees, my gait uneven, everything blurring together into a huge mesh of green.

I'd thought the nightmares had gone.

Two weeks, nightmare-free. My sleep undisturbed, deep and long and dreamless. The longest since my escape. I'd thought they were gone forever.

I was a fool.

Stupid. I'm so stupid.

My chest was heaving, my breath coming in short, ragged pants. Disgust burst inside of me. I was weak. Half a month with almost no physical exercise had reduced me to this? This was the body that used to walk sunrise to sunset, with little food, whatever the weather, for months on end. My lip curled. I had depended on myself. I was already beginning to depend on others again.

I didn't need anyone. Not a trainer, not a pack. And no one else needed me. Wrong - no one else could withstand having me around. I destroyed everything in my path. Everything.

My good legs were hurting now too. Muscles burning. Paw pads sore. Lungs screaming for me to stop. I wouldn't let them. I didn't deserve it.

Had I really thought I could stay there? Lazing around, becoming weak, letting my leg heal? Making connections everywhere, leaving destruction in my wake? After sic weeks, there was no way I was going to leave. Foolish. Stupid.

No more of that. I was getting out of here. Now. I could manage just fine with a broken leg. Sure, I'd make slower progress, prey would be harder to catch. But I'd endure I was strong. I could make it. I didn't need to live, only to survive.

I was becoming disconnected from my limbs now. They moved clumsily, slowing me, twigs snapping in my path, branches whipping into me, thorns snarling my fur. My paws felt like stones.

Suddenly, searing, blasting pain erupted in my leg. My bad one. In a split second I realized the strain had been too much - I'd stepped on it. I dropped to the ground like a boulder, rolling across the soggy leaves. I crashed down a hill, rolling over and over, my leg feeling like it was being ripped apart viciously from within, sharp jabs of pain spiking every part of the rest of me.

An explosion went off in my head, seemingly wracking my brain, cracking my skull. A wave of blackness seared across my vision.

I struggled to rise, but the shadows lunged and wrapped around me, pulling me down, down, down, into the endless darkness.

A/N: DUN DUN DUN DUNNNNNN

Also: Longest chapter yet! :D