A/N: I'm truly touched by your consistent reviews, and all the praise that you've given me over the course of writing this story. We're close to the end now, with three more chapters yet to be posted (if I follow my plan). Sorry this chapter is late; there was homework, and our wi-fi was down for a couple days, and I was sick... well, I could give you about ten reasons, but you probably wouldn't accept any of them, so just enjoy the story!

Tall buildings, golden-brown in daylight, now rose up darkly on either side of us, silhouetted against a blackened, star-sprinkled sky. The soft call of a pidgey punctured the cool night air.

The rough sidewalk scraped uncomfortably against my paw pads, and there wasn't a tree in sight. But that didn't matter; at least, I told myself I didn't. This was the first time I'd been alone with Rikki in - ever, I realized with a blink. It felt uncomfortable, with no one else there, but good, strangely good. I found myself edging closer to him until my brown fur brushed his pale leg. Is this right? Is this... me? The thought presented itself, but I quickly silenced it. I shouldn't worry about whether this is right or wrong, not now. Just live in the moment. Think about it later. The coaxing words ran through my mind, and I smiled.

Rikki, however, was not in such a cheerful mood. "The only super-effective pokemon I have is Haunter..." My ears pricked. Ink was a Haunter now? "...and she's also weak to psychic-type moves, because of the poison type. Machop will be weak against Sabrina's pokemon as well." He seemed to be talking half to himself, half to me. "I'll have to just go all-out with my most powerful pokemon... Arcanine, Ivysaur, maybe you."

"Vui," I agreed. My round brown-black eyes roved the landscape. The asphalt stretched out like a field, and buildings populated the land as thickly as trees. Where there was grass, it was cut short and arranged in neat rectangles. I wouldn't choose to spend my free time here, but it was the activity, not the setting, that really mattered.

A loud, "Hey!" burst the silence. My long ears twitched, and both Rikki and I turned to face the sound. A boy, a bit younger than Rikki, was scrambling across the street toward us. A kadabra followed him determinedly, if at a more sedate pace. "Let's have a battle, you and me!"

"Well..." Rikki hesitated as he heard the boy's request.

"C'mon, it'll be good practice for you. Don't tell me you're not here for a Marsh Badge," the boy added seriously.

"Okay," Rikki relented. "But we can't just battle in the middle of the road."

The boy brightened. "Follow me!" With renewed vigor, he dashed back across the road, the rest of us in tow. I fell back, matching my pace to the kadabra's, which was rather difficult considering my short legs. We regarded each other silently for a while. Finally, it - he - spoke. But not out loud; his voice reverberated in my mind. I can defeat you or any other pokemon your master throws at me! he claimed. I went rigid as he conveyed his telepathic message. It seemed too much like the friend ball, seeming to almost whisper to me, but in the form of my own thoughts.

I forced myself to keep walking. "We'll see about that!" I countered confidently, although I had my own doubts about defeating the imposing psychic-type. Yes, we shall see, he replied coolly, and a steely glint entered his eyes.

I extended my paw to take another step and recoiled in shock. Instead of more hard pavement, my paw had brushed close-cropped, dew-laden grass. So enveloped had I been in talking to the kadabra, I hadn't known the path his trainer had chosen to take. We were entering, according to the boy, the "Saffron Central Park". Trees were scattered sparsely across the field, with a playground in the distance. We assembled in a wide stretch of obstacle-free grass, with Rikki and the boy taking their positions opposite each other.

"Of course, I'll be using Kadabra," the boy declared. Kadabra took a stance in front of him. "In case I'd forgotten, my name is Casey," he added.

"I'm Rikki," my trainer told him, "and I'll be using..." His hand hovered uncertainly over his pokeballs.

I took the chance. "Evui!" I interjected firmly, going to stand in front of him.

Rikki gave a soft laugh. "Apparently I don't have a choice. Eevee will be my battler!"

"You can go first," Casey volunteered, evidently itching with excitement by the way he was shifting his feet.

"Eevee, start with a Sand-Attack!" Rikki ordered after a moment's thought.

"Vee!" I agreed, dashing out, then turning on my heels and kicking a torrent of sand directly into Kadabra's face, who tried to dodge, but I had already done sufficient damage. Like always, my mind cleared of any conflicting thoughts. It was just me and the battle, crystal-clear, my attention focused completely.

Kadabra coughed and blinked sand out of his eyes. "Disable!" Casey ordered. Kadabra grunted, thrusting out his spoon. It glowed red and, to my shock, released a pulse of psychic energy that traveled toward me at startling speed. I tried to heed Rikki's urges to dodge, but it simply swerved in its course and hit me. I felt an icy jolt shiver through me, and when I reached out to the memory of Sand-Attack, I found that to my alarm, it was simply gone from my memory. "Ha!" Casey cried smugly, "Kadabra can control attacks with his telepathic powers! Getting sand in his eyes won't slow him down!"

"Quick Attack!" Rikki commanded, unfazed (at least outwardly). I dashed toward Kadabra, plowing into the humanoid at full speed. But he barely seemed to feel the attack, standing his ground and falling back only a few paces.

"Let's end this quickly," Casey muttered grimly, then pointed dramatically, clearly enjoying himself. "Kadabra... Psybeam!"

"Dabraa!" Kadabra cried, holding out his hands, the spoon inbetween them. A huge ray of psychic energy, rippling with every color imaginable, shot forth from his shining spoon. My eyes widened and I scrambled to heed Rikki's needless cry of "Dodge!", but once again, it followed my move, plunging straight into me.

Pure white pain seared through every one of my veins, like I was being electrified. I slumped to the ground, with a weak "veee". When I did manage to get to my paws, I felt faint and dizzy. Colors blurred around me and the world spun under my feet. "Ha, it's confused!" Casey cried out triumphantly. "Finish it off with one last Psybeam!"

Somewhere nearby, I heard Kadabra's signature cry, fear pulsing through me. I know its spoon would be raised by now, ready to unleash another painful psychic beam. I braced myself, knowing it would soon be over, wild fear pounding through me. But then, Rikki's desperate cry of "Eevee!" brought me back to earth. I can't lose! I thought. Rikki will never have the confidence to face Sabrina then... and he'll lose faith in me. I can't lose!

Deep within me, something stirred. Subconsciously, I knew what I had to do to win. Doubts pulsed through me, but I silenced them. It was time. My vision steadied just in time to see myself emitting a bright white glow. My shaggy brown fur rippled, changing to deep black with yellow rings. My stocky build was exchanged for a more streamlined form. My eyes went from being round and brown-black to red and narrow. I felt like I was being stretched and pulled and pushed into a new shape.

The past flickered before my eyes, full of different colors and images, from the fateful day that started it all, to this very moment, equally as life-changing.

This meadow was Keira's favorite place to play with me. Why had I come here? I knew it would just make me feel even worse, if that was even possible. Keira and I would pretend what we would be when we evolved from eevees. I would be an espeon, and she would be a leafeon. I just collapsed there and then. The tears came. I sobbed my heart out until the tears wouldn't come. The world should end, I thought bitterly. First Lunan, then Keira.

Dad beckoned me over, and I pressed myself against his warm body. The flareon spoke darkly to me, a shadow passing over his face. "As you know, trainers capture pokemon in poke balls, but there is more than just the standard type of poke ball," he explained. "One such type is what they call a friend ball. When caught by one of those, your personality, your will for freedom, is completely erased and destroyed."

I barely thought as I wrestled myself from Mom's iron grip, twisting around just in time as the sinister poke ball was about to hit her. Instead, it collided with me, and the hard object hitting home felt like some stupid mankey had thrown a rock at me. I felt a strange tingling sensation, my mother's panicked howl sounding like it came from a long distance away. Then the blackness came.

"Eevee, use Sand-Attack!" Only then did I notice the rattata that stood several feet away, long teeth bared and trying to look fierce in its battle posture. Oh, yeah, like I'm going to listen to you. You're the one who stole me from my home. "Didn't you hear me? Sand-Attack!" The trainer yelled, a note of anger in his voice. Or maybe... I kicked up sand with my back paws, which flew straight into the trainer's face - he had been bending down to inspect me, or something like that, maybe hit me?

I steeled myself to run when the trainer yelled, "Machop, attack! Use low kick!" Rock hesitated, looking conflicted. Then his expression darkened and he ran forward, sweeping one of his legs across and knocking mine from under me, leaving me defenseless on the ground. I struggled to get to my paws. "Eevee, don't just sit there!" the trainer yelled. "Fight back!"

"Your description is wrong, small one!" boomed a deep voice. I whirled around to see the arcanine, anger sparking in his eyes. "A friend ball merely cultivates feelings of friendship for your trainer more quickly. You obey him because you wish to, because you're friends." Before I knew what I was saying, I snarled, "But to cause that so-called 'friendship', it plows through anything that stands in its way! Feelings, personality, your own desires!" For several moments we faced each other, a small eevee with defiance written all over his face and a powerful arcanine looking taken aback at my sudden anger.

"It's Keira," I said in an almost-whisper. "It's her face... It's just gone. I can't remember it." Over time, Rock had heard many tales of Keira, my parents, and my home forest. "I..." Rock didn't seem to know what to say. "I'm sorry, Je." My ear twitched, but otherwise I did not respond. I jumped when Vinny spoke, his deep voice reverberating in gentle tones. "Many pokemon get used to being captured. Pokemon all leave their family eventually. They get used to it, enjoy becoming stronger. They don't grieve." Here the ivysaur's voice became soft. "But you're different. You really care about your family... don't you?" he asked.

The boy - Rikki, I suppose - grinned and took the piece of metal, apparently the "badge" that he had wanted so much. As it passed from her hand to his, an icy cold jolt went through me, making me straighten up, startled. My mind whirled, as did the room, blurring into confusing colors. And when the world steadied, I felt... different somehow. My trainer - my? a part of me squeaked - walked up to me and patted me. I stiffened, but... something suppressed the urge to snap at him. His gentle touch felt... nice. Nice? "You did a good job, Eevee. Return."

I swallowed hard. "Do you ever think about me?" I paused. "I... I'm so confused. I know I have to leave, but I can't! I'm too scared, and the friend ball! But if I stay? What if I forget about everything I ever knew before?" I was practically yelling now. "Do you hear me, Keira? I just want it all to stop. I want to... I want to wake up!" I sounded so foolish for yelling to no one, so childish. But I couldn't stop. "Why was I captured? Everything was perfect! I hate what I'm becoming, but what can I do? What?"

Then the images faded, and all the troubling thoughts, all my misgivings about Rikki, all went away, replaced by peace - something I hadn't felt in a long time, and I let out a little sigh as they left me. I felt something else slipping away too... my memories, the past... I tried desperately to clutch them back, but they were already gone. The slightest impression that my old self wouldn't like this twinged in my stomach, but then it faltered and died. I had evolved, I had changed, and this was my fate.

"Umbreon," I purred, turning to face my opponent.