An Age of Valour
by the Lady of the Mists
Chapter Thirty-seven: Umbreon's Family
The island was bright and cheerful as the three trainers were walking through the city, already chattering about their next gym battle, which was in Olivine City, just a ferry ride away. Jesse had already bought the tickets, so they would be on their way the next day, which left them plenty of time to do some sightseeing and barring interruptions, they would be on their way to Olivine the next day.
"Now that you've said that, Jess, we're bound to find some kind of interruption," Lydia groaned as they sat next to the ocean water.
"You're such a pessimist," Jesse groaned, sticking his tongue out at her. She did the mature thing and retaliated by scooping up some water and splashing him with it. "Hey!"
Jennie laughed as he splashed her back. "It's so nice that you two are so mature," she commented and got herself splashed in retribution. "Okay, that does it!" She jumped into the water, close the edge, so when she jumped, a huge spout of water gusted up and struck both Lydia and Jesse.
"Hey, watch it!" Lydia shrieked, scrambling away from the water's edge as Jennie re-emerged, throwing water up on top of them.
"Yeah, cut it out, Jen, your hair's getting soaked," Jesse retorted, leaning down to help her out of the water. She gave a tug and pulled him straight into the water headfirst.
Lydia giggled as she watched the siblings splashing each other with the water, but looked away as she heard shouting close by, turning around to see a Vaporeon racing towards them with an almost ecstatic look on her face with a boy, her trainer, in close pursuit.
"Hey, Vaporeon!" he yelled, trying to catch up with her. "Come on, what's gotten into you? Mom and Dad are gonna kill me if we don't get back soon! Come on, please?" But Vaporeon paid him no mind just as Umbreon let out a squeal of delight, practically attacking the water Pokémon as she reached them.
"Umbreon, what—" Lydia's mouth opened as the two Eevee evolutions greeted one another, affectionately hugging on another. She stared at her Pokémon before looking towards the other trainer, whose mouth was open in shock. "What's going on?"
"Not a clue," he said, shaking his head in bewilderment, looking towards the two. He crouched down to the two Pokémon's level and looked at his curiously. "Vaporeon, what's up? Do you know this Umbreon?"
Lydia looked towards the two, an idea forming in her head slowly. It couldn't be . . . she thought before looking towards the redhead trainer. "You don't happen to live here, do you?" she asked and he glanced up at her.
"Sure," he replied with a shrug. "I live on the other side of the island, with my mom and dad. Dad runs the local pharmacy. Why do you want to know?" he asked suspiciously.
"Umbreon said that he had family that lived on Cianwood," Lydia answered, looking towards her Pokémon carefully. "Where did you get your Vaporeon from?"
"From my parents," the redhead answered. "My mom's Espeon and my dad's Jolteon had two Eevee together and they gave me the younger of the two to raise. The other one disappeared one night and . . . was never seen again," he finished slowly, turning to look at Umbreon, his mouth open in surprise, his eyes wide with shock.
"Umbreon," Lydia said, crouching down to look at him. "Is this your sister?" The bark of affirmation from both of the Pokémon told Lydia that she was right on target.
The redhead looked astonished as he looked at Umbreon. "Well, what do you know?" he said, shaking his head. "I thought that you were a goner, boy. How've you been?" He reached down and scratched Umbreon affectionately. "Boy, you sure have grown. You're his trainer?" he asked, looking towards Lydia, who nodded.
"Yeah, I'm Lydia Talon," she said, holding out her hand and he shook it.
"Eric James, nice to meet you," he replied, grinning at her just as Jesse and Jennie emerged from the water, both of them soaking wet. Lydia shook her head in amusement.
"It's so nice that you two are so mature," she told them both. Jennie stuck her tongue out at her and Lydia grinned. Erik was hiding a smile behind his hand as Jesse rolled his eyes.
"Excuse us for having a little bit of fun," he retorted. "Besides, I had to get some revenge against my sister here." Lydia shook her head as he noticed Erik. "Who's this?"
"Oh, this is Erik James and Vaporeon," Lydia introduced them. "Erik, these are my friends Jesse and Jennie Turner." She looked at the siblings. "Vaporeon is apparently Umbreon's sister."
Jennie's mouth opened in surprise. "You're kidding!" she exclaimed, looking towards the two Pokémon, who were talking a mile a minute. "Oh, wow, that is amazing! What are the odds of that?" she said as she watched Vaporeon eagerly, admiring the shiny coat that the water Pokémon had. "Your Vaporeon is really beautiful."
"Thanks," Erik said, looking pleased. "You must be a breeder, right?" Jennie looked up at him surprise. "You can always tell around here. Most of the trainers who come here are either heading for the gym or wanting to check out my dad's pharmacy for the latest in Pokémon nutrition. He does lectures on them every day. Speaking of, one's starting in a couple hours," he added, glancing down at his watch. "I should get back, see if Dad needs any help. You guys want to come? I know it'd be interesting and I know Espeon and Jolteon would love to see Umbreon."
"Please can we go?" Jennie said eagerly to her brother, who exchanged a look with Lydia, who chuckled as she nodded. "Yes! Come on, let's hurry up, I want to get a good seat!" She practically was jumping in the air as she scooted off back towards the city. Erik, Lydia, and Jesse all exchanged amused looks as they followed her, Umbreon and Vaporeon right behind them, talking a mile a minute.
--
They made good timing to the pharmacy; Erik had to go help his dad during the lecture, leaving the trio to get good seats and listen to Mr. James' talk about proper Pokémon care. Lydia was surprised that they were able to get seats, considering how full it got in the pharmacy before the lecture started. Even some of the older trainers had gathered in to listen.
It was actually pretty interesting; he went into detail on what kinds of foods were good and bad for each different types of Pokémon and what different kinds of food to mix together. Lydia listened carefully while Jennie jotted down everything she could for future references. When it was finally over, she scurried around the store to pick up various items that had been recommended by Mr. James while Erik headed towards them.
"So, what did you think?" he asked them. "Not a bad turn out. Dad's been getting more visitors than usual during his lectures. Your sister seemed to enjoy it," he added with a smirk as Jennie continued to pick up some items.
"She'll enjoy anything that has to do with breeding," Lydia answered as a pleasant woman headed over to them, smiling at Erik. Due to the resemblance between them, Lydia guessed that this had to be his mother.
"Erik, darling, have you made some new friends?" she asked, smiling towards Lydia and Jesse. "How do you do? I'm Marion James. I hope you enjoyed my husband's lecture?"
"It was very fascinating, ma'am," Lydia answered with a smile. Marion looked happy as Umbreon jumped up at her heels and she stared down at the dark Pokémon in astonishment.
"My word, it can't be," she whispered, sinking down onto the ground to peer down at Umbreon. "Can it?" She looked towards her son, who nodded, grinning wildly.
"Yeah, Mom, that's the Eevee that we lost a couple years ago," he explained. "And this is his trainer Lydia Talon and her friend Jesse Turner."
"Oh, Espeon is going to be thrilled when she learns about this," Marion said excitedly. "Come along, I'll take you out back."
She led the group out of the store. Jennie declined, as she was still picking stuff up. Stuff that she probably didn't need and would be loaded down later by. But Lydia didn't tell her that; that was her business. Instead, she followed Mrs. James out into the backyard, where there were a few Pokémon lounging about, an Espeon and a Jolteon among them.
Umbreon gave a bark and Lydia knew in that instant that they were his parents as he ran up to them, greeting them affectionately. Espeon was nearly in tears as she hugged her son and Jolteon wrapped a paw around Umbreon and his mate before their daughter joined in the embrace.
Lydia smiled as she watched the scene, her own tears starting to blur her vision. "I don't think I've ever seen a more beautiful sight," she whispered. Jesse grinned as he wrapped an arm around her.
"Yeah, it's pretty amazing," he agreed.
"I haven't seen Espeon this happy since before little Eevee was taken," Mrs. James sighed, placing a hand to her heart as she sat down on the bench. "It was such a terrible time for her, for all of us. And Eevee was so little . . . just a baby . . . how ever did you find him?"
She hadn't wanted to tell Mrs. James about the pain and anguish that Umbreon had gone through before he'd met her, but everything came pouring out anyway. Mrs. James simply listened as Lydia recounted everything that had happened with Umbreon ever since they had teamed up together, but to her surprise, she patted Lydia on the arm.
"It seems to me that you needed Umbreon just as much as he needed you," she said softly. "I'm so glad that he found such a kind and compassionate trainer. But it's good to see him again."
Biting her lip, Lydia looked towards Umbreon, a pain searing through her heart as she watched the dark Pokémon, so happy and delighted to be reunited with his family. And they were equally delighted. "Yeah," she agreed softly, "he does seem happy."
Jesse seemed to read her expression and know what was going on inside of her head. "Don't even go there, Lydia," he said, shaking his head. "Umbreon might be happy to see his family, but you're the one he wants to be with. Don't even do it."
"Do what?" Mrs. James looked confused, then realisation crossed her face and she smiled. "Oh, dear, you don't think that Umbreon would rather be here than with you, do you? Lydia, I can honestly say that after everything that you two have been through, it's unlikely that he would let you even consider leaving without him."
"But he's so happy here," Lydia protested. Mrs. James nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Of course he is," she agreed. "But he's happy with you too. Can't you see that the two of you share a bond that isn't easily extinguished? I remember all too well how strong the bond between a trainer and her first Pokémon is. It was that way with Espeon and myself." She smiled towards the psychic Pokémon as she was reunited with her son. "And even though she's missed her son very much, Espeon knows that his place is with you now."
"So long as you take care of him, Lydia Talon," Espeon's voice echoed in her head and she looked towards Espeon to see her purple eyes focused on the brunette trainer. She nodded grimly.
"I will," she assured Espeon. "I promise."
Mrs. James insisted on them staying for dinner so that Umbreon could be reacquainted with his family. Erik was eager to talk to them about the Johto League, which he would be entering in when the tournament approached. He had gone back home for serious training after he'd gotten his eighth badge. "So maybe I'll see you guys at the Silver Conference," he said.
"It'll be nice to battle against an old friend," Lydia said with a grin. "Just don't expect me to go easy on you just because we're friends."
"Wouldn't expect anything less," Erik said, grinning back. "Just promise to fight your hardest and I won't think anything less of you when you lose." She snorted, but didn't retaliate as they, unsuccessfully, tried to help Mrs. James clean up the kitchen, but she ordered them out.
"I won't have my guests helping out," she insisted. "Now, go enjoy the last few hours of sunlight. Besides, I'm sure that you have to get back to the Pokémon Centre before curfew." Lydia nodded; curfew was at eleven o'clock and was on the other side of the island. They had to leave by at least nine if they wanted to get there before it was closed.
After they'd played with Umbreon's family for awhile, Lydia and her friends eventually headed back to the Centre, promising the James' that they would come and say goodbye the next day before they left.