Hey, everybody! Duffle back with another chapter of Tales of an Eevee Pack. Don't get used to these quick uploads, I probably won't be able to keep it up until Christmas Break, but I'm gonna try my best to get these chapters out with speed and quality. Either way, enough talking, let's hop right in!

Chapter 15: The Struggle to Survive

The Eeveelutions had to make sure that they were a safe distance away from the town before stopping and regaining their breath. A deafening silence hovered over the group as they sat there in rest, but Glaceon was obviously bothered. Eventually, she couldn't contain herself anymore and stood up, snapping at Vaporeon.

"Vaporeon, what were you thinking?! Was that your idea of a plan?!" Glaceon was very angry right now, and it showed in her voice.

"Wha- Glaceon, how was I supposed to know that was going to happen? I was just taking action!" Vaporeon snapped back at Glaceon.

"We weren't even supposed to fight at all! Flareon was going to deal with it himself, but then you hopped in and messed everything up! And now because of you, not only did we lose the battle, but Flareon is dead and it's all your fault!" Glaceon was seething as another deafening silence hovered over the group.

Sylveon decided that now was a good time to speak up. "Glaceon, I know you're angry, but you mustn't take it out on each other… Flareon might just be alive, I know he's tough enough to do it."

Glaceon was crying at this point. She sniffed and wiped some tears off of her face as she looked over at Sylveon. "Y-Yeah, I suppose you're right… We need to go look for him."

Espeon stepped in, with some good news for a change. "Actually, there is some faint Green Shard energy around the area in which Flareon fell. I think there's a good chance that Flareon is still alive, but he's very injured if that is him."

Jolteon got ready to run. "Alright then, let's do this! Don't worry buddy, I'm comin for ya!"

"Hold it." Espeon cut off Jolteon. "You and Vaporeon stay here, the rest of you go ahead. I need to talk to them."

The rest of the Eeveelutions raised an eyebrow at this, but they decided to move along anyways. Vaporeon and Jolteon sat in front of Espeon with impatient looks on their faces.

"Alright, what is it, Espeon? Don't waste my time, we've got things to do and people to find." Vaporeon said.

Espeon sighed. "This is exactly what I called you over for. You two have been rushing into battle without a plan far too often. I was going to ignore it as it seems that it ended up okay in the end, but this just almost ended up with Flareon dying. Both of you have been endangering the group recently and it's time for you to stop. I am well aware that you wish to do things your way, but you must think about the best interests of the group in these kinds of situations, or else we are going to end up failing in the end."

Vaporeon scowled. "Come on, Espeon. It was just a simple mistake, it won't happen again. I have more self-control than that…"

Espeon glared at Vaporeon. "You'd better have more self-control than that, or else I am worried about your stability. You had no right to do what you did, but yet you did it anyways, because you 'took matters into your own hands', correct? Stop doing that. We are all here because we're supposed to work as a group, not to all be separate and do their own thing. That battle we just had was the toughest one we've had the entire journey, and we're not going to straight up overpower them, we need strategy to take them out. So next time, do us all a favor and please just listen to the plan and follow it, or else we're not going to have very much patience to deal with you in the future."

Jolteon cringed at the long winded insult that Espeon just gave. "Geez… C'mon, Espeon, cut her some slack. She just made one mistake and now you're all over her…"

Espeon shifted her gaze over to Jolteon. "This all goes double for you, Jolteon. Vaporeon has been following in your footsteps lately, and you're being an awful influence on her. You're at the end of your rope, so you better dial it back or there's gonna be some serious punishment coming from all of us. I know you get excited from fighting, but you can get excited without rushing in and getting all of us killed." Espeon looked at both of them. "I don't want to have this conversation ever again. Think about what I said and then you can make a decision from there."

Espeon walked away from the two and started following the pack down the slope, beginning the search for Flareon. Jolteon and Glaceon both sat there in shock as they watched Espeon walk away from them.

"Who does she think she is?" Jolteon asked. "We were doing just fine until that Aerodactyl showed up, we just need to be prepared next time. Right, Vaporeon?"

Vaporeon bit her lip. "Jolteon, Espeon's right… We can't just rush in and take them out anymore. The only reason I'm still standing here right now is because Flareon took the hit for me… All of this was my fault, and I plan to fix it." Vaporeon turned her gaze over to Jolteon. "We need to go search for Flareon and apologize, and then make sure that this never happens again." Vaporeon turned away and began to follow the group as well.

Jolteon just sat there with an annoyed look on his face. "Aw, come on! Really, that's it? Our plans never failed until now…" Jolteon shook his head and walked down the mountain trail, following the other Eeveelutions down to the villages that circled the mountain.

Down at the villages, a Venusaur and a Bulbasaur were walking through the forest. They had heard a commotion earlier and wished to go investigate, and they ended up standing in front of a pile of rocks. The Bulbasaur looked over to the Venusaur.

"Father, why is there a stream of rocks here? Could there have been a landslide that caused this?"

The Venusaur looked closer at the rocks, deep in thought. Eventually, he shook his head. "I highly doubt it. If you look at the texture of the rocks, they look hand crafted. The shape of them seems to be made to cause damage, as you can see from their pointed edges. I don't doubt this is a Rock Slide attack."

"But why would there be a Rock Slide? Was there an attack from the rebellion that we didn't know about?"

"There shouldn't have been. I specifically said to them that we would not make an attack on the town, because we aren't nearly prepared enough to deal with their forces, and failure means that-" Venusaur was interrupted as one of the rocks on the rock slide rustled a little bit, causing it to fall. Venusaur looked shocked. "There's someone alive under there?!"

Bulbasaur looked shocked as well, before she went over and started digging up rocks. Venusaur walked over and started helping too, throwing rocks away from the cluster. Eventually, they found the body of a Flareon under the rocks, and one in awful condition.

"F-Father… This Flareon…"

Venusaur looked grim. "We need to get him immediate medical attention. Go back to the village and prepare a doctor for this Flareon, now!"

Bulbasaur nodded and ran back, as Venusaur picked up the Flareon and started carrying back to the village.

The Eevee Group walked in complete silence as they went down, with the exception of Glaceon's sniveling. Sylveon was trying to cheer up Glaceon as they went down the mountain.

"Sweetie, it's gonna be alright, he's gonna be fine…." Sylveon started petting Glaceon on the back to try and calm her down.

Glaceon just kept sniveling. "B-But h-he sniff got hit sniff directly sniff and f-fell down sniff the mountain!" Glaceon looked like an absolute wreck.

And to be fair, she was. Of all the people that this event had affected, she was the one who took it the hardest. Even though she had Sylveon reassuring her the entire time, she couldn't help but keep crying through the entire walk. Even Leafeon couldn't cheer her up, she was just so far down the rabbit hole. Leafeon walked over to Sylveon.

"Sylveon, I'm really worried about Glace… She hasn't stopped crying, and we're almost down the mountain." Leafeon whispered.

Sylveon closed her eyes and frowned. "She's very worried about him. As much as I don't want to admit it, there is a very good chance that Flareon is dead right now, and I can sense the amount of regret and sorrow that is clouding her mind right now. I think we should just leave her alone for now, we haven't been helping very much at all."

Leafeon looked sorrowful. "I… Alright." Leafeon turned to Espeon. "So, where are we headed?"

Espeon closed her eyes. "If I'm correct, there should be 3 villages lining the bottom of the mountain in the region where Flareon was hit. One of them is the Forest Village, which is littered with Grass and Bug types. The second is a plains area, which has a wide variety of Pokemon, but is mostly dominated by Normal and Fighting types. However, the one we're going to is the third village, which is built around an indent in the mountain itself. It was home to many rock types, but a large pack of electric types migrated here for unknown reasons. They came here for the powerful electric current that this mountain gives off, but the reason for why they left their home in the first place is unknown. Regardless, we need to be careful here. This village is particular is known for its civil wars amongst the Electric and Rock types. That sounds like it wouldn't be a problem, but the Electric types have developed their own technology in order to give them the ability to always have Hidden Power Ice. We must proceed with caution, and we can't stay long. Am I clear on that?"

Vaporeon, who was listening in, nodded. "Crystal."

Espeon gave her a glare. "Vaporeon, don't you dare start a fight here. The consequences of a fight here could be enormous, to the point where we might not even make it out alive. We're basically entering a war zone, so I want all of you to behave yourselves and act like civilized travellers. Got it?"

Vaporeon shifted awkwardly, almost as if she was scared of Espeon. "Y-Yeah, I got it. I won't start anything with the villagers."

Espeon looked over at Jolteon. "That goes double for you. Don't ask about their technology, don't challenge them to a race, don't even speak unless someone from the village addresses you."

Vaporeon and Jolteon were taken aback from the sudden change in tone that Espeon had from previously, so they just nodded quickly and turned away. Espeon sighed and continued walking on the path.

What was that all about? You seem very on edge. Umbreon thought.

You have no idea. I hate being the team leader, you already know this. I'm now responsible for everything that happens in this group, and I can't handle this kind of pressure. Espeon started shaking. I have no idea how Flareon does this, it's so nerve-wracking.

You're worrying about it too much. Jolteon and Vaporeon are the only ones that need to be worried about, but we can handle them. Just focus on how you're gonna talk with the villagers and then we can go from there.

Espeon sighed. Thanks, Umbreon. You always know how to calm me down when I'm stressed.

I know. I can always tell when you're freaking out, you always have jittery moments where you just can't sit still, and you kinda grit your teeth when you get frustrated. Umbreon shrugged. Just a little something I noticed.

Well… you're right. Maybe I should start changing my habits if I wanna keep things a secret from you, hehe. Espeon giggled. Umbreon smiled back and the two continued on their way down the path.

Flareon didn't really know what happened. One second he was pushing Vaporeon out of the way and now he was… wherever he was. He tried to move, but an intense surge of pain went through his body as he did.

Okay, that's not a good idea. Can I open my eyes? I need to know where I am.

Flareon slowly opened up his eyes and looked around to the best of his abilities. It looked like… a small hut. He was on a makeshift cot, and he saw other injured Pokemon besides him.

I must be in a healing ward… But how? I should've died from that attack, especially since it took me down the mountain… There should've been no way I could've survived that attack…

Flareon was taken out of his thoughts when a Bulbasaur walked into the room. She saw that Flareon had opened his eyes and bounded over to him.

"Oh my gosh, you're actually alive! We were actually pretty worried for a while there, we thought you were a goner!" She had an incredibly bright smile on her face.

Flareon looked over at the newcomer and grunted. "W-What… Where am I?"

"You're in the forest village, at the bottom of the mountain! You took a pretty long fall from that Rock Slide attack, but it looks like you're gonna be alright! Here, drink this." The Bulbasaur went over and got a blue mixture, beginning to dump it into Flareon's mouth. He drank it all up, realizing his energy was slowly returning to him.

"Wow… Thank you, I feel a lot better now." Flareon rolled out of the cot and stood up. There was a little bit of pain, but the pain was numbing and didn't really bother him that much. He started walking around a little bit before the Bulbasaur talked again.

"So… What were you doing on the Summit? Were you tryna get into the town?" Bulbasaur asked.

Flareon just shook his head at the question. "I can't say. All I can say is that my mission is very important and I can't afford to fail it. Is there a way that I can get into the town without having to go through the guards?"

"You're not going to get in there at all, unfortunately." Venusaur walked into the room and Bulbasaur smiled.

"Hey Dad, the Flareon recovered! Isn't it great?" Bulbasaur smiled widely.

"Yes, it's wonderful, but could you please leave for a minute? This Flareon and I need to speak privately."

Bulbasaur noticed Venusaur's serious expression and nodded, leaving the room and going outside. Venusaur looked at Flareon with a grim expression.

"Alakazam told me you'd be here. He told me you would try to get into the summit town for some information on the Green Orb shard, but he did not tell me that you would engage the town in a battle, and especially not that they would deploy that damned Aerodactyl. Why did you begin a fight on the Summit?!"

Flareon sighed. "Unfortunately, that was not a part of the plan. One of my friends engaged the enemy forces when they refused to give us access to the town, and so we were forced into a fight. That Aerodactyl took me out, and that's how I ended up down here. I just hope the rest of my Pack is okay…"

Venusaur thought about it for a second. "I see. In that case, I believe your friends will most likely end up at the Cave Village that's in the Mountain Crevice. If your friend is as quick to action as you say, that might be a problem…"

Flareon looked worried. "Why? Is there a problem there?"

"That place is well known for constant civil wars ever since a large number of Electric Types had migrated to the area. In addition, those Electric types seem to be sided with Aerodactyl in the affairs plaguing us in the area recently, so if your friends are noticed by them, it might spell trouble for everyone."

Flareon closed his eyes. "Alright, thank you for informing me. I'll leave for there immediately and warn them of the situation."

Flareon was about to leave the ward before Venusaur interjected. "Hold on, you're not going anywhere."

Flareon looked back. "What? And why not?"

"You're coming with me to the next village meeting. If you want access to the Summit Town, you're going to need our help, whether you like it or not."

"But why do you want to help me invade that town? Isn't it the capital of this area?!" Flareon was very confused.

"I'll show you why we're going to help you get into the Summit Town." Venusaur motioned for Flareon to follow him outside. However… Flareon was not prepared for what he saw.

"No… No, this isn't real. What is this?!" Flareon frantically looked around and saw… statues. Statues of Pokemon, seemingly frozen in place as they were littered across the village.

"This is a product of the alliance between the Electric types and the Summit Village. We recently tried to revolt against the Summit Village because they had been taxing us incredibly hard lately. Their response was an attack on us… By turning our villagers into statues with their new technology. None of us were prepared for their attack, and there was no way to combat it. We surrendered before a full day even passed." Venusaur looked at Flareon. "That's why we need your help. We need you and your friends to help us take down the Summit Village to not only help you guys out, but to also help us. We have an entire army ready to fight…"

Flareon bit his lip. He didn't think this was a good idea, as it could very easily cause everyone to end up dead or frozen, but he didn't exactly have a choice…

"Alright, fine. Let's do this. The Summit Village will fall within the week."

End of Chapter 15

Alright, thanks for reading this chapter! I tried to make it a bit longer to give you guys more to read, so I hope you enjoy! Don't forget to leave a review to show me what you think, and have a nice day!