Hello, everyone! DuffleGamer here with another chapter of Tales of an Eevee pack. Nothing here to report on, so let's just hop in to the next chapter!

Chapter 18: The End of an Era

The Eevee Pack had finally managed to reach the front of the castle, after taking a bit of a detour to avoid the smoke and fire that Melvin had caused. However, to their surprise, it turns out that Melvin hadn't come to the castle quite yet.

Probably causing more chaos… Espeon shook her head. We need to finish this quickly and get back to our main goal… We can focus on Melvin more later.

"Hey, so, Espeon…" Espeon snapped out of her own thoughts and looked over at Leafeon. "How're we supposed to get into the castle? It's not like they're just going to let us in the front gate…"

Espeon closed her eyes and tried to divine the area inside the castle. As she focused, she could imagine the inner layout of the entire castle, from the walls and even outlines of certain people. Eventually, she found the room she was looking for and found a small crevice in said room. She opened her eyes back up and looked at the group. "There's a small crevice in the back of the castle which leads into the control room. That lever should allow us to open up the main gates and allow our army to get into the castle town and come give us support. I wasn't able to see much past that, but we should be able to make the plan as we go from there."

Everyone nodded and followed Espeon as she led her group to the back of the castle.

Melvin continued his maniacal chuckling as he kept walking through the mass destruction that he had caused. He was having a great time as he burned down every building that he walked past on his way to the castle.

"Gee, it sure is great to have my own body again! And it came with the pre-evolved bundle, how generous! Ahaha- Grk!"

Melvin doubled over as he felt a sharp pain in his head. He grit his teeth and stood back up.

"Augh… Stop that! This isn't your body and it never was! So why don't you be good and stop resisting?!" The pain stopped and Melvin smiled before continuing his walk towards the castle. However, as he did, he heard a loud noise from outside the town. The sound of… cheering, but not of the army that Melvin wanted to win.

"Hm… How bothersome, it looks like the other part of the plan didn't go well…" Melvin shrugged and smiled. "Ah well, no skin off of my back. I'll just take what I need and ditch these suckers once I've looted the castle! And then I won't have to worry about food for a looooong time, hehe."

Melvin's walk turned into a run as he rushed towards the castle.

Espeon looked around the room, making sure the coast was clear before she ducked through the crevice, motioning for the other 3 to follow. As she got in, she quickly pulled the lever towards the side that had "Open" on it.

"Alright, that should give our army a chance to enter the town and give us some support. For now, we need to find where they're keeping the statues and try to rescue the other 3."

Sylveon smiled and walked to Espeon as she said that. "Wow Esp, you're really doing well as our leader~ You've got this situation all figured out!"

Espeon giggled and blushed a little at the compliment. "Oh, well, you know… Just filling in for Flareon while he's gone…" In truth, Espeon felt pretty happy about how well she was doing. She had completed her part of the plan without any hiccups, and she felt really proud of that. She smiled before walking out of the room and beginning the search for the statue room.

Espeon, hold on. I need to talk to you. Espeon looked back as Umbreon tapped her shoulder and spoke to her.

Umbreon? What seems to be the problem?

Don't you think this is all a little… too easy? We've had no opposition this entire time. Wouldn't there be some opposition at the crevices? If Melvin knew about them, surely the people living here would know as well…

Espeon closed her eyes and thought about that for a second before quickly coming to a realization. A panicked look came across her face as she turned to the rest of the Pack. "Guys, we have a problem. This is a trap."

Leafeon and Sylveon gave a confused look between each other before they looked back at Espeon. Leafeon was the first to speak up. "Espeon, what're you talking about? We've gotten in here completely fine. If there was a trap, surely they would've sprung it before we actually entered the castle, right?"

Espeon shook her head. "No, this is exactly what they wanted us to do. Don't you think it's mighty convenient that Melvin appears the night before the battle in order to lead us to crevices that would separate us from the army? And isn't it very convenient that we managed to get this far into the castle without any opposition whatsoever?"

Sylveon's expression worsened as she took in all this information. She bit her lip and spoke back to Espeon. "Hm… You're right, this all seems a little-" Sylveon looked ahead and noticed some Boldores walking over to them. "Guys, get down!" Sylveon tackled the other 3 Eeveelutions into a room in order to avoid the guards that were walking towards them.

Leafeon grunted as she stood up and brushed herself off. "Whew, thanks Sylveon… That was a close one, but you managed to get us in the clear."

"No, you're not in the clear." The Eeveelutions were surprised as they heard another voice, watching as a Braviary flew down from his perch and looked at the Pack with a serious expression. "In fact, you could not be in more danger than you currently are."

As the champion army paraded over their victory, their general noticed that the gates to the town were beginning to open wide. The Aerodactyl's expression twisted into a wide grin as he looked on with satisfaction. "Well well… I believe it's time to finish this, once and for all."

"Oh no, I don't think so." Aerodactyl turned over and saw Golisopod walk over to him. "We still haven't gotten our payment for helping you, so you better pay up. Now."

Aerodactyl sneered as he looked at the bipedal bug. "You still haven't completed your agreement. We promised that you would be paid after we have completed the entire mission. So you can walk into the castle with me and remove the Eevees, or you can walk away without any payment. Am I clear on this?"

Golisopod growled, but eventually nodded and walked back towards his army. Aerodactyl shook his head and looked towards the castle. "Men, back towards the castle! It's time that we finish this, now!" The army cheered as they rushed into the town.

Sylveon barely dodged the sharp blades of wind that rushed past her, rolling on the ground before getting back up on her feet and blasting the Braviary with a Dazzling Gleam. The Braviary quickly blew it away with Gust and rushed down at her with Brave Bird, making direct contact as Sylveon was sent flying into a wall.

"Gack!" Sylveon made contact as she fell out of the hole she made, hitting the ground with a loud thud as Espeon stepped up. She used Psychic to pick up some rocks and chuck them at the Braviary, who quickly dodged them.

"Hm… It seems you're a lot weaker than your reputation would suggest… No matter, I suppose I'll just dispose of you all myself!" Braviary started to use Bulk Up, having his physical form drastically increase in size as his Attack and Defense increased. With the new boost, Braviary rushed towards Umbreon and used Crush Claw on him, causing an unpleasant sound as Umbreon reeled in pain.

This is not going well… Without our full strength, this guy is just running over us. He's even stronger than Aerodactyl! Espeon shook her head and use Psyshock as she surrounded Braviary with purple balls of energy, releasing the attack as they burst on contact with Braviary. Espeon looked on as smoke covered Braviary, but the smoke caused her to be caught off guard as Braviary rushed her with Quick Attack, smacking her away as he swooped down and came back to the sky. Leafeon tried to hit Braviary with Leaf Storm, but she just missed him as he flew away with the speed boost of Quick Attack.

"Just give up! There's no way scum such as yourselves are going to be able to defeat me. You've barely even landed a hit, and you don't have any reinforcements coming!" Braviary said with a very proud tone of voice. However, his confident attitude quickly disappeared as he saw who had entered the castle.

"Weeeeeell howdy ho!" Melvin smiled and chuckled as he surveyed the situation. "It seems that a certain couple of nuisances beat me to the castle, and are quickly getting disposed of. How convenient!" Melvin switched his attention to Braviary. "Well well, it seems that the King is getting involved with this rabble. I must admit, I'm impressed that you folk could even get his attention in the first place."

Espeon grit her teeth. Dammit, we're already weakened, and now we have to deal with Melvin… We're not going to be able to control him if he goes crazy!

Braviary quickly swiped his wings aside, causing a strong gust of wind. "Enough! I will not allow this blasphemy and disobedience in my presence!" Braviary used Brave Bird and dove straight at Melvin, trying to deal as much damage as possible with his first strike.

"Hehe… Wrong move, Blue Blood." Melvin used his own Flare Blitz and the attack connected with Brave Bird, causing an explosion as Braviary was sent flying. "Don't challenge me to a direct fight like that, I'm a lot stronger than I look."

Braviary hit the ground with a hard thud as he skid across the floor, smoking from the burns that Flare Blitz had caused. "What the… How did you…"

"SACRED FIRE!" Melvin was surrounded with the familiar Green Light as he blasted Braviary with a large cluster of Blue Flames, completely surrounding Braviary in the Blue Flame as he cried out in pain, collapsing to the floor as the fires finally died down.

"Y-You… What are you…." Braviary coughed, as his own body was smoking enough to the point where it was getting hard for Braviary to breath. Melvin slowly approached him as he stood tall with confidence and fulfillment.

"Oh King, you don't understand just how gratifying it is to see you on the ground, defeated by my hand. I've longed for this day, ever since you had ruined my life. I've been dreaming about it, wondering in what different ways I could kill you… make you suffer…." Melvin licked his lips. "And with nothing else in my way, my dreams will finally become a reality."

Braviary chuckled softly under his breath, but it quickly built up volume before bursting into a fit of laughter. Melvin scowled as Braviary looked at him with a crazed expression. "You… You think you've won?! You'd better think again! Guards, bring in the ransom!"

As Braviary said that, three Boldores came in carrying 3 statues, with the spitting image of Jolteon, Vaporeon, and Glaceon. Sylveon's expression changed to one of shock as she looked on. "N-No… The others…."

Braviary walked over to the statues and used Steel Wing, putting the sharp wing close to the statue of Glaceon. "I don't want you moving another muscle, you little creep. If you take even another step towards me before surrendering, I'm going to take the head of this little girl's statue clean off. And we wouldn't want that now, would we?" Braviary laughed, thinking that he had Melvin trapped in an unwinnable situation, but his expression turned to one of surprised as Melvin laughed right back.

"Oh, my dear King, I don't think you know who you're dealing with… Do you really think I care about any of those 3? Forget it! NOTHING IS STANDING IN MY WAY OF GETTING MY REVENGE!" Melvin rushed towards Braviary with Flare Blitz as Braviary began to move his Steel Wing towards Glaceon.

No, stop! You can't let him do that! Melvin stuttered and let out a scream of pain as the twisted form disappeared, revealing Flareon's old form to be back in view. He looked on at Braviary, who was about to slice clean through Glaceon. "STOOOOOOOOOP!"

Braviary stopped his wing and turned back towards Flareon, noticing that the form had changed. Flareon fell to the ground, tears in his eyes as he looked at the ground. "I… I surrender…."

Braviary blinked before smiling and continue his laughter. "Well well, it seems that you couldn't go through with it after all… It's a shame, really. You could've saved so many people if you had just gone through with it. But now…." Braviary looked behind him and smiled. "...It's too late."

Flareon looked back and saw a swarm of Pokemon walking in. Rock types, Electric types, bug types… Flareon noticed the Aerodactyl and the Golisopod leading their respective armies, and shook his head in denial. "No… It can't be…. Golisopod, why did you betray us?!"

Golisopod growled and looked at Flareon. "Why? I'll tell you why, it's because you killed my father!"

Flareon's eyes widened as he struggled on to his feet and looked the bipedal bug in the eye. "W-What? No, that's not true… I couldn't have…"

Golisopod's hand curled into a fist. "You did. You murdered him in cold blood. I knew you wouldn't remember me, I was just a Wimpod back then."

Flareon furrowed his brow before the memory finally came back to him.

Begin Flashback

The Goliosopod scowled. This is nothing like we should be… What happened to us?

A Wimpod started to crawl out, but Goliosopod urged it to go back behind. "It's too dangerous out here. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you…"

"B-But Dad, I wanna fight too…"

Goliosopod shook his head. "Once I go out to fight, you may tag along. But for now, it seems we have this all under control."

End Flashback

"Y-You mean… your father…" Flareon stuttered on his words as he came to terms with the situation.

"That's right. You killed my father in that battle, even though he did NOTHING WRONG!" Golisopod stamped his foot on to the ground in anger. "That is why you deserve to die, you criminal!"

Flareon moved forward, hissing in pain as he stepped towards Golisopod. "Golisopod, listen to me… I didn't mean to kill your father… And I'm sorry. But what you need to realize is that this isn't right! Your father didn't wish to fight in that battle, he didn't want any of this! He wanted to set a good example for his people, to set a good example for you. Don't let these people manipulate you, you're a good person and I know that you can do the right thing. I know that's what your father would have wanted. If you don't wish to do that… Then I give you permission to kill me."

Golisopod recoiled at what Flareon said. He… hadn't expected Flareon to act like that. He hadn't been acting like that before… "I… I don't… What…"

Flareon turned to Aerodactyl. "And you… Aerodactyl… You are a man of honor. You didn't pursue me when you had taken me down the mountain. Why are you serving someone like this? He's a tyrant, but you are not…"

Aerodactyl turned away. "I don't need someone like you questioning my loyalty… I'm going to do what I wish, and you're not going to do anything about it! Everyone, change of plans! Attack those filthy bugs!" Aerodactyl rushed towards an unexpecting Golisopod as he smacked him with Wing Attack, causing him to go flying.

Braviary got up and looked at Flareon, wincing in pain as he tried to start fighting. "You! It's time for you to DIE!" Braviary rushed through the air and tried to hit him with Wing Attack, but he was hit by Foul Play as he was thrown away by Umbreon. Flareon nodded in thanks towards Umbreon as he ran towards the statues. One of the Electric types noticed this and charged the beam, aiming towards Flareon. Flareon turned around and looked shocked, but he hid behind Jolteon's statue to prevent himself from being hit. However, when the statue was hit….

"W-Wha… What the? Where am I?" Jolteon looked around as he returned to his original form. Flareon looked in awe as Jolteon returned, but he was sent back to his original mindset as the Ampharos began charging again. "Jolteon, watch out!"

Jolteon looked at the machine and growled. "Oh no, I am not letting that happen again!" Jolteon charged up and released a Thunderbolt, hitting the headgear on the Ampharos and causing it to explode, knocking out the Ampharos. "Haha, score one for Jolteon!"

Flareon smiled and stepped beside him. "Good to have you back, buddy! But we need to take out the King, quic-" Flareon turned to where the King was supposed to be, but it seems that he had disappeared. "...Where did he go?"

One of the members of Aerodactyl's army noticed this and yelled out, "THE KING HAS FLED!"

Everyone heard this and immediately stopped fighting, confused looks being shared between each other as they didn't know where he was, or what to do.

Aerodactyl just looked on in shock at first, but it quickly changed to anger. "That coward… How dare…"

Sylveon took this as an opportunity to finally put an end to this. She hopped up onto the throne and cleared her throat, using Hyper Voice to make herself louder. "ATTENTION EVERYONE, THE KING HAS ABANDONED YOU! WE DO NOT WISH TO FIGHT YOU ANY LONGER, SO PLEASE, LET'S STOP THE WAR!"

The different armies looked between each other, at first with uncertainty… But as they did so, they started to laugh and cheer as they realized that the war had finally ended. Everyone started laughing, and suddenly, a loud cheer from everyone in the room was heard.

Aerodactyl couldn't believe it. Both armies, two sides that had been enemies for decades… Now cheering together? He couldn't believe it. Flareon noticed this and walked over to Aerodactyl. "Aerodactyl, the war is over. Your King has left you, and it's time that we put an end to this."

Aero looked at Flareon with a confused expression, before closing his eyes and scowling. "I know that, you walking pile of fluff…." Flareon frowned at the insult, but Aero had a sincere expression on his face. "But… You were right before. I never truly wished for this, but I had no choice. Thank you for trying your hardest to solve this, we are forever indebted to you."

Flareon nodded and smiled. "Well, I'm glad I could help, is all. And hey, since I don't think the King had any successors, I suppose that makes you the ruler of this village?"

Aerodactyl look at him in shock, but merely chuckled and turned away. "I suppose that's a possibility… But I don't think this area needs a King. I think what we need is a Senate, much like the one the lower villages have… In fact, maybe I could involve of them, too. Who knows!" Aerodactyl flew away, with Flareon looking on in happiness as he turned and immediately bumped into Golisopod.

"Flareon." Golisopod looked down on the dog-like animal with a sinister expression, causing Flareon to shake a little bit. "...Thank you for telling me the truth. With the knowledge you have given me, I can safely say that I will make sure to support you on your quest to gather the shards."

Flareon let out a sigh of relief as he nodded. "Of course, Golisopod. I know you're a good person, so I didn't want to see you in that state of manipulation."

Golisopod nodded and started to walk away, before he stopped and turned back. "Oh, and don't worry about the statues. I'll make sure to have the Electric types turn them back to normal."

Flareon smiled and quickly put in one last message. "Oh! Can you change my friends back first?"

Golisopod nodded and turned to Luxray. "You. Fire the laser at those two statues over there."

Luxray scowled and turned to those statues. "Don't give me orders, Bug Boy." However, despite his snide remark, Luxray obeyed and charged up the laser, firing two at the statues of Vaporeon and Glaceon. As they hit, the two statues changed form as the two returned to their original form. They slowly blinked as their expression looked confused. However, Glaceon's look landed on Flareon and she smiled in pure joy.

"FLAREON!" She rushed towards Flareon and gave him a large hug as tears streamed down her face. "Flareon, I… I m-missed you, and I thought you died, and you wouldn't come and and and-"

Flareon returned to hug and tried to calm her down. "Hey, it's okay, I'm right here… I'm sorry for scaring you…"

Vaporeon saw this scene and walked over, awkwardly shifting as she had a look of guilt on her face. "Hey… Flareon…."

Flareon and Glaceon split up and saw Vaporeon walk over. "I'm… sorry for causing so much trouble. I caused all of this to happen…."

Flareon looked at Glaceon before looking back to Vaporeon. "Hey, it's alright. I turned out fine, right? And besides, if you hadn't done that, I wouldn't have ended up in the lower villages, and we probably would have lost this battle. I forgive you."

Glaceon stepped up and nodded. "And… I'm sorry for yelling at you about it. I wasn't thinking straight."

Vaporeon smiled and nodded, with Glaceon doing the same. Flareon smiled at the scene, before turning his attention to a Boldore coming towards him. The Boldore was carrying a Green Shard, one that was still sparking with energy. Flareon smiled and nodded, opening his bag and quickly swiping it into the bag as he sealed it. "Alright everyone, I think we're just about done here, let's clean up and head back down to get some sleep."

That night….

Alright, I need to figure out exactly what happened… How did I lose control of my body? What happened? Flareon sat in his bed, thinking about what happened that day, before he felt himself be pulled somewhere. He landed on the ground as a ghost-like figure, looking around as he saw himself in a strange hallway.

"What the… What is this place?" Flareon looked around.

"This is my mind. Or rather… Our mind, I suppose." Flareon looked over as he saw Melvin walking towards him. "It's about time you showed up here, I've been trying to contact you for a while now."

Flareon grit his teeth. "You! You're the one who took over my body! How the hell did you get in here?!"

Melvin growled. "I could ask you the exact same thing, buddy! You know how it feels to have my own life be taken away by some random person who invades your body?"

Flareon took a step back and tilted his head sideways. "Wait, so does that mean-"

Melvin sighed and looked at Flareon. "Yeah, this is my body, and you're trespassing."

Flareon shook his head. "Well, tough luck, because I need this body in order to complete the mission I'm currently working on. I'm not going to let you take over my body again until it's all complete. Once we're done with the mission, I'll let you take control of the body again."

Melvin rolled his eyes and sighed. "Geez, yes, I get it… God, you're such a sap. I can see now why you stopped me from taking out the King earlier."

Flareon growled. "Are you kidding me?! You were going to let the King murder Glaceon! I couldn't let you go through with that."

Melvin laughed and smirked at Flareon. "Ah, yes, of course I couldn't, because she's too important to you, or some crap like that. Look buddy, I know all about what you've been doing in my body. Your mind room tells me all I need to know."

Flareon raised an eyebrow and looked at where Melvin was pointing, noticing a large door. "What in the world…"

"It's your mind room. This is the room that contains all your thoughts, all your memories… Everything. I can feel what you feel when you get in there, but before you ask, no. There are no memories of your life from before you were put into my body. It's just a huge maze in there, aside from your current memories."

Flareon sighed and looked disappointed. "I see… Well, thanks for telling me, anyways."

Melvin smiled. "Look, I might not be the nicest person, but it's in my best interest to keep you alive for now, so I'm going to be helping you."

Flareon gave him a suspicious look. "I dunno… I don't think I appreciate you allowing my friends to die in order to further your own goals."

Melvin chuckled and shrugged. "Hey, it's my advice. Take it or leave it, I don't care. What you should do now is get some sleep. We'll talk more in the morning, 'kay?" Melvin walked away as a burst of light opened up behind Flareon. He looked at it and nodded, walking towards it to become conscious once more.

End of Chapter 18

Alright, that was a much bigger chapter than I had anticipated! Hope you guys don't mind the length, I just wanted to get in as much as possible. Anyways, thanks for reading the chapter, and I'd like to give a shoutout to Nox Calyx! They're a pretty new author, but they have two stories on Pokemon that I think you guys are really going to enjoy! Anywho, that's all from me. Hope you guys have a good day. Deuces!