Hey guys, DuffleGamer here with my single upload every century! Sorry it's taken so long, I lost a lot of motivation to write for this story and I haven't really had the time to make anything decent, but I think I've got it down this time! Anyways, without further ado, let's hop into the chapter.

Chapter 20: What it Means to be Alive

A harrowing silence hung over the group. That chilling, unnatural silence that plagued the party members as they continued down their path. Flareon's news was not a welcome piece of information for everyone, and they were all taking it hard. Glaceon especially was heartbroken, but everyone else was still equally as shocked and confused. This silence would not be broken for a while, until the group eventually stumbled upon an old looking village, which seemed to be decently populated. Espeon turned towards the group.

"Alright everyone, we seem to be approaching Knight's Sanctuary. It's a somewhat small village, but we can take this time to relax and prepare ourselves for the far North. This is gonna be our last major town until we get to the North, so I think we should stop here." Espeon explained to them.

Flareon nodded in agreement. "Alright, that sounds fine by me. I'm gonna explore the town a little bit, and we can meet up at the town square in roughly an hour." Glaceon was about to interject, but he was running away from earshot, and so her ears sunk as she let out a saddened sigh. Sylveon motioned for everyone to come over as she rubbed her feelers on Glaceon's back.

"Don't worry sweetie, it's not you… We all know he's going through a lot…"

Jolteon shook his head and slammed his paw down. "Okay, does anyone have a plan for how to deal with this? Cause this is ridiculous!"

Espeon glared at him. "Look Jolteon, we're all as concerned as you, okay? But this isn't something we can just fix. As long as Melvin is in his head, we can't do anything but reassure him that things are gonna be okay…"

Vaporeon clicked her tongue. "Okay, here's a thought… What if things aren't going to be okay? What then?"

Leafeon turned to Vaporeon and frowned. "Vapey, Flareon's gonna be okay! He's strong enough to not let that Melvin guy hold any claim over him. The more we doubt him, the more upset he's gonna get. So we just have to have faith and let him sort this out himself."

Sylveon nodded twice. "You're right. But in the meantime, we just need to give him some space, alright? I wouldn't want all of us pressuring him if I was in his position."

Jolteon grit his teeth, basically fuming as he listened to all of this. Eventually he just slammed his paw down on the ground. "Forget this! I'm not gonna sit around doing nothing while my best friend is suffering! I'm going out there and making sure he's okay!"

Vaporeon tried to stop him, but he was already long gone as he quickly sprinted towards the town. Sylveon let out a sigh as she shook her head. "We should follow him. I don't want him doing anything stupid with Flareon that'll make things worse."

Everyone nodded in agreement as they headed towards the town.

Flareon and Melvin were having another chat, that much was obvious. Flareon's facial expressions and the movements he was making made it very clear that they were have a discussion.

So how long are you gonna admit that this isn't about your friends? How long are you gonna lie to yourself, saying that this isn't a matter of PRIDE?!

Melvin, why don't you just shut up about all this pride nonsense?! I've never fought for the sake of pride and I never will, am I clear on that?

Look buddy, you LITERALLY can't hide anything from me, I know you from the inside out! Melvin sighed. Okay, lemme try and put this in a way that's fair. I know you care for your friends or whatever, and I know a big part of you fighting is for them. But what I can also see is that you're afraid of not having control. And most importantly, you're afraid that the one thing you're actually good at will be taken away from you.

Flareon hesitated. N-Now you… Listen, fighting isn't the only-

Yeah, I'm sure. It just sucks that you literally have no idea how to do anything else, right? You don't know what you did as a human, and you most likely never will again. So all you can do is fight for these people to try and make some self-worth for yourself. And you're aware that if you give up your fighting in favor of letting me fight, you will have no more worth. And that scares you, doesn't it?

Flareon was speechless. His eyes became smaller as he couldn't deny this. He wanted to deny this so incredibly much, but everything was unravelling. His facial expression said it all.

I knew it. That's the REAL reason you don't wanna let me fight, isn't it? Because you're afraid that you're going to contribute nothing to this world without fighting. And even though I've told you that I won't sacrifice your friends, you're still gonna keep me trapped here and let your friends have the illusion that I'm heartless when you're just-

You ARE heartless, Melvin. You are a liar, a thief, and a murderer. You think I'm just going to allow you to roam free after what you did at the Mountain Village? Never again, Melvin. I don't care if you are leagues ahead of me in strength, your strength is as black hearted and evil as it gets. And THAT is why I will never let you have control.

Hmph. We'll see how long that lasts you. But when you face an opponent that's too strong for you, you're not gonna have any choice but to come to-

Melvin was interrupted as a large explosion was heard. Flareon whipped his attention towards the explosion, starting to head towards it with a determined expression.

Melvin, don't try to take over my body this fight. I'm gonna prove to you that I can do this myself.

Melvin chuckled a little bit. Y'know what? Sure, go crazy. I'll sit here and enjoy the show.

Flareon came to a skidding stop as he eyed up the culprits. He sighed and rolled his eyes as he realized who it was. The two Pokemon, a Bisharp and a Weavile, turned towards him and smiled.

"Well well well, look who showed up Bish! Looks like our little lure worked, and our prey is here~" Weavile readied his claws and smirked as he eyed Flareon.

Bisharp nodded and readied his arm blades. Flareon wasted no time and shot a Fire Blast at the two. Both of them dodged, but the Blast hit the ground and puffed some dust into the air. They couldn't see Flareon as he charged at Weavile with Flare Blitz, hitting him square on the chest as he went flying. The dust finally cleared and Bisharp swung down at Flareon, who back flipped and landed on his feet. Weavile got up and used Ice Shard, firing a small shard of Ice at Flareon as he landed. It hit Flareon on his side, doing a bit of damage. Flareon quickly shook it off as Bisharp charged towards him with Metal Claw, ready to bring it down on Flareon. Flareon retaliated with Iron Tail, using his hardened tail to match the attack. He deflected his claw and followed up with another Flare Blitz, sending Bisharp into a nearby building.

Weavile was now back, eyeing Flareon as he tried to use his speed to trick him. However, Flareon noticed this and used Quick Attack himself, trying to match him. The two danced around each other at high speeds, but Bisharp caught Flareon off guard as he slammed him with a powerful Pursuit. Flareon cried out in pain and hit the ground with a thud, rolling on the ground as he groaned in pain. The two were snickering at how they caught him off guard, but stopped as they were hit by a strike of lightning. Jolteon skidded to a stop in front of Flareon.

"Hey, Flareon, are you alright? Did anything happen?"

Flareon got up and brushed off his face. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why're you here?"

Jolteon turned back to the two and shook his head. "Less talk, more fight. Come on!" Flareon dashed towards Weavile and started matching his speed, leaving an annoyed Flareon to stare down Bisharp. Bisharp used Metal Claw once more, but instead of matching him, Flareon mixed Quick Attack and Flare Blitz to deliver a hefty blow. Bisharp was knocked down, and was even more damaged as Weavile collided with him. Jolteon and Flareon then charged up a Thunderbolt and a Fire Blast respectively, blasting it at the duo as they were sent flying off to… somewhere. The two Eevees landed on the ground, with Jolteon smiling and nodding his head.

"Oh yeah, that was awesome! Let's go, we did it dude!" Jolteon looked at Flareon with a cocky expression. Flareon, however, was less than pleased. The other Eeveelutions finally caught up, panting heavily as it seemed that they were sprinting to catch up.

Flareon bit his lip and turned away from everyone. "Y'know, I could've taken them myself…"

Jolteon's cocky expression was quickly replaced with one of confusion and sadness. "Wh… what? What'd you say?"

Flareon angirly turned to Jolteon. "I SAID I COULD'VE TAKEN THEM MYSELF!"

Jolteon was taken aback, literally moving backwards as Flareon yelled at him. Vaporeon took a step forward, frowning at Flareon. "Dude, come off it! Jolteon was just trying to help you out, okay? You don't need to yell at him for helping you!"

Flareon turned his expression to Vaporeon. "So what, you think I wasn't strong enough to handle them on my own? You think I need help in order to deal with idiots like them?!"

Glaceon finally snapped and walked forward. "Flareon, what the FUCK is wrong with you?! It's not about strength, it's about us working as a team! You are our leader, how could you have forgotten that?!"

Everyone was silent. No one dared speak a word after that, and all that happened was Jolteon looking at Glaceon and then Flareon, shifting his attention back and forth as he tried to gauge reactions. Glaceon was the first to break the silence, quickly returning to her usual self.

"O-Oh, I… Arceus, I'm so sorry Flareon… I-I didn't-"

"No. You're right." Flareon's ears drooped down as he started calming down. "I've been unreasonable lately. I just… I'm so scared. The only thing I can do for you all is fight, and now that Melvin's stronger than me… It makes me feel worthless. Like I can't do anything for you guys. And without all of you, well… I'd be nothing."

Espeon finally put all the pieces of the puzzle together, and she smiled. "I get it now. You're not afraid of Melvin taking over at all, are you? You're just afraid that you won't be able to help us, is that it?"

Flareon nodded, slowly turning away in shame. Espeon, however, walked towards him with a comforting smile. "Well that's about the silliest thing I've ever heard from you. Flareon, don't you realize what you mean to this group? You're our leader! We all respect you so much, and that alone is worth more than Melvin's fighting skills could ever provide."

Flareon looked at her in shock. He gazed around at everyone in the group, and all of them were smiling and nodding. Flareon's shocked expression turned into one of legitimate joy as he turned to all of them and smiled. "Thanks guys… All of you. You don't know how much you all mean to me…"

Glaceon playfully hit Flareon on his side. "You don't know how much you mean to us, you goof…"

This doesn't prove anything, you know. They'd still be willing to-

Can it, Melvin. I'm not interested anymore.

Well, the fact of the matter is that you're still incapable of protecting your friends. You can't tap into this body's true power like I can. One day, that's going to put all of you in trouble.

Flareon just chuckled and shook his head. Unlike you, I trust my friends. If we're ever put into a sticky situation, I trust them a lot more than I trust you.

Melvin didn't talk much more after that. Happy with the silence inside of his head, Flareon continued talking with Jolteon about that combo attack that they did. Jolteon insisted on the name "Flaming Haymaker", but Flareon thought it should be named "Pyrotechnics" Glaceon laughed a bit at their antics, but the laughing didn't last long. Flareon looked incredibly sick.

Jolteon looked at him with serious concern. "Hey, Flare, buddy… Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Espeon frowned. "That makes sense. This is the far North, where everything is super cold. Even with all the jackets we have, Flareon's body heat is still lower than it should be. He's suffering a lot more than all of us are."

It was true. Flareon, with his eyes closed, could barely even feel his body as he slowly trudged through the frozen wastelands. "I-It's… f-fine… e-everyone… I can… m-manage…" He said this very weakly, but it still seemed like he was able to keep going. However, that didn't stop Glaceon from rubbing up against him.

"Well, I suppose I should help you heat up, no?~" Flareon blushed like crazy as their bodies touched. Yeah, he was definitely warmer now, but something tells him it wasn't only her body heat…

Sylveon was screaming like a little fan girl internally. Oh my gosh, they're so cute! Ah, I wish I had a camera so badly!~

Espeon smiled, but wasn't able to pay it much mind as she closed her eyes. She tried to scout out the area, seeing what was ahead. She noticed that Freezeezy Peak was just ahead and smiled. "Alright everyone, we're almost at Freezeezy Peak! Just about a mile left before-"

Her eyes quickly shot open as she sensed something rapidly approaching. She frantically turned around and yelled to the group. "EVERYONE GET DOWN!"

Everyone quickly dropped to the ground as a large bird swooped over them, barely missing its Sky Attack as it slowed and hovered over the group. Flareon cringed, slowly getting up as he eyed the creature. "Is that… an Articuno?"

Jolteon looked on in awe as he eyed the beast. "An Articuno… One of the three birds of legend…. But what's one of them doing here?"

The Articuno let out a strangled screech as it unnaturally said, "tHiS tErRiToRy iS sAcReD, lEaVe iMmEdIaTeLy!"

Espeon closed one of her eyes and yelled out to Articuno. "We're not trying to take over or attack this territory, we just-"

"sIlEnCe! rEfUsAl tO cOmPlY wIlL rEsUlT iN iMmEdIaTe eJeCtIoN!" The Articuno fired a powerful blizzard at the group, hitting all of them as they were sent flying from the powerful ice attack. They all landed on the group with a thump, but Glaceon was quickly able to get back up and fire an Ice Beam at the bird. Articuno was unfazed as it swept away the attack, shooting a powerful Hurricane towards Glaceon. Glaceon couldn't react in time and was caught up, quickly being battered by the attack as she was flung aside. Vaporeon took her own turn as she jumped up, hitting Articuno in the back of the head with an Aqua Tail as Jolteon fired off a Thunderbolt. Both hit its mark, but Articuno quickly recovered and retaliated against Vaporeon with a Sky Attack. Sylveon eventually joined Jolteon's barrage as she started firing off Hyper Voices as well, but Articuno returned its attention to the pair and blew them away with Blizzard.

Flareon could tell that the fight was not going well at all. Most everyone was getting blown back, and he himself could barely see. But of what he could see, he saw the Articuno battling against his friends, pushing them to their limits and tossing them around like rag dolls. Rage built up inside him as he felt loads of heat store up, ready to be fired off in one powerful attack.

Oh no you don't, Fire Boy! Now is not the time to be a hero! Remember the other times you tried to save your friends on your own? Those didn't go so well!

Melvin… I don't expect you to understand this, but sometimes you have to be willing to throw everything on the line for your friends. Sometimes you just have to make that sacrifice in order to be the change in the world. And y'know what? You not being able to do this just proves that you're not as strong as you think you are. Flareon finished charging the attack and ran towards Articuno.

N-No, wait, stop it! You're gonna DIE! FLAREON STOP!

It was too late. Flareon had already jumped up, mouth open and aimed at Articuno. The other Eeveelutions looked up in awe as the blue flames shot out of Flareon's mouth. "TIME TO END THIS! SACRED FIRE!"

End of Chapter 20

Hoo boy, that took way longer than I thought! Sorry for the short-ish chapter, I promise I'll make it up to you guys with the next one. However, I hope you all enjoyed and make sure to have a great day! See ya!