Hey hey hey everyone! Wow, 4 months since the last chapter release…? Yikes, I really need to get better about writing these things… Either way, this has been a long time coming, so I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 22: The Cold War

"Vanilluxe, you can't honestly expect us to go to war, can you? We're still rebuilding from the great calamity, we can't-"

Vanilluxe interrupted her. "We can and we must. Not only do we have a responsibility to these Eeveelutions to help them on their quest, but we also must make a statement that the Ice Kingdom will not fold to any sign of opposition!" Vanilluxe floated off to go and organize his army, an angry look on both of his faces.

Froslass sighed as she floated over to the Eevee Pack. "I'm sorry, my dear friends… But it looks like conflict has washed over our lands… It'd be best if you all stay in here while we repel the enemy."

Jolteon raised an eyebrow and stepped forward. "You mean have you guys fight while we run away with our tail between our legs? Not a chance!"

Vaporeon stepped forward as well. "Jolteon is right, we're not just gonna leave you here to fight our battles. We're going out there with you."

Froslass smiled and nodded at the group. "Thank you, my friends. We would greatly appreciate if you could help us out in this struggle. I'm afraid we need all the help we can get…"

Before the group could continue their conversation, an explosion could be heard from outside as everyone stumbled to the ground. As they were getting up, an Alolan Sandslash ran into the room. "Th-The enemy is attacking!"

Froslass got back up and her expression became grim. "I suppose the time has come… The end of the Ice Kingdom."

"Y'know, we don't have to do this, Hot Head. You can remain blissfully unaware of your past and keep trucking along."

"Melvin, you know I can't do that. What if there's something important in my past? I have to know what I was like." Flareon, followed closely by Melvin, walked into the mind room of Flareon. In there was a long, winding room, filled with many different rooms. "Wow… so this is my mind room?"

Melvin nodded. "Very disorganized. It's probably because of your amnesia, I wouldn't worry about it. We need to find any room that has light shining from behind the door. Those are the ones that have restored memories behind them."

Flareon raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "How… Do you know that?"

Melvin chuckled. "Well, when you lack your own physical body and the person using it stops talking to you, you get a little… bored, so to speak."

Flareon gave him the stink eye. "So you spent your time looking through my mind room? How would that cure your boredom?"

Melvin laughed. "Are you kidding me? There's some juicy stuff back here! Like, apparently when you were a human, you played this children's card game called… Yu-Gi-Oh? Or something like that. Honestly it looked pretty fun, I should learn how to play that game."

Flareon rolled his eyes and started walking up a flight of stairs. "Whatever, let's just start looking."

Melvin nodded and went in an opposite direction, beginning his search for any potential memories to find.

The Eevee Group, lead by an anxious Froslass, walked out in front of the castle to see a horrifying sight. A brutal battle was occuring, with both sides taking harsh casualties as they wasted no time.

Glaceon hesitated a bit as she saw the battlefield. "Th-This is… horrible…"

Froslass closed her eyes, trying to gauge the situation. "We're drastically outnumbered… There's no way we could've prepared for an attack on this magnitude." She reopened her eyes and scanned the battlefield herself. "And it seems like they were prepared themselves. There are many Steel and Ice types among their ranks. How could their Ice ranks be larger than our own?"

Jolteon took a step forward and grit his teeth. "I don't know, but I'm not gonna sit back and watch! Come on guys, time to kick some ass!"

"Wait, no, we need a pl-" But it was too late. Before Froslass could try and stop him, Jolteon had already rushed into the battle, firing off a Thunderbolt that sent a squad of enemies flying. Froslass sighed and turned to the rest of the group. "Here, before the battle begins, you should take this." Froslass reached into her satchel and handed the group a sparking Green Orb shard.

Espeon looked shocked as Froslass showed them the shard. "Wh- How did you get this?"

Froslass closed her eyes, a wave of sorrow washing over her. "It's… the reason we're so far in the hole in terms of strength. It was the cause of the Great Calamity, an illness that swept over our land and killed thousands, nay millions in its wake. We were eventually able to track the cause back to this shard, but by then it was far too late. But since you all are trying to collect them, I feel it would be better off in your hands."

Glaceon nodded and took the shard, putting it in Flareon's bag. "Thank you, ma'am."

Leafeon looked a little confused. "Wait… Since when did you have Flareon's bag with you?"

Glaceon raised an eyebrow and turned to Leafeon. "What do you mean? I've had it with me the entire time."

"...Huh."

Espeon shook her head. "Look guys, it doesn't matter. We need to go out there and fight before Jolteon does something stupid."

Sylveon rolled her eyes and stepped forward. "Sweetie, it's far too late for that…"

The group all ran off to join the battle as Froslass looked on in fear. "Please, my friends… Stay strong. We're all counting on you…"

It had been a solid ten minutes of searching, and so far, Flareon hadn't found any doors that had shining light behind it. "Melvin, are you sure you found something back here? We've been searching for a while and we've found absolutely nothing…"

Melvin shushed him as he checked a couple of doors. "Flareon, this isn't supposed to be easy, you have to trust me." Melvin looked over and finally found a shining door. "Hey, Mr. Impatient, I found something!"

Flareon's ears perked up as he ran over to check. He and Melvin stood in front of the door, and Flareon reached up to slowly open it.

Memory Begin:

It had been 3 days since the cruise had set sail. It was about 2:00 PM, and weather had been crummy all day. The scene saw a boy, playing on his DS as he seemed to be content with the situation. He was humming a little song before he heard on knock on his door. He closed his DS and went to the door, opening it up and seeing an older woman at the door.

"Hi sweetie, did you wanna come swimming with us? Your father and your sister really wanted to do it, and we'd appreciate it if you came."

The teenage boy nodded, smiling. "Sure thing, Mom. Lemme just change and I'll be right out there."

Right as the older woman was about to leave, a voice could be heard on the PA system. "Attention travelers, harsh weather conditions in this area is causing a hazard to outdoor facilities. For your safety, we ask that you all remain in doors until we pass through the storm. We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause you, and we will inform you as soon as it's safe to traverse the ship once more."

The mother clicked her tongue and looked back at the boy. "Well, so much for that… I'm gonna go get your Father and your Sister, I'll be right back."

The boy nodded as the older woman left. He returned to his bed and popped open his DS, continuing to click away as he looked at that tiny screen. However, not long after, the boat started to shake wildly. He stopped what he was doing and looked around, panicking as the boat rocked back and forth. A lightning crack could be heard, and he could hear panic from outside the room. The boy ran up to the window and noticed that the boat was descending into the water. Now he was really freaking out, and he ran out of his room to try and figure out what was going on.

Memory End

Flareon and Melvin stepped out of the room, a horrified expression on Flareon's face as he looked down at the ground. "That… that must've been when I got shipwrecked… And how I ended up here…"

Melvin bit his lip and walked towards him. "I… Geez, I don't know what to say to that…"

Flareon shook his head. "And… that woman… That must've been my mother. She seemed so nice, so genuine…"

Melvin closed his eyes and started walking away. "I think that's enough for now. We should head back and just try to clear our heads, okay? No use dwelling on it for longer than we need to."

Flareon frowned, but nodded and started following after Melvin.

"Psychic!" Espeon lifted up 5 soldiers and threw them away with her powers. "Geez, Froslass wasn't kidding when she said we were outnumbered… This is ridiculous…"

Jolteon blasted another group of Pokemon as he stepped back. "You take down one group, and two more start to swarm you!"

"Well then, if you're getting tired of fighting the goons, why don't you go for the commanders?" The group heard a familiar voice behind them and groaned as they saw who it was.

"Oh look, it's Dumb and Dumber… Can't you guys take a hint? You two need to get lost!" Vaporeon looked especially angry as she stared the two down.

Bisharp took a step forward and activated his arm blades. "Apologies, but the only ones who will be getting lost is you lot. We've improved dramatically since our last encounter."

Jolteon laughed. "Are you kidding me? You lost to just Flareon and myself! You honestly think you two have improved to where you could beat all of us? What a joke."

Weavile smirked. "Well you see, Sparky, it's not just us anymore! We have a secret weapon."

Bisharp lifted up a remote control of sorts and clicked the button. "In fact, here he comes now…" From the skies, a giant bird swooped down and landed on the ground, a strange green spark surrounding his body as he looked at the group.

Glaceon's eyes widened as she took a step back. "Wh-What? No, that… That can't be real…"

Espeon was just as surprised as her as looked up at the Pokemon who stared them down. "...Articuno…"

"Thaaaat's right, maggots! Your favorite guardian is now being used against you! Articuno, crush them!" Weavile pointed to the group as Articuno charged up a Blizzard, firing it at the group as they were all blown back.

Vaporeon staggered to her feet and stared the beast down. "Guys, this is not good… We couldn't beat this thing with all of our power, and now we don't have Flareon with us!"

Jolteon got up and grit his teeth. "Don't even say that! We have to fight, we don't have a choice! Otherwise we're just leaving these people for dead!" Jolteon sprung into action and fired off a Thunderbolt, making direct contact with Articuno.

The rest of the group followed suit, getting up and firing their attacks, hoping that one of them would be able to deal a significant blow. However, all of them didn't do much, and a Hurricane from Articuno blew them back down to the ground. They rolled across the ground, leaving a track of snow in their wake as they struggled to get up. Glaceon looked up at the mighty bird, gritting her teeth as she fought against the pain coursing through her body.

Flareon… We need you….

Flareon's ears perked up. He looked around, a confused expression on his face as he tried to find the source of the noise. "Huh… Melvin, did you hear that?"

Melvin looked over at Flareon, giving him a weird look. "Huh? Look buddy, I know what you saw was traumatic and all, but I don't think it's enough to make you start hearing things…"

Flareon shook his head. "No no, I legitimately heard something… Like someone was calling out to me…"

They're just too strong for us. I'm sorry we're letting you down.

Melvin seemed to hear that one. Flareon perked up as he tried his best to respond. "Glaceon! Glaceon, is that you? What's going on out there?"

Glaceon's eyes shot open. She got up, turning left and right as she looked around for Flareon. F-Flareon? I-Is that you?

Yeah, it's me. How did you reach out to me? Do you have Psychic powers all of a sudden?

N-No, I… Well, I don't know…

Look, that doesn't matter right now. Are you okay? What's going on out there?

Glaceon sighed. Flareon, I… I'm sorry. The enemy army brought back Articuno and we just can't beat it without you… I'm sorry…

Glaceon, don't you dare say that! Glaceon was a bit shocked. You guys are plenty strong enough to take that bird down. You're the strongest person I know!

B-But… It's a legendary! We barely beat it with everyone together, how are we supposed to do it without you?

Glaceon, think. You have the power inside you to take down Articuno, but you keep bringing yourself down. I've seen you in fights before, and I know you have the ability. The only thing stopping you is your own self doubt.

My… self doubt? Glaceon put a determined look onto her face, gritting her teeth as she stared down the Articuno. I can… I can feel the power coursing through my body!

Yes, that's it, Glaceon! Now go wreck some shit!

Glaceon put on a very uncharacteristic smirk as she charged the giant bird, jumping up above it as she charged up an attack.

"THIS IS FOR FLAREOOOOOOOOOOON!"

Glaceon used Freezer Burn!

Glaceon fired off an enormous mix of snow and flames, causing Articuno's body temperature to fluctuate rapidly as it was simultaneously burned and frozen. Its body couldn't hold up for long as it eventually collapsed due to the pressure of the attack. Glaceon landed on the ground perfectly, panting as the green sparks started to die down around her body. Once she had caught her breath, she turned around to see the shocked face of her companions staring at her as the rest of the enemy army scampered away.

"Uh uh, no way am I sticking around for that! That girl is crazy! She's your problem now, Flareon!" Weavile scampered away, with Bisharp not too far behind.

Glaceon smiled at the group, giggling as she started walking towards them. "Mm, was that a bit too much?~"

Leafeon tapped Sylveon's shoulder and leaned forward to whisper to her. "Note to self: Don't try to pull jokes on her when she and Flareon are dating."

Sylveon giggled. "My my, sweet little Glaceon has grown into such a powerful young woman~ I'm so proud of you, sweetheart~"

Glaceon huffed and smirked at the group. "That's right! And I don't want any of you forgetting it!"

Espeon looked a little confused. "Wait a minute… That's weird. Why did your attack have Fire in it? Everyone else has had single type moves, and yet you had fire involved in yours."

Glaceon was taken aback by Espeon's question. She turned away, blushing a tiny bit as she looked around. "Oh! Um… Well, I… Hm…."

Leafeon chuckled and turned to the group. "Come on guys, isn't it obvious? It's because she just loves Flareon sooooooo much that he became a part of her special move~"

Glaceon's expression quickly turned to one of annoyance as she smacked Leafeon with her tail, sending her flying into a pile of snow as she landed in with a "poof".

"Alright, that's enough outta you, Leafeon. Come on guys, let's go back to the hut. It's been a long day…"

Vaporeon nodded and started walking away first. "Ugh, tell me about it… I'm just straight up sick of this cold. Maybe the next shard will be at a beach?"

Sylveon cooed at the suggestion. "Oh my, that sounds absolutely lovely~ I sure hope you're right, Vappy~"

As the group walked away, Jolteon looked on with a look of contempt. Now even Glaceon has her powers unlocked… Everyone seems to be contributing in one way or another. But where does that leave me? The butt of every joke… No one trusts me… Not even Sylveon wants me around.

"Jolteon, sweetie, are you coming?" Responding to the sound of Sylveon's voice, Jolteon looked up and quickly nodded, running through the snow as he caught up with the group.

Froslass floated forward a bit, still in shock over the attack she had just seen. She turned back to King Vanilluxe, who was equally shocked as his grandmother was.

"Th… That attack. Could that be…?"

Froslass nodded. "Freezer Burn. The attack we've been looking for for generations… Who would've thought that we'd see it here?"

Vanilluxe floated over to her. "Grandmother, we need her to fulfill the final prophecy. It's the only way to save our land from this plague…"

Froslass swallowed, but quickly nodded as she tried to catch up to the group.

"Well well well, look who got herself an awesome new move?"

Glaceon flinched quite a bit as she heard that voice, running into the hut and almost tackling Flareon with a hug. "Flareon! Oh Arceus, you're okay! You need to stop scaring me with these close calls…"

Flareon chuckled and shook his head. "Sorry Glacey, but I'm alright now… I promise I won't do something like that to you again, okay?"

Vaporeon chuckled a bit. "Well, y'know, I don't think it's gonna be you protecting her anymore, big guy. She looked pretty tough out there!"

Flareon chuckled as he hopped out of the bed. "Yeah, now that you mention it, that attack was frightening. Who would've thought that sweet little Glaceon could do so much damage?"

Glaceon blushed and turned away. "Aw, Flareon, you're too kind~"

The two of them chuckled a bit as the others let out a "Dawwwww". Flareon huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, all of you would do the same thing, don't lie."

Jolteon laughed a bit and shook his head. "Flareon, only men who fall victim to the charms of women would do that. I, myself, am an independent man! I don't need a woman in order to go through my daily routines."

Sylveon smirked and looked over at Jolteon. "More like you couldn't find someone who can put up with you, so you just ride Flareon's coattails all over the place~"

Jolteon's eye twitched a little bit as he looked over at Sylveon. "What was that?! How dare you! I'm more than capable of finding a mate if I wanted to!"

Vaporeon groaned and face palmed. "Ugh, my ARCEUS they're doing it again! Do these two ever let up?"

Leafeon sighed. "I dunno guys… Maybe those two just legitimately hate each other. I don't think couples are supposed to fight this much…"

Flareon just smiled and shook his head. "Nah, I know they still care about each other. They just need to figure out how to properly express it."

However, the bickering would not be allowed to last too long, as the door to the hut swung open, revealing Froslass to the group.

"Hello, um… Sorry to barge in, but there's something important that I need from you all."

Espeon looked at her with a confused expression. "Something important? Is there another army coming?"

Froslass shook her head. "No. But there is another prophecy. One that only Glaceon can fulfill."

End of Chapter 22

Hoo boy, sorry this took so long guys… Been a real busy couple of months for me. Either way, I hope you enjoyed! Make sure to leave a review, as I'd really appreciate any constructive criticism you all have! Adios, and have a great day!