Today was looking grim. The entire sky was covered by moody gray clouds, so that not even a scarce ray of sunlight could grace the ground with its warmth and light. The past several days had been prone to scattered rain showers, but the reassurance that it wasn't snow was nothing more than hollow words.

Leaf had been predictably grumpy. The incident with the Pokemon trainer had convinced Shadow that they had to move on to a different territory, and the Leafeon had resisted the suggestion stubbornly. However, Shadow's insistence won out in the end, and the two had set off.

Shadow's primary concern was not only an area where their basic needs could be attended to, but he also wanted a route that would have minimal hazards along the way. They were still ill-equipped for difficult battling, and the black-furred Espeon was at a loss about how to approach this problem.

It had rained that first day of traveling, the rainwater soaking into their fur, the icy droplets chilling them to the bone. Shadow had gritted his teeth to keep from admitting how terrible his fur was at keeping him warm against the elements. As for Leaf...he had been livid.

The only consolation Shadow found from the days of walking was it gave him a chance to really observe the effects evolution had had on his younger brother. Sensitivity to extreme temperatures was one of the easier observations, and one he could relate to with his own fur acting as mediocre insulation.

The second observation was actually more interesting: Leaf no longer complained about being hungry, nor did he wake Shadow in the middle of the night for food. Initially, Shadow assumed Leaf just didn't have much of an appetite, but the Leafeon still happily ate whenever Shadow managed to acquire food, whether it be berries or meat. It just appeared that the physical need for food was absent.

The exception became clear soon afterwards. Leaf became hungry the one night where the weather was so bad they had to take shelter within an abandoned cave instead of traveling. His mood also had many more highs and lows than it did before he had evolved, and it didn't take Shadow long to notice how often the lows correlated with the weather being poor, and how warm, sunnier days boosted his mood, but only once he had a chance to lay in the sun.

Knowing that Leaf was cranky and fatigued when deprived of sunlight did nothing to make his attitude more tolerable on the bad days. He wouldn't take his mood out on Shadow without provocation, but he was just so bitter and cheerless that it was difficult not to notice, and it was upsetting to see the normally chipper Leaf look so glum and unenergetic.

Sinnoh was not a kind region for Leafeon, it seemed. Harsh winters, crisp weather even during warmer months, and an unfortunate ratio of weather conditions to clear skies.

Shadow was gradually adjusting to his own evolution. The insight he had received when fighting against the trainer Pokemon was slowly starting to pay off. The little tingles in the back of his mind, and the other sensations his body produced were starting to become more natural to him. He would sense something changing nearby, and then adjust their course to avoid it. It was far from a perfect system, but ignoring or being oblivious to the signs had always ended poorly.

That said, he was still plagued by headaches, and his sleep remained restless. Leaf had gotten increasingly bitter about Shadow's sleep habits, and Shadow was finally starting to understand why. The nights that produced nightmares caused him to subconsciously push things away from him with his unstable psychic energy, the same energy that lashed out whenever the pressure in his head built up too far. Leaf preferred to sleep cuddled beside his older brother, but would abruptly be telekinetically pushed away at a random point during the night.

Leaf had yet to ask about Shadow's nightmares, but Shadow's resolve not to share that information was beginning to crack. It was starting to feel like an enormous disservice to his brother to not tell him about their parents' likely fate, and about the dreams that plagued him. He could scarcely bear to keep seeing the look of hurt in his brother's eyes whenever he awoke from a nightmare to discover that he had shoved Leaf away from him in his sleep. At this rate, Leaf might start to feel like they weren't close anymore, or that Shadow secretly longed to be free of the ball-and-chain that his brother represented.

How many nights had passed since the incident that forced him and Leaf to fend for themselves? Ten? Twelve? Shadow had lost count. They all blurred together, spaced apart only by the nightmares and the cloudy days where time didn't seem to move at all.

Droplets of rain struck Shadow's muzzle, snapping him out of his thoughts. Just as expected, the cloudy skies meant more rain today. A quick glance back at his brother confirmed that the Leafeon was just as thrilled by the prospect.

"I suppose we should stop until it clears up?" Shadow suggested.

"I don't care," Leaf grumbled. Shadow hesitated. He had thrown out the suggestion in the hopes that Leaf would at least give him something to go off of. It may just be a light drizzle, but once their fur was wet, the cold would cling to their bodies and really put a dampener on their moods.

"I'm sorry the weather hasn't been to your liking," Shadow said carefully, leading Leaf over to the shelter of a large tree. "It's normal for it to rain a lot during the spring. But summer is usually really warm and sunny...sometimes a bit too warm, honestly."

Leaf made a noncommittal sound and lay down, resting his head on his forepaws. Shadow resisted the urge to sigh. He hadn't expected Leaf to perk up or anything, but he just couldn't think of anything to say or do that would help. He didn't even know for sure where he wanted to go. Part of him just wanted to put as much distance between himself and their old home as possible, so that maybe the dreams would stop tormenting him as much. Yet this weather was showing him other factors he needed to take into account when choosing a place to stay: the weather conditions had to be more favorable, and if that wasn't possible, they needed some sort of a den to shelter them from the poorer conditions.

They sat in silence for several minutes, just watching the grass waving in the breeze, and listening to the pattering of rain on the leaves overhead and the grass in front of them.

"Are you feeling all right, Leaf? Can I get you something?" Shadow attempted finally. The lack of sunlight seemed to be partially responsible for Leaf's listlessness. It was probably related to how plants made their own energy from sunlight, so although Leaf wasn't really a plant, he drew more energy from sun than from food. Shadow had already noticed the pattern the previous days of traveling, but only now was he really making the connection between plants and energy.

"I'm just tired," Leaf muttered. "You woke me up again."

Shadow winced. "Sorry. I really am trying to control it, but I don't really know how to yet."

Leaf didn't say anything at first, but Shadow was still relieved that he wasn't quite as crabby today as he had been on other days, before Shadow had started to notice the pattern of how his moods operated. He just seemed like he didn't have much energy and wanted to be left alone...but at the same time, he wasn't outright rejecting Shadow's company or attempts to talk to him, which was an improvement, hard to swallow as that was.

"You're not sleeping well," Leaf said quietly. Shadow blinked. It hadn't been a question, but a softly-stated fact.

"I guess not," Shadow said, unsure whether Leaf was leading into something with that comment. The Espeon watched his brother from the corner of his eye, but Leaf's gaze was fixed on a particularly long strand of grass swaying in the wind.

"Is it because of me?" the Leafeon asked. Shadow flinched. Leaf's tone had quavered slightly this time. Clearly he had been working up the nerve to ask this, and been bracing himself to hear the answer. "It's okay if it is. Just tell me."

"No, it's not you," Shadow answered seriously. His stomach squirmed a little. Just as he had suspected, Leaf was getting the impression that Shadow didn't want him around, or considered him burdensome. Considering the Leafeon's current mood, he wasn't even sure how to reassure him of the truth without being intrusive - Leaf was more opposed to affectionate contact when he was moody.

Leaf tore his gaze away from the swaying grass and looked up at Shadow. His eyes searched Shadow's face, his expression skeptical.

"What is it, then?" he asked finally. "You haven't been sleeping well for a long time. And you're trying to hide it."

"You noticed, then?" Shadow wondered, deflating a little bit. If Leaf really had noticed his poor sleep cycles, which had probably become ridiculously obvious lately, then he saw no real way to stall out the inevitable conversation.

Leaf managed a momentary smile. "Kind of hard not to after a while..."

"How long have you noticed it?" Shadow asked, tilting his head to the side curiously. "You've never said anything."

Leaf shrugged and sat up, facing Shadow with a mixture of curiosity and concern. "So what's wrong? If it's not me, then can I do something to help?"

"You're sweet," Shadow sighed, shaking his head. "I've...been having nightmares."

"Every night?" Leaf asked, confused. "What kind of nightmares? Is it like the one where you slip into the river when trying to catch a fish and get dragged underwater?"

Shadow stared at Leaf, lost for words. Then he shook his head. "That sounds like a wet dream by comparison."

Leaf looked confused. "Well...yeah, I guess so. Being dragged underwater would get you wet."

Shadow cringed, mentally chiding himself for his poor choice of words. "Sorry, got my tongue tied for a moment. I meant a good dream."

"Really?" Leaf wrinkled his nose. "How bad are we talking about, then?"

Shadow took a deep breath. He had never told anyone the contents of his dreams aloud, and now that he had the chance, he felt like an enormous weight was starting to be lifted from his chest. Unfortunately, he also was still a little opposed to telling Leaf this information. Another deep breath pushed the latter concern aside.

"It's not only a dream. It's something that actually happened."

There was a long silence, broken up only by the pattering of the rain around them. Leaf's curious expression gradually gave way to impatience and confusion.

"Yeah?" he prompted.

"I'm not sure where to start. The memory or the dream?" Shadow admitted sheepishly.

"What's the difference?"

"The dream kind of starts at a certain point that I recognize as being part of my memory, so I know what's coming in the dream, but I didn't know it at the time-"

"I have no idea what you're even saying now," Leaf complained. "Just go with the dream part. You can explain confusing parts later."

Shadow took a deep breath. "Well...okay. This was...I don't know how long ago. Two weeks? You'll understand soon. So I was taking a walk because Dad said I needed to take time to cool down after someone pushed me into the lake."

"Ooh, I remember doing that! You were so mad..." Leaf said brightly. Shadow fixed him with a dirty look. "Oh...right. Go on..."

"I was on my way back when..."


The Eevee rounded the last bend in the path, still seething a little. The parents always took his brother's side, and the little guy knew it. He wasn't even six months old yet and he already knew how to act innocent and adorable so that the parents would just smile to each other and tell Shadow to let it go.

But he didn't WANT to let it go. He wanted...what did he want? Ugh...it was so frustrating.

Home was just a short ways away, he could even see glimpses of his family in the distance, but he knew better than to come back when he was still agitated. Maybe another lap would do him good? No, it was too long of a walk, and if he was gone too long, one of the parents would come after him to be sure he was safe.

Not that there ever was real danger in this area. Wild Pokemon passing through were rare, as the territory was clearly marked, and it was so far off the beaten path that trainers never came by at all. The place was practically a reserve, with a clear lake, plentiful berries, and a nice resting spot beneath a pair of trees.

The Eevee growled and swiped his paw at the nearest flower, watching the decapitated bud fly off and bounce once on the grass. That's when he heard the rustling in the bushes, and even as he turned around to see, a shape was emerging into sight.

It was a bipedal Pokemon with blue fur covering the majority of its body, although the paws serving as feet were black, and a black mask of fur surrounded its eyes. Shadow felt an immediate chill run through his body. The Pokemon's eyes were an eerie shade of yellow. Not an off-shade of amber or golden brown, but yellow.

One of the Pokemon's paws was shrouded in a faint blue glow, but the paw was held at its side passively. The Pokemon blinked at Shadow curiously, and smiled faintly.

"Oh, good day to you, little one," it said, the voice distinctly male, although Shadow hadn't been in danger of misjudging it on sight.

"Hi," Shadow replied curtly.

Unfazed by the tone, the other Pokemon chuckled. "I think I might have taken a wrong turn somewhere. Mind if I ask your name?"

"It's Shadow," the Eevee said, starting to take slow, careful steps nearer to home. The yellow eyes the Pokemon possessed were a bit too unnerving for his taste, and his gaze seemed to stare into Shadow's soul.

"Interesting name. Expecting to be an Umbreon or something?"

"It's a...tradition or something," the Eevee replied, continuing to inch down the path. "Mom names us after the first thing we've touched or something. I touched the shade under a tree, I guess? Leaf touched a flower. I dunno, Dad says it's kind of weird."

"Interesting," the other Pokemon mused. He inspected the glowing paw idly, and a tiny smile flicked across his features. The blue glow had intensified, practically pulsing in his paw. "Incredible potential...I have been advised correctly, it seems."

"Uh huh...I'm going to be leaving now," Shadow said, making even less-subtle movements towards the clearing where his family was. "Nice to meet you...whoever you are."

"Just a moment, if you will," the other Pokemon said quickly. "I need to confirm something. Look at me, please."

Shadow sighed and turned back to face the bipedal canine. The small smile the other Pokemon was wearing extended into a smirk, and the yellow eyes gleamed ominously, burning into Shadow's brain, yet he couldn't turn his gaze away.

The other Pokemon's free paw gestured, and something cold touched Shadow's chest, directly over his heart. Pain flooded his body and a startled yelp escaped his throat. At that precise moment, a jet of water shot past his head and connected with the other Pokemon, hurling it backwards with incredible force. The Pokemon slammed into a tree with a loud cracking sound, and it fell to one knee at the base of the tree, its yellow eyes narrowed with anger and pain.

"You couldn't wait just a few more seconds, could you?" the Pokemon hissed, glaring at someone behind the Eevee.

"Are you okay, Shadow?" the familiar voice of his father asked, the Vaporeon stepping closer and inspecting the Eevee's body carefully. "Not hurt?"

"I...don't think so..." Shadow said shakily.

"Good. Back away, I'll handle this. You, Riolu!" the Vaporeon growled at the other Pokemon. Shadow obediently darted several paces back towards home, casting nervous glances at the Vaporeon as he went. He nearly collided into his mother on the way, startled by how her fur bristled. In all the time he had seen his mother agitated or unhappy, her needle fur had never bristled and crackled with electricity as intensely as it did now.

Confused, he looked back again, his heart racing when he heard his father shout something in warning. The Riolu had lunged into action, rolling underneath the Vaporeon's legs and emerging to the side of him. Its glowing paw slammed into his father's hind leg, and the Vaporeon buckled, but remained standing. The no-sell of the hit seemed to surprise the Riolu, and it paused, just in time for a bolt of electricity to catch him in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

"Nice aim, Rio," the Vaporeon said grimly. "Did you knock him out?" he wondered aloud, prodding the fallen Pokemon with one paw. At the touch, the Riolu sprang backwards, landing a kick to the water-Eon's face in the process, but only dazing him momentarily

"Shadow!" the Jolteon barked, startling the Eevee. "Take Leaf and go! Keep him safe! We'll catch up!"

"But..."

"That's an order!"

An order...That meant...

Shadow didn't hesitate or look back. Their emergency plan had been ingrained in him since he was only a few months old. In the event of hostile Pokemon or trainers, the parents wanted him to seek safety, and meet up with them at a planned location. This plan had included taking care of Leaf when the younger Eevee had been born, but Shadow had always considered it a plan they'd never actually use, and just taught to him on an off-chance it'd be useful.


Shadow shivered and stopped speaking for a few moments. Leaf was watching him intently, completely drawn into the story. The Espeon cleared his throat awkwardly. "I've usually woken up before the dream even gets that far."

"So what happened?" Leaf wondered. Judging by the apprehensive look in his eyes, and the quavering tone, the Leafeon had already put the pieces together. But he needed the confirmation from Shadow. He had to know for sure that what he was thinking was the truth.

Shadow looked away. "We waited for them, didn't we? They never showed up."

"So are they...?" Leaf stopped himself from finishing the sentence. His lip was quivering and his eyes looked up at Shadow pleadingly.

"...I don't know."

"How do you not know?!" Leaf screeched, the sudden shift in mood causing Shadow to recoil in alarm. Leaf was breathing harder now, and his tail twitched in agitation. "Why don't you know?" Leaf asked, his tone now more desperate and confused than angry.

"I was told to watch over you. If something happened to them, I can't take you back home to find out," Shadow said sadly.

"But what if they're okay and-"

"I've asked myself all those questions for days, Leaf," Shadow interrupted. "I don't know the answers. But staying there forever wasn't an option. If something did take them away from us, then we need to look after ourselves, rather than clinging to desperate hope. We need to find somewhere safe, and be able to protect ourselves, so that we can do something with our future. That's why they had us run to safety. And that's why we're traveling now."

Leaf stood up abruptly. "I'll be back in a bit," he muttered, and started to walk out from the shelter of the tree, back out into the rain.

"Wait, Leaf, where-"

"STOP TALKING TO ME!" Leaf screamed, whirling around. A flash of green flew off of Leaf's tail, and Shadow ducked on instinct, although it didn't end up mattering. The object hit the tree trunk beside the Espeon, embedding itself into the wood. It was a leaf of some sort, but to drive itself so deep into the bark, it must have had a sharp edge. Leaf blinked at the leaf, then at his tail, looking alarmed and confused. "A-accident..." he mumbled, and then bolted.

Shadow watched his brother go, then turned his attention back to the leaf. In truth, he wasn't angry or even upset at Leaf's outbursts or the unintentional launching of a razor-tipped leaf. It was expected that Leaf would react emotionally to the news, and Shadow had even considered the possibility that Leaf would be angry at having it kept from him. They had both evolved fairly recently, and Shadow could already attest to having somewhat unstable powers and moods as a result.

No, it was best to give Leaf some time to let things sink in, and vent his emotions however he saw fit. Even as an Eevee, Leaf had not been one to openly cry, and most of the crying that did happen was usually a ruse to get attention from the parents.

Shadow sighed and lay down. Leaf said he'd be back in a bit, and he was reasonably confident that the young Leafeon wouldn't stray too far, least of all in the rain, so there was so sense getting too worked up about this yet.

A brief twitch from his tail prompted him to lift his head. There was no vibe of danger, not even the apprehension of danger like with the Pokemon trainer several days ago. No, this was something different than that. Maybe a shift in the weather?

Shadow stood and peered out from under the shelter the tree, examining the sky. It had remained as cloudy as ever, and when he craned a little further, his face was assaulted by drops of water. He jerked back to the dryer area under the tree, shaking his head to scatter some of the lingering water, and shivered.

"Cold?" a female voice wondered from behind him. Shadow jumped and spun around, finding himself looking almost directly into a pair of bright blue eyes. He hastily backpedaled a pace to get a more comfortable distance from the newcomer. Standing only a few inches away, taking shelter beneath the same tree that he was, was a quadrupedal Pokemon with tan fur covering the lower section of her body, her back sporting blue fur instead. Low burning flames crackled at the top of her head, but also near the back end.

"Uh...how long were you standing there?" Shadow asked distractedly. The Quilava had definitely not been there when he and Leaf had been here, so she must have just slipped by when he was distracted.

"Just got here," the fire Pokemon said brightly. "I run from tree to tree, taking breaks to perk my flames back up, and then run again."

"Why not just wait it out?" Shadow asked blandly.

The Quilava giggled. "When I'm so close to my comfier, dry den, and rainstorms could last hours? Why wait it out?"

"I guess I didn't consider the possibility of having a nearby den," Shadow admitted.

"Hm...I'm guessing you don't have one, then?" the Quilava asked, her tone casual, but the way her eyes flicked up to make eye contact before she began to look him over immediately gave him the vibe that the question wasn't just for the sake of small talk. The glance-over, that was completely normal - almost every Pokemon who so much as glimpsed him since he evolved had done double-takes or stared. It was the combination that bugged him. That and the way she shifted her weight a little to place herself slightly closer to him.

"No, I'm traveling," Shadow said. "With-"

"Has anyone told you that you are gorgeous? The black is cool on its own, if a touch overdoing it, but it complements your eyes and gem fantastically," the Quilava said brightly. "Oh, sorry...traveling with someone?"

"My brother. Younger brother," Shadow said quickly, noticing that his cheeks were growing warmer, and pleased that the black fur was hiding those signs.

"He can fend for himself for a bit, right?" the Quilava murmured. Shadow bit his lip. He may have spent much of his life up to now living with his parents, but he was not naive. This kind of attention was certainly...flattering. Tempting, even. Very tempting. However, his circumstances constantly warranted that he keep his priorities in check.

"Hm. Another time, maybe," the Espeon said finally. "I should go round him up. It was nice to meet you...hmm..."

"Cecilia," the Quilava chirped. "Cece if you're a close friend," she added with a wink.

Shadow paused. There was something about the fire type that seemed vaguely familiar, but after a moment, he simply shrugged. He rather worry about where Leaf was, and didn't trust himself to stay alone with her for much longer.

"Okay, then. Nice to meet you, Cecilia," he managed finally and started to walk in the direction he had seen Leaf going.

"And your name? Or should I just keep using 'gorgeous'?" Cecilia teased.

"I don't see why knowing my name would stop you. It's Shadow," the Espeon answered, and continued walking. He didn't need to turn around to check. He already was getting the feeling in the back of his mind that Cecilia would 'conveniently' cross paths with him later.

What bothered him was that this didn't bother him.