Adaman stumbled up the lookout tower. He had been rudely awoken in the dead of night by Arezu. She and the rest of the awaking diamond clan were panicking. The leader of the pearl clan, Irida, was spotted making a beeline for the settlement.

"Is she still heading this way?" Adaman asked the night watch as he attempted to wipe the sleep from his eyes discreetly.

"Yes, sir. She's just coming over the ridge over there."

The watchman handed Adaman her spyglass, and he peered across the swampland. He didn't have to adjust to the darkness as a fuming pink and white lady stood out reasonably well in the crimson mire. What popped out most to Adaman was the dragon fire burning in her eyes.

He hissed as he put down the spyglass. Irida was usually so cautious. Had the mysterious lightning struck her too?

"It's war then?" One of the veteran guards whispered.

"But why now? We've done nothing but help each other when Kleavor and Lilligant began rampaging." Arezu said as she climbed up the tower to stand beside Adaman.

"Why else would Irida come into our land in the dead of night? No rival leader has been to the other's central settlement in generations." Another watchman asked

Adaman searched the horizon for a few moments, then shook his head. "Our lady of the ridge isn't interfering. I doubt she would stand by if an attack were coming. Even so, Irida sure isn't being stealthy if this was an attack. Just look behind her."

The group looked at the wake of Irida's charge. Distantly behind her appeared two of her wardens, an old lady and a short boy with a large hat. They were covered in muck and struggling to keep up with their leader. They had no pokemon or weapons with them and even seemed to be calling for their leader to slow down.

"ADAMAN!"

Even the most hardened warriors of the diamond clan jumped at Irida's screech. She had stopped and was waiting just outside the borders of the encampment, arms crossed and foot tapping.

"Quite the voice for a little package," Adaman commented to ease his men (and maybe himself) as he moved to shout. "What business could you possibly have at this time?"

"I DEMAND CHILD SUPPORT, ADAMAN!"

A sudden and violent jolt shot through the clans' spines. Adaman nearly dropped the spyglass and had to frantically juggle it before he could grip it to his chest. He felt everyone's eyes on him, burning through his back and turning his cheeks red.

"Sh-she's crazy," Adaman muttered as he jumped down the tower and ran for the front of the village. "Come, Leafeon," Adaman called to his pokémon, who, by some miracle, was still sleeping. Adaman's voice immediately woke the grass-type, and it eagerly jumped onto his shoulder.

"Sir, wait! It could be an ambush!"

Adamant ignored his guards' warning. He had no time to worry about such things when there was a raving lunatic on his front porch. Even if something did come up, he knew Leafeon could take care of it.

Adaman rushed to stand in front of Irida, slightly sliding on mud before catching himself. He made sure to tower over her, copying her arm-crossed stance.

"What in almighty Sinnoh's name are you talking about?"

"Child Support. By Sinnoh's ancient law of broken love, I demand compensation from the diamond clan for the children's livelihoods. Four new mouths are quite a burden for our clan at this time." Irida huffed.

"I- what are you-?" Adaman shook his head. "I have no idea what you're speaking of. I can promise all my clan members have acted with decorum in all their affairs and haven't-"

"You call that face decorum?! The monster looks thrilled at having brutalized my dearest." Irida snapped as she pointed at Adaman's shoulder.

Adaman looked past his shoulder to see his guards coming, and for a moment, truly feared for what his men might have done. His mind began racing for how to make it right when he was accidentally slapped by Leafeon's excitedly wagging tail.

Leafeon jumped off his shoulder and began dancing in place.

"Leafeon?" Adaman asked.

His pokémon responded with a happy trill as he circled Irida a few times.

"See, he admits it," Irida huffed. "My Glaceon has been acting off for days and then suddenly laid four eggs. They hatched only a few hours ago, and as soon as I saw their movesets, I knew."

Adaman groaned as he slapped his head. "I highly doubt it's my pokemon that's the father. Why not some pokemon from your clan?"

"All the Eevee kits know charm."

Adaman crushed another hiss between his teeth. Both diamond and pearl clans have been breeding eeveelutions since they came to Hisui. As leaders, each knew well what moves could only be passed on by breeding, specifically, moves usually inherited by eeveelution parents.

"But there has to be other evolutions around your camp-"

"All female or too young."

"Wild pok-"

"Not in the Alabaster Icelands. That Leafeon's the culprit. It must have happened when we were talking with Commander Kamado and left-"

"Left the two outside for a bit." Adaman finished with a groan. He glared at his pokemon while holding his aching head. Leafeon only trilled as he did yet another joyous dance.

"You frisky little- Fine, since he's so excited to out himself," Adaman said as he bent down to be level with Leafeon. The pokemon rubbed himself back and forth on Adaman as the leader gave him a good scratching. "Well, removing charm from your move set will be for later. For now, I'll head back to the pearl settlement."

"Wh-what?! Why?" Irida gasped

"I won't be sending baby supplies unless I know these kits are being taken care of. And I don't think Leafeon will let me sleep unless he gets to see his children."

Leafeon loudly yipped in agreement.

"No! I'm not letting that brute anywhere near my innocent Glaceon."

"Brute? I'm pretty sure it was your Glaceon that seduced Leafeon. Without her feminine wiles, his mind would never have left the path of honor."

"Glaceon would never…." What was boiling in Irida simmered under Adaman's laugh. A joke. He was joking. Irida paused as she quickly hid her red checks behind her hand and turned to her wardens, just then catching up.

"I don't know, Irida. There's a saying in my family that it takes two to tango." The short one smiled as he and the other stood straight and proud as the diamond guards came to the group.

"I agree with your warden there. Does this look like the face of a monster?" Adaman said as he lifted Leafeon to Irida's eye level. She stared a few moments into the pokemon's eyes before sighing and turning away. She couldn't get away quick enough from a face lick from Leafeon.

The situation was quickly explained to the masses. (Many people sighed in relief that the child support had been for a pokemon, making both leaders wonder if they needed to investigate their clans' interactions closer).

"But you can't just follow them, Adaman. What if it's a trap of some sort?" A guardsman said.

"Of course, it's not. Pearl clan would never stoop so low." Irida said, backed by her two wardens.

Adaman nodded. "With all these rifts, we both don't have time for such trickery. I trust her."

Irida straightened at his declaration. But that was quickly swallowed as Aerzu spoke.

"At least wait until daylight."

"I'm not the type to waste time like that. Let us go. I should be back before lunch. Hold the fort down while I'm gone and if things go wrong, get Mai, not Melli." Adaman said as he followed the three.

…

The trip was quiet. Irida was the one to lead as she always had been. Sinnoh had blessed her with the ability to know exactly where she was, even if she was sometimes a little late. She was at least relieved to be out of the heat and back into normal temperatures as they traveled over the mountains using pokémon. As the land became blanketed in snow, she heard Adaman whisper to his Leafeon.

"You're cold, huh? I'm not sure why this snow and wind affects you so much when you've loved something much colder."

Irida looked back to see Leafeon curled deep within Adaman's coat. Both shivering in the wind. Irida didn't find the weather that bad, but she was not the type to leave someone shivering, even Adaman. She motioned for Lian to hand him a coat but the diamond leader politely refused, even as he continued to shiver.

Stubborn, Irida thought.

Thankfully Adaman didn't have to suffer his self-inflicted pain long as they came to the pearl clan's home. Irida didn't need curious clan eyes on Adaman, so she quickly shepherded him to the hatchery tent and had her wardens turn others away.

Irida kept telling herself that Glaceon would hate to see Leafeon. Still, she knew her pokemon's reaction even before hearing Glaceon's happy squeal.

Glaceon was at the tent's center with four nursing kits attached to her belly. They were still nothing more than brown fluff at the moment, but as the hours went by, they'd soon be jumping and mewling. Much like their father at that moment as Leafeon springboarded off Adaman and ran over to Glaceon. The two nuzzled, making low coos to each other.

"A brute if I ever saw one," Adaman smirked.

"With you as his wielder, how else was I supposed to think he would act?" Irida waved him away as she collected wood to feed the fire in the tent.

"Here, from a confirmed brute." Adaman helped hand logs to Irida. They worked until the fire was cultivated to the perfect size. Soon the tent was comfortably warm, and the kits slept along with their parents, each wrapped in the other.

Silence fell over Adaman and Irida as they watched the family. There was something so calming and yet engrossing about watching pokémon sleep. Irida didn't know how long the two were there until she realized she felt very warm. At about the same time, they both realized they were leaning on each other as they watched the family. They quickly separated by Irida getting more wood and Adaman stretching.

"Well, I've taken enough of your time. I can tell these eevees are in good hands. Are you ok with a basket of berries being sent to you weekly for 'child support?'"

"If you can add in chopped wood, I think we got a deal."

The two shook hands, probably the first none war pact the two clans had made in generations.

"Let's go, Leafeon." The pokémon groaned and curled closer to Glaceon. "We have to leave them for now. We'll be back though when they're older."

"You will now?" Irida asked.

"Yes, I imagined we'd be taking the bunch to the diamond clan."

"Where did you get that idea?" Irida did her best to hold in a growl.

"Well, I'm not just going to leave Leafeon's children stuck here forever. I thought you said four mouths was too much for your clan. I don't blame you for how harsh the environment is up here. We at diamond clan have more than enough supplies for the bunch."

"Of course, we can take care of all four! I just wanted you to do what's right for these kits!"

Before another argument could burst between the two, both new parents yipped at their masters. The two shut their mouths and sighed as they looked over the now squirming eevees.

"Let's split them evenly then," Adaman said. "When they grow to level five, I can take two, and you can keep two."

Irida opened her mouth to argue, not wanting to separate them so soon, but thought better of it and nodded. Level five was when most pokémon left their parents anyway.

With a sad mewl, Leafeon left Glaceon and hopped onto his master's shoulder. Adaman nodded to Irida, a smile returning to his face.

"And… Thank you for telling us. You didn't have to go out of your way to, but you did anyway. Even if it was in the dead of night."

"You're welcome," Irida replied, surprised at Adaman's genuineness.

"Just next time, could you choose your words a little better? I'm sure certain rumors are spreading even now amongst my clan mates."

"I hope your clan isn't asinine enough to put credence into any rumor of the sort. They should know there isn't even friendship between us."

"Yes, now there's a lot more. Four kits, to be exact."

...

A/N: Trust me. I know very well Pokemon breeding doesn't work exactly like this. But, If I went on pure game logic, we wouldn't have a story, now would we? Why have logic when we can have fluff!

Thank you for reading!