An Eevee's Life
Chapter 5: Jolt
Midnight laid in front of the egg, waiting. Luna, who was curled around the egg, had told him today would be the day. Today, he would be a father. Midnight felt a great sense of joy come over him as he thought of the idea again.
He had grown up without a father or a mother, though he considered Violet to be his symbolic mother. He planned that this child would never have to live like that. His baby would stay free, without worry or care. He knew that he was being irrational be thinking that, but he would die to make sure it came true. He wouldn't let anyone hurt it.
Midnight jumped as the egg rattled a little again. He heard Luna giggle and shot a loving look at her before returning his gaze to the egg.
Luna leaned down and licked him on the forehead. "Don't worry. It'll come soon. Staring at it won't make it come any faster, Midnight."
"I know, I know, but that doesn't mean I can't stare," Midnight reasoned.
Luna giggled again, but Midnight kept his attention on the egg. The egg was a plain tan color, with a few greenish spots here and there. Midnight hoped that didn't mean something was wrong with it.
Suddenly, the egg rocked violently, and then broke. A small Eevee tumbled out of the egg. Midnight instantly wanted to wrap around it protectively and drown it in licks, but Luna held him back gently with a paw. The Eevee looked around and saw Midnight and Luna. It gave a happy cry and ran to Luna. She nuzzled it. Midnight joined in.
"Mommy, Daddy! Hi," the Eevee cried out. Midnight guessed Pokemon born in the wild had a sense of who their parents were. He certainly hadn't.
"Hello, son, welcome to the world," Midnight said. Suddenly, the poor Eevee's stomach growled. Midnight laughed, both from the sound and the stress that had been building on him.
"Go on, Midnight, go get us something to eat," Luna said.
Midnight nodded at her and quickly ran into the main cavern. The others were standing around, having heard that their child was being born today, but Midnight paid them no heed as he dashed to the food pile and got some berries. He hurried back down the tunnel and into their room. He had been surprised that Lucy hadn't said anything, and he had a nagging suspicion that Violet was behind it.
He set the berries down and watched his son eat his first berry ravenously. Luna cleaned her son up after he had messily finished, against the squeaks of protests from him. Finally, he broke out from under his mother's cleaning and hid behind Midnight, hoping she wouldn't try to go after him.
Suddenly, he yawned. He went back to Luna and curled up against her belly. He yawned again, and then announced, "Can I be called Jolt?"
"Sure, honey, whatever you want," Luna said. She placed a paw over him as he fell asleep.
Midnight suddenly realized how tired he was. He had been here all day, watching and waiting. Yet, he also felt as if he could climb the mountain or race around the world. This new feeling filled him with hope and joy.
Midnight gave Luna a small peck and curled around her and his new son, Jolt, protectively. Everything seemed to be perfect.
Midnight watched Jolt give Luna one last affectionate hug before leaving. Jolt was anxious to start down the road. But Midnight wasn't going to let his impatient son ruin his good bye. He leaned toward and their lips met in a passionate kiss. He let it linger a while, before pulling away slowly. He saw Jolt make a face at them, but he ignored him.
"Be safe, okay?" Luna said, giving them a worried look.
"We will be. I promise you that we'll come home safely, Luna," Midnight said with all the conviction he could muster. He stared deep into her wonderful eyes and she knew that he would come back.
"Come on, father. We have a long way to go," Jolt said, starting to jog in place.
"Okay, okay, Jolt. Good bye, Luna. I love you," Midnight said. He gave her another peck before turning and following Jolt through the woods. He kept glancing back until she was out of sight.
"Finally, we're on our way to Magnet Cave!" Jolt yelled.
As Jolt yelled the cave's name out, I remembered our quest. Jolt wanted to be a Jolteon, obvious since the day he was born. Blaze had mentioned a rumor of possible thunder stones being found in a nearby network of caves and tunnels called Magnet Cave. No one else had an idea of where to find one.
Blaze had informed him that Magnet Cave had a strange polar attraction. This anomaly attracted Nosepass, Beldum, and Magnemite. But he also warned them that the cave also attracted trainers and professors. This had worried Luna, but Midnight assured her that they would be careful.
Jolt started to go ahead, but turned around and came back to Midnight before repeating the process. He had done this a few times before Midnight stopped him.
"You're going to be exhausted before we ever get there if you keep that up," Midnight said. "Then you won't be able to find your stone."
That made Jolt straighten up immediately. He slowed down and matched his pace to his father's. A smile was still plastered on his face, ever the enthusiastic one. He normally walked around with a smile, but when he heard about a trip to Magnet Cave, a smile covered his whole face and still hadn't left it.
His son had turned out to be an active, fun-loving, all around good Eevee. He took things in stride and tried to make the best out of them. He was even able to stand Lucy's teasing! Now that took effort. He had loved his son and he wouldn't want to change a single part about him after these six months of raising him.
They walked on through the forest, following the directions they were given and camped in a small cave. Jolt curled up in a corner and fell asleep quickly. Midnight laid down himself and fell asleep thinking about Luna.
Midnight and Jolt watched as for the first time in their lives, they saw snow. If drifted down slowly, and they learned to like it. They even started to throw snow at each other. They were having a great time, until it started to get cold.
In their territory, when it got cold, they went inside. But there was no warm cave here. They trudged along now, the happiness and playfulness gone with the heat. Midnight got really worried when Jolt started to shiver.
Finally, Midnight called it a day, against all of Jolt's protests. Midnight dug a hole around a tree, hoping to shelter around some roots and found the snow clingy. He then had Jolt form a dome of snow over the hole as he dug. They made a tunnel out of the hole, away from their makeshift, dome shaped ceiling.
The inside was rather cozy, though cold. And it was also a little warmer than outside. Also, no snow would cover them, now. Midnight and Jolt laid down next to each other to try to get as warm as they could. Midnight was glad to see Jolt stop shaking. As Jolt hell asleep, Midnight worried about how the snow would affect their trip.
Midnight walked into the entrance after Jolt. It had taken two more days of traveling in the snow, but they had made it. He was glad to see the cave wasn't covered in snow.
The cave was different than other caves. For one, the walls, floor, and ceiling were blue, purple, and green. For another, the air seemed to be different inside. He could feel his fur fluffing up.
"Oh, I can't wait, I can't wait. Let's start digging here," Jolt said, about to use Dig.
"Wait, Jolt. The stones probably won't be this close to the entrance. Let's go farther in, and then we'll start to excavate," Midnight said.
"Okay, okay, let's just hurry. I can't believe we're so close to it," Jolt said.
Midnight suppressed a sigh and smiled. At least he still had energy. Midnight felt unfit as he had come to Magnet Cave. He hadn't really tried to practice battling or exercise that much. He hadn't been in a battle since the Houndour attack before he met Luna. Yet, getting into a Pokemon battle didn't attract him. He would be glad if he never had to battle again.
Jolt turned a corner in the cave and Midnight heard him cry out. Midnight whipped around the corner to see an Ursaring standing aggressively over Jolt, who was cowering under it. So much for that thought.
Midnight didn't know a long range attack, so he used Quick Attack to close the distance between them in time. He hit the Ursaring hard, but it didn't affect it much. Jolt quickly scrambled out of range of the battle.
Midnight's attention quickly went back to the Ursaring as it raised a paw above it. Midnight quickly jumped back and paused. The Ursaring struck the ground where he had been. Midnight used the slight delay it had after the move to use a move of his own. He used Iron Tail, hitting the Ursaring in the stomach. The Ursaring toppled backwards, the breathe driven from its body.
Midnight quickly used the time in his favor. His strongest move he knew now was Bite, being powered up from his dark type nature. He dashed up to one of the Ursaring's arms and bit down on it. It cried out in pain as Midnight's teeth sank into it. Midnight let go and backed up, allowing the Ursaring to run past him.
Slowly, Jolt came out from hiding. "Are you okay, dad?" he asked.
"Yes, but I want to know, why did the Ursaring attack you, Jolt?" Midnight asked.
Jolt looked down at the ground, crestfallen. "Well . . . I bumped into him because I wasn't looking where I was going. I woke him up from a nap."
"He may have been grouchy, but you should not only have looked where you were going, you should have stayed with me instead of running off," Midnight said with a stern look.
Jolt lowered his head even further. "I'm sorry."
Midnight sighed, the stress of battle leaving him. "It's over with now, just try to stay closer to me next time. More Ursaring may be trying to hibernate now that it has started getting colder," he said.
"Okay, I will," Jolt said, looking only a little bit better.
They walked in silence a little, before something caught Midnight's eye. Behind a boulder was something glowing slightly. He motioned for Jolt to stop and crept up to it. He saw it was a green stone with a yellow thunderbolt design on it. "Jolt, come see this."
Jolt came up by him and gave a cry of delight. He had recognized it, too. It was a thunder stone. "Awesome, now I can evolve," he said.
"Now, wait a second and think," Midnight stopped him, "Think hard. Are you sure this is the evolution you want? You'll only get one chance."
Jolt, subdued by Midnight's tone, nodded seriously.
"Okay, now all you have to do is touch it," Midnight instructed.
Jolt reached out a paw to touch the stone. Midnight noticed his paw trembled a little, but Jolt continued on. Jolt's paw touched the stone and a blinding white light covered him. Midnight averted his eyes for a second before looking back at his son.
Now in place of the Eevee was a large Jolteon. The Jolteon started to look at himself, trying to see all of himself at once. "Awe. Some." Was all Jolt could say.
Midnight broke into a grin at the expression on his face. Midnight knew he would have battled ten Ursaring just to see this reaction. It was a priceless moment. Midnight chuckled and said, "Come on, the faster we leave, the faster you can show Luna."
Jolt hurried after Midnight. When they reached the entrance, Midnight broke into a run, ignoring the cold he felt and how the snow made his fur wet. Jolt ran after him. Midnight was surprised that Jolt could now keep up with him. He was dumbfounded when Jolt actually passed him, laughing as he went.
They hurried home, making the trip back only two days and a half. They met Luna on the border, who coincidentally had happened to be watching the border. Luna's pelt glowed with pride as she greeted her son. Once he was done showing off his new looks, he told the story of everything that had happened on their quest for the thunder stone. She gasped at the retelling of the battle with Ursaring, but she was sedated when she was sure they weren't hurt.
Jolt left them to go tell the others. Midnight turned to Luna when he had left and gave her a more proper greeting that he had been longer to give her. His lips met hers in a passionate kiss. After a while, he broke contact, but nuzzled her and twined his tail around hers. Now that he was back, life felt normal again. He felt the hole created by her absence fill. He was content.