"Did Squirtle just say..." Leaf overheard Squirtle's out loud thinking.

"Huh? What's up, Squirtle?" Ryan looked at Squirtle, who was resting on his left shoulder. Leaf was about to answer for him, but Squirtle shook his head, signaling no.

"He's right. How would Umbreon take it if he realized he was fighting his own mother?" Leaf thought. "This just got even more twisted..."

"Pidgeot, take a rest, okay?" Leaf returned Pidgeot to it's Pokeball and clipped the Pokeball to her belt.

"Glaceon disappeared!" Ryan said as it happened. Umbreon stopped his Quick Attack at where Glaceon was and started looking around.

"Where'd-" Umbreon was interrupted by a command by the Pokemon Hunter.

"Use Ice Fang!"

"Umbreon, behind you!" Ryan yelled in warning. Umbreon quickly turned back- Glaceon's mouth was glowing with a light blue tint, coming at Umbreon!

Ryan acted upon instinct and commanded, "Umbreon, use Sand Attack!"

"Right! Sand-Attack!" Umbreon kicked up settled sand and dust up from the ground towards Glaceon, who closed her eyes to avoid the sand. Glaceon still came at Umbreon, but a bit slower.

"Gotta get out of the way-" Umbreon leapt into the air as Glaceon nearly bit into him with Ice Fang, successfully dodging the attack!

"Now go in with Bite!" Ryan pointed.

"What?" Leaf objected. "Keep your distance from Glaceon! She can freeze you with a close range Icy Wind or Ice Fang!"

"Did you just say she? How do you know it's a she?" Ryan caught the word she in Leaf's objection.

"Uh," Leaf realized her slip up, since Squirtle face palmed himself. "I... just have a feeling, that's all!" She quickly covered up.

"Should I tell him? No...they can't know now, of all times." Leaf thought.

"Okay..." Ryan raised an eyebrow in confusion and turned back to the battle.

"Anyways, keep your focus, Umbreon needs you, look," Leaf coached as she noticed Umbreon was close to Glaceon, trying to use Bite on her while Glaceon dodged every attempt.

"None of our attacks are hitting at all! It's like we're outclassed- no, we ARE outclassed!" Ryan thought with a frown.

"Stay calm and focused," Leaf coached once more.

"I'm trying to!" Ryan answered hastily. "Kind of hard when all of our attacks aren't doing a thing..." Ryan muttered. One more Bite attack later, Glaceon disappeared into the fog once more.

"Dang!" Ryan tried to look around for any sign of Glaceon before she could strike. "Squirtle, you see Glaceon anywhere?"

"No, no sign at all..." Squirtle shook his head after he looked around.

"How do you fight something that you literally can't see and can attack from any angle and duck back into cover?" Ryan asked himself.

"What can I do to attack before Glaceon strikes? Shadow Ball won't work if Umbreon can't see where he's aiming... Sand-Attack helps at close range, Bite- I just saw... Quick Attack gets us close before Glaceon disappears." Ryan optioned out.

"It's taking a while for Glaceon to attack..." He noticed. "We don't even have a chance of landing an attack until Glaceon shows itself..."

"Wait, that's it!" Ryan suddenly said aloud.

"Did you think of something?" Leaf asked.

"Matter of fact, I did." Ryan answered.

"This Umbreon smells familiar... no mistaking it. But... how?" Glaceon thought as she peered through the fog and at a faint figure, assuming it was Umbreon.

"Use Ice Fang on Umbreon!" The Pokemon Hunter commanded suddenly.

"I'll think about it later." Glaceon suddenly popped out from the fog and charged at Umbreon once more.

"Hmm?" Glaceon noticed that Umbreon just stood still and faced Glaceon as she charged. "Umbreon's just standing there!"

"A little closer... there!" Ryan thought and then called out. "Now Umbreon, dodge and use Quick Attack now that Glaceon's too close!"

Umbreon nodded as he ducked and rolled to his right in order to dodge and quickly climbed to his paws. Quick Attack's white stream appeared behind Umbreon as he slammed into Glaceon, inflicting damage and knocking her back.

"Okay, now that Glaceon's knocked back, let's finish this with Shadow Ball!" Ryan said. Umbreon nodded as he began charging Shadow Ball. Glaceon was getting up from the impact of Quick Attack.

"This was a snap once I figured it out!" Ryan thought. "We're one step closer to stopping this guy and getting your mom back Umbreon..." As Ryan thought, something seemed to bother Leaf.

"Couldn't the hunter have countered that? It seemed a bit too slow... and what's the deal with the lack of commands?" Leaf thought. "It's almost ...like he wants Glaceon to get hit!" Leaf decided to take a chance.

"Ryan! Stop!"

"Huh? Why?" Ryan asked.

"Ugh... I should've told you this at the beginning, but I wasn't completely sure. I think the hunter wants you to hurt Glaceon!" Leaf explained.

"What makes you say that?" Ryan asked, wondering where this idea came from.

"Think about it, you've been issuing commands left and right to Umbreon, while he's been sitting back with only about four or five commands!"

"Okay, and maybe he just outclasses me in battling to the point of only needing those five commands?" Ryan suggested.

"Even the best trainers need to give commands more often than that..." Leaf rebutted.

"But why would he want me to hurt Glaceon?" Ryan asked.

"Because," Leaf took a split second to make a final decision before continuing. "That Glaceon is the mother of Eevee and Umbreon!"

"What?" Ryan reacted in shock. He quickly turned to Umbreon, who had the Shadow Ball charged and ready to fire.

"Stop, Umbreon!" Ryan yelled. "You gotta stop! It's your mom!" Umbreon's eyes widened.

"M-mom?" Umbreon unfocused the Shadow Ball, letting the energy escape. He took another good look at Glaceon- was it really her?

"Mom?" Glaceon said in slowly approached Glaceon, sniffing carefully.

"Is it really you, mom?" Umbreon asked.

"I..." Glaceon took a while to take all of it in.

"Wait right here mom!" Umbreon ran back to Ryan with lightning quick speed.

"I need sis out here!" Umbreon motioned towards Ryan's pocket.

"What? Wait, I think Eevee needs to be out here too!" Ryan pulled out Eevee's Pokeball and enlarged it.

"Come on out Eevee, Umbreon needs you!" Ryan called out as he released Eevee from her Pokeball, allowing her to materialize next to Umbreon.

"Brother needs me? For what?" Eevee asked as she shook her head.

"Sis! It's-it's-it's-" Umbreon could hardly hold his excitement.

"What brother?" Eevee asked.

"Mom! Look!" Umbreon motioned to Glaceon, who was looking at Umbreon and Eevee.

"That's mama? Are you sure, brother? She doesn't look like her..." Eevee asked.

"Come on, I'll show you!" Umbreon motioned for his sister to follow him to Glaceon.

"Eevee, wait-" Ryan was stopped by Leaf, who put a hand on his shoulder.

"Isn't it a bit too dangerous at the moment for Eevee to wander around?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, but I have a feeling they need this interaction with their mother..." Leaf began. "Besides, how would you feel if you couldn't see your mother, and you were right next to her?"

"...You're right." Ryan admitted simply and dipped his head down as his thoughts wandered.

"Hmm? What's with him? It's like mentioning his mom's..." Leaf saved the thought for later as she looked at the reunion scene unfolding in front of them between Glaceon, Umbreon, and Eevee.

"Who... is this?" Glaceon asked as Eevee and Umbreon came up to her.

"Is it really mama?" Eevee went a little closer to Glaceon and sniffed her.

"It smells... like flowers. Mama's flowers." Eevee dove into Glaceon.

"Mama!" Eevee said as she warmly rubbed against Glaceon. Umbreon wanted to join in, but he let his sister enjoy the moment.

"Aww..." Leaf commented as she witnessed the touching scene in front of her. She resisted an urge to let loose a tear- what kind of a champion cries? Ryan was watching the scene quietly, his feelings unreadable.

"Maybe just this once..." Leaf thought. Her warmness suddenly came to a halt as she noticed something.

"Wait, why isn't Glaceon returning Eevee's hug? Aren't they her long lost kids?" Leaf thought as she noticed Glaceon's glazed look on her face, which replaced her initial look of confusion.

"I... I'm sorry, but..." Glaceon backed away from Eevee's embrace.

"Mama? What's wrong?" Eevee asked as Glaceon backed up.

"I don't think you both are my kids." Glaceon stated.

"W-what? Mom-" Umbreon was cut off by Glaceon.

"I never had any kids!" Glaceon said.

"N-no! You're our mom- it's your scent!" Umbreon rebutted.

"Mama, you don't recognize me?" Eevee looked up into Glaceon's eyes.

Glaceon looked hard at Eevee and again at Umbreon. She switched back and forth, thinking hard. Nothing stirred in Glaceon's heart or mind.

"No... I don't." Umbreon's and Eevee's hearts plummeted.

"What? No!" Squirtle thought. "That has to be their mom! There's no other explanation..."

"What?" Ryan turned to Leaf. "What happened? Why's Glaceon backing up?"

"I don't know! Let me see..." Leaf refreshed a connection with Eevee and Umbreon into their hearts, from earlier. A shock nearly knocked Leaf back.

"Leaf, you alright?" Ryan asked as he ran up to prepare to catch her.

"I-I don't believe it..." Leaf said.

"What happened?" Ryan asked as he and Leaf looked at Eevee, Umbreon, and Glaceon.

"Eevee and Umbreon smelled their mother and said it's definitely her, but... their mother doesn't even remember having kids!"

"That's... terrible!" Ryan couldn't even begin to put the feelings he was feeling into words. The fog cleared up, revealing the Pokemon Hunter, who watched the scene.

"Hey, the fog's clearing!" Professor Maple said as he was able to see Ryan and Leaf.

"What's so funny?" Ryan growled as he saw a slight smirk on the Pokemon Hunter's face.

"You monster..." Squirtle glared at the Pokemon Hunter.

"I find it amusing that you think using the little kids story would help you win." The Pokemon Hunter said.

"What?" Ryan, Leaf, Eevee, Umbreon and Squirtle all exclaimed in disbelief.

"That's their mother, you sick little..." Ryan stopped himself from finishing his cursing of the Pokemon Hunter.

"I don't think so, especially since Glaceon said she never had kids... That concludes my little business. Come, Glaceon." The Pokemon Hunter walked casually towards the exit, where Professor Maple stood with Espeon.

"You're not getting past me!" Professor Maple declared as Espeon prepared to attack. Glaceon stood in front of the Pokemon Hunter, ready to block the attack.

"What? Why is she helping him?" Ryan thought aloud.

"No! Don't hurt our mama!" Eevee yelled to Espeon.

"But he's gonna get away!" Espeon said back. "Matt, what can we do? We can't hurt their mother..."

Professor Maple bit his lip.

"Practically nothing," He said as he moved to the side in defeat, allowing the Pokemon Hunter to pass, unscathed.

"Heh, it's not my fault you all were not able to stop me. In fact," The Pokemon Hunter stopped before leaving and turned around.

"I'll let you get one shot at stopping me from leaving, but Glaceon may have an objection to that..." He said as Glaceon stood ready for battle. "What are you waiting for? Do it." He taunted. Ryan tightened his fist and glared at the Pokemon Hunter.

"I- I have to stop him! But... their mom!" The internal conflict ate at Ryan. A brief moment passed as neither Ryan, Leaf, nor Professor Maple could do anything.

"Weak. You had a chance to stop me. Remember that." The Pokemon Hunter said simply as he turned and left with Glaceon. As they disappeared from sight, Umbreon and Eevee finally broke down and fell to the ground.

"M-mom..." Umbreon couldn't believe it. She was there... she didn't recognize him or his sister.

"Mama... why?" Eevee was sobbing on the ground. Ryan stood with his mouth opened. Words would not describe the feeling of anger he felt towards the Pokemon Hunter.

"That heartless son of a..." Ryan huffed in anger in his head.

Back to the Basics! Will be finished up in about three to five parts, depending if I cut anything out.