Authoress: Hey everyone! Last chapter I have to admit wasn't the best chapter I've written so far…I'm not all that great with fluff scenes. I just got back from Busch Gardens - and it was really fun, but EXTREMELY crowded. Luckily I rode all the roller coasters in the morning before everyone got there. Anyway, enough about that. ^_^ Before I start, I've decided to only do reviewer response every other chapter…I know yall like them, but it's really a lot to type along with the chapter! If you really want the responses every chapter, just tell me, but from now on it's going to be every other chapter. Well, I think I've said enough. Here goes…
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Jolteon didn't know why he was the only one feeling the way he was. The entire night was spent either pacing back and forth or lying on his mat, staring into space. Still, he kept trying to push it in the back of his mind, telling himself repeatedly that he was just imagining the feeling - what could possibly be happening?
As the electric pokemon lay there, he suddenly thought of Jennifer and Stephanie back at the tower. Espeon had told them earlier that Jenn had asked her to promise to protect them because of the police and the risk of being found.
Jolteon's heart involuntarily skipped a beat when he ran the word "police" through his mind. What if this isn't a feeling? he finally began to realize. I've got to wake up Espeon.
He crept over Vaporeon and Flareon, who were sleeping soundly on one mat since the young fire-type couldn't bare to sleep alone, and Vaporeon welcomed the warmth on cold winter nights like that night.
"Espeon," Jolteon whispered, nudging her with a golden paw. She rolled over away from Jolteon, smacking his paw away unconsciously.
"Espeon!" he tried again in a whisper, this time a little stronger. Again, no response.
Jolteon grumbled under his breath as he charged up a small amount of electricity in his paw. Then he touched Espeon. A crack from the shock was heard that echoed of the ally walls, but didn't wake anyone else up.
Espeon had gotten to her feet rather quickly and was staring about in a dazed way. Jolteon merely stood there, waiting for her to come to.
Finally she looked at Jolteon and the glaze escaped from her eyes. "What's the matter, it has got to be around five o'clock in the morning," she said seriously.
"Sorry," Jolteon mumbled that. "But I've had a feeling since we left the Burnt Tower, and I've just been brushing it off. But now I think it's actually real."
She looked at him curiously. "Why didn't you mention this before?"
"I didn't think it was a big deal."
Espeon sighed. "Explain."
"I'm pretty certain it's about Stephanie and Jennifer. I also got the feeling that police are involved in whatever is happening," Jolteon answered.
"Police?" she questioned back. "But how would the police know that Jennifer and Stephanie are there?"
"I was hoping you'd tell me."
"Why didn't I get this foreboding…I guess it doesn't matter, although we could've acted on it much quicker. Wake everyone up, we have to get to that tower."
~*~
"Jennifer!" Vaporeon cried out. Other cries of "Jennifer" and "Stephanie" echoed after hers within the creaky building. The two were plainly nowhere to be found.
"Hey, Jennifer!" Umbreon called. "Stephanie! One of you two say something, God dammit!"
"I don't think swearing at them is going to help, Umbreon," Tat said, coming up behind him. "They're gone - at least from here." The continued calls were heard throughout various places in the building.
Eventually everyone found their way to the spot where Umbreon and Tat were standing. "Well, if anyone else was here it'd be hard to tell," Skull observed. "The place already looked ransacked."
"Do you think they're just outside?" asked Flareon hopefully.
"No, I checked," Tatta answered, much to the dismay of the rest. "There's not a trace of them being any where near the outside of the building. And I doubt that they would've gone for a long walk with the stakes at risk."
"This is just peachy," Umbreon rolled his eyes up. "Just when we were making some real progress, this shit has to happen!"
"Calm down, Umbreon," Espeon told him. "Shouting profanities at the situation isn't helping any."
"Quit telling me that!"
"We've searched this place up and down," Vaporeon said, getting back on subject. "There's no traces of humans, but I don't know where they could've gone, especially under the circumstances."
"How can there be no evidence of people?" Jolteon questioned. "I clearly got the message that police were somehow involved in this."
"Not all intuitions like that are meant to be taken by a single meaning," explained Espeon. "Police could have an alternate definition, but I think it's just a piece of the puzzle that we have to solve. Besides, if humans were here surly they would've dropped a flashlight or another item."
"Stupid klutzes," Umbreon growled, pacing circles around the group.
"I think we should split up," Skull suggested. "Since there's no story to what happened to them here, it has to be somewhere else, right?"
"I agree," Vaporeon said, standing next to the Marowak. "Standing here feeling sorry isn't going to help Jenn and Stephanie."
"Well then, let's go!" Jolteon and Umbreon said and made a mad dash to the exit.
"Wait!" Espeon futilely shouted, as they were out the door before she could even form the words. "Come, we have to get out there before they all run off," she said to Flareon and the Rattatas.
~*~
Espeon had somehow managed to organize search parties with assigned areas so no one would get lost and an area wouldn't go unchecked. Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Skull were in one group, Tat, Flareon, and Umbreon were in the next, and Espeon paired herself with Tatta for the last search party.
"You know what you're supposed to be doing," Espeon said seriously. "Let's go." Each pokemon bolted off in the directions specific to their group.
Jolteon and Vaporeon were three feet ahead of Skull from the start. "Wait!" the smaller pokemon shouted. "I ain't no Rapidash, stop!"
Jolteon skidded to a stop and sighed in annoyance as Vaporeon turned around and ran back to Skull. "Why don't we just leave him?" Vaporeon half-turned and gave him a look that clearly meant, "No."
"Get on," Vaporeon stopped in front of the Skull and told him." He eagerly jumped onto her tail, which left the water pokemon confused. "You can get on my back, you know."
"I prefer it down here, thanks," Skull replied. He patted the ridges on her finned tail. "Better leverage down here if you know what I'm saying. I'd fall off your back cuz there's nothing to grab onto."
She shrugged. "Suit yourself."
Jolteon shook his head. "You're weird, Skull."
"Don't worry, the feeling's mutual," the ground pokemon returned before childishly sticking out his tongue. Vaporeon decided to take off running real quick before Jolteon had a chance to say anything back, Skull riding along with the movement of her tail hanging on as tight as he could.
*~Jennifer's POV~*
I groaned as I opened my eyes. I jumped up quickly when I noticed the ground was wet, only to drop back down because of a sharp, throbbing pain in my head. I looked around. This is definitely not the tower.
The worst part was I couldn't remember what had happened or why I was sitting on cold, wet cement in the middle of some place I didn't recognize.
It was pitch black with a few dull street lights casting creepy shadows on the worn-out road. The trees stood over me in an almost threatening way, and upon thinking that one of them might reach out and grab me, I began to freak out.
That's when I realized Stephanie wasn't there with me. "Stephanie!" I cried out, terrified. "Stephanie?" I asked again, this time much quieter and shakier.
I crawled myself against a wall so all I had to worry about was what was in front of me. I sat there, letting all the nightly sounds get to me. I was cold, scared, and alone - well, at least I thought I was alone.
*~General POV~*
Umbreon, Flareon, and Tat ran along at a good pace, even with Tat's size and Flareon's short legs. "Let's look in here," Umbreon suggested as they came upon an apparently abandoned street. "It certainly doesn't look occupied, or at least it's all closed for the night."
The street wasn't very long - maybe one hundred feet in length. The street lights weren't working, although the buildings lining the small street still seemed to be in pretty good shape.
A sudden crash scared the wits out of Flareon as she yelped and hid behind Umbreon. "Flareon, what are you doing!?" he hissed. "That was just a street sign that -" But the dark pokemon cut himself short, remembering the conversation he had had with Vaporeon and Espeon at Mightyena's hideout.
Oh yea? Well, I'll show them Flareon can feel safe with me, he thought. "Never mind, you can stay there if you want to."
"Good," Flareon said, relieved. "Because Tat's a little on the short side to hide behind."
Umbreon smirked as he looked down at Tat. Tat returned with a scowl. "Shut up, Umbreon."
"Eeek!" Flareon yelped yet again, pressing closer against Umbreon.
"What?" Tat asked, whirling around in all different directions. He was almost as afraid as Flareon was.
"There…" came her squeaked answer. The rest of what she said was incomprehensible as she lifted a paw toward the frightening object.
Umbreon leaned in, squinting his eyes at the thing. "What the hell is that?"
~*~
Skull was safely on the ground now, and the three of them were searching the last place where they had seen Mightyena. Skull was picking up various objects to see if he could detect anything while Vaporeon and Jolteon sniffed around and turned their sensitive ears towards any unusual noises.
"Anything?" Skull asked as Vaporeon walked towards him.
She shook her head. "Jennifer hasn't been here since Mightyena kidnapped her, and there's no trace at all of Stephanie."
Jolteon came around from behind a garbage can, also shaking his head. "It's obvious they're not here."
"But we've looked everywhere!" Skull complained. "What if…I hate to say it, but what if some hungry pokemon got to Jennifer thinking she was a tasty morsel?"
The trio pondered this awful thought for a moment. "I don't think so," Jolteon finally said.
"Why not?" the Marowak questioned.
"Because," Vaporeon replied. "Any pokemon would've seen Stephanie and made a run for it. Even Mightyena would've taken off at the first sight of a human -"
"Knowing how the majority feel about us and what they're capable of doing," the electric fox jumped in and finished.
Skull took in the information and agreed. Then he grinned. "Awe, how cute!" he said in a sickeningly sweet voice.
"What?" Jolteon asked in confusion.
"You finish each other's sentences!"
Jolteon was taken aback at first, then he growled, releasing a Thundershock directed at Skull.
"Jolteon!" Vaporeon scolded as the electricity surrounded the ground type.
"Relax, it doesn't affect him," he told her, walking off.
"O yea." She turned and caught up with him, leaving Skull to catch up.
Within thirty seconds Skull was walked next to them again. "That wasn't very nice," he commented.
"You know you deserved it," Jolteon said.
"I was only stating the obvious!"
"…So!" was Jolteon's magnificent comeback.
"Aha!" Skull shouted triumphantly. "You couldn't come up with anything, which means I win!"
"What!? No it doesn't!"
"I'm leaving," Vaporeon announced. "Follow me if you will." She took off in the direction of the area Espeon told everyone to meet at.
The remaining two quit arguing and looked at each other. "See ya!" Jolteon laughed, picking up speed to catch up with Vaporeon.
"I don't think so!" Skull jumped and managed to grab hold of Jolteon's leg so he couldn't run.
"Get off me!" he yelled as he released a good amount of electricity where Skull was holding onto.
"Haha, you're wasting your energy!" laughed Skull in a sing-song voice.
"Remove your bony self from my leg, or I won't be responsible for what happens to you."
"Gladly." Skull let go of the leg and quickly positioned himself on Jolteon's back.
The was a pause. "I guess I have no choice, do I?" Jolteon knew he was defeated.
"Nope."
"Before we go, you do know that I hate you, right?"
"Yep."
"Ok then, we're good." Jolteon sped in the direction Vaporeon did, heading for the Espeon's meeting area.
~*~
Espeon and Tatta were crouched in a bush, watching with great intent a steel building in front of them. "Espeon, what do you think is in there?" Tatta asked. "It's looks either closed or unoccupied."
"Maybe, but something draws me to this place, though," Espeon answered. "There's got to some sort of clue to Stephanie and Jennifer's sudden disappearance here."
Tatta looked up at her. "Then what was the use of forming search parties?"
"To be prepared for the possibility that I might be wrong."
"Oh, I see."
~*~
The object that frightened Flareon was glowing eerily and advancing the group. Tat's hair stood all the way on end and he too had moved in behind Umbreon. Umbreon felt as if his back would melt off at any given second since Flareon was pressing in so close. If there was anything else on that street they'd be able to hear the poor fire pokemon hyperventilating.
Umbreon was still trying to make out what it was. "Maybe it's a pokemon…" he thought out loud to himself.
Suddenly he jumped backward, making Tat and Flareon jump with him. "Aaah!" he yelled in surprise. "It's a lantern!"
"D-do lanterns usually fly?" Tat asked shakily.
"What do you think, Einstein?" Umbreon tried to sound remotely sarcastic, but the fear of the flying lantern showed itself in his voice.
"Ok," Tat squeaked, backing away. "Umbreon's even scared now, so let's get the hell outta here!"
No one had to tell Flareon a second time - she was off Umbreon's back in a flash and running right behind the Ratatta.
"Wait a minute, get back here!" Umbreon yelled after them. But then he took another look at the steadily advancing lantern and got himself freaked out again. "I mean, wait up!"
He started to bolt in the opposite direction, but skidded to a sudden stop when he heard a giggling laugh. "Wait a minute," he said to himself. "I've heard that laugh before."
The laughter and the lantern both immediately stopped when Umbreon turned back around, determination showing clearly in his eyes.
Without warning, Umbreon disappeared into thin air. There was a small, frightened gasp heard as the lantern fell to the ground and shattered into many pieces. A Haunter appeared, looking wildly around for Umbreon.
Umbreon reappeared behind the Haunter. "Why, hello!" he said gleefully, right before he used a powerful Crunch attack, knocking the poor ghost pokemon senseless.
Umbreon shook himself off and regained his dignity. "Dumbass," he said to the Haunter, who smiled freakishly at him before disappearing into the night and before Umbreon could inflict any more damage.
He made it safely back to Tat and Flareon. "Come on, let's go. They're not here and we have to get back to the others."
"W-what was it?" Flareon ventured to ask.
"Just a ghost who thought he could get away with a practical joke. Well, I guess he did succeed somewhat since he scared the crap out of you two."
"Hey, you were just as scared!" Tat defended himself.
"Come on, Flareon, let's go," Umbreon said, completely ignoring Tat and his attempt to defend his dignity. Tat sighed and followed the two, leaving with a slightly hurt pride but relieved to leave that awful street.
~*~
"Espeon, we've been sitting here forever. How much longer are we going to watch this place?" Tatta asked impatiently.
Espeon sighed. "I don't know, Tatta. But the signal here is still strong and I'm not leaving until I find out what it is."
"Then why don't we go search the place?" the Ratatta suggested.
"Something tells me to stay where I am."
"Then how are we supposed to find anything?" Tatta was clearly getting aggravated.
"Patience is the key here, Tatta. Luckily, since I'm a psychic, I have plenty of it, but please just sit still until I decide it's time to leave."
Tatta huffed. "I wish I was a psychic."
"Believe me, so do I."
"What's that supposed to mea-"
"Shh!" Espeon hushed her. "I sense some movement over there."
Tatta immediately shut up. Sure enough around a corner came a red and orange flame, followed by a majestic pokemon.
Tatta cocked her head. "That looks like Firewind, doesn't it?"
Espeon shook her head. "No, that's definitely not a Ponyta. I believe that's a Rapidash."
"Wow." The two just looked at the fire horse, admiring the sheer beauty of the pokemon's features.
"Choo!" Tatta sneezed accidentally. She sucked in her breath as the Rapidash looked in their direction in an alarmed manner. At the same time, Espeon's psychic pull became stronger towards the startled fire type.
Espeon said nothing as the pokemon began to slowly walk out of their line of sight while staring at them all the while. Espeon quickly turned around, knowing full well that the Rapidash meant to take them by surprise from behind. She directed Tatta to go one way around the bush while she slinked around the other.
It happened that Tatta ran into the Rapidash on her side of the bush, and Espeon heard the surprised noises from both of them. She ran around to the front of the bush, blocking the Rapidash's entrance back from behind the building with a Reflect barrier. "Get out of my way, I need to leave immediately!" the pokemon cried desperately. She looked around her, completely terrified. "Who are you?"
"My name's Espeon, and this is Tatta," Espeon spoke. Tatta scurried up beside the psychic. "I have a strong feeling that you're going to help us find an Eevee and a teenage human."
The Rapidash jumped at Espeon's words. "You're looking for an Eevee and a human?"
"Yes."
"And from the look on your face, I suspect you know where they are?" Tatta inquired.
The Rapidash blinked twice, then shook her head angrily. "What do you want with them!? I'm not telling you anything!"
"They happen to be my responsibility!" Espeon in turn shouted back. "And if you don't tell me where they are, the consequences will not be to your liking!"
Tatta watched in distress as Espeon's eyes turned harshly on the Rapidash and a faint lavender glow surrounded her.
The fire horse took a step back, but eyed Espeon in the process. "What do you mean, 'your responsibility'?"
Espeon sighed. "Look, I need to get to both of them, especially the Eevee because she's not what she seems. Stephanie also needs to get out of danger for the sake of the PAP."
The Rapidash cringed at the name of the organization, and looked around her wildly to see if anyone was eavesdropping. "Ok, I believe you since you mentioned the PAP so easily around here," the pokemon whispered. "My name is Ereyla. Come on, I'll take you two to the Eevee, but we have to move quickly."
"Do we go past the tower on the way?" Tatta asked.
"The Burnt Tower?"
"Yea."
"Yes, why?"
"We have some friends we need to pick up there."
"Then let's go, we don't have much time to waste." So the three ran off towards the tower, Espeon and Tatta still confused as to why Ereyla was scared of PAP being mentioned, why she was at that quiet building, and, most of all, why she was so desperate to get to Jennifer in the first place.
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Authoress: End! ^_^ So, what'd yall think? Please tell me in a review, and let me know if there's anything I can fix. And Lirawen - did I get Ereyla's personality right so far? Hope so. Next chapter up in a couple weeks, so see you then! ^_~