Notes/Disclaimer: I do not own any of the pokemon in this story, they all belong to Nintendo/Game freak. The last chapter was very short, as it was a prologue. I hope to reach 2000 words in each chapter from here on.
"That's how it started, the clan's grudge against Humans, the death of my mother, and, well, the start of the story. The story of how we found this... Santuary. Nothing much more happened, until fifteen years later..."
15 years later...
"This is where you choose." The Leafeon said to the young Eevee. "Choose what?" She replied. "What you wish to evolve into." The young Eevee looked at each of the circles in the cave. One had a red stone with a fire pattern, one had a blue stone with bubbles inside, one had a yellow stone with a lighting pattern, one was lit up from sunlight entering from the roof, one was darker than the rest, on had a big rock, covered in moss, one had another big rock, this one freezing cold, and the last one had a bunch of pink crystals. "Choose carefully, Emily." The leafeon said. Emily thought carefully, before walking to the circle with all the crystals. "Will it hurt?" "Only for a little while." She stepped into the circle, and got shrouded in an ominous glow. After a flash of light, a Sylveon appeared where the Eevee once stood. "It worked!" She said. "Yep, Now you're a Sylveon. Your friend, Murrey, choose to become an Umbreon, like his father. I think we should head back now." The Leafeon said. "Alright, Dad." Emily replied. The two left the cave and wandered through the forest. "I wonder what Jason chose." Emily said. "What, Arthur's son? He chose... Leafeon, I think. Now, I have to go find some berries, so can you walk the rest of the way?" Kyle asked his daughter. "Yes, I should be fine." She replied.
"Good. See you at home." "Bye, dad."
The leafeon disappeared behind a bush. Emily began walking towards the burrows. As she passed a clearing, she noticed something, a Human. It was a girl, she looked to be 9 years old, and it appeared she was sleeping. Emily's curiosity got the better of her as she walked towards the little girl. As she got to the girl's face, the eyes opened, causing Emily to jump back a few feet, but didn't cause her to run away. The girl sat up, and grabbed some berries from her pocket, and gave some to Emily. Emily ate the berries out of the girl's hand, and smiled at her. The girl smiled back. "Emily?" A familiar voice said, from behind a bush. Emily turned to look at the voice, then looked back at the girl, only to find a large pile of berries. "Wha-?" The Sylveon said, Confused. The voice revealed itself to be Emily's best friend, Murrey. "Murrey, is that you?" She asked. "I could ask that same question to you, Emily." The Umbreon replied.
"A bit different, isn't it?"
"What is?"
"Well, the new abilities we have. You never had glow-y rings before, and I-"
"Never had those flesh ribbons." The Umbreon interupted.
"Exactly. A bit creepy, arn't they?" Emily asked. Murrey chucked and nodded his head. He then noticed the large pile of berries behind the Sylveon. "Where did you find those berries? They don't look like the ones that grow here." He asked. Emily turned and looked at the pile. He was right, the ones that are growing this season are Oran and Leppa berries, these are Starfy, Liechi, and Apicot berries, all of which extremly hard to find, even in the right conditions. She also remembered any contact with any Human wasn't allowed, so she couldn't tell the truth, otherwise everyone would reject the berries, and with winter coming, food will be in short supply. She turned back to Murrey. "I was walking back home when I saw... A.. Tropius. He knew we needed food, so he gave me some berries, enough to get us through." Emily said, hoping that was convincing enough. "Cool, Tropius are rare. Now, how are we going to get all these berries back home?" Murrey replied. "I can carry two or three with my 'flesh ribbons'." Emily said, smiling.
Murrey laughed. He then looked around for a hollow log, so he could put berries in, and just roll it back to the village. He found the perfect one, and out as many berries in there as he possibly could, before pushing it back.
"You want any help?" Emily asked.
"I'm fine."
"Okay, just don't say I didn't offer."
Emily stayed with Murrey all the way back to the village. "Murrey, why did you bring back a log?" A Talonflame said. "It has berries, given to us by a helpful Tropius. It could get us through the winter." Murrey answered back. "I'll take it to the elder. He'll give out the food evenly." The Talonflame grabbed the log with its talons and flew it to the top of the big tree, underneath which, everyone's home. "I hate Flame." Murrey said.
"I don't mind him."
"I heard that he gets a bigger share, all because he's the elder's best friend."
"If you were getting a bigger share of food, just because you were friends, wouldn't you feel the urge to stay his friend?" Said a nosey Leafeon. "Jason?" Emily asked.
"That's me."
"You became a Leafeon?" Murrey asked.
"You became an Umbreon?" Jason asked, sarcasticly.
"Emily!" A voice said from behind them. They turned to see Kyle holding some Berries with some vines sprouting from his back. "I brought food." He said. "Hello, Jason."
"Hi."
"Hello, Murrey."
"Hey."
"Talkative fellows, your friends." Kyle told Emily. Emily smiled as her father walked in to their burrow. "If he wanted us to talk, why not say something, otherwise, I feel like a jerk."
Murrey said. "Murrey, do you ever wonder what's past the forest?" Emily asked.
"Where did that come from?" He replied.
"Sorry, I was just... Thinking out loud."
"Well, to answer the question, sometimes. I mean, I know to the east, there are mountains, but beyond that I have no idea. Maybe Flame knows."
"Yeah, maybe."
"Why do you ask?" Jason interrupted.
"I don't know, I guess I want to see more than just the same old trees, in the same old layout, under the same old sky." Emily said, disappointedly.
"Jason! C'mon, were going to see the Blastoise." A Jolteon said.
"Why?" The Leafeon asked.
"Because the elder told me too, and I might as well make a day of it."
"*Sigh*... Fine." Jason walked towards his burrow.
"See ya Emily."
"Bye."
The Leafeon smiled as he entered his burrow.
"Emily! We're going to the hills." Kyle said as he walked out of the burrow.
"Awww, but... Dad-"
"Come on, we won't be long."
"Alright, fine. See ya Murrey."
"See ya, Em."
The young Sylveon followed her father deep into the forest, on to the base of a large hill.
"It's just up there." Kyle said.
"What is?"
"Your mother's grave. I think you're old enough to know how she died."
Emily looked shocked, as she was told that her mother was taken by a human.
They got up the hill, giving them a good view above the forest, as the hilltop was higher than most of the trees below. "Here it is." Jason said.
"How did she die?" Emily asked.
"Two hunters. They came close to finding our home, so Aaron, Arthur, Flame and I fought them. Except they had gas that made us sleepy. And Arlene, Your mother, ran into the hunter's line of sight, which... Well... Let's just say... A Human took her life." Kyle said, as he began to tear up.
"So that's why we don't like Humans." Emily said.
A loud bang filled the air, as Emily and her father turned to see a cloud of smoke, around where the river is.
"An Explosion?!" Kyle exclaimed.
"I've never seen a Pokemon use an explosion that big!" Emily replied.
"That wasn't a Pokemon." Kyle said.
"What was it?"
"A Human!"
"Humans can explode?" Emily asked, confused.
"No. But they have weapons that do."
"The tree is on fire!" Emily said, using one of her feelers to point at it.
"Shouldn't Blastoise put it out? I mean, the river is where she lives, and-"
"Unless she was the target." The old Leafeon said, with great sadness in his voice. Emily suddenly remembered something. "Dad... Jason and his family went to see the Blastoise... W-What if..."
"Look, I'm going to go back to the village and warn everyone. You are going to head towards the mountains, you got it? And if I'm not back by nightfall... Go on without me." Kyle said. "But, Dad-"
"No time to argue, go. Now!"
Emily nodded her head before looking at the fire. It had spread to almost all the trees in around the river, and showed no signs of slowing down.
Emily ran east at her full speed, hoping to get there before the fire cut off the route. As she ran, she felt the air around her get hotter and hotter, she looked towards the heat source, the fire, and saw it get closer and closer. She started to run faster than she ever ran before, as she was mere metres from the base of the mountain.
She saw a gap in the treeline and headed for it, but the fire caught up, it burned the surrounding trees and plants, leaving Emily with a choice, Find another way, at the risk of being burnt alive, or jump through the gap, at the risk of sustaining a painful burn.
She took the smart choice, jumping, through the gap. She had a running start, and after building up enough speed, she leapt though the two burning trees. But she didn't jump at the right angle, and ended up smacking her upper right forearm on a piece of burning bark, causing her to cry out in pain. Apon checking the damage, she found a severe burn. "That does not look good." she said through clenched teeth. She looked back at the forest, most of it was burning right before her eyes. Her home, gone, within 30 minutes. She became overwhelmed by emotions, she didn't quite know what to do, other than to use her feeler to cover the burn. She stayed there and waited for any Pokemon to get out of the blaze. She waited for a long time, by the time she made contact, the fire was out. "Emily!" She turned to see an Umbreon on a boulder behind her.
"Murrey! Thank goodness you're alright." Emily said, releaved that somebody- Anybody- she knew made it out alive. "What happened?" He asked "Oh, this? I got burned on my way out-"
"No, not that, the fire, do you know what caused it?"
"A Human."
"But what about Blastoise?"
"My dad thinks that's who the Human was targeting."
"Oh... Where is Kyle, anyway?" Murrey asked. Emily looked at the burnt forest and said: "In there."
"I was seperated from my parents. A tree fell, cutting me off from them... I hope their o.k..." Murrey said, as he teared up. "Hello? Is anyone there?" A voice said. Emily turned to see a Leafeon, with a small Eevee on it's back, appearing from over a small rocky hill. "Hello?" Emily asked. Both the Leafeon and the Eevee looked extremely worn out, battered, and weak. "Emily..." The Leafeon said before passing out. "Jason?" She said, once again, releaved. Murrey ran to the Eevee and put his head to it's chest. "It's alive." He said. "... How did you learn to do that?"
"My mother taught me." "You made it!" Kyle said.
"Dad!" Emily ran to her father, with tears running down her face.
"I thought you were gone..." She said, softly. "I thought you were gone." Kyle replied, in a comforting tone. "What happened to Jason?" Kyle asked.
"We don't know. Sarah's here aswell." Murrey said. "Did you see my Parents in there?"
"... I'm sorry... I found them, but it was too late... Aaron told me something."
"What?"
"There is a place, a place that has never been found by a human. It's said to be guarded by a legendary Pokemon, known only as 'The Defender'. Getting there is easy, so they say, you just follow the river." Kyle said.
"But I never believed those stories... But I guess that's all we have right now. Tomorrow, we're finding the river, and seeing where it takes us."
Emily Half-heartedly smiled, because even though it was due to bad reasons, she was finally going beyond the mountains. As they fell asleep, she wondered what they were going to see, and if this place really exists. After 10 minites of thinking, she finally went to sleep.
To be continued...
Notes: Thanks to everyone for reading, thanks to anyone who reviews, and thanks to Nintendo for Pokemon.