HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!! WhooWHOOOO!!!!!!!!

Yeah, balloons, Champain, and Fireworks!!!

Okay, time for bed for me here....

Hm, perhaps asking for Burns on Christmas wasn't really the best idea.

I didn't get even one.

Oh, well…

Warning: Starting the NEW Year with yet another long story. This chapter might not make much sense unless you've read "Pilot Light" by Tashojiri. (No spoilers here.) His story was a one of the big inspirations to my own stories.

If you do not like to hear thoughts and theories, then don't read this chapter.

If you also hold very high respect for the Vulpix and Ninetails species, please know that most of what I'll say in this chapter is made up by either me or Tashojiri. (If you wish to see what I "added" then go read his "Pilot Light" story.) I just decided to make explanations as to why the entire world is not flooded with Vulpix, since you know Ninetails can live extremely long lives. I also wanted to explain why Ninetails can't learn any attacks by leveling up. If you are insulted, please forgive me.

If you don't want to see senseless crying, also don't read this chapter.

ALSO: If you don't have knowledge of Biology 101. I'd advise that you skip this chapter. It will not be actually mentioned, however it is not my place to teach of such subjects.

If you just skipped these notes and the last chapter's notes and went straight to reading this chapter, Don't say that I didn't try to warn you.

National Suicide Hotline:1-800-488-3000

The yesterday has past, tomorrow never gets here, but today, today is a gift, that's why it's called a present. - Kong Fu Panda

Brandy took the book that he hid in his night sack. He quickly ran and hopped under the covers. No one was going to ruin what he wanted to read. At first, he couldn't remember the page number, but that wasn't a problem for long.

"Page 2012… Here it is," he started reading, "Ninetails: the Majestic Fox Pokémon. Ninetails are capable of living for one thousand years, but only after they Mature into said form. Ninetails are one of the only two Pokémon unable to Mature without the assistance of a Fire Stone, the other being their Arcanine counterpart. Both species have been considered the Defenders of Justice and Morality. Ironic that while Arcanine (Defenders of Justice) are bound by Instinct, Ninetails (Defenders of Morality) are bound only by Laws.

Near the beginning, the two species were punished by the Moon for siding with the Sun. Both were striped of their true abilities and are unable to learn Pokémon Attacks after Maturity takes place. This had robbed them of their honor and dignity. Now since the Moon knew that the Arcanine can not fight their instincts, the Moon was satisfied with the punishment of Arcanine, but not of the Ninetails.…"

"(Since the Ninetails actually chose to side with the Sun.)" Banhi explained in a hushed voice, "(they purposely fought against the Moon. Fearing the Ninetails' Longevity, the Moon cursed them twice, so that Ninetails would not to mate with other Ninetails.)"

"(But that's impossible!)" I said, "(I mean the sun and the moon aren't real beings. They're ju-)"*Bam* "(Ow.)"

"(Don't argue with matters that you don't understand)," Jyrotika had hit me on the head.

"(Jyrotika¡¿¡ I was just telling them the story of the Sun and the–)," Banhi tried to explain, but she hit him on the head too.

"(Don't you lie to me.)," she said as she sat between him and me. "(I know exactly which story you where telling them.)"

"(I'm sorry Jyrotika, but Siggy made me do it.)"

"(Don't blame others for your actions.)," Jyrotika huff as she hit him on the head again, "(She can't force you to speak.)"

"(Yeah, Banhi!)," Siggy laughed, "(you didn't have to tell me if you didn't want to…)"

"(If you all must hear the story, then you might as well hear it right.)," Jyrotika started, by sparking up the campfire with Ember, "(… When the Sun had overthrown the Moon, the Moon then cursed many of those that sided with the Sun, while at the same time so did the Sun…

The Ninetails were cursed in this manor, their offspring were to become stunted in their growth. Stunted as Vulpix, they would never be able to live longer than two decades at most and in turn would never tap into their true powers. This devastated and enraged the Ninetails that were alive at the time. Soon the Sun and Moon blessed the Pokémon World by providing the planet with the Evolution Stones. Vulpix then would be able to evolve, but at a price. No matter what age the Vulpix was when they Evolve they would instantly grow their remaining tails. A kit could then be a full grown adult overnight.)"

"(Why's that a bad thing?)," I asked, "(Then all they'd have to do is find Fire Stones and then poof their entire race would be fully grown.)"

"(Don't interrupt.)," Jyrotika knocked me on the head again, "(the Ancestors already thought of that, but again it had caused problems.)"

"(But why?)," I asked, Jyrotika was going to hit me again.

"(Because maturity comes with time and experience, not with Evolution.)"

"(Exactly Siggy.)," Jyrotika pointed, instead of hit me, "(Becoming an adult overnight would only cause a kit confusion as well as make them close to powerless till their Time of Awakening. Due to part of the curse, Ninetails had also become extremely slow learners. So slow, in fact, that even one object of basic survival could take entire lifetimes to learn as Ninetails. Many kits died because they didn't learn how to walk, hunt, or even feed themselves before they evolved. I've even heard of one Ninetails who survived on his mother's milk until he was well over three hundred, but then couldn't figure out how mating worked. Hence, the biggest problem of all.)"

Brandy continued to read, "Due to their impairments, Male Vulpix and must learn how to Mate before they evolve. Since the females themselves are born supplied with the necessities, the knowledge is not required for them, (but is advised that they learn anyway). Because of being stunted, it is near impossible for Vulpix to successfully breed on their own. Male Ninetails should not have such difficulty, so long as they possess the knowledge on how to perform. (See also pg. 636-662 "Mortals Can Multiply?" and other references listed in section)."

Brandy took a moment to rub his eyes. Reading in the dark for so long hurt them.

"Why am I still reading this," he sighed, "where's the part about the Yin-Yang rule exception or whatever. Oh, here it is… That's strangely convenient… 'because of the Ninetails innate nature of determining morality, they naturally suppress the Evil Karma that they accumulate over the years, but then subconsciously pass it on to their offspring. Their inner rage against the Moon is passed on to their Vulpix offspring, if not sometimes released in a Ninetails Curse (See also "Mortal's So called Folklores"), or let out in little bursts as Vulpix, then the Karma will begin to build up. Then if Ninetails breed with other Ninetails too often then the Karma shall continue to accumulate. Soon, the Karma build up will become too much for a single Egg to handle, so it… splits?

As you must already know, Pokémon are not innately 'evil', but they are not 'good' either. This neutrality is what makes Ninetails offspring in specific so vulnerable to this Split. (Please also see 'Elements of the Mortal Being' pg. 309) When the Spit Egg is hatched there will be a very rare event among Egg laying mortals, "Twins". (See also "Nature of Morality" pg. 316.) As mentioned in the other accounts, Twin Ninetails are the major exception to the Laws of Morality. The built up Karma separates evenly between the twins. This is so that, when they are born, one will be Good and the other Evil. The two Vulpix will be destined to kill one or the other (if not both), soon after they Mature. If the Good Twin wins, then they will bring prosperity to the land. If however the Evil twin wins then… Shoot, the next page is missing."

I was speechless at Jyrotika's words… She wasn't as held back with the details that most writers would be.

"(And that is the legend of the Nnetails Twins.)"

"(Tyler, are you alright?)"

I didn't realize it, but I had stopped breathing.

"(I'm fine, Fia.)," I lied. I was not fine. I was scared out of my mind! I couldn't even ask the obvious questions.

"(Why do they have to kill each other, Jyrotika?)," as if reading my mind, Aine asked.

"(Yeah, can't they just get along?)," Fia followed Aine's question.

"(I wish that it could be like that, but that is impossible.)," Jyrotika sighed, "(Evil is not one to satisfy for a peaceful life. They seek some form of self-satisfaction and will do anything to achieve their goals.)"

"(But why?)," Kegan asked, "(It doesn't make since.)"

"(But doesn't it?)," Idris almost laughed, "(If they never get what they want then they'll never be happy.)"

"(I still don't get it…)," Fia moaned.

"(Think about it this way then, Fia.)," Siggy explained, "(let's say that, instead of Banhi, I wanted to mate with Tyler there.)"

"(Hey, don't you even think about it you two faced slu… dge)," Fia noticed that Siggy got closer to Banhi, so Fia mumbled the last part.

"(See you understand better than you thought you did.)," Siggy said. Fia got closer to me. I was too out of it to complain or object.

"(But they can change right?)," Enya said, "(I mean once they have what they want then they wont be a problem, wont they?)"

"(You have what you want…)," Siggy asked, "(but you're scared that someone's going to take it away from you, right?)"

"(As usual, you are insightful beyond your years Siggy.)," Jyrotika said, "(Besides there's no point in arguing about an old legend like that, right?)"

"(But it's not just a legend…)," I said to myself.

"(Why's that Tyler?)," Fia asked.

"(Oh, um, I mean that Evil is in the world, right?)," I asked, avoiding to speak my true thoughts.

Jyrotika nodded, "(Yes… but not everything we consider as bad is necessarily evil. For example, fire. It is a simple thing, only wanting to survive, but in order to do so it must feed of other things. Now is fire "evil"?)"

"(Of course not.)," Fia said, "(Fire is what gives us life.)"

"(But fire can also take life, Fia.)," Banhi sighed to himself.

"(Evil is like a wild fire consuming everything it can hold onto.)," I said to myself again, half thinking, "(All while good is a campfire provides warmth to those who are in need.)"

"(Bless my stars. That's exactly right, Tyler.)," Jyrotika nodded again, "(That is quite a perceptive of yours. How did you come up with that metaphor on your own?)"

"(I didn't. I think that my dad said it once.)," I sighed, "(It was…… I need to… Excuse me.)"

"(Where are you going?)," Fia asked as I got up to leave.

"(… I… I don't have to tell you.)," I bursted as I ran off. I couldn't understand it. In over seven years, I didn't cry for my father. Not once. My mother did, but she hid it from me. But I knew that she was… she was crying like I was now. And I couldn't stop myself.

And why now, of all times? He had nothing to with this legend. Yet this story, why does it remind me of him? I've heard this story somewhere. Where had I heard it before? It could have been my dreams. Jyrotika did say that my dreams could have been a past life, so it's possible that I heard it then. Or worse lived it, but she was nothing like me. So, it couldn't have been my dreams. Yet, why does it remind me of him?

"Oh, man! Nothing on this page either," Brandy sighed, "Guess it's really not that big of a deal… Why am I so worked up about this?"

"(He doesn't have a clue does he?)," I sighed to myself, "(Why can't their parents understand that their children need to know or else they're going to go find out on their own.)"

I tapped on the window a little.

Brandy got up to walk over to see what the noise was. All he could see was the moon. It was not as full as it had been, but it was still bright tonight. What was with all these cloudless nights? It's spring time. It's supposed to be raining around this time of year. Something's off, I can almost taste it. Even for Golnar, an area known to be rampant with Fire-Types, this wasn't natural. Anyway, It took Brandy long enough to finally notice that the noise outside was Tyler balling his eyes out.

"(Stop crying!)," some Pokémon somewhere yelled, "(We're trying to sleep!)"

"(Shut up! I'll cry if I feel like it!)," the Torchic screamed at the voices in the night, "(I don't want to, But I will okay!)"

"Tyler…," Brandy asked confused, the Torchic looked up at him, "Why are you crying?"

"(I'm not!)"

"Hm…," put his hand on his head, "you're not, huh?"

"(What you can…)," Tyler took a moment to see that Brandy was lipping his words.

"Hm, don't know that combination yet," he groaned.

"(Combination?)," Tyler tilted his head.

"I work at a Daycare Center for a lot of other baby Pokémon," he tried to explain, "No sense not attempting to figure out Pokéspeech while it was pure and simple right?"

"(What do you know… )," I thought out loud, "(that kid is just full of surprises, ain't he?)"

"Now could you…," Tyler interrupted him with his crying, "Hey, calm down…"

Brandy bent over the window seal to scoop Tyler off the ground and bring him inside.

"(Hey, put me down! I don't need this! I don't need you! and I, I-)," Tyler cried harder, "(I want to go home!)"

"I don't know why you're crying," Brandy softly stroked Tyler, "but I do want to find out."

"(Come on, Tyler… )," I begged from outside the window, "(I can't keep watching this and I can't make you two talk to each other.)"

Tyler slowly stopped crying again.

"You okay now," Tyler nodded, Brandy placed him in that nest from before, "Look you can sleep here tonight if you want, okay?"

"(Well, my work here is done.)," I said satisfied with my meddling, "(Now to go… Or I could stay here for the night.)"

…I like that idea. And after seeing him again…
…I'll stay here just a little longer…

I slipped back to the ground and decided to head for the coop. If anywhere, that would be the best place to sleep. Besides, someone has to tell the others where he is and Siggy is the best way to do that.

"(Kubbi, you have to tell Tyler the truth about his family.)," I sighed, ruffling my feathers, "(I can't keep playing "shadow king" for your lazy butt.)"

Sorry, it took so long to get this chapter finished.

I edited it over and over again to get it ready for New Years.

And I'm still not satisfied with it.

But I'm gonna have to move on…

Please review, Thank you.