Okay, a bit of a Warning here.

This is a VERY long chapter, so I suggest you find somewhere soft and cozy to read this. Maybe in bed at night with the rain going on outside. That's what was happening when I started this chapter. ;)

Enjoy!

Chapter 8: Friends for Dinner

It had turned into a dark, full moon night. The sky was clear and its beautiful pale light shined wonderfully on the thick forest below.

Two bright crimson eyes stared up at the full moon, sparkling in awe. The owner of the red eyes sat on top of a large boulder with her tail behind her.

The beautiful figure was sleek and fox-like, with very fine, smooth black fur darker than obsidian. Her ears were long, curved and pointed, and her bushy long tail matched. Disrupting her black fur were pretty yellow rings on the upper part of each of her four legs, right where they met the torso. The yellow rings also wrapped like bands around her ears and tail. The last ring was in the center of her forehead, just up and between her eyes.
The bands glowed dimly, the Pokémon dimming them on purpose so they wouldn't affect her view of the moon.

The only thing that hadn't changed with her Evolution was her tiny black nose, which twitched in the smell of the familiar forest.

The grown Umbreon took in a deep breath, inhaling the intoxicating aroma of the late night time air. It was sweet and fresh, and she recognized this area.
She regretfully exhaled the breath and closed her eyes.

How many years has it been?

As much as she hated to think about it, she had forgotten how long she had been exploring. She knew it had been at least 7 or so years since the stumbled upon some moon stones in a cave of Clefairies. The Evolution was fast and nothing like she's ever felt before. The sensation that enveloped her tiny body was cold, but invigorating, magical as she grew taller and her whole physiology changed along with her mindset. She was still the same Eevee before she found those rocks, but now she was matured, fully evolved and powerful. The power within her was vastly unknown, and as a Dark-type she knew she was capable of devastating abilities most Pokémon couldn't experience.
Along with that came full sense and appreciation for the night time. It was almost like fate had played a hand in her finding those Moon Stones. Before she evolved, her Eevee form was already used to the dark and started to love it. As an Umbreon, it expanded upon that love and turned her into a full creature of the night. If she had become anything else, especially an Espeon, Umbreon knew her previous love for darkness would have diminished greatly.

Becoming an Umbreon was the perfect match and her destiny. Even though she finally made peace with herself, she was still unsure and delayed coming back to this forest for another 7 years, and she now regretted that decision. She still didn't know how long it was she was gone before that, but she hoped it wasn't too much longer.

She abruptly stopped thinking about it and opened her eyes. She knew her return was far overdue.

Umbreon bent down and jumped off of the rock she was sitting on, landing nimbly on the tall grass. Trotting forwards, she casually made her way through and around the pathless forest, knowing the way home with surgical precision.
Looking like she was being guided by an invisible force, Umbreon swiveled left and right around the trees, using the scents of the leaves and grass as a guide to find her way. She'd become very successful at hunting and navigating at night. Her eyes could adjust quickly to the dark and act as night vision goggles most of the time.

Once she reached a certain area, she knew the trees. Their shapes hadn't changed too much since she was there, and used them to find the river.

Smiling, she followed the river south a little ways until she reached a group of trees and rocks. She knew the river emptied out into the forest clearing she had lived most of her life.

Once she reached the clearing, she looked around and could sense all of the sleeping Pokémon there. She was home, at last.

Able to relax, she bent over and drank some of the water from the river. Not long after she had though, something stirred nearby, "Who's there?"

She picked her head up to see a Slowbro facing her, drowsy eyed.

She recognized the older Pokémon immediately and smiled, "Mr. Slowbro? Hi!"

He looked at her with puzzlement, "Who and what are you? I've never seen your kind around here before, and only kids that live here call me that."

Umbreon laughed, "Mr. Slowbro, it's me. Eevee!"

He looked at her with more confusion, "I know a lot of Eevee's around here, Miss, and I've never seen any of them evolved like you."

She gave a long sigh and cocked her head, "Sir, I was the smallest one, and the only one to have an Espeon as my mother? My friend Gastly and I hid your rock collection in the trees…?"

His eyes widened as he woke up immediately, "Wha-Eevee? Little Eevee? The kid with the Gastly? Ah!" he started to laugh, "Hey! I never thought we'd see you around here again!"

She laughed with him, "I know! It's been so long! Good to see you again."

"Ah, well. Good to see you too." He smiled, "You certainly have grown up. Glad to see you finally evolved after all. Though, what form is that?"

"An Umbreon." She looked down at herself, "Unexpected, but the perfect choice I think." She looked back up to him and turned her head to the large tree that once served as her burrow, "This place doesn't seem to have changed much. Is anyone living in my old home?"

"Nah." He shook his head, "After you and your mother disappeared, we had no idea if you'd come back or not, so we left it alone. It's a good thing we did, huh? You planning to stay here again?"

She smiled without looking at him, "Yeah, I might like to." She turned back, "But first there's something I have to do, so I may be gone for a while."

"Yeah, well, go on ahead." He motioned at her and started turning back around, "I'm not one to stop you. You're a big girl now, right? I'm tired."

She watched him leave and go back to his little den, and then quietly said, "I guess I am…."

Once he was gone, she turned around and continued down the forest path that she knew by heart led to the Zoryn Cemetery.

Along the way, she felt a twinge of pain come back when the memory of what happened along the path hit her.
Quickly shaking it away, she knew she had come to peace with herself and that her mother was in a better place now.

Instead, she focused on a happier thought to distract her, like Gastly. She couldn't wait to see her old friend after so long.
In her adventures, she's seen a lot of very interesting places and people, but as far as friends went she was a loner. At first, when she was an Eevee, it hurt her a lot, but as soon as she transformed into an Umbreon that sense of crushing loneliness went away.
If she had to guess, maybe wild Umbreons preferred to be alone and in the dark all the time, but she wasn't sure.

However, even after she Evolved, she still had a hollow place in her heart for her childhood friend. She had to come back.

She promised him she would.

Upon reaching those familiar metal gates, she looked at the bars. She wasn't a tiny Eevee anymore, and she knew she couldn't wiggle through them. She'd have to find another way in.
Luckily for her, the gate was just a little bit open. She had pushed the gate a little more open with her head to get it wide enough.

Once it was open just a little bit more, her slim figure was able to squeeze through the gates and allow her entrance into the graveyard.

Umbreon felt a shiver go through her body at the sight of the graveyard. With the full moon shining down on the fog and the tombstones, she knew it was just like the night she had first arrived there.

The night I had met Gastly.

Letting her wave of nostalgia pass, she walked with renewed vigor towards the Bell Tower, excited now more than ever to see him again.

As silly as it was, she really hoped he'd want to play the same funny games they had when they were kids.

Oh, who am I kidding? This is GASTLY I'm talking about! He always wants to play!

Trotting, her rings started to glow brighter than she intended. Their yellow light gently lit up parts of the graveyard, but not enough to disturb the dead.

Umbreon finally reached the Bell Tower. She looked the old stone up and down and fondly remembered all the games of night tag they played around it.

She looked around and was going to call out for him, when something caught her eye. Just on the edge of her peripheral vision, she saw a quick flash jump from behind a tombstone.

Feeling a cold chill, she turned around and darted her eyes, but saw nothing. Everything had become eerily still and quiet, something very familiar indeed.

This was pretty different though. There wasn't just a sense of being watched, but it was a sense of…dread.

She wasn't just being watched right now, she was being hunted.

Fear welled up in her chest at the thought of being attacked by a Ghost Pokémon any second. Her markings glowing brighter, Umbreon got in a defensive stance and scanned the area, trying to find any sight of movement.
Suddenly, a cold wave passed through her again and forced her to turn to her right. Not too far off from her position, she noticed one of the nearby old Mausoleums had both of its heavy wooden doors wide open, facing her.

The image chilled her. They were NEVER open.

Perhaps humans started coming back to bury their dead here? Maybe it was preparation for a body to be moved there in the morning?

Another wave of cold told her no, this wasn't natural. Something else had opened those doors.

What was really weird was though her special eyes could cut through the darkness like a knife; the darkness within the opened Mausoleum was impenetrable. No matter how hard she squinted, she couldn't see through the haze.
It was like the whole inside had been obscured by a Wheezing's smog, and it was scary.

Unsure, she started to back away from the darkness when something else hit her. An irresistible urge started to pass over her. It was suggesting the whole time to go towards the darkness, towards the Mausoleum.

Her eyes widened, unsure of where this dark urge came from.

Then, in the center of the open doors, a pair of large, triangle shaped eyes with tiny black slits for pupils appeared.

She gasped at the sight and feeling those eyes gave her. They were hungry and preditorial, yet oddly very familiar.
The eyes were only thing in the darkness she could see. Not even a silhouette of the owner appeared in the surrounding smog.

Finding her voice, she squeaked, "Hello?"

She could see the eyes narrow in a look of glee and she could swear the figure was smiling at her. In the dark, she could make out the slightest shape of a hand floating up. It had three, very sharp claws.

The clawed hand curled and turned upward. In a fluid motion, one of the fingers beckoned at her to come closer.

Though ever fiber of her instinct screamed not to, she found another urge to go hit her like a brick. A whispering voice, too quiet to understand but just loud enough to hear, seemed to heighten the effect as she suddenly found herself unable to keep from walking forward.

Step by step, she walked closer and closer to the opened Mausoleum and the dark figure inside. She could see its eyes narrow even more and its claw increase the beckoning in urgency, persuading her to come even closer.

Umbreon had no idea what this feeling was, but it was like a fog clouding her rational thoughts. As hard as she tried to break away from the alluring beckoning she was pulled right back into her pace by the whispers. To say it was disturbingly creepy was an understatement.

Finally, when she reached the stone edge of the structure, the beckoning and whispers abruptly stopped. Snapping out of her trance, she took a deep breath and tried to back away.

But it was too late, she was too close.

The figure's black pupils slit as it launched itself from the darkness to her. She tried to use her swift reflexes to move out of the way, but she found herself unusually sluggish.

She felt sharp, strong hands grasp her sides. They pinned her forelegs to her torso and lifted her up off the ground. She cried out in surprised and panicked at the feeling of her hind legs dangling in the air. She kicked them to free herself, but to no avail.

Umbreon started thrashing her body and head left and right, trying to pull away from the hands, but they just tightened her grip and held her firm.
In a moment of exhaustion, she stopped squirming and looked up to face the figure. She sucked in her breath at the pair of gleeful, large eyes looking back at hers.

Revealed in the moonlight, she could see him fully. Her assailant was a ghost type, but she hadn't seen him before.

He had a very large, oddly shaped body that floated off of the ground. His oval-ish body had a trio of spike-like protrusions on either side of his scary face, the top large set almost looking like ears the way they twitched. She could see the underside of his body had a spiky pattern to it, much like tattered hanging fabric or something. He was a very dark purple, and it really made him stand out with the darkness behind him.
His triangle shaped, narrow eyes were staring back joyously at her, happy he had caught his prey. She looked down a bit and was shocked to see the claws holding her were floating away from his body and were in fact possessed by disembodied hands. That was horrifying by itself, but what really scared her was when she looked back to his face she saw his teeth. Very, VERY, sharp teeth, in fact.

Along his lips were a set of what looked to be sharp ridges, and behind them was a row of pointy white teeth that ghoulishly grinned at her.

She saw his grin get even wider as he sensed her fear spike.

Satisfied from the joy, she saw him open his mouth and knew what was to come.

He's going to lick me! No no no no no!

She knew the way she was pinned there was no escape or way to use a physical attack on him, and the poisonous sweat she could expel would have little to no effect on a Ghost Pokémon.

So she squeezed her eyes shut and made one last desperate move.

The golden markings on her brightened up in a millisecond and in one quick explosion of light, she instinctively used Flash on him.

The sudden burst of light caused the ghost to howl and drop her. She hit the grass but she quickly rolled to her feet with cat-like grace, ready to continue attacking her blinded assailant. The rings on her body lessened their harshness, but still glowed brightly.

The Pokémon spun his back to her and threw his floating hands to his eyes, wailing, "Light! Gaahh my eyes! It burns!" he floated to the ground on the steps of the Mausoleum and vigorously began to rub them.

The darkness that enveloped the Mausoleum suddenly dispersed to reveal and empty stone structure. With him hunched and whining before her he didn't seem so scary anymore.

She straightened up out of her fighting pose and smirked down at him, satisfied at her knowledge of how sensitive Ghost Pokémon's eyes were to light, "Maybe you'll think twice before attacking an Umbreon again, huh?"

He began to snarl and it caused her to back up, but he didn't move from his spot.

Instead, he lifted one of his hands away from his right eye and turned to face her, the other still rubbing his left, "Geez, what's your problem lady?" he whined, "That hurt like hell!"
His eye was still dilating and he was having a hard time focusing. His vision was blurry and filled with spots. The only thing he could see of his prey was a black and yellow blob.

She was a little off put by his shift from scary to wimpy, but glared down at him anyway, "Good! You should suffer for that! You nearly scared me to death and you tried to eat my soul!"

He seemed a little stunned that she knew what he was about to do, but suddenly yelled, "Oh come on! I was going to make it quick and painless! The scaring part was just a little bit of fun! Ow, ouch, ow." He started rubbing both of his eyes again, "It wasn't supposed to hurt! Honest and for truly!"

In that moment her heart stopped.

He couldn't be…this guy couldn't BE, but…

"Gastly?" she took a step towards him, "Gastly is that you?"

He groaned in annoyance, "Uh, yeah. I used to be a Gastly before I turned into a Haunter. Duh. Are you stupid or something?"

She wasn't annoyed at all by his insult and instead eagerly said, "No Gastly! Don't you remember? I'm your friend." She knew Haunter was the next evolve form of Gastly, and it only made her more confident it was him.

"You shut up!" he snarled, pointing a claw at her despite his damaged vision, his eye was squeezed shut, "Don't you dare talk to me about being friends! I only have-had-one friend and she isn't you!" his voice was full of hate and sorrow.

Regret started to swell up in her and she quietly asked, "How long has Eve been gone?"

"Eve's been gone for 11 years! I haven't seen her and-" he stopped suddenly. She paid no attention to his sentence catch and only stared blankly forward.

11…years?

I've been gone for 11 years?

The shock was so much she would have sat down if he didn't start staring at her.

This snapped her attention back to the ghost with his eyes on her, his gaze full of confusion and bewilderment, "H-how did you know…only I ever called her Eve, and no one else knew that she had left on her own. I let her leave…it was what she wanted."
He started to become angry, "Whatever, it doesn't matter! She abandoned me! She said she'd come back but she never did so I don't wanna talk about it!

His words hurt, but she let him continue and get it out of his system, "I don't need anymore 'friends' and I certainly don't need her!"

With a stubborn huff, he kept his eyes squeezed shut and crossed his floating hands together.

She let out a long, sad sigh and said, "I'm sorry."

He turned his head to her and opened his eyes again, but she was still just a blob to him, "What are you going on about now?"

"I said I'm sorry I was gone for so long. Travels have been hard and I lost track of time." She stared at him hopefully, "Are you sure you don't need your best friend Eevee?"

His confused stare only deepened, "What the hell? You're not Eve!" he pointed accusingly at her form, "Eve was small and kind! You're neither! Just go away!"

Finally getting annoyed, Umbreon rolled her eyes and spoke in an irritated tone she knew he'd understand, "Look Gastly, you're my best friend even if you're a pain."

That sentence, one of the last she'd told him when she left, hit him hard.

He fell silent and started blinking several times to force his vision to focus. After a few minutes, his vision cleared and he was able to see the figure in front of him clearly again.
She looked different, very different, from the friend he knew as a Gastly, but the look she was giving him…
That kind, gently gaze hidden behind those eyes as red as blood, they were the exact same way her brown eyes would stare at him.

They were so understanding, so gentle.

She couldn't be…she CAN'T be…

"Eve?" he had some trouble, but once his disorientation subsided he floated upwards. Umbreon flinched from him, suddenly realizing the real size difference between the two.
She was much bigger than she was when she was an Eevee, but he was HUGE. He was at least three times bigger than when she last saw him as a Ghastly, and at least twice as her size.

Were Haunters supposed to be this big?

She tensed even more when he floated closer to her. He was so scary, but his eyes…they held an undeniable resemblance. She could see it there before, when he grabbed her. She was afraid, but she knew they were strikingly familiar.

He reached out with one of his horrifying floating hands and moved it towards her. She wanted to pull away, but she felt like she could trust him. So, she held still and allowed him to touch her face. He brushed the back of his fingers and hand against her right cheek and gently stroked it. She had no idea why he was doing that. Maybe it was to make sure she was real.
She shivered at the ice cold touch and the feeling of two of the sharp claws brushing her fur, tickling her and making her nose twitch.

He chuckled, and she felt the vibrations through his hand.

She knew by his laugh then it was him.

Haunter removed his hand from her face and stared at her, his smile growing, "It IS you! Only Eve's cute little nose twitched like that!"

Haunter held his arms out to her, tears in his eyes welling up from an overload of happiness, "Is it really you? Eve?"

She sputtered a bit and could feel tears form in her own eyes, "Yes, Gastly. It is me. Honest and for truly!"

Squealing in happiness he grabbed her by the waist suddenly and twirled them both around and high into the air, laughing fully and joyously. It was the first time he's laughed so well in years.

Umbreon couldn't stop from echoing his squeal as he spun her around.

Once he put her back down, they started to flay and hop around each other like excited hatchlings, screaming and yelling joyously at one another about finally reuniting after so long and how much they've grown. (To compare the visuals of the situation, think of Nala and Simba's reunion from the Lion King)

When their flurry of unintelligible eager sentences finally passed, they stayed in front of each other, out of breath.

Haunter was the first to talk again, "Oh Eve! You look, you're so-" he circled around her, giving her a once over.

She turned a bit red at his attention, but bowed her head to shrug it off, "You're looking a little too long, Haunter."

He seemed startled and floated back a bit, "S-sorry. It's just, you look…different." He grinned a bit wider, how the heck was he able to do that even more? He motioned at her up and down with his hands, "You look…wow, like…really beautiful Eve." He said it more with a playful tone, but he kinda meant it.

She really had grown from an adorable Eevee into this exotic being, a Pokémon he'd never seen before. Judging by her energy, he could tell she was a dark-type, a Pokémon pretty close to his own. An Eeveelution that dwells in darkness? He liked that a lot.

Umbreon became a little flustered and muttered, "Uh, um thank you."

Haunter realized his mistake and quickly said, "Oh-oh, wait, uh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I take it back."

She raised a brow at him, "So I'm ugly then?"

He gawked at what he just said and tried to correct it, "No! I mean, no, as in you're not ugly. I just took back my complitment that you were beautiful so you wou;dn't be umcomfortable! Not that I'm saying I think you're ugly by taking the comment back and-doh…" He slammed the palm of his hand into his face, "I'm such an idiot."

She giggled and gently said, "Relax buddy, I'm just teasing you."

He removed his hand and awkwardly grinned, "It's just…this is really unexpected. When you said you were going to evolve, you, eh, REALLY evolved."

She smiled bashfully, "Well, what about you? You filled out pretty nicely yourself."

He was still scary, but now that her fear had faded her friend did look good. He was healthy and a vibrant shade of purple. He'd been doing well.

Haunter's face turned a darker shade of purple for a second, but he seemed to shake of his embarrassment.

Instead, he puffed his chest out a bit and put his hands to his 'hips', looking quite proud, "Thanks! I was worried when I evolved 5 years ago I wouldn't like it, but I really do! Twice the power and scares!" he gave a hearty over the top laugh, and it just caused Umbreon to smile bigger.

They had both grown up. Well, at least Gastly had physically. Mentally was another story.

Then again, who was she to judge maturity?

Right now, seeing him here laughing reminded her of how much she really did miss him.

He suddenly stopped laughing and looked down at her, looking a little sad, "Still, scaring just hasn't been as much fun without you."
Umbreon nodded, but he moved closer, "I'm really sorry about attacking you Eve; I didn't know it was you. You just looked and smelled so different. I swore for a moment the way you moved looked familiar, but I shrugged it off and focused on my hunger instead." His spikes moved and drooped like ears, "I can't believe I almost had my best friend for dinner."

"Hey hey, it's okay." She leaned forward and nuzzled him between the eyes like she had years ago, "I'm just sorry it took me so long to come back. I'm also sorry I blinded you."

He laughed again, sending more vibrations through her, "Heh, I had it coming. I'm just sorry I scared you so bad."

"Yeah, about that." She looked back to the empty structure, "The Mausoleum? Really?"

He turned to it, "Yep. Turns out it was empty all along. Who knew? It's great for scares and luring prey." He looked back to her, so happy it seemed like he was going to cry again, "But I'm just so glad you're back. You aren't going to leave me again, are you? I've been waiting so long. It's been so lonely and boring here."
His tone took a ring of sadness and he floated closer to her, "Promise you'll stay now?"

She proudly smiled back, "Sure thing. I'm going to be living in my old burrow again, so you can come visit at night, and I'll come visit you again here."

He was so overjoyed he reached around with his hands and pulled her against him in a tight embrace. She tensed and shivered.

He was so cold!

When he let her go, she was a in a fit of bashful giggles. He had been more physical than he had ever been when he was a Gastly, "Haha, well Haunter. I see you enjoy having hands. How are they doing for you?"

He held his claws out and looked at them, "They're really cool. It's so easy to grab things, and with finger's I'm able to do this!"

Haunter put his fingers on the corners of his jaw and pulled downwards to open his mouth wide and bugged his eyes out, making the silliest expression she's ever seen by him.

She started laughing so hard she fell onto her back. He pulled his fingers away and put his hands on his stomach, laughing with her loudly.

After they were done, she looked up at him, "Still as hilarious as ever."

"It's not easy, took a lot of practice." He looked her up and down again, "I'm sorry, I just can't get over these." He ran a finger down her forehead along the glowing yellow ring, "They're so cool! Do they always glow like that?"

She moved her eyes on the patterns that decorated her fur, "Well, not really. They flash in the daytime, but shine brightest at night to strike fear into prey…and predators."

She darted her red eyes at him, and he sheepishly recoiled, "Eh heh…"

He quickly motioned to her to follow him to the tower, "Come on, you just have to tell me all about your travels! Oh we have so much to catch up on!" she nodded and eagerly followed, trying to sort out the first story for him.

He'd be so jealous.

"So, what did you say you were?" he asked, looking her up and down again.

He was doing that a whole lot.

"I'm an Umbreon. Eevees evolve into this form after being exposed to Moon Stones. And you're a Haunter, right?"

He nodded as he opened the door to the Bell Tower for her, "Uh huh, and I'll be one for the rest of my life."

"Still not planning on getting caught and traded?"

"Wouldn't dream it, which by the way tastes wonderful. So you really didn't know they were Moon Rocks?"

"No, they were just bright glowing blue rocks to me. How was I supposed to know they were special? After my Evolution, I left feeling really different."

"It's a good thing the Clefairies let you get away with it!" he laughed, shaking the walls of the stone stairway in the tower. His laugh had gotten much louder than before.

She chuckled, "They're actually really nice, but strange. It's weird. It's like they knew that I should find the Moon Stones."

"I always heard those guys were unpredictable. Figures."

They continued chatting as they entered the tower. He closed the door behind him and went on talking with her as they ascended the stairway.

Both of them were too caught up to notice someone was watching the tower not too far…

Whoo! You made it through the mountain of text! :D

So yeah, if you haven't guessed I'm KINDA hinting at some tiny romance in here, but I'm hesitant on how to pursue it. I'm not exactly too sure on how a lot of Pokemon court, so...I'm not sure yet.

If anyone has ideas and would like to share them, just PM them to me or comment in a reply to this story. That'd be great and would help me out.

Oh, BTW, yes, if any of you were able to guess by the title I did get it from the Land Before Time song 'Friends for Dinner'. If you don't know what Land Before Time is, you're sadly missing out. :)