PMD: Bonded Fates

Author's Note: I changed the name of the fanfic to Bonded Fates, since I want to use the name Fate Weaver for a PMD comic I am doing.

I am excited I finally got this idea off the ground.

Prologue:

Umbreon shot awake as if jolted by something. A burning pain shot through his body, initing him to groan. After the pain subsided enough, he looked over his body and found a few cuts and bruises, as well as trace amounts of blood staining his dark pelt. His blue 'energy markings' glow faintly, reflecting his condition. His tall ears and tail were flat against his body. He had a bag of some kind on his back, but he was unsure why it was there.

"What the hell?' He murmured, unsure why he was so banged up. What had he been doing? And why was he here? He looked around in confusion at his surroundings, noting a forest with lush greenery and a dirt path nearby. He noted the leaves and shadows on the ground, glanced up, and noticed that he was lying under a tree.

"What happened? Where am I? Why am I here?" He pondered as similar questions raced through his mind. He tried his best to catch himself.

"Ok, think. What can you remember?" The Umbreon thought long and hard for a few minutes but could not recall anything about where he had been previously.

"Ok, at least try to recall your name." He told himself mentally, concentrating hard. After about a minute, he got it.

"Right, it was… Shade, that's it. Now, maybe my bag has something that can remind me." He thought to himself, digging through the bag he had on him. He found nothing in it, though, except an emblem of some kind stitched to the front. I

"Weird. What do I do now?"

He then glanced at the path before him again.

"Maybe if I follow this, I can find a town or something, get help." Shade thought, attempting to get up. However, pain shot through his body again as he did, causing him to collapse.

"Argh." He groaned as he tried to work through it. The pain was becoming too much for him to bear, and he hadn't realized how much pain he was in. He felt himself losing vision.

"Guess I rest for a moment." He thought to himself. After a few moments, he lost consciousness again.

(-)

As the sun began to set in the area, any pokemon who lived in the area started to retreat to their homes or hollows. Few travelers would be willing to continue their journeys at this time, and such was the case for certain Ninetails and Vulpix.

"Mother, are almost there; I'm getting tired." The Vulpix yawned, trying to keep pace with her mother. The Vulpix had blue eyes, a red coat, a lighter underbelly, and a bushy red tail. She had a small pouch strapped to her side.

"We are almost there, Yuma. Just a bit further than we can make camp for the night." Her mother, Amara, responded. Amara was Ninetales, but an unusual one. She was a shiny pokemon, meaning she was a different color than most of her kind. Instead of the light color tan and red of an ordinary member of her species, she was silver, with blue tips on each of her tails. She had two pouches on her, each stapped to either side of her body, carrying their supplies.

Amara sighed, weary from a long day of travel. She had been walking through this forest for most of the day, intent on getting through it and arriving at her destination. It was a lot for one pokemon to risk, but she would do anything for her daughter. She just hoped the life ahead was worth it.

"Mother, look!" Yuma called. Her daughter's calls interrupted her thoughts.

"What is is, Yuma?" She said, glancing in the direction her daughter was gesturing towards with her paw. Yuma was gesturing towards a tree, but the shadows cast by the treetops made it hard to discern anything. Amara was about to pass it off as the child's imagination before she saw a blue glow emitting from a body under the tree. Amara gasped.

"Come on." She said, dashing over to the lying under the tree and seeing the poor shape it was in. She could not leave an injured pokemon lying around like that.

Within a few moments, she was already standing over the pokemon, which she noted to be an Umbreon. A shiny one at that. She saw the nasty injuries covering his body, as well as the dried blood. To her relief, he was still breathing, as she could see his chest rise and fall through pained breaths. Beyond his condition, she was a bit surprised to see another shiny pokemon, as they were exceptionally rare among any species.

"What happened here?" She wondered.

"Mom, will he be ok?" Yuma asked.

"Of course, just got to get him up and get an Oran berry in his system first." She said, fishing through one of her pouches and picking out one of the many Oran berries in it. To get him to chew it, though, she would have to wake him. Amara gently shook him.

"Excuse me, sir, sir?" She said as she shook him. Yuma, meanwhile, started poking him with a stick, to her mother's amusement.

"Yuma, dear, please reframe from poking him. Let's try a different approach." She said, to which Yuma got a sly idea.

"WAKE UP!" She shouted, to the bemusement of her mother. To Amara's surprise, it worked as the Umbreon shot awake.

"That works, I suppose." She muttered. The Umbreon began to panic.

"What, where, who-?" He asked in a frenzy, and Amara kept him down with her tails.

"Take it easy; you are injured," Amara said calmly, gesturing for him to take an Oran berry.

"Eat this; it should heal you enough to walk." She said, offering him the berry. The Umbreon looked it over for a second, that accepted, and ate it, knowing what the berry was. As he finished, he felt some of his pain subsiding and was able to get up after a bit.

"Thank you, Miss."

"Think nothing of it. But we haven't been properly introduced." Amara said, sitting down near the injured Umbreon. "I'm Amara, and this is my daughter, Yuma." She said, gesturing to her Yuma, who sat next to her mother.

"It's good to meet you, mister," Yuma added politely.

"Pleasure to meet you. My name is Shade." He said, followed by an awkward silence.

Amara sat silent for a moment, looking him over. She spoke again after a few moments.

"I know this is blunt, by why are you covered in blood and bruises and unconscious in the middle of a forest?" She asked bluntly.

Shade gave a nervous laugh. "I would like to know that myself; I can't remember anything right now."

Amara raised an eyebrow. "Nothing at all?"

"No. It took me a bit to remember my name." He added. Amara was concerned. Nothing about Shade struck her as off-putting, but it was suspicious that he had been attacked and beaten within an inch of his life. From the looks of it, he wouldn't make it far on his own without help.

"Look, maybe I can help you. I know we just met, but I can't leave an injured, amnestic alone like this. Would you be up for coming with my daughter and me?"

Shade nodded. "Only a fool would turn down help in this situation. I may have lost my memory, but not common sense." He responded before catching himself. "Thank you."

"It's no problem. I just need to be clear on one thing: I am putting trust in you; if you harm my daughter or I in any way, I will ensure you regret it." She added more sternly.

Shade nodded his head. "I swear, I would never dream of that. I owe you for the assistance, and I intend to make good on it." Shade responded, getting up.

Amara trusted him and signaled for Yuma and Shade to follow with her tails.

"Alright, we got to find a better place to camp by nightfall; it's too open here," Amara stated, to which Shade agreed. Thanks to the Oran berry, Shade felt strong enough to walk but could still feel trace amounts of pain. Luckily, they would not have to travel too far. After about ten minutes, the group found a clearing of trees further along the path. They found a hollowed-out tree with a clearing large enough for shelter within it. The three pokemon entered the hollow and sat down. By this point, Yuma was tired and fell asleep soon after sitting. Her mother wrapped her tails around her and turned her gaze to Shade.

"So, while we have a moment, why don't we talk."

"Yeah, maybe we can figure something out." Shade replied."

"Before I speak, I want to know what you make of it," Amara stated.

"Well, based on the injuries and where you found me, I would presume that I was attacked, maybe by bandits. I still have my bag, but whatever was in it is gone." Shaded noted.

"And so close to the path too, yet they left me alive. Maybe a hit and run?"

"I see. I figured as much, but I wanted to test what you would deduce first." The fire fox added to Shade's confusion.

"The fact you were able to deduce such a thing, without memory, speaks volumes."

"How?"

"It means you have instinct. You see, I was once on an exploration team. Lines of thought like you just exhibited are usually born out of experience or habit. Or you just have basic deductive reasoning skills," Amara added, with a brief chuckle, before contuing.

"So, you think I was part of a team, maybe?" The Umbreon asked, beginning to connect the dots.

"That or you were at least an explorer of some sort. It's just speculation, but the fact you were out here, seemingly on your own, must mean you had some kind of traveling experience. And the fact your first line of thought about your situation was similar to mine makes me wonder. I mean, you were quick to put the facts together; it would normally take a few tries for someone without experience to draw such conclusions." Amara went on.

"Could still be common sense. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here." Shade noted.

"Maybe, but let's look at the other factors. Your choice of bag, for instance." She said, gesturing to the bag at his side. Shade looked at it, confused.

"Most pokemon carry one of these, right?"

"Yes, but the particular kind. It's a large bag and shaped differently from most travel bags."

Shade looked it over and found nothing of note on it. Sure, it was a large bag and was rectangular, as if to carry many things. On top of that, it had several pockets. It seemed a bit different than Amara and Yuma's bags, but it wasn't of much note to Shade.

"Yeah, so?

"The bag you have, its normally used by couriers. Now, I could be wrong, but maybe that would explain what you were doing out here?" Amara asked. After a few moments, it clicked in the dark fox's head.

"Oh, maybe you're right. Maybe whoever did this two me targeted me for a purpose. Now that you bring it up, I think I can vaguely recall carrying… something, but I don't recall many details about it."

"Maybe my hunch was right then. But that's enough speculation; we will figure this when we get to the next town. If all gets according to plan, we should arrive by tomorrow if all goes well." Amara added, to which Shade gave a smile.

"Sounds good." He said before he realized something. 'Didn't ask before, but I am surprised to see another shiny pokemon. I recall enough random facts to know we are a bit rare. What are the odds too would cross paths?" The Umbreon asked, to which Amara gave a shrug.

'Not likely. We are a rare occurrence amongst our kinds, heck, amongst any pokemon species for that matter. Quite the coincidence to cross paths, don't you think? In all my years, I've hardly ever seen another shiny of any species." Amara finished.

Umbreon nodded, then yawned. "Let's just get some sleep for now." He said, to which Amara agreed.

"Thank you again for your help." He said before she dozed off.

"Just doing the right thing. Good night." Amara muttered as her eyes began to close. Shade followed suit soon after.

(-)

Unknown to the trio, another traveler was sheltered nearby. Another shiny, in fact.

"Finally, made it." The Sylveon, Lace, huffed as she plopped onto the forest floor, the closest tree she could find. Unlike the rest of her kind, she had blue accents on her ears, paws, head, and tali, followed by a few splotches of pink in her ears and at the tips of her ribbons. To her side was a brown, leather traveler's bag.

Her day had been long, full of travel. She had been walking since sunrise, wanting to get through the forest to the next town. To say the trip had been exhausting would have been an understatement. She had a run-in with a few bandits along the way and expected more to come.

"Wish I had a traveling partner." She muttered to herself. But she was too tired to give it any more thought. She promptly curled up and went to sleep.

(-)

Morning the morning sun rose through the hollow's opening, awakening Amara. She yawned and slowly opened her eyes, noting the sleeping shapes near her. Yuma was still fast asleep, as was her new companion. Amara watched their peaceful forms rise and fall, giving a slight smile. She wanted to let them sleep just a few more minutes, but she knew they needed to keep moving. It may have been early, but the forest had danger lurking around every corner, as the bandits encounters she had the previous few days would attest. If they wanted to get out of the forest and to the next town on time, they would have to get up and at them as soon as possible.

With that in mind, she nuzzled her daughter gently.

"Yuma, wake up." She whispered, being met with a yawn from Yuma as her eyes slowly opened.

"Just five more minutes, mom." She muttered in a drowsy voice.

"I wish we could, dear, but we have to move, and it's for our safety," Amara added, getting up. She slowly unraveled her tails from Yuma and padded over to Shade, who was beginning to shift, and she gave him a light nudge.

"Wakey wakey." She said as she shook him. The Umbreon slowly got up and yawned, stretching afterward.

"Good morning, Amara, Yuma." He greeted the vulpine pokemon.

"To you as well." Yuma parroted. Amara did the same before glancing at his wounds.

"How did you sleep?" She inquired.

"Alright. The pain was still present throughout the night, though." Shade explained.

"I see. I am not too surprised, given your wounds. Here take this." Amara said, reaching into her pack and fetching another Oran berry

"Thank you." He noted, taking and eating the berry.

"Of course, but be aware that's the last one I can spare for now. We might hit trouble, and I only have some much supplies left, by my count. It's been a rough journey." Amara explained..

"If that's the case, I owe you an even bigger thanks for using precious supplies on my behalf. I'll have to make it up to you somehow." Shade responded.

"Don't worry about that," Amara answered before glancing at her daughter. Yuma had finished her stretches and was now fully awake.

"I'm hungry, mom. Can we find some breakfast?" She asked. Her mother nodded in response and led the group out of the hollow. It didn't take long before they noticed a few berries lying on the ground; the group immediately looked up. They then noticed the tree they slept in was a berry tree.

"Well, what luck." The Umbreon laughed. "This tree gave us everything we could have needed."

"Yeah." Yuma agreed. Amara nodded in agreement as well and thudded the tree, knocking down a few more berries. The group was gathered up several berries and feasted on the rest. After eating for a few minutes, they hit the road.

Amara led the way with the other two behind her. Shade walked behind, having regained some more of his strength, but still having a bit of difficulty walking. From the back, he called to the Ninetales.

"So, Amara, how far out would you say the next town is?"

"Several miles, but if we keep pace, we can arrive there tonight." She explained before giving Shade a curious glance. "You know, Shade, something donned on me. Your amnesia, there is something weird about it?"

"That's a bit redundant to say. I mean, you can certainly describe my situation like that." the Umbreon added.

Amara shook her head. "No, that's not how I mean it. Before I explain, let me ask something like this: how would you say must bandits operate?"

Shade gave her a curious look but resigned to answer. "I dunno, properly hide amongst the trees, try to catch travelers off guard. Most would avoid killing, though, a body on their hands would draw even more attention than assault would."

"Correct. Now, do you realize why I might ask that out of the blue?" Amara asked with a raised brow.

"You think I was one?"

Amara rolled her eyes. "No, silly. It's like we discussed last night; despite losing your memory, you seem to know how to handle yourself."

"You think I-"

"No, I know you are not lying. I could tell from your expression and body language the second you woke up; it's why I trusted you enough to let you sleep near me. How many people would wake up from a severe beating and feign memory loss?" She retorted, to which Shade shrugged.

"Fair point. But I think I am seeing what you were getting at."

"Indeed. From my experience, pokemon who travel, as part of an exploration team, or as a courier, have developed such skills or knowledge from their experiences. And it's interesting how you recall so many facts, like bandit habits, and the rarity of shines such as us." She explained., to which Shade grew a bit more confused.

"Ok, so maybe I have some muscle memory and a few scattered facts. But I don't see why you-"

"Think about it for a moment. If you had a concussion or hit your head hard, you might have forgotten things like this."

"Mom, he's confused. And so am I." Yuma interjected

"Right, sorry. My point is, maybe your memory loss was on purpose." Amara explained.

Shade rolled his eyes. "I mean, I imagine they wouldn't want me to remember them when they beat the snot out of me and walloped me in the head." He said in a slightly sarcastic tone.

Amara sighed. "What I mean is, it might not have been a concussion; a pokemon likely erased specific memories on purpose. A telepath, perhaps, likely a psychic type."

Umbreon thought for a moment; then it hit him. "By Arceus, your right! It makes sense the more I think about it; the more I think, the more things come back to me, except personal details. That can't be a coincidence." HE then looked dumbfounded and stared at her.

"Wait, why didn't you lead with that?"

Amara gave a sheepish smile. "Uh, maybe I trailed on a bit; I was trying to transition into it. Sorry."

"It's fine."

The group then glanced at none another. "All the more reason to get to town. Maybe we can question mail service there or the local guild. They might know something about your package or at least your destination. Perhaps you were intended to bring something there or from another town?" Amara nodded.

Again, Shade shrugged. "Don't know, let's just keep going for now." He said, being met with nods from the rest of the group.

They continued to travel for another few hours. Amara continued leading the way, determined to not only get her daughter to the safety of the town but now this courier as well.

(-)

Lace continued her journey, following along one of the forest's paths. She was hoping to reach her destination, Windbreak Town, by the end of the day. Though she wasn't exactly on deadline, she wanted to get out of this forest. The sooner she did, the sooner she could achieve her dream. Which was to become part of an adventure guild.

She had traveled far, seeking adventure. No one believed she could handle herself out in the world where she was from. She grew tired of the stigma and left to prove herself. She believed her home village to be a dead-end place to live, with it barely even being on any maps. She hoped to establish herself by joining a guild; in this case, it was Windbreak Town's esteemed Wind Guild. Lace thought it was hardly the most original name, but she knew it to be famous. It had been named after the town and was revered in the area for its's members' strength. They employed pokemon of all types, rather than just flying types despite the name. Their entry requirements were strict, but Lace hoped to find an opportunity to prove her worth to them.

"Maybe I should start with a team." She thought, realizing she had few true friends she would have trusted to join her. She was somewhat popular in her town, mostly for her looks. She saw most of her admirers as shallow and wanted no part of it. The only real friends were some other 'Eeveelutions', as they were often called, a Jolton name Spark, and Vaperion named Gill. They grew up together, but Spark and Gill both left to pursue their own journeys at some point a few years ago. She had wished the best for them. But with them gone, she had little left in town, aside from her parents. She would mostly work in the market, occasionally going out to take on exploration missions, including finding treasures and the like. She was ill-content with her life. She wanted something more, true adventure, not just a few odds and ends.

After making up her mind, she bid her parents farewell and left. She would miss them, of course, but she had to live her life. As such, here she was.

The remainder of the unforgiving life she left behind drove the Syvelon's determination to reach Windbreak Town.

She continued on her path, not running into any trouble. She allowed herself to be lured into a false sense of security.

"This isn't so bad." She muttered to herself, beginning to enjoy the serene atmosphere. She was starting to lose herself in her surroundings when the sound of a tree branch dropping in front of her yanked her out of her thoughts, followed by the sound of a raspy voice.

"Enjoying your walk, are you?" A Krokorok appeared before her, stepping out from behind a tree.

"I was before your ugly mug showed up." Lace spat, knowing this to be another bandit. There was no reason someone friendly would stop travelers in such a manner.

"Watch it, lady. Otherwise, we might lose our tempers." The Krokorok trheanted. He snapped his claws, and a few Ariados leaped down from the trees above.

"Well, well, well, what have we-"One began before getting cut off by his friend.

"Dude, could you not think of anything else? That's so cliche." Another of the spider pokemon interjected.

"Oh, come on, let's see you come up with something on the fly." The first spider argued.

Lace rolled her eyes, as did the Krokorok.

"Shut it, both of you. Stay focused."

"You guys are completely lame." Lace scoffed.

The Krokorok stomped his foot in anger. "Yeah, and what makes you-"He was unable to finish his sentence as a dazzling gleam hit him in the face.

"Argh!' He scored as Lace used the communication to get away.

"AFTER HER, YOU IDIOTS!" The Krokorok screamed as he tried to recover from the attack. It was super effective against him and did some damage, but he had been through worse.

The Ariados present cased after the Sylveon, as their leader soon followed suit.

(-)

Amara's group was making progress. They were making their way through the forest at a brisk pace, as she intended. At this rate, they would be out in no time.

Yet, it was not long before they heard some yelling sounding from nearby.

"GET HER, YOU FOOLS!" a raspy voice called.

"GET AWAY FROM ME." A feminine voice shouted back. Amara did not need to hear any more to know what was going on.

"Yuma, wait with Shade. I will deal with this." She ordered before bolting off in the direction of the sounds. Shade complied and waited with Yuma.

When Amara got to the source of the calls, she was surprised to see yet another shiny pokemon, fighting what she assumed to be bandits, similar to the ones she fought before. The Sylveon attempted to fend them off, but her fairy-type attacks did little against the bug pokemon.

Amara figured she might fix this.

On instinct, she got them in her line of sight and unleashed a flamethrower on them, scorching the two Ariados to a crisp. They turned over, but merely unconscious, while the Slyveon gasped in surprise at her savior. This left the Krokorok.

He attempted to hit Amara with a bite, seeing as any fissure-based attack would bring trees down on them. Amara dodged it and responded with a flamethrower, which burnt him slightly but not enough to keep him down. He responded with a slash attack aimed at the Ninteailts, which she dodged again.

"Not bad, but wait until you-argh!" He groaned as he fell over, beaten. Amara looked behind him and saw the Syvelon hit him with another dazzling gleam.

"Ow," He groaned. Amara and the Sylveon laughed. Amara finished him off with a blow to the head, knocking the bandit unconscious. She then turned to the other woman, who she noted to be younger.

"You ok?" Amara asked.

"Yes, thank you for the help there. My name is Lace."

"Glad you are ok. I'm Amara."

"Pleasure to meet you. You a traveler too?" Lace asked. Amara nodded.

"As am I. I am heading to Windbreak Town to see about joining the guild there. What about you?"

"Heading to Windbreak as well, but for different reasons. It's more a stop on the way to another place for me." Amara explained..

"I see. Well-"But she was cut off by a surprised yelp from nearby.

Amara's eyes lit up in fear. "Yuma!" She exclaimed before bolting. Lace followed, having to want to help.

(-)

Shade hit the pokemon, a Scizor, with another night slash, but it was ineffective. Yuma, being too young and weak to fight, hid further away. He knew he posed little chance against this pokemon due to his weakened state and lack of effective attacks, as Scizor was a bug and steel type, but he tried anyway. Like hell if we was going to let the bandit harm Yuma.

"You show spirit, but I tire of these games. All I know is my client is paying a lot for your kind, and I intend to deliver." He said, starting an X-Siissor, but before he could unleash it, a yell from nearby distracted him. Shade took the chance to have run, knowing he could do little else.

"Get away from them!' Amara spat. The Scizor scoffed.

"Well, well. Two other shiny pokemon? The bounty will be worth it, I think." The Scizzor mused.

"Bounty?" Lace parroted, confused. The bandit ignored her and began his assault.

Amara thought it would be easy when he was suddenly flanked by two Scraggy, who jumped down from the trees above.

Amara was unfazed and engaged them. Lace followed closely behind, taking on the Scraggy, hitting them each with a swipe to the chest. She was too close in the range of using her dazzling gleam, and she was hoping to stun them.

Amara, meanwhile, engaged Sciizor, who she tried to burn with her flamethrower. Scizor, however, proved too fast and evaded her attacks. She had to move fast to avoid his slash attacks.

"Damn it." She muttered in frustration. She noted the Lace engaging the others and figured she could handle it.

Lace, meanwhile, had managed to land a blow on one of the Scraggy, knocking him off his feet. Unbeknownst to her, the other was planning a counterattack. However before he could attack her from behind, a dark blur tackled the Scraggy out of the air and knocked the Scraggy onto his back. It was then that Lace caught wind of the attack and turned around briefly.

"Who-?" That was all she muttered before she saw an Umbreon fighting beside her.

"I got him; take the other," Shade called. Lace nodded and readied a dazzling gleam, targeting he downed Scraggy. He was sent flying a few feet with a quick blast and knocked out. Lace then turned her attention back to the second assailant, who the Umbreon was beating. The scraggy, being weak, was pinned down by Shade.

"What do you want?" He demanded from the pinned bandit.

"Don't know nothing. Boss said something about a bounty from some guy, and not sure who."

Shade growled and swiped the Scraggy across the face, knocking him out. He then galnecd over to Amara, who was engeign the apperaent leader.

"Come one." He called to Lace, who bolted over to Amara.

The Scirrzoer was readying another strike when he was suddenly thrown off by a night slash, followed off by a dazzling gleam. He recoiled from the blows, but was undaunted. He turned his attention to the two eeveelutions, anger boiling in his veins.

But before he could do anything, he was roasted by a flamethrower, which knocked him out quickly. He fell over, scorched, and unconscious.

"Idiot, leaving his guard down like that," Amara said, before turning to her companion.s

"You two ok?" Both nodded.

"Where's Yuma?" Amara asked, panic evident in her voice.

"Right here, mom." A young voice called from behind a tree. Yuma bounded over to her mother, who nuzzled her in response.

"Thank goodness; you are ok." Amara said, furiously nuzzling and looking over her daughter for injuries. Lace and Shade shared a laugh and turned to each other.

"My name is Lace. Yeah, I wasn't expecting to see another shiny 'Eeveelution,' as they call our kind. But what, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Thanks for the help with the Scraggy." Lace replied.

"Shade. Good to meet you. Interesting meeting yet another shiny pokemon." The Umbreon introduced himself before finding himself lost in her eyes for a brief second. He quickly regained his composure before she could notice, though.

"She's beautiful." He thought to himself.

"Mom, I am fine," Yuma said as her mother let up the nuzzles. The two fire foxes then turned back to Shade and Lace.

"I believe introductions are in order. Lace, this is Shade, and my daughter, Yuma."

"It's good to meet you, little lone." Lace said with a smile. To her amusement, the Vulpix started jumping in excitement.

"Thank you for saving us! You two were awesome!" She said, having seen the fight from her hiding spot. Her mother attempered to calm her down.

"Yes, they were, dear. But let's take it easy, for now. That being said, thank both of you for protecting her." The mother stated, catching nods from both pokemon. She then turned to Lace.

"So you were saying you were on your way to Windbreak Town?"

Lace nodded. "Yes. I know it's a bit sudden, but I was hoping I could maybe tag along. We each have the same destination in store, right? And we are safer in a group if these bandits attacks mean anything." Lace explained, catching nods of agreement from the other two adults.

"Exactly my thinking. I was about to suggest the same thing… if that's fine by Yuma and Shade here?' She asked, turning to her daughter and companion.

Yuma jumped for joy. "Heck yeah!"

Shade nodded with a warm smile. "Fine by me." Amara smiled, then looked back at Lace.

"Well then, welcome aboard."

Lace smiled before glancing at the unconscious bandit pokemon around them. "What about these idiots?"

Amara shrugged. "They will be out for some time after the beating we gave them. We will report them to the authorities later." She replied. The rest of the group just shrugged and began walking down the path again. Shade was about to brush off the encounter when the Scizor and his bandit's words rang in his head.

"My kind? Bounty? What bounty?" He wondered for a moment before he realized he should tell Amara. He called forward, getting the Ninetale's attention.

"Hey Amara, there was one thing I forgot to mention."

"Yes?" The mother turned her head back as she continued to walk.

"Bandits spoke about a bounty. Both for shiny pokemon and "my kind," as they put it? Maybe he means other Eevee evolutions like me?"

Amara looked puzzled. "Maybe…"

"Could it have something to do with why I was attacked earlier, before you found me, maybe?"

Amara's expression turned more inquisitive. "I'm not sure. We will have to look into it in town. I can't answer any of it for now." She responded.

"Wait, you were attacked? And a bounty on 'Eeveelutions' like us? That's concerning." Lace said in a slightly nervous tone. In response, Amara brushed one of her tails over Lace's back in a soothing fashion.

"Don't worry; we will get to the bottom of this. We just got to take it one step at a time." Amara said calmly.

"Ans, what's this about a previous attack? Is that why you look so beaten up?" Lace asked Shade, looking him over.

Shade gave a nervous laugh. "I'll explain on the way. Let's just get a move on for now; we will get nothing from all this pondering except headaches." He said simply. The rest of the party quartet agreed and continued their journey.

Unbeknownst to them, a figure was watching nearby, hidden in the trees. He looked over the party, a bit surprised at the rarity of their coloration. Is attention was mainly focused on the Umbreon and Sylveon.

"Interesting…" The figure thought to himself as he watched the quartet walk along the path. He could not show himself yet; he had to be cautious. The timing was everything for his mission, and he would have to plan it well if he wanted things to go his way. For now, he would follow them and intercept them when the time was right.

The figure vanished back into the shelter of the trees, hiding once again before he drew the group's attention.

Woah, a mysterious stranger with mysterious goals and thoughts. What an excellent way to ensure people are at least mildly curious about what happens next.

In all seriousness, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Any constructive criticism is appreciated.

Until next time.