FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter Six

When I next woke up, I felt much better. Most of the pain was gone, aside from a few involuntary twitches I felt in my arms and legs. I started to worry if maybe what Steve said had been true, and now my motor function was damaged.

Lucario was still there, waving his paw up and down my body. He looked extremely tired as he kept trying to heal me.

"Lucario...you can stop...I'm awake now..." I told him softly at one point as I stared up at him.

"If I stop, the damage might become permanent..." He shook his head, panting a bit.

Damage? Did I really become impaired then?

"Can't the pokemon center do this? You're going to crash or something..."

"Hah...human medicine is meant for illness or tending those who get knocked out in battle. No, this is damage beyond the normal, they are not equipped for this." He stumbled a moment, and his paw stopped glowing and he groaned.

"I...could use a rest though...you should be fine if I just..." He fell back into a chair and sighed, "Rest...a moment..." He passed out almost instantly, snoozing quietly and leaving me to myself as I laid on the bed, my right arm still twitching occasionally. I thought about all that had happened. I couldn't believe Steve had such equipment at his disposal, where did he get it?

_________________________

A few hours passed until someone finally peeked into the small room I was in.

"Ruli?" I nearly jumped in excitement at the voice, I did manage to sit up in the bed. The pain was gone, now there was just this twitching in my arm.

"Zane!" I yowled happily and my trainer walked in more, and his mom and Herb closely followed.

Herb chuckled as he saw Lucario sleeping in the chair, "Looks like he worked himself to exhaustion."

Zane hugged me softly and he felt my arm twitch again, "He's still twitching though..." He said worriedly.

"One session won't be enough to completely heal the damage, but once Lucario is back up one more should fix it all, I'm glad we were able to get here when we did, any more time spent without proper care might have made it permanent." Herb gave the sleeping pokemon a slow stroke over his head, "Healing Pulse can take a lot of energy out of the pokemon using it."

Herb stood up and crossed his arms, "What I want to know, is how did Steve get a hold of such devices?"

Zane's mom shuffled at that and she sighed, "That...would be because...Steve...used to be a part of Team Magma..."

"Team Magma?" Now Fredrick walked into the room, "That one team of crazy people who went up against Team Aqua and tried to pit Groudon and Kyogre against one another for control of the land or sea?"

"Yeah that team." She nodded and frowned. "But before they went all "Seize the world" they actually would perform experiments with that kind of machinery on pokemon...to see just how much pokemon could survive."

She closed her eyes, "Steve used to be such a great trainer...his pokemon loved him...but then he started putting them through those experiments and it came to the point that they had to defend themselves or he would've killed them, and so they did. They fought him, destroyed his equipment, and hurt him."

"Sounds like he deserved it if he was doing that to them." Fredrick grunted as he leaned against the wall.

"No! I mean..." She looked hurt, "He did it all for them. At least, that's how he felt...He was doing it to help them...they were trying to find ways to make pokemon immortal. When all of his pokemon turned on him and left him all alone, he felt betrayed."

"Anyone can say that they're trying to find ways to help pokemon." Fredrick turned his gaze away, "But when you're strapping them to machines, and then doing something like that," he nodded over at me, "to them, you forfeit any valid reason to call it anything but torture."

"Steve used to be crazy about pokemon...he loved them just as much as Zane does. I would always tell me when I told him about how I didn't like what he was doing. "I'm doing it for the pokemon and for Zane." He just wanted to give Zane a pokemon that could remain his forever, no matter what..."

Zane gripped the bed beside me, "He didn't need to torture any to do it. I saw what he did to Ruli. No trainer would do that to his pokemon even if it meant giving them eternal life or anything like that."

"Zane...I'm not sure who your father is anymore, he changed too much over the last four years...somehow those Magma people corrupted his way of thinking. His pokemon felt it, I could tell, they tried to help him, to stop him. Oh...that poor Umbreon..."

"Umbreon? Dad had an Umbreon?" Zane looked over at his mom, "I never saw it, just his other Eeveelutions..."

"Eeveelutions? He was am Eevee fan huh?" Fredrick asked.

"Oh yes, he was always fascinated in how many ways an Eevee could evolve." She tapped her chin lightly, "He had a Jolteon, a Flareon, an Espeon, a Leafeon, Glaceon, and Umbreon."

"Why did I never see the Umbreon?" Zane asked silently.

"Before they all ran away...your dad kept the Umbreon in its pokeball until night. Umbreons gather power from the night moon, so he only let it out at night to let it absorb energy from the moon outside. He was experimenting with it, he believed if he let the Umbreon gather enough energy, it could live forever."

"Of course that's false. Umbreons may gather energy from the moon, but they can only store so much of it. That's why they sleep during the middle of the day usually."

"Well..." She started, "That's not really true...he gave that Umbreon so much time in the moon, and none in the sun, its yellow rings turned blue. It ran away the same day the others did though, I haven't seen it since."

"The Shiny Umbreon..." Fredrick whispered to himself suddenly.

"Excuse me?"

"There's a local legend that talks about this. An Umbreon lives near this town with shiny blue rings, only seen on nights of the full moon."

"There's a full moon tonight." Herb pointed out.

"Well, why don't we try to find it? Maybe it could tell us something about what happened with Dad." Zane thought and tapped his chin.

__________________________

When Lucario woke again, it was late at night, but he seemed full of energy again and he finished healing my arm. It seemed we did plan to go and search for this shiny Umbreon, wherever it was near here.

When Zane and I became ready to head out, Fredrick was waiting outside the pokemon center with Herb.

"Fredrick? I thought you were moving on?" Zane asked in surprise.

"I've been hired..." He chuckled and looked at Herb.

"Steve's still out there somewhere, he vanished after the airship crashed. And it's more than likely he'll continue to try and take Ruli and do something horrible to him. So, being that Fredrick is a mercenary trainer, I've hired him to protect you."

"How much did that cost?" Zane blinked in surprise.

"He's giving me everything his has in his will." Fredrick said, "Payment will come eventually, I do this for free for now because I want to. I won't let Steve do such horrible things like that. Besides, a traveling companion can be nice." He grinned and shrugged.

Zane smiled and so did I, "All right...thanks Fredrick."

"Don't mention it." He laughed and nodded. "Well, let's go see if we can find this Umbreon, locals say it appears in the mountains near here on nights of the full moon, it uses old caves that have been mined out by the mining company as its home."

We all looked up at the full moon that was in the sky. If there was such a thing as this shiny Umbreon, we should be able to find it tonight.

We left the town and split up, Herb when in one direction into the near forest since he was older and couldn't really climb high hills. Fredrick went right when we reached the mountainous area, and me and Zane went to the left.

We walked slowly, Zane was being careful not to trip on a rock or anything. I still felt a little tired, so aside looking around a bit, I mostly left my eyes closed as I tried to rest and I kept one arm wrapped around his neck, just dozing a bit.

"Hey Ruli..." Zane shook me awake of a slight bounce of his shoulder and I shook my head.

"I'm awake! I'm awake..." I mumbled a bit and rubbed my eyes with my free paw.

Zane chuckled at me and he stopped, sitting on a rock and I looked over at him.

"I really do wonder what happened with my dad...I remember how happy he was with his pokemon...and how happy there were around him. I never even noticed the change really...just suddenly one day...they all left." He sighed and shook his head, "I really wish I could find out what happened..."

"You want to know what happened...?" A tired and growly voice sounded and Zane rose up and scowled. I growled loudly and tried to hide around Zane's neck.

Steve was stepping up the rocks slowly, that claw grabber he had used last time in his hands. He seemed injured as he stumbled on the rocks, a few rolls of bandages were wrapped around his legs and arms.

"Stupid mercenary trainer...crashed my airship." He growled, "Those airships aren't cheap, Magma's gonna be all over me about this."

"Back off Dad!" Zane said and stepped back up the hills a bit more, "You can't have Ruli, I'm not gonna let you kill him!"

"That is a Riolu son! Pokemon don't get names!" He aimed the claw grabber, and it shot out towards me to grab me.

I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth, as Zane tried to duck and dodge to save me, but before he could even move, there was a loud cracking noise and a crash as the arm of the machine snapped and fell apart. Zane jumped then, landing a few rocks down the hill and we both looked back up.

Steve stared in surprise at the pokemon that now stood between him and us. It's blue rings and eyes glowed brightly in the night, its' black body kept the rest of it concealed in the night, but its white fangs gleamed bright as it growled at Steve, staring right into his eyes.

"M...Midnight..." Steve stuttered lightly and I heard creature growl.

"I thought you said Pokemon don't get names...or did you really forget so far that you named me and the others?" He stood straighter now, he was certainly a he based on the sound of his voice, and the moonlight escaped the clouds a moment to reveal a four legged pokemon.

"You named me Midnight...but I suppose that name has no meaning to you anymore does it?" He growled a bit and raised his hackles. "All those crazy experiments you exposed me and my brothers to...you nearly killed us all."

"I was trying to help you!!!" Steve shouted at the Umbreon, whose blue rings started glowing brightly.

"Help?!" He shouted and then laughed, "Look at me Steve! Oh yes, you gave me eternal life sure, but I can only come out into the open air only in the full moon! Your experiments caused me to become addicted to lunar energy! I can't walk out into the sunlight anymore, and if the moon isn't full I feel faint and weak! What kind of life is this?"

"It...it was a mistake! I can do better next time!" Steve held onto his own head now, his eyes closed as he argued.

"Next time!? I will not allow you to harm another one of MY species with this curse! And I most certainly won't let you bring harm to your own SON'S pokemon!" The Umbreon opened its mouth and started taking a deep breath, a large ball of purple energy forming at the tip of its muzzle. "Leave now Steve! I will hurt you just like you hurt me!"

Steve seemed to consider that a moment, before he grimaced and he backed off a few steps, turning around and he vanished into the woods.

The Umbreon kept the ball of energy full until Steve was gone for a few minutes, before he finally let it fade, closing his muzzle and then he turned towards me and Zane, leaping down the few rocks as he stared at us calmly with his blue eyes.

"You all right?" He asked worriedly to both me and Zane.

Zane stared at me a moment and I shrugged, "What?"

"Can you translate?" Zane chuckled and I remembered, he couldn't understand the Umbreon, only me.

"Oh...oh yeah I suppose." I told him what he had said, and started to translate for him.

"Yeah..." Zane nodded after he listened to me a moment, "We're all right...thank you...what should I call you?"

"Midnight is fine. It's the name I cherish from times long ago, the person who gave it to me has changed, but the love he gave it to me with I remember fondly." He chuckled, a little sadly, and sat on the rock just next to us.

"Midnight." Zane nodded again, "What you said, you can't come out unless it's a full moon?"

He nodded and sighed, "I can only come out of my cave on nights of the full moon. Being constantly filled with lunar energy from Steve's experiments caused my body to become completely addicted and dependent on it. I don't even need to eat, or drink. Between the full moons, I enter a hibernation state to save energy..."

"There's no way to fix it?"

"Not that I can think of, and I wouldn't survive long enough in a lab for other humans to find an answer." He shrugged lightly.

Zane stayed silent a moment, "I'm sorry..."

"What for?"

"My dad, my own dad did this to you..."

He chuckled and wagged his tail a bit, "Your sweet kid...but it's not your fault. Steve wasn't always like this either...Before he joined that Team Magma and they somehow convinced him that these kinds of extreme experiments were needed to improve pokemon for their own good." He growled and shook his head.

"So sure, my life might be reduced to living only one day a month for the rest of my life, which has been extended forever, at least until the day that I get caught out in the sun or something."

"That's terrible..."

Umbreon closed his eyes and sighed, "He didn't mean to cause this I know...it was just...misguided..."

"You didn't seem to treat him like it was misguided." I pointed out.

He growled a bit, "Hey, he's out of control. You know that don't you?"

I blushed a bit, "Yeah...i guess I do."

"What about the other Eeveelutions? Your brothers?"

"As far as I know, they ran away the same day I did, but they don't share the same condition as me. I haven't seem them for three years, who knows where they could be."

"You can't tell us anything?"

"I..." He looked up at the stars a moment and closed his eyes, "I can sense my brother Jolteon close to here, a few hundred miles maybe?"

"You can feel that far?"

"Being supercharged with lunar energy makes a lot of stuff possible." He chuckled. "But I can't feel anyone else...Sorry, I wish I knew where they were too."

We stayed silent a moment, and Zane rose up on his feet. "I'll tell my mom about you, you remember her?"

"Yeah I do." The Umbreon nodded, "She was very nice to me when I was left out in the night air..."

"Maybe she can do something to help you figure out a fix to this." Zane told him hopefully.

Umbreon tilted his head, "It's worth a try I suppose...are you going to return now?"

"We have to find the others, and get some sleep. I plan to challenge the gym in town tomorrow."

"Good luck Zane. Be careful in the world. Your dad's probably not done trying to stop you..." Umbreon told him sternly a moment and his blue rings glowed with a friendly shine and I saw a smile spread over his muzzle. "Say hi to my brothers for me if you ever see them."

Zane smiled and nodded, as did I, and I waved to him as Zane started back down the path into the forest.