~~~⚜️~~~

A lone Jolteon dashed through a forest, his paws lightly skimming the ground. In the sky above, thunder crashed, accompanied by the screech of an enraged Pokémon. Fear coursed through the petite Lightning Pokémon, lending him speed in his desperate dash to get home before the storm released its full fury. Rain pelted the Jolteon, piercing through his spiked, yellow fur. The water drops stung the Pokémon like a swarm of angry Beedrill, but he pressed on, determined to make it home.

A towering, ancient oak appeared in the distance, its branched, scraping the darkened sky. This sight gave the Lightning Pokémon an extra burst of energy. The Jolteon expertly navigated through the undergrowth, vaulting over fallen trees and ducking under low bushes. He came to a screeching halt in front of the hollow tree. The Jolteon nosed aside a curtain of lichen and entered the den. He shook is soaked fur, scattering water droplets and mud across the walls of the den.

A sharp bark reproached the Jolteon, who looked up to see a Flareon, splattered with mud and water. The highly disgruntled Flareon scraped the mud off his fluffy, orange coat with one paw, giving the Jolteon a disapproving growl.

"That was not necessary, Acer," the Flareon snarled, flicking the muck at the Lightning Pokémon.

"I couldn't walk around muddy, now could I, Valens?" Acer challenged, ducking as the mud flew over his head.

Valens snarled grumpily at the Jolteon, who wandered over to a corner of the makeshift house where a pile of small, shriveled berries laid. The Lightning Pokémon sniffed them disdainfully.

"These aren't all of our berries, are they?" Acer asked, discontent lacing his voice.

"They're all we have," a voice answered from across the den. The Jolteon and Flareon turned to see a Vaporeon pad towards them. Her blue fur was dry and well- groomed. Calm radiated from her like a light.

"Malacia," Valens stated as the Bubble Jet Pokémon approached the berry pile, "I didn't see you there."

"I know," Malacia the Vaporeon replied, "And Acer, you know how arduous it is to find fresh berries. We are lucky to have these few."

The Jolteon's ears drooped sadly. "I know," he sighed, "I just wish I could go back to when I could actually taste the berries, not just the dry skin."

"We all do," Malacia agreed, longing in her voice, "But we cannot. The titans saw to that."

"Stupid birds," Valen snarled, pacing angrily "They were fine- safe- on their little islands, but no, they were not content. They had to have the other islands as well."

"Calm down, Valens," Malacia soothed the Flame Pokémon, "There is nothing we can do about it."

A sudden flash lit up the den, brightening even the darkest corners. A crack followed soon after, ripping through the air like scissors through paper.

The three Eeveelutions covered their sensitive ears as the sound resonated inside their home. Acer crouched low to the ground, shivering, his eye wide with fear. The other two Eeveelution watched him, empathy gleaming in their eyes.

Malacia padded over to the terrified Lightning Pokémon and stretched out beside him, speaking in soft, soothing tones.

Valens watched the two, ears perked for dangers. The storms always left him on edge. A raging Electric Pokémon was nothing to be taken lightly. He had seen the bird wipe out entire forests with a single lightning strike.

Acer rose shakily to his feet, glancing around warily as if lightning might suddenly strike him at any moment.

A fearsome shriek split the air, and heat suddenly engulfed the tree that the Eeveelutions called their home.

The angry call was answered by another screech, and the heat that had engulfed the Pokémon's home was suddenly replaced by a piercing cold.

The three Eeveelutions stiffened as they realized what was happening outside their sheltered den.

"Not again," Valens snarled, "We just found this home. It can't be destroyed again."

"News flash! We're going to die if we don't get out of here," Acer stated, racing out of the giant oak.

Malacia and Valens followed the Jolteon out into the storm, which had died down enough to reveal three, magnificent bird hovering above the oak. Rage boiled in the birds' eyes as they glared at each other. Hatred radiated from them, causing the hackles of the three Eeveelutions to raise in anticipation.

The first bird was very proud. He held his head high and watched the other two with smugness . The yellow feathers on his spiky wings were complemented by occasional, pitch black feathers. Lightning sparked around the yellow Pokémon, as energized as the bird himself.

The second bird didn't have as much plumage as the yellow bird. The only feathers she had were an orangish gold in color. However, flames cloaked the Pokémon's wings and tail. She bravely glared at the other two, defience burning in her eyes like the flames that cloacked her.

The final bird was the most regal of the three. She held herself with authority as she observed to other birds. Her plumage was an icy blue, and her tail feathers were a darker shade of blue and shimmered faintly. The Pokémon's eyes were as cold as the icy cloud that billowed around her.

With a shriek, the three Pokémon in the sky attacked each other with powerful rays that sparked with energy.

"We must vacate this vicinity," Malacia stated, watching the raging birds in the sky warily.

"Yeah," Acer agreed, his ears flattened against his head.

"Follow me," Valens barked, racing in the direction opposite of that which was where the birds were fighting.

Malacia and Acer wasted no time dashing after the Flame Pokémon. The three Eeveelutions navigated through the forest, occasionally dodging a stray attack from the warring birds above.

A Flamethrower seared the ground in front of Valens, who came to a screeching halt before touching the charred ground.

Malacia nudged him gently. "We need to hurry," she whispered urgently, "the titans are getting closer."

The Flame Pokémon nodded and vaulted over the burned ground. Acer was next, and Malacia wasn't far behind.

The three Pokémon continued their desperate race through the forest as the war in the sky raged on. Their ears were flat against their heads, and their eyes were wild with fright.

Malacia perked her ear as she heard a familiar, foreboding rumble echo through the forest.

"Stop!" she barked, "Stop! It's a waterfall!"

Valens skidded to a halt at the edge of the cliff, watching wide- eyed as some dislocated pebbles tumbled into the raging river far below.

Acer, however, was not as lucky. He tried to come to a halt, but was unable to stop as he slid over the edge of the cliff.

"Acer!" Malacia howled as the Lightning Pokémon tumbled over the edge of the cliff.

Valens reacted quickly, grabbing the Jolteon by the scruff of his neck and pulling him back over onto the cliff.

Acer lay panting on the ground as Malacia raced up, observing the Lightning Pokémon to be sure that he was safe. Once satisfied, she sat back down and turned to look out over the cliff.

On one side, a cascade of water tumbled down into a swiftly moving river which traveled on to eventually pool into the wide expanse of the ocean. In the distance, three islands appeared to float on the waves.

The land in between the waterfall and the ocean was once an extensive forest; however, now skeleton trees stood bare and charred, and the land that was once home to a verity of forest dwelling Pokémon is now a wasteland, devoid of all signs of life.

The three Eeveelutions inspected the scene that stretched out before them, both awed and disgusted. Awed at the expanse of the land and beauty of the ocean, yet disgusted by the wasteland that had taken over what was once a magnificent forest.

"Those stupid birds..." Valens tailed off, snarling.

"I never knew that three Pokémon could cause so much destruction..." Acer mumbled.

"Imagine how many Pokémon must have lost their homes, family, and even their lives to such destruction," Malacia stated sadly, "It makes us seem very fortunate."

The three continued to take in the landscape, before Valens growled, "This must end. There has been too much lost already. Those foul fowl will have to pay."

"I agree, but we are just Pokémon," Malacia noted, "What can we do?"

Valen started to reply, but a fearsome screech cut him off.

The three Pokémon looked up at the sky to see the warring titans were coming closer, and their powerful attacks destroyed the forest. They were just moments away from reaching where the three Eeveelutions rested.

"They're getting too close!" Acer yelped.

"Let's go!" Valens ordered, raising to his feet only to meet with the sharp drop- off.

"We have no where left to run!" Malacia exclaimed, "What can we do?"

The three Pokémon only had a moment to ponder this until the titan of fire crashed behind them, his powerful Sky Attack having missed its target. The shockwave from the collision sent the three small Eeveelutions over the edge of the cliff.

The duel Fire- and Flying- type rose up to face his two opponents, rage deafening his ears to the cries for help from the three doomed Pokémon as the swiftly moving river washed them into the sea.

~~~⚜️~~~

Oh, I'm so excited for this story!!!

Which also means this is about to be the longest Author's Note in history... ^-^"

In case you have not meet me, hello! I am ShinyPonyta, but you can call me Sprinkles! I'm a writer here on Wattpad, and I mostly write Pokémon Fan Fictions. Some of my current stories are Zapped, Shifting Dimension, Losing Hope, Pokémon One Shots, Warriors: The Prophecy of Dark and Light: Silent Silver, Sempre at Pax, and the Sprinkle- chan series (which is basically a bunch of Randomness books).

Well, now that the introduction is out of the way, on to more important stuff!

This is my newest short story, Phobia. It's a project that I've been working on off and on, so for those of you who are worried that this will affect Shifting Dimension's updates, it won't! I posted it up this early because I was curious how much people would enjoy it. This is more of a preview, though.

I would like to add that I am very proud of this story, and would like some critiques on it. I also plan to enter it in the Pokémon Wattys, which makes critiques even more valuable.

Okay, since I've probably bored you to death, I'll just end the Author's Note.

Please vote, COMMENT YOUR THOUGHTS, and I'll see you all next Author's Note!! ^-^