Chapter 20

Chapter 20- Reunion

(A few months later)

"Mom, I'm tired of walking! Can we take a break now?" Angel whined. Despite her initial excitement about moving, the young Eevee was already tired. "No sweetie, we need to keep moving," Sparky answered. She looked up at the mountain that loomed before them. Sparky had hated to move to this forest, but the Mightyenas in their old one made life miserable and dangerous. Angel, unhappy with her mother's decision to keep moving, simply climbed on to Sparky's back and laid there. Sparky didn't mind much; Angel wasn't very heavy. "Hey mom, are we moving into that mountain up ahead?" she asked, bored. "No, just this forest below." Angel looked up at the mountain. The sun was just beginning to set, and she thought she could make out a light coming from a cave near the middle. "Why not move into that cave up there?" she asked. "It looks big enough for us." Sparky looked up. Sure enough, in the fading light, was the cave she had found years ago, when she wasn't much older than Angel. "No sweetie, not that one," she answered after a long moment of silence. She had to use every shred of her will to not run up to the cave as fast as she could, and see her Jolt again. Then she reminded herself he was probably with Snow by now. She wondered if they had had any children of their own since she had left. "Why not?" asked Angel. "Why didn't you want to even come to this forest in the first place?" Sparky just shook her head. Angel asked too many questions.

Angel sighed, still very bored. "Can you tell me another story about dad?" Sparky racked her brain for an adventure she'd had with Jolt that she hadn't already told Angel. She settled on the time she and Jolt had found the evolution stones in the crystal cave. "Well," she began. "Once your dad and I found dozens of evolution stones in a cave. Want to hear about that?" "Angel perked up. "Sure!" she said excitedly. Evolution stones and the process of evolving had fascinated Angel, and she wanted to evolve badly. She was caught between becoming a Flareon or an Espeon; either were fine by her. "Well, it was a long time ago," Sparky began. "I remember I wanted to spend some time with dad, before me and him were together. I had found a cave with giant, beautiful crystals, and I wanted to take him there. It would be our special place." The sun had almost completely fallen, and Sparky began searching for a place they could stay in for the night. "We walked out of our cave and into the snow, and made our way around the mountain slo-"Sparky caught herself, but it was already too late. "Wait, a cave on a snowy mountain?" Angel asked. "Like the one with the light in it?" Sparky stayed silent, while Angel began putting two and two together, getting exited. "You mean that's the cave you used to live in? Is that where dad is?"

"Don't you ever go into that cave!" Sparky snapped suddenly. Angel stopped for a moment, surprised at her mother's outburst. "Mom... is that where dad is?" she asked quietly. "The mountain and the cave are off-limits, do you understand?" continued Sparky, trying to avoid the question. Angel knew she was right. Her mother always dodged hard questions, and Angel could tell she knew her father was up there. "Alright mom, sorry..." she said after a little while, wanting to please her mother. She had no idea why Sparky was so upset when she asked if dad was up there. She never said much about dad anyway, except when she told stories about him. "What's dad's name?" she asked. She had never dared to ask that, since whenever she asked for details about dad, her mom would always tense up and avoid the question. This time was no different. "Where was I? Ah yes, the cave," Sparky continued, hoping to get her daughter's mind off Jolt. They would have to pass on through the forest for a few days, and the sooner she could get away from the mountain, the better. Seeing the familiar territory brought up painful memories for her. Sparky began telling the story, but Angel wasn't listening anymore. She was already planning on waking up early to go see the cave. She didn't care how mad her mother would be; she had to see if her father was in the cave, and maybe meet him for the first time. She wondered what he looked like in person, since her mother tried her best to leave the details of him out. Tomorrow morning she would finally get the answers she'd wanted for so long.

Jolt woke up early the next morning, after spending the night with Snow. They all had recently decided to sleep with someone each night, as it was the verge of winter and things were getting much colder. He packed a bag full of supplies and headed out into the cold. He was on a mission. Midnight had gotten sick, and after close examination, Rubi said she needed a special Glacerin flower to make a speedy recovery. Jolt had volunteered instantly, as he didn't want to see his first mate and his close friend be sick. Glacerin flowers were pretty rare, but Jolt knew exactly where to find a couple. He jogged down the mountain, making good time.

Angel woke up early, just as she had planned, and walked out of the clearing they had chosen to spend the night in. She purposely made her tracks easy to follow, but figured she could make it to the cave and back before her mom woke up. As she approached the foot of the mountain however, two large Mightyenas approached her from behind.

Jolt got close to the base of the mountain, when he looked over to his right, and saw a young Eevee being followed by two Mightyenas. Oh no, he thought, and he quickly made his way over.

"Well well, look what we have here," the larger Mightyena said, causing Angel to jump and turn around, startled. "A brat who doesn't know where she should be." Angel slowly backed up, scared. She didn't know why, but she could tell from the Mightyena's threatening tone that he was dangerous. "Leave me alone..." she pleaded. Both the mightyenas laughed, and slowly advanced on her. Scared out of her wits, she scratched the larger one on the nose when he came too close, causing him shout in pain. "That hurt, you little shit!" he swore. The other Mightyena extended his long, razor sharp iron claws, and moved in on her. "You're gonna get it now, brat," he said, and raised his claw.

A flash of yellow grabbed Angel hard and moved her put of the way, right as the Mightyena brought his claw down. "Hang on to my back!" the yellow Pokémon shouted, and she blindly obeyed him. She realized from his spikey yellow fur that he was a Jolteon, like her mother, and she instantly felt safe on his back. "I'll give you both three seconds to get the fuck out of my forest before I tear your sorry hearts out," Jolt growled. He extended his own Iron claws to let them know he meant business. "Come get some!" the Mightyena with the bleeding nose shouted, and ran at him. Jolt electrified his claws, a trick that he had perfected, and slashed the Mightyena down when he was in range. The claws were so charged that it felt like receiving a thunderbolt along with an iron claw, and the Mightyena howled and fell over. Jolt hit him with a powerful shadow ball before he could get up, and he was done. The Mightyena laid in the snow, out cold and bleeding from where Jolt had slashed him exceptionally hard. His companion turned and fled after seeing his friend beaten down that quickly.

Angel hopped off the Jolteon's back, and he turned to face her. "T-thanks..."Angel stuttered, still very shaken up. "Don't mention it. Those stupid Mightyenas can't ever stick to their own forest. I'm just glad I got here in time. My name's Jolt, it's a pleasure to meet you." Jolt said, and gave her a friendly smile. "I'm Angel," she replied, calming down a bit more. "What are you doing out here all alone, Angel?" Jolt asked, moving next to her. "Aren't your parent s wondering where you are?" Angel suddenly went pale at the thought of her mother finding out what had happened. "My moms close by. I wanted to look for someone in that cave up there, on the mountain," she explained. Jolt perked up. "Can you tell me their name? I live up there, so I could tell you if they were in the cave or not." "Well, I don't know his name, or if he would even be up there," Angel admitted. His name? That would mean she was looking for either him or Flame. "Well, anyway, we should get you back to your mother," Jolt said after a little while. Angel started to protest, but Jolt wouldn't have any of it. "I can take you up there later, and you can point out who you're looking for, okay?" Jolt reassured her. She agreed, and hopped onto his back. They talked about themselves as she led him to the clearing where she had stayed. There was something vaguely familiar about this Eevee, but Jolt couldn't figure out what it was, yet.

Angel hoped her mother wasn't awake yet, but there she was: frantically following Angels trail, looking scared as hell. Angel jumped off Jolt and ran ahead, and was almost tackled by Sparky. "Where have you been, I was so worried about you!" She embraced Angel tightly, hiding her face from view as Jolt approached. He smiled, watching them hug, knowing he had done the right thing by bringing her to her mother. He waited patiently, but they didn't stop hugging. "Mom, this is my new friend." Angel said, hoping her mother would let go. "His names Jolt!" Sparky froze. Slowly, one inch at a time, she raised her head and looked at Jolt. "Jolt? Is that you?" she asked.

Jolt felt his heart skip more than a few beats. "No... it can't be..." he said shakily. Angel was getting really confused. Jolt took a step back. "You're not Sparky... you can't be..." "Of course she's Sparky," said Angel. Sparky didn't move, looking at Jolt in shock. Why was he acting like this? Wasn't he happy to see her again? "You're dead!" Jolt suddenly screamed, with tears already running down his cheeks. "I fucking held your lifeless body in my arms!" Sparky finally stood, just as confused as Angel. There was no mistaking it now: that was Sparky. Seeing his lover again caused all his feelings for her to rush back to him at once. It was too sudden to handle, and Jolt passed out where he stood. "Mom... Who is that?" Angel asked, in utter horror. Sparky took a deep breath. "Angel... That's your dad."

Jolt woke up several hours later, warmed by a fire that Sparky had lit. He sat up, causing her to look up. "Ah, you're awake," she said. Angel sat nearby, looking at her father. She still couldn't believe that she had finally met her father. Jolt slowly came to terms with seeing Sparky, alive and well. "Well mom, what now?" Angel asked. Mom? Jolt wondered. If Sparky was Angel's mother that had to mean... Jolt suddenly realized why Angel had looked so familiar. "Angel... is my..." Jolt choked out, looking back and forth between the two. "Our little girl," Sparky answered happily. Jolt looked at Angel for a minute, before she couldn't control herself and ran up to him, and he pulled her into a tight hug. Sparky was alive, and they had a daughter. Jolt repeated the joyous thought over and over again as they hugged. Angel stopped hugging and sat down in his lap, not wanting to let her dad out of her sight. Jolt cradled her in his arms for a moment, then leaned back against a tree and looked up at Sparky. She watched them happily, glad after all to see Jolt again, after so long. Angel closed her eyes and snuggled up to him, finally allowing herself to rest since Jolt had saved her. Once they were all comfortable, and Angel had almost fallen asleep in Jolt's lap, they began to speak. Jolt recounted his tale of seeing who he thought was Sparky murdered by Mightyenas. He purposely left out the part where he had murdered two Mightyenas, as he didn't want to scare them, or even remember it much himself. They figured out that it was a mere coincidence that the random Jolteon had been mauled on her trail right after Sparky had passed through. After that, they both talked about their lives leading up to the present day. Sparky told about how she had made a den, and given birth, and about Angel hatching and growing. Jolt told about life in the cave, and how not much had changed, save preparing for winter. "So, you're not... With anyone?" Sparky asked. Jolt shook his head. He and Snow had gotten together for a few months, but they wanted to take a break from each other. They remained close friends, (with benefits) although Snow wanted to get back with Jolt eventually. The others had lost their interest in him, although they still mated with him occasionally, but it was solely for fun, and not out of love. Jolt also left that out.

"So what now?" Sparky asked when he had finished. "I want you both to come back to the cave with me," Jolt said without hesitation. "I can't lose you again, Sparky." She suddenly realized just how much he loved her. He wasn't sticking by her because he had to, but he actually loved her, despite what she did to him. Sparky happily agreed, figuring it would be safer anyway, what with the Mightyenas getting braver and braver. Jolt gently moved his sleeping daughter onto is back, and they both set off for the cave, enjoying being together again. On the way, Jolt stopped off to get the Glacerin flower for midnight. They made good time, and soon they arrived back at the cave. Sparky sighed happily as she stepped inside. She was home.

(Note: this may seem like the end, but it's not. Don't worry)