This isn't going well... the young Umbreon thought grimly.

   "You're in way over your head." her opponent, a Scyther, laughed. "Give up, and I'll let you live."

   "You wish!" she snapped defiantly, glaring at the Scyther through the blood trickling into ther eyes from the wound on her forehead.

   "Fine, have it your way." The Scyther raised a lethally sharp forearm, preparing to deal the finishing blow.

   "This is it..." the Umbreon muttered to herself. She tried to stand up, but the effort exhausted her even more, and she gave up. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the attack.

   But it never came.

   When she looked up, she saw an Espeon standing defensively over her. The Scyther was furiously hacking at a near-transparent barrier. "Leave her alone." the Espeon snarled.

   "Get out of here! This is my fight!" the Scyther shouted.

   "Well, I just made it mine." the Espeon retorted. Finished speaking, the Espeon closed his eyes. When he next opened them, a bright blue glow was illuminating them. The same glow surrounded the Scyther's upraised blade, then forcefully spun the Pokemon around, embedding its razor-sharp forearm in a tree. The Espeon turned back to the exhausted Umbreon, his violet eyes soft. "Are you all right?"

   The Umbreon was completely lost in the amethyst depths of her rescuer's eyes and stammered, "I-I'm fine... T-Thank you..."

   "Okay. Let me finish this up." He formed a sphere of dark energy and hurled it at the struggling Scyther. The orb exploded on contact. "Now get out of here before I decide to do that again."

   The Scyther hurriedly stood up , tugged its blade free and limped away rapidly.

   "There." The Espeon gave a snort of satisfaction, then faced the Umbreon and crouched down in front of her. "Here, hold still. Let me see your injuries."

   "The worst is on my back leg..." she answered hesitantly.

   "All right. I won't take too long. It might sting a little, though."

   "O-Okay..." she responded shyly. Suddenly she was glad her fur was pitch-black, because she could feel herself blushing intensely. "S-so... What's your name?"

   "Gemini." he calmly replied. "Do you have any other wounds?" he finished, looking up from her leg.

   "N-no... Thanks though..."

   "Are you sure? The one on your forehead looks nasty. Hold still."

   The Umbreon closed her eyes as Gemini gently drew his tongue over her forehead.

   "May I know your name?" Gemini asked politely.

   "My name is Luna." she answered.

   "Luna. A beautiful name for a beautiful Umbreon." he murmured.

   Again, Luna silently gave thanks that her fur was as black as it was. "O-oh, thank you... I-I don't know what to say... You're handsome, too..." she whispered.

   "Really?"

   Luna nodded shyly, avoiding his eyes.

   "In that case, thank you very much, Luna." he said, politely dipping his head.

   "So, Gemini, what are you doing out here, and why did you attack that Scyther? Being a Bug Pokemon, it could have seriously hurt you."

   Was that concern in her voice? the Espeon thought, feeling something strange stirring inside him. "Because I couldn't let him kill another Pokemon in cold blood. That's how my parents died."

   "Your parents are dead, too?" Luna stared wide-eyed at the handsome, young Espeon, admiring that he was able to talk of his parents so freely. Suddenly, an unusual feeling fell over the Umbreon. She blinked and shook it off. "Mine are too.."

   "Are you serious?" Gemini shook his head, as if he didn't believe her.

   "Unfortunately, yes."

   "If you don't mind my asking, how?"

   "I-I don't like talking about it..." Luna murmured, quickly looking away. Tears came to her scarlet eyes and her shoulders began shaking. She looked up at a light touch on her dampened cheek.

   With his tail, Gemini gently turned her face towards his own. "I'm sorry for asking." Again using his tail, he now softly placed Luna's sleek black head against his chest. "Shhh. Don't cry."

   As she listened to the steady rhythm of his heart, her breathing returned to normal. Wow, she whispered to herself, Gemini is very kind, even more so than my parents were.

   "Better?" he asked softly.

   "Yes, thank you." she replied.

   "Good."

   "Gemini, are you going anywhere specific?" Luna hesitantly inquired.

   "No, nowhere in particular. Why?"

   "Well, wherever you do go..." She paused and scuffed her forepaw against the ground. "Could I come with you? That is, if you don't mind." she quickly added.

   "No, of course I wouldn't mind. I could use some company." he cheerfully agreed.

   "Thank you..." she said, shocked that he would agree so readily. "You see, both of my brothers were captured by Trainers, and my parents... Well, you know..."

   Gemini wrapped his tail over Luna's shoulders. "Shhh. You don't have to talk about that if you don't want to."

   "O-okay..." she sniffed. "Where were you going?" she asked the Espeon.

   "Like i said before," he began, "I don't know. There is one thing I do know, though. We're not going anywhere with a leg wound like that." He indicated her hind leg with a flick of his eyes. "you need rest." No sooner had he said that, than he yawned widely.

   "So do you, apparently." Luna giggled.

   "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have a quick rest." Gemini agreed.

   The Espeon curled up, pulling his tail over his muzzle. Luna lay down next to him, so that they were facing one another. Gemini slitted one eye and gazed at the Umbreon next to him, until she opened one eye. Their gazes met for an instant. "Oops! Sorry!" they both mouthed, snapping their eyes shut.

   I've only just met her, and I know I couldn't go on without her. Gemini thought. He didn't reflect on this long, as he quickly fell asleep. The veil of sleep was also swiftly pulled over Luna, as well.

   Some inner sense stirred the young Umbreon into wakefulness. She looked up at the star-flecked night sky and smiled. "Gemini, wake up." she whispered, gently shaking his shoulder.

   "Mmmf. What's wrong, Luna?" he grunted, half-asleep.

   "Wake up and follow me. "she murmured.

   "All right..." He sat up and shook his head. He could easily see Luna, thanks to the glowing yellow rings adorning her slender frame. When she was sure he was completely awake, she turned and slowly padded into the trees, with Gemini following curiously.

   Soon they came out of the trees and halted on a grassy clifftop, in full view of a large, snow-white, perfectly round, full moon. "Wow..." Gemini murmured breathlessly. "It's beautiful. Almost as beautiful as you are."

   Luna shook with silent laughter. "Thank you, Gemini. But, I have something else to show you. Watch."

   Gemini watched as Luna closed her eyes and the glow coming from the rings on her body strengthened. The pale light from the moon intensified as well, bathing the young Umbreon in a pool of light.

   He caught his breath at the sight; the moonlight falling on her turned Luna's normally sable fur to a pure, even silver. Violet eyes met red as Luna looked over at Gemini. "So, what do you think?"

   'There aren't any words to describe it." he answered, shaking his head. "You look...stunning." he finished. "Luna, I-I have something to tell you..."

   "What is it, Gemini?"

   He swallowed and looked into her crimson eyes, that beautifully contrasted with her currently silver fur, for a long moment, then finally whispered, "I love you."

   Luna gazed at him with tender eyes. "I love you too, Gemini." she answered, resting her head on his chest.

   All nervousness Gemini had felt immediately vanished. He let Luna's warm, comforting scent wreath around him. "That's what I had hoped you'd say. Though I just met you today, I can't imagine life without you. You're beautiful, kind, and you have a fiery side when you're battling. You are the best thing to ever happen to me. I want to spend the rest of my life with you at my side. Luna, I want you to be my mate. Would you?"

   He knew her answer from the look in her eyes before she said anything. "Gemini, of course I would. There's no need to ask." she warmly replied.

   "Thank you." Gemini softly licked Luna between her ears. Suddenly he stiffened. "Shhh!" he hissed urgently.

   "What?"

   "Something's out there." he whispered. "Move away from the cliff. One less thing to worry about if it comes to a fight."

   Luna nodded in silent agreement. Before the two of them could move, however, an orange glow appeared in the trees. A blast of flame roared out of the trees shortly after. Frantically, Gemini looked around; there was no room to dodge on the narrow clifftop. Finally he screwed his eyes shut for a split-second. They soon snapped open, glowing blue. The burst of flame hit Gemini's dome of psychic energy and flowed over it, dazzling Luna's sense with its brightness.

   As the fire faded, Gemini turned to Luna and forcefully whispered, "Move! Now!"

   The pair split up and stealthily padded in opposite directions. "Shout if you need me." he whispered, just loud enough for Luna to hear.

   Gemini finally reached the trees and wove his way through them. Then a sound rang through the darkened forest; Luna's voice.

   "Gemini, help me! No, wait! Don't do- Aaaagh!"

   Gemini shot through the trees on winged paws, horrified he might see Luna's body limply stretched out on the forest floor. He saw the yellow glow of her rings and could also make out a dim four-legged shape standing over her. He descended on the figure like a bolt of lightning, raw fury burning through his veins.

   "If you've done anything to her, I swear I'll do the same, only a thousand times worse!"

   Pure psychic energy surrounded his opponent, a Houndoom, and flung it through the air. It let out a yelp of pain as it landed awkwardly. Gemini knew the Houndoom wasn't coming back and he turned to Luna. "Are you okay?"

   Her voice was weak as she answered, "I don't know... But, if I'm not, remember, I'll always love you..."

   "No! Luna, don't talk that way! You'll be fine, just tell me where the wound is." he pleaded, taking a step forward. His paw fell in something wet and sticky.

   "No, Gemini, that won't be enough this time..." She slowly reached up and gave the Espeon a gentle lick on his cheek. "I love you...so much."

   "No! Luna, don't leave me!"

   "Don't worry, Gemini, you're very kind; you'll have no trouble finding another mate."

   "I don't want another mate! I love you, Luna!" Finally, the Espeon broke down, tears freely flowing from his violet eyes. Suddenly an idea came to him. He took a deep breath and, once more, closed his eyes. From the red gem on his forehead, a ray of day-bright light flooded out, illuminating Luna's body, revealing a harsh chest wound staining her black fur scarlet.

   Luna breathed in sharply as the healing energy from Gemini's Morning Sun soaked into her body, stopping the blood seeping out of her wound. Slowly, strength returned to her limbs, and she weakly sat up. As she did so, Gemini collapsed from the effort of using Morning Sun on another Pokemon during nighttime.

   "Gemini!" As quickly as she could, Luna dragged herself to his side. She almost collapsed with relief when he looked up at her. "That was careless, Gemini. It's dangerous to give another Pokemon that much energy." she chided him, tears springing to her eyes.

   "I would give every ounce of strength I have to protect you." he whispered, raising his tail to brush the tears from her eyes. "I swear on my own life, that as long as we're together, I will never let anything hurt you."

   Gemini smiled as Luna pressed her cheek against his. They were both okay, albeit a bit tired, but that would pass. "I will always keep you safe, whatever happens." He wrapped his tail around her, and the young Umbreon soon fell into a deep sleep. As exhausted as he was, Gemini remained awake and scanned the nighttime forest, carrying out his eternal promise to the Umbreon he loved more than life itself.