Shattered Truths, Chapter 46
          A Mother's Sacrifice or A Sister's Feelings

   A Trainer sat inside the always well-lit Pokemon Center, four of his Pokemon either standing or sitting next to him, and a fifth in his lap, its ears drawn back against its head in sadness.

   "Don't worry, Needlefur." the Trainer said comfortingly, stroking the Jolteon's soft yellow fur. "The Umbreon that Fireheart and Leafpool brought back will be just fine. You've had Joy tend to a good number of your injuries. You always recovered; what's to worry about?" Eric watched as Needlefur turned her head towards Matthias and told him something.

   You are right; Needlefur has always recovered. Matthias translated. But, she has an excellent point. Her mother, should this Umbreon turn out to be just that, is easily an entire year older than Needlefur. You must also remember, Needlefur was much younger while being treated for those injuries.

   "That's true..." Eric responded. "That said, I still wouldn't worry too much; Joy is probably the best at what she does." Under his gentle hand, the Trainer felt Needlefur let out a long sigh, as if she didn't believe him.

   Now Torrentpaw came forward and touched noses with his depressed mate. "Eric is right; there's no reason to be worried."

   "That's easy for you to say, Torrentpaw..." Needlefur sniffed. "The Umbreon in there doesn't have the potential to be your mother..." she finished flatly. The mother I never knew...

   "Excuse me, Eric?"

   All heads turned to face the reception counter where Joy now stood. Eric slowly eased Needlefur off his lap and stood up. "Yes, Joy? What is it?" he asked, approaching the counter.

   "You certainly have quite the talent for bringing us some challenging treatments; you wouldn't believe what we had to remove from her; Weavile claws, Persian claws, I could go on."

   "Is she all right?" Eric quickly interrupted, knowing Needlefur would want to hear the answer.

   "She's just fine, though she will require quite a bit of rest. Oh, one more thing; we found that she is not currently bound to a Poke Ball. Do you want to do that now?"

   After some pondering, Eric nodded. "Yeah, it's probably not a bad idea to do that."

   "All right, then, as per usual, I'll need an empty Poke Ball." the nurse instructed.

   "Of course." Eric unslung his pack, unzipped a pocket, and dug around inside it momentarily before producing a miniature Poke Ball out of it. This he enlarged and handed to the red-haired Joy, who accepted it with a nod and a "Thank you", then turned and disappeared into the rear of the Pokemon Center.

   With a few private moments, Eric crouched to Needlefur's level, noting the gleam in her violet-gray eyes. "I know you're excited, but there are two things you should keep in the back of your mind; one: this might not even be your mother, and, two: even if she is, she's still wild, and staying with us will be her choice."

   Needlefur nodded, but still retained her hopeful look. She glanced up as Joy returned once more.

   "Here you are, Eric. She's in the Poke Ball at the moment. Despite our attention, her wounds are still too sensitive to be handled. Until she makes a full recovery, carry her around in the Poke Ball, all right?"

   "Right? When should I bring her back?"

   "Let's look at about ten or so days, just to see how she's doing." Joy responded.

   Needlefur nearly shook with excitement as Eric released the contents of his newest Poke Ball into an empty nursery nest.

   "Who is this?" Aspen asked quietly, voicing the thoughts of Rayne, Swiftclaw, and nearly everyone else. "I can barely tell her scent apart from that of all the blood."

   "We have reason to believe that this is my mother's mother." Fireheart told the Leafeon.

   "Oh, I see. What's her name?"

   "We're not sure yet." Torrentpaw answered. "She's been unconscious since Fireheart and Leafpool brought her back."

   "A-Amber...Amber...c-come back... Pl-please..."

   A hoarse distressed whisper floated through the nursery atmosphere.

   "What was that?" Leafpool murmured. "Needlefur?" The lightly scarred Leafeon stared at the Jolteon, who was in turn staring at the squirming Dark-type as if the Umbreon were growing another tail. "Needlefur?" she repeated.

   "Mom?" When no response came, Swiftclaw tried his luck. "Mom, wake up."

   "Nothing." Fireheart shrugged. "Maybe Amber is her name..." he suggested hopefully.

   "No..." Needlefur breathed. "It's my name..."

   "What!?" Fireheart exclaimed. "That's not your name!"

   "Yes, Fireheart, it is..." she answered in the same faraway tone.

   "No! There's no way that-"

   So far, Matthias had been translating for his Trainer, and Eric now interrupted the irate Fire-type. "Actually, Fireheart, it may very well be. There's something that I haven't told any of you; how I came to be Needlefur's Trainer."

   That solves that problem, except everyone, myself included, now wants to know how you did become Needlefur's owner. Matthias replied, after questioning cries flew through the nursery.

   "I've at least told you that Needlefur was my first Pokemon. But, I didn't come to be her partner through the usual means of acquiring her through Professor Oak. Instead, when I was about twelve years old, a tiny, week-old Eevee appeared at our back door one morning. Fortunately, my mother gave me a warm blanket to wrap her in, and showed me how to make up a bottle so I could feed her. When Needlefur was able to walk, she stuck to my side like glue. She also got on fantastically with our family Growlithe, Akasura; playing together, eating together. When it came time for me to leave on my journey, which I had never intended to go on in the first place, there was only one Pokemon that I wanted to come with me. That said, as I found Needlefur as a wild Pokemon, her mother probably has a different name for her."

   Which begs the question: How did you come up with "Needlefur" as a name?

   "I'll tell you all that later. It looks like our guest is coming around."

   Needlefur swiftly spun around from listening to her Trainer's story and stared eagerly at the Umbreon.

   The Dark-type's eyelids fluttered and a groan escaped her mouth.

   "M-mom?" Needlefur asked hopefully.

   "Amber?" the Umbreon repeated once more, finally opening her crimson eyes. The first sight to greet these eyes was the excited face of a Jolteon. Seeing this, the Umbreon's smile fell away. "What is your name?" she asked warily.

   "The name my Trainer gave me is Needlefur."

   "Who is your Trainer, if I may ask?"

   "He is." Needlefur nodded toward the only human present.

   Recognition instantly flashed through the Umbreon's eyes as she looked towards Eric. I-it's him... From all that time ago... Her eyes flew back to Needlefur. It is her... She's a-alive... The recognition in her eyes was replaced with sadness, but this sadness was barely visible, as she quickly screwed her eyes shut. The only visible sign was the glistening wetness lining the bottom of her closed eyes.

   "What's the matter? Are you all right?" Questions fell out of Needlefur's mouth. "Matthias, quick! Tell Eric something's wrong with her!"

   This message was quickly relayed and the human knelt beside the crying Umbreon. He extended a gentle hand to caress the Pokemon's sleek black head.

   The Umbreon opened her glistening crimson eyes and stopped audibly sobbing. His hand is so gentle... Now I know I made the right decision in giving her to this human...

   During the night, Rustfur hadn't slept a bit, but instead had sat against a bleak cave wall, staring at the equally desolate floor. When the sun had come up, and Pokemon had started moving about, little had changed, except he had begun staring at the Flareon and Vaporeon pair at the mouth of the cave. After Saffron and Ash had awoken, they promptly joined them.

   "I'm sorry, Rosalyn..." Ash started, almost hesitantly. "I thought my father was dead; I'd never thought that someone so close to me would be his next victim..."

   "Ash, it's not you fault." Rosalyn answered. "Besides, I'm-"

   "You're right, Rosalyn. It's not Ash's fault, it's his!" Saffron snapped, her tone enough indication that she was speaking of the sleeping Squall.

   "Saffron, why would you think that? Squall's done nothing wrong."

   "Nothing? He's done everything! Because he showed up, Mom left, Dad is like a different Pokemon, and to top it all off, Chromos nearly did you in! If he hadn't shown up, we would all be back at the Daycare, as happy as could be!"

   "That's easy, for you to say, Saffron..." the Flareon sniffed.

   "And just what does that mean?" she inquired.

   "You know exactly what that means. If you don't, you could just look to your left; the answer is sitting right there..." Rosalyn retorted, unusually snide and sarcastic.

   "What does Ash have to do with this!?" the Electric-type snapped.

   "Nothing, but you're missing my point! More often than not, Saffron, you can be downright selfish and completely ignorant of what your actions can do to others around you. For instance, say that Squall hadn't shown up, and we were still at home; you would still have Ash, but who would I have? No one!"

   "You're kidding, right? You would have Mom, Dad, and every-"

   "That's not the same, and you know it! You don't even consider how I feel now! You can't even talk about Squall without being rude and condescending! Do you know how that makes me feel!? Do you even care!?" she shouted, her sapphire eyes bright with tears. "No, you don't!"

   "Is that it!? What happened to 'more often than not?'" Saffron asked rocking her head back and forth in a highly sarcastic manner.

   "Do you have anything else other than rocks between your ears!? Do you remember when you went out into the forest, and I came out of it with my shoulder clawed!? Or the second time you went into the forest, scared Mom and Dad half to death, and Ash and I had to come after your sorry pelt!?"

   "You didn't come for me, you came for Bracken!"

   "That's not her point..." Ash interrupted quietly.

   Saffron quickly rounded on him, eyes blazing. "Whose side are you on!?"

   "I'm not taking sides, Saffron. But I do see what Rosalyn is getting at. Sometimes, you don't really consider how the things that you say or do will affect others. I'll have to admit, some of the things you've said to me about Squall have been quite nasty. If some Pokemon were to say those things about you to me, I'd feel terrible."

   "What about what Rosalyn is saying!?" the Jolteon demanded.

   "Well...those things aren't entirely untrue... Saffron, I don't just love you because you're independent and headstrong, but because of what is under both of those things. When the situation calls for it, you can be very caring and sensitive. Lately though, I haven't seen that side of you."

   "Are you saying that you don't love me anymore?"

   "Don't be ridiculous; I will always love you." Ash assured her.

   "Oh... Well, that's more than I can say for Squall..." Saffron said out of the corner of her mouth.

   For the past several minutes, Rosalyn had been sitting, head bowed and eyes shut tightly, listening to the conversation taking place between her sister and Ash. That also meant she had caught the barbed comment that Saffron had just tossed out. "Saffron! Stop saying those things!" she begged.

   "I'm only saying it because it's true!"

   "Please, Saffron! St-stop!" the Flareon sobbed.

   "Dad said that Squall is going to rip your heart out! Squall is still in love with another Poke-"

   "Saffron, stop it!"

   The Jolteon staggered to the side, four red lines bright in the yellow fur of her cheek. Rosalyn stared in horror at the crimson tips of her claws.

   The Flareon's desperate cry finally garnered her father's attention and her came rushing over. At the same time, Squall has also been disturbed by the shout and was sleepily coming around.

   "Saffron! Rosalyn! What's go-" He abruptly broke off as he saw what had happened. His eyes locked on Rosalyn's shocked, tear-stained face. Her horrified expression told him exactly what had happened; he actually had not even seen her bloodied claws. Th-that expression... Sapphire! His gaze flew over to Saffron, whereupon he saw the bleeding cuts on her right cheek. Rustfur turned to the one Pokemon that looked like he would get answers from. "Ash, what happened here?"

   "I-I'm not quite sure..." he stammered. "Saffron was going off about Squall, Rosalyn was telling her to stop, then she must've swung at her out of...emotion or something along those lines."

   "Saffron, your turn. What happened?"

   "I don't know! Out of nowhere, she winds up and claws me across the face!"

   "That much I know. I meant what did you do?" he came back, his reply perfectly calm.

  "What did I do!? I didn't do anything!"

   "Rosalyn isn't the Pokemon that would randomly attack another Pokemon, especially her sister. What did you say?"

   "I-I...I told her that Squall was the reason for everything that's happened lately." Saffron mumbled.

   "That's not true. A good deal of it is my fault. I was completely oblivious to your mother's feelings. Ash, would you look at Saffron's cheek while I talk to Rosalyn?" Not waiting for an answer, the Espeon faced his other daughter. "Rosalyn? Rosalyn, are you all right? Talk to me."

   "H-huh? What?" She blinked and shook her head. "Did I do what I think I just did?" Before an answer came, she turned her teary gaze downward, and spotted her claws. "O-oh no..." Looking up, she matched the blood on her claws with the lacerations upon her sister's cheek. "Sa-Saffron...I...didn't mean t-to..." Little by little, she began to back away from the three sets of eyes staring at her; Saffron in anger, Ash in quiet astonishment, and her father in bewildered silence.

   Rustfur shivered; the scene playing out before his eyes was an exact repeat of the day that Sapphire had left. He shoved this uncomfortable memory away, before it could cement itself in his mind. "Rosalyn, calm down..."

   "No, Dad! No!" she cried, continuing to back away. As she did so, she planted her left hind paw on one of the flukes of Squall's tail.

   "Owww!" he shouted, now fully awake. "I suppose that's one way to wake up..." he muttered. "What's going on, and why do you have those claw marks on your cheek, Saffron?"

   The rage-filled look she shot him instantly silenced him. "Shut up, Squall..." she snarled.

   "Oookay... Rosalyn, where did Saffron get those cuts?"

   "From m-me..." she murmured, giving the Vaporeon a sad, frightened look. "See? Look at the blood on my claws! Look at what I did!" She held up her left paw, presenting her blood-stained claws.

   The Vaporeon's sky-blue eyes widened. "Why did you do that?"

   "I...don't know... All I remember is Saffron ye-yelling at me..."

   "What was she yelling?" Rustfur asked, with a sidelong glance at Saffron.

   "I don't remember! I...don't...remember..." She stared down at her bloodied claws, tears falling from her eyes. "I can't believe that I did something like this..." she breathed, screwing her eyes shut.

   "Calm down, Rosalyn." Rustfur said quietly, casting his tail around the Flareon's shoulders. "Shhh..." He softly licked the top of her head. After doing so, he flashed a glance at Saffron, mouthing, "I want to talk to you; I want to know exactly what you might have told her."