-From the Gentle Sunlight-

I remember everything.

That's my job, after all—remembering.

I remember how we—all eight of us—were once together, but now we are apart; remember why that is—the clash of personalities and natures that resulted in actual clashing of tooth and nail and flame and ice and lightning; remember that it was I who decided that it was best for us to split.

But maybe now we are ready to be together again? Time has passed… Perhaps enough for foolish, jealous young spirits to mature.

My kind are prone to roaming, however, and there is no telling where they have ended up, spread to all corners of the world like many Hoppip in the wind.

Half the fun will be locating them.

That is my other job—watching over my sisters and ensuring that balance is maintained. Yin and Yang. It was given to me by…

…

Perhaps I don't remember everything after all.

The gap bothers me, but I shake it off, leaping from the branch that had cradled me during my nap in the sun, and landing daintily on my feet among the tall grasses that whisper around the tree's trunk.

There is a quiet sound, an exhale of breath, to my right and I tilt my head, remembering suddenly that not all of us had been split. The little one remained with me—Eevee.

She is a curious case… Not quite like any of the others and yet we all bear a resemblance to her—an unexplained connection in both body and mind. She is the eldest of us, yet she acts the most childishly, full of wonder and boundless energy.

At the present moment, she is curled up at the base of my tree, pointed ears twitching as she dreams. She is the most petite of all of us, I remember, the largest part of her slim body being the fluffy brown tail that she is currently using as a cushion. I nudge her with my foot and she flops over, onto her back, a soft snore leaving her. Her glasses are askew and I bend down to remove the red-rimmed lenses, cleaning them on the front of my sundress.

"Come now, little one."

The girl stirs and I smile, triumphant. "Mmm… Eevee?"

Another curious thing about the eldest of us is her speech. While we have all mastered the language that the Trainers use, she sometimes lapses into another language entirely. It isn't that I cannot understand her… More like she is speaking in a tongue that I have long since fallen out of practice with and cannot understand as easily.

"Yes, dear. It's time to wake up."

"Ee…vee." She yawns, stretching her arms out in front of her and lifting her rear into the air in the manner a Meowth would. The girl really is quite strange. I hand her her glasses and she beams, large brown eyes still a bit unfocused. "Eevee!"

"How about we play a game?" She probably won't remember the others… Then again, who knows what goes on in that girl's head?

Eevee bounces to her feet, suddenly very awake. "What kind of game?"

"I need you to help me find someone." The first on my list is Jolteon. As I recall, the lone-Houndour of our group prefers high up, secluded places. There is a range of mountains—Mt Silver, I believe—nearby that we can begin our search in.

"Hide and seek?" Eevee asks. She makes a pleased sound when I rest a hand on her head, ruffling short, crème-coloured hair.

"Yes, dear. Hide and seek."

And what a "seek"-ing it would be.

-Fin-

Aaand... Onwards to pairings!