Chapter 88

Chapter 88

CHAPTER 88

I stepped out of the house— and far away from Roxie. She may have appeared docile, but she was definitely the most threatening-looking dragon I had ever seen after Cynthia’s Garchomp—

Roxie roared and flapped her wings, blowing my hair all over the place even though I was at least one hundred and fifty feet away, and flew off into the distance somewhere. I ran back into the house.

“Craig, Roxie just— Roxie just left!” I yelled.

“Ah, she must be hungry,” he said. “She hunts around here, which lets me save the food for Caleb— Caleb’s my Snorlax, and feeding him actually takes most of my expenses. She’ll be back in thirty minutes or so.”

“Oh. Sorry,” I said, feeling really awkward. I had never really seen someone be so nonchalant about their Pokemon leaving their side, but she was a Salamence. Nothing around here could hurt her, even with the type advantage.

I hurriedly left again and released my entire team. Electabuzz stood out now due to how tall he was, and Larvitar shot him an angry glare. Ever since he had evolved, she seemed to be jealous of his new strength and stature, even though she stood no chance of beating him in battle before his evolution anyway. The electric type let out a hearty laugh and easily picked her up, proving how strong he was now. She squirmed in his hands.

“Come on, hon, let her down,” I smiled.

Electabuzz laughed again and dropped Larvitar on the ground, causing her to huff like Frillish did. The water type noticed and smiled slightly, but when he saw that I had caught him, he, well, huffed and stared away.

“Caught ya,” I giggled. “And don’t worry, sweetheart, we’ll get you caught up to the rest in no time. You’ve got to finish growing first though, alright?”

“Tar!” She yelled.

“Okay, you’re already the strongest,” I humored her. Electabuzz clamored, demanding I call him the strongest now that he had evolved. “Let your baby sister have a win, alright?”

He sighed and nodded sadly at me, causing Larvitar to laugh and hit his leg with a stubby arm. He was about to retaliate, but angel hurriedly grabbed her with his vines and pulled her to his side.

“Okay, guys,” I said, clapping my hands to get their attention. “Due to everything that happened, it’s been a while since we had one of these, but it’s time to train some new moves. Princess, you’re first.”

Togetic smiled and clapped her hands. She was happier now that we were finally out of dangerous areas.

“You’re going to be learning Air Cutter, which is supposed to use the wind to, well, cut up your enemies. If I had to guess, you’re going to need to use your wings for this one. I know it’s going to be new, so don’t push yourself, alright? That won’t be it though, but I’ll get back to you.”

Togetic nodded, and I moved on to Frillish.

“Buddy, you’re going to learn Shadow Ball and Recover,” I told him. He immediately nodded without hesitation. “Shadow Ball should be pretty easy for you since you’re smart—”

My Pokemon all joined and complained in unison except Togetic. Even Tangela wriggled in defiance.

“—you’re all smart. I meant that he’s the smartest. You’ve got to gather ghostly energy, condense it into a ball and send it off. It’s easier when you’re an actual ghost, I think, but you’ll figure it out. Call out if you need any help. For Recover, I couldn’t think of how to actually get you started on the move...”

Suddenly, I felt knowledge fill in the blanks in my head. The lake was helping, somehow, but it felt incredibly alien. Like thoughts were being forcefully put into my head. I didn’t like it one bit, but at least it helped me figure out how Frillish could learn Recover in seconds. I probably would have figured it out eventually, but this just sped up the whole process. If I ever needed the answer to something, I was going to come back here somehow, although it would be easier if I got my flying license and evolved princess...

But I was getting sidetracked.

“I’ve got it. You’re almost completely made out of water, right? You already heal passively from wounds by regenerating your body with water, which means that you just have to speed up that process to learn Recover. Fiddling with your body composition should help you with Acid Armor too, which is perfect.”

“Fri...” he mumbled.

“Great. I’ll get you some poffins when we get to Snowpoint. You haven’t eaten any in too long.”

His face lit up for a split second before returning to his neutral expression.

“Okay, you’re next, hon,” I turned to Electabuzz. “You’re actually spending all of our training session with me. We’ve got to test your new limits since you evolved. We don’t want to accidentally kill something when we start battling again,” I said. He nodded. “But we’re also going to be working on Discharge and Fire Punch. Originally, I was going to teach you Shock Wave, but you’re strong enough to skip that step.”

Electabuzz flashed me a sharp, toothy grin.

“Discharge should be easy, and Fire Punch probably...” I trailed off, waiting for more information to invade my brain again. “You need to use electricity to start a fire on your fist. Think you can manage that?” I asked.

“Buzz!”

“Of course, you can, I don’t know why I even asked! Now angel, you’re going to be focused on one move, and one move only. Ancient Power.”

He blinked twice and snaked a cold vine around my ankle.

“You like how it sounds, huh?” I smiled at him. “You’ve got some innate psychic powers in you, and I think princess will be able to help you awaken them.”

I waited a few seconds to see if I was going to get help from the lake, but it seemed that there was a limit to how much it could actually do. If I had to guess, the limit had to do with knowledge I could realistically acquire. I wasn’t a psychic, so knowing the intricacies of lifting the earth with my mind was impossible.

“Take your time and go at your own pace, alright?” I told the grass type. “When you learn the move, you’ll evolve.”

His vines shook, and he jumped. Angel was so adorable when he let his emotions show.

“And princess, no playing around with Tangela, alright? Not even lifting him with Extrasensory. I’ve got eyes at the back of my head! They’re called Frillish, and he’ll snitch. Right?” I said, staring at the water type. Togetic pleaded with him, and he avoided my eyes. “Okay, maybe I’m being too harsh...” I sighed. “For every hour you work hard, you’ll get twenty minutes of playtime. How’s that.”

“Prrrrri!” She celebrated.

“Sorry angel, looks like you’ll be her plaything again.”

He stared up at me and let out a series of blinks.

“Used to it already, huh? Well, as long as she helps you out,” I sighed. “Sweetheart, you’re with me and your brother. You’re going to observe today,” I said. She hissed in annoyance. “Don’t be so moody, I’m also going to test out your moves. You’ve used Horn Attack, but do you know that you know Rock Throw and Payback?”

Larvitar’s eyes shone in anticipation, and she stared up at me with a satisfied expression.

“Let’s get to work then.”

——

“Rock Throw,” I ordered.

Larvitar yelled, waving her arms in a really cute and wild way, and a tiny rock slightly bigger than my fist was pulled from the earth and thrown toward a tree.

“Larvi! Larvitar!” She yelled proudly at me.

“Great job, sweetheart,” I smiled.

Whenever no rocks were present, the move worked similarly to Ancient Power, except that psychic energy wasn’t used. I assumed that it was some kind of type energy— in this case, rock type. Either way, since there wasn’t the fine control that psychic energy usually had, the move was less precise. In the distance, Electabuzz let out a powerful Thunderbolt toward a tree, which promptly caught fire. I called Frillish over, and he exasperatedly extinguished the flames. It was the tenth time this had happened.

“Sorry,” I apologized to him. “But Togetic’s fully focused on teaching angel Ancient Power. I don’t want to disturb her by asking for targets.”

It was actually surprising how hard she worked when she got small breaks in between the bursts of activity. Whereas I was wholly focused on a task until I finished it, princess was the type who needed small breaks at regular intervals to stay on top of her game.

I grumbled when I realized that my hair was standing straight up again. Electabuzz had that effect on me now when he used an electric move, and he didn’t know how to tone it down yet. At least I looked funny, since he kept making fun of me with his usual cackle.

His team played around for a while. Feebas kept splashing Eevee and Buneary with a proto-Water Gun from under the surface, blasting them up a few feet while Denzel kept Budew company. Ten minutes of playtime turned to thirty and then one hour. Their training had been cut short, but that was fine. Denzel didn’t want to stop Feebas from having fun, especially when this looked to be the happiest he had been in a long while. When Eevee finally climbed out of the lake, Denzel saw Feebas sadly shoot a glance at the normal type. He then realized that his earlier longing stare at the rest of his team had only been for Eevee, not the others.

Wait...

Him too?

Was... was Eevee unknowingly building a... love quadrangle? A harem?

“What the fuck...” Denzel muttered. Even Feebas was in love? “Let’s hope this doesn’t balloon out of proportion.”

Around another hour later, Denzel had recalled everyone since Savika didn’t allow Pokemon into her home. He shot a glance at the huge Salamence that had only recently come back with a Piloswine. She was cooking it with flames so hot they altered the air around them and munching on it like a small snack. He gulped and made his way into Savika’s house. The old woman was making lunch on her small electric stove. Now that she wasn’t wearing layers upon layers of clothes, he could see that she was incredibly muscular— more than Chase was. Her life in the wild kept her in shape.

“Savika,” Denzel said hesitantly. “I have a question, if you don’t mind.”

“Shoot,” she answered right away.

“I’m looking for the next member of my team— a Snorunt. Would you know where to find them? Do they live around here?”

“Ah, those,” she said with a certain... dislike. The same that she had when she spoke about any Pokemon. “They do live in the woods around the lake. They’re not particularly uncommon either, so if you look, it’s only a matter of time until you find one. Just make sure not to bring it inside.”

Denzel smiled. “Thank you! And um, another question, please?”

“Don’t ask me to ask a question, just ask the question.”

“I’m looking for a female Snorunt, not a male. Is there any way to distinguish between the two?”

“It’s a bit tough, but it’s certainly doable. The females are slightly smaller, but other than that, they’re virtually the same.”

“That’s good enough, thank you,” the trainer smiled. “I’ll be going then.”

Even after all these months, Denzel still felt uncomfortable living in someone else’s house, just like what had happened at Grace’s place. He just felt so indebted that he thought he needed to be overtly polite, which probably made him come off as awkward, which he really wasn’t. Savika was a tough woman, but she was nice. She had even given him ice to put on his ribs and painkillers while they healed. Apparently, they were fractured, not broken, which was a relief and meant that they’d heal faster.

Denzel felt his muscles loosen as he stepped outside and released his Eevee, who climbed on his shoulder.

“We’re going to look for a Snorunt today,” Denzel explained. “They should be pretty common, but keep an eye out.”

“Vee!” The normal type exclaimed.

Denzel smiled and softly caressed his head. The truth was, he also wanted to have an important talk with Eevee about evolution. He had told Grace he would talk to Eevee about it, but he had kept putting it off again and again until he had gotten trapped in Mount Coronet. Now that he was finally safe, he figured that he needed to do it.

Denzel watched a group of Vanilite float past him and instinctively cursed, releasing his entire team before remembering that he was safe. The Pokemon around the lake weren’t aggressive, and this was still relatively close to route 217.

That didn’t stop his heart from drumming against his chest.

He apologized to Buneary and Budew before recalling them.

Getting back to his train of thought, seeing Chase and Grace’s Pokemon evolve, and learning that Cece’s Deino was close to doing so as well had made him more open to having a conversation with Eevee. Surprisingly, Denzel didn’t feel inferior or anxious about falling behind any longer. He was going at his own rhythm, and that was fine. If Eevee still wasn’t ready to evolve, he wouldn’t hold it against him.

“Hey, Eevee,” Denzel hesitantly started. “I think we should talk about your evolution.”

He felt the normal type tense against his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, I’m not about to force you into evolving or anything,” he quickly explained. “I just think it’d be healthier to have the conversation, you know?”

Eevee nodded slightly.

“Okay. And don’t force yourself to pick, alright? We’ve made it this far with you as an Eevee, we can easily go further,” Denzel said before pausing. “So you don’t know what to evolve into still, right?”

“Eevee,” he said hesitantly.

“Is it because you’re scared of not being able to go back if you don’t like it? I’d understand that, it’s scary to make a choice that final.”

Eevee shook his head before warning Denzel to look left, and he tensed, his hand hovering over his Pokeballs. A group of Snorunt were traveling together and packed tightly. Even though there were a good number of females in the group, Denzel clenched his fist and let them through. He wasn’t going to steal a Pokemon from their family. Not again.

“So it’s not that then,” he said. “You told me you wanted to evolve a long time ago. That’s still the case, right?”

“Vee,” he said, agreeing.

“Okay, then can you tell me? I won’t mind, no matter what you answer.”

Eevee took a deep, nervous breath before launching into a long tirade of noises and cries. Denzel wasn’t as good as Grace at deciphering what Pokemon said, but he had owned Eevee for long enough to understand the gist of what he was saying.

“So you... you were waiting for me to decide?” Denzel asked in disbelief. “But I told you that I was fine with anything!”

“Eevee...”

“My list— my plan left your spot blank.”

“Vee!” The normal type angrily raised his tone as he jumped down his shoulder.

“I’m not! I don’t have a secret preference that I’m hiding from you!” Denzel desperately appealed. “I’ve been telling you the truth!”

Denzel had messed up royally. His plan for his team had been so rigid that Eevee truly believed that he also had a plan for him, and he had refused to evolve while he waited for Denzel to tell him what to do because Eevee had been there for more than a whole year of planning. Of course, he’d think that Denzel was secretly hiding what evolution he wanted for him. The trainer facepalmed and crouched toward his starter.

“I don’t know how to prove it to you, but I truly haven’t been hiding my intentions to make you feel better. I was never going to force you into doing anything. I’m giving you the freedom to choose. If you want me to get one of the evolutionary stones, I’ll save up and do that. If you want to evolve into anything else, we can wait for the right time of day or travel to the mossy or icy rock. If you’re already ready, then you can choose. I can tell that you’ve been holding back— since... since before Oreburgh, even!” Denzel said, pouring his heart out. He felt tears gather in the corner of his eye.

“Ee... Eevee,” Eevee cried as he started to glow, and Denzel covered his eyes. His hair grew slicker, and ribbons began to grow out of his neck and right ear. After ten seconds, it was over. Bright blue eyes stared back at Denzel, still in tears.

Eevee had evolved into a Sylveon. He understood now that there was another reason he had held himself back so long despite wanting to evolve into one.

His sixth and final team member was supposed to be another fairy type, and Denzel valued type diversity. Eevee probably thought that he’d ask him to evolve into one of the evolutionary stone evolutions for that. That he would never budge on his planned team.

Denzel brought him into a warm hug and felt his ribbons wrap around his body, soothing him. His heartbeat calmed, and he looked at Sylveon again.

“Going to be weird not calling you Eevee anymore,” Denzel laughed. “The rest of the team is going to fawn over your new look.”

“Sylv,” He complained.

“Wow, your voice is higher pitched than before. Cool,” Denzel smiled. “Now, let’s find that lone Snorunt, shall we?”

Sylveon nodded and climbed on his shoulder.

“Arceus, you’re like, four times as heavy.”