Thank you for reading. Hopefully you enjoy. If you REALLY like it, I have a P-a-t-r-e-o-n, under the same name, where you can read 5 chapters ahead.
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It had been a minute since I had a routine, or at least one that didn't involve mostly walking.
Actually, that wasn't true. It had been less than three months since I left Oak's. Hell, there were still seven months until the Indigo Conference started.
I felt old.
Regardless, a routine was established and then maintained with a nearly religious zealotry found among top-tier gym rats and their God-King, Bruno, formerly of the Pebble Clan.
The man had never deviated from the structure a day in his life.
Wake before dawn and get hosed down by our Water-Types, which counted as our 'bath' most days. Not with warm water either, since the Elite Four member needed the freezing temperature to snap him out of his drowsiness. Afterwards, a huge breakfast with tons of carbs and some sugar to get us through the day – though it almost sent Betty and me back to sleep in a food coma.
Then it was time to 'warm up', also known as more physical exercise than most Fighting-Types did in a whole day, all cramped into two hours.
Two weeks in, I still couldn't get through a whole session. At least I'd stopped throwing up. Bruno just made another portion and forced me to eat it.
I swore I'd gained close to 15 pounds with all the Mew-damned food. If physics weren't schizophrenic, Bruno would be as round as a ball.
Meditation followed the workout, which would've been a nice break if it weren't a nightmare to get everyone to sit still for an extended period.
A little elemental warm-up, then a protein-heavy lunch. Repeat until the sun had set and dinner was ready.
I groaned after having chewed my way through the flavorless lunch, feeling powder stuck between my teeth. It was a rare day when we skipped the second round of physical conditioning and hand-to-hand practice to give our bodies a chance to rest for a minute.
I'd taken the chance to check the PokéNet, usually being too tired to look up anything that wasn't training-related once the day was done.
"-recent events in Celadon have inflamed tensions. As we, and everyone else, have covered over the last two weeks, a major hidden base for the terrorist organization Team Rocket was revealed under the Celadon Game Corner. Both the Celadon Gym's – or the Gardener Clan to be more specific – ownership of the Game Corner, as well as the massive amounts of stolen Pokémon and chemicals taken from the Gym and various businesses working with it, have raised questions regarding Gym Leader Erika's ability to lead the Gym and Celadon as a whole. This adds to the long-running debate about what exactly the old Clans' roles ARE in an increasingly modern, more unified world. Our reporter, Susan, has been in Celadon and spoken with some of the locals."
The screen cut to a heavy-set man who looked to be in his sixties. Behind him, the colorful flowers and water fountain definitely put him in the Rainbow City.
"It's a complete travesty!" He was saying. "That girl is supposed to protect this city, not fund terrorists! It was this sort of behavior that lost them so much territory in the Rebellion, and rightfully so, the cowards! The Gardeners are all but gone, and what remains clearly isn't up for the task! Why, I remember a time-"
The man rambled on for a while longer about the good ol' days before eventually switching mid-sentence, cutting to a much younger woman standing in what I was pretty sure was the field surrounding the Grass-Type Gym.
"I mean, it's not great, I'm not saying that, but surely we're blowing it a little out of proportion. Team Rocket attacked the S.S. Anne for Celebi's sake! What was a single girl and her few cousins supposed to do about that? No, I'm much more worried about the League not doing anything about these criminals! Champion Lance's speech didn't say how they were planning-"
A frustrated wheezing noise drew my attention away from the PokéDex, making me look up. I hadn't realized a wheeze could have emotions behind it, but the fish version of a scowl on Siren's face made it obvious it had underplayed it.
"You got it. Nice and easy," while a lot of training was figuring out the mechanics behind the moves and how best to teach or twist them, a fair amount of it was also just being the hype man that believed in them.
Case in point, Siren's lips tightened, her tailfin swinging determinedly. Her face slowly turned blue as she pushed herself, eyes bulging. I went to tell her to calm down before she exploded, yet that's when I saw it.
The tiniest little spark dancing across her scales before vanishing.
Hidden Power was interesting. I had absolutely no idea how it worked, and even the PokéNet couldn't agree, but it was interesting. Somehow, even beyond a Pokémon's actual Type – which was essentially the flavor of their Aura – Hidden Power was based on the Pokémon's personality, or 'soul' as the more poetically inclined called it. You could have two of the same species, born to the same parents and twins in every way that mattered, and the Type expressed by Hidden Power would be wildly different.
It marked Pokémon as more than just their Type, more than just an energy-spewing animal. There was a uniqueness to each and every one.
It wasn't terribly surprising that Siren's was Electric, though my money had been on Fire or Dragon, given her… spicy temperament.
"Hey, you did it!" I cheered as she collapsed to the ground, exhausted yet clearly pleased with herself. The watching Poliwrath applauded as well, the spiral on its stomach spinning with excitement as it helped Siren up. Wasting no time, the dual Water/Fighting-Type held up a large, white 'gloved' hand that was quickly hidden under a tempered and condensed Thunder Punch so thick it almost looked like Fighting-Type energy despite the yellow color.
The two Water-Types had hit it off quickly, bonding over both being idiots and training their asses off. Poliwrath had taken to Siren's revealed extra energy with gusto, leaving the fish to be carried back to the cave at the end of every day.
Not wanting to interrupt, I leaned back with another sigh, trying to get comfortable against the rock.
"You know I can see the bag moving, right?" I seemingly asked the thin air. In response, my backpack fell over, the open bag of food spilling everywhere as something invisible scampered off in a panic.
I shook my head, but didn't follow up on it. It hadn't taken that much brain power to connect the weird sounds that seemed to follow me around with the invisible Pokémon that had helped me out with Petrel in the Game Corner, and then the bounty hunter.
If it was the shy type and just wanted to hang around, it had more than helped enough for that. As long as it stuck to eating my food and didn't bother the others too much, I'd told them to leave it alone.
"Training even during your break. How commendable," the quiet voice from behind made me freeze. Slowly, I craned my neck around and met the eyes of Koga as he looked down at me. "It will warm Bruno's heart to see such dedication. In fact, let me go get him right now."
"No, wait!" I struggled to my feet, swaying for a moment as the food threatened to come back up, before I stumbled after the Gym Leader. "Koga, hold up. Is this because I called you creepy? I take it back, you're perfectly normal! Koga!"
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"You have an interesting problem."
"You have a problem, the asskicking we're about to give you!" I rocked back and forth in the lotus position I'd been forced into, frustrated both at being unable to help and being kept from the fight.
Bruno snorted in a rare display of emotion. "You've gotten even more arrogant if you think two weeks is enough to reach us."
Before us, his words proved prophetic.
A blizzard blew across the ground, a gale of sub-zero wind and water freezing everything in its path. Behind it, a frozen sea was born, the ground covered in jagged ice that resembled waves. From the left, a massive spray of orange flames melted the very edges of the cold storm into steam; a slightly smaller plume of purple fire matched it from the right; and, finally, from behind came a crackling blast of lightning.
And in the center of it all, the cornerstone of Bruno's team stood, holding them all off. A small hut of thick slabs of rock had sprouted to shield him from a masterful usage of Rock Tomb. The rock froze, then shattered under the heat, the rapid fluctuations blowing up the shields and letting the Shock Wave slip through.
I clicked my tongue when the attack abruptly switched directions and slammed into the ground, right over a suspiciously smooth hole in the soil. Bruno's side eye made me refocus, while at the very back, Eevee was yipping at the others to get ready.
For all that Bruno was a Fighting-Type Master, there was no denying his Pebble heritage. The control his team had over rock and earth was specialized, yet honed to a razor's edge.
As evidenced by the spears of rock that began springing from the ground, massive pillars twenty feet high. They were blunted at the end, but that didn't stop it from hurting when Sol tried to outrun them and smashed headfirst through one right in front of him.
I was gratified to see that the ones near Eevee were slower. I'd been incredibly hesitant to allow her back in so soon, but eventually decided to trust Machamp.
It was rare that we got to fight a single opponent, and there was a learning curve to finding the right openings that wouldn't endanger a teammate, but they had enough experience to pick it up quickly.
My last unaccounted for Pokémon emerged from Siren's shadow, blade shining with Steel-Type energy. In a flash, the nearby pillars were bisected and slowly toppled over, breaking apart as they fell. As the ranged team moved, Honedge kept them safe, slicing the Stone Edge spears. It was a little scary to see how effortless it was to carve through ten feet of stone and imagine how effortlessly it would do the same to flesh.
I bit my lip to keep from saying anything when the rocks intensified around the sword Pokémon, slowing him down while the others got too far ahead.
Which meant that there was no one to help when a vascular, grey forearm emerged from the ground and grabbed Honedge by the hilt, the rest of Machamp popping out of the ground like a wack-a-mole.
Twirling the sword-shaped Ghost-Type around with obvious experience, Machamp raised it over his head, pointed towards my team with the scabbard held in his opposite set of hands.
"HEY! LET HIM GO YOU BITCH!"
"Focus."
A growl vibrated my throat, but I held it in. I could see Honedge's eye was squeezed shut, and I imagined he was sucking life force from the Elite Four Pokémon like a porn star, but Machamp didn't seem to notice. Instead, it dropped the hilt while holding onto the sheath and began swinging the Steel-Type in circles by the ribbon connecting the two parts. Dust picked up from the resulting wind, Honedge spinning faster and faster until his form disappeared and he turned into a fan, like a Beyblade of unwilling death.
At least he was inorganic, so he couldn't throw up.
"This is garbage."
"Your focus is garbage." Pushing, Bruno forced me to sit up straight. "As I said, you have an interesting problem."
"And what's that?" I asked.
"Most Trainers, once they get both strong and well-connected enough, come to a point where they have to adjust their training. They find themselves in more and more real fights rather than regulated battles and have to plan for such. You're on many ways the opposite," Eevee coordinated things so that Vulpix and Siren fired their attacks at the same time as Sol and Betty. The elements mixed explosively, erupting into a cloud of steam that obscured half the battlefield as it rushed over Machamp. "You've found yourself fighting for your life often, and your team reflects it. Conversely, you don't have as much experience being a Trainer as you should."
"And this is going to help with that?" The doubt in my voice was obvious, and I wasn't surprised when he shook his head.
"No, waste of my time. Best way to improve is to battle a lot, and you can do that without me."
CLAP!
The cloud dispersed violently, a massive shockwave blowing it away as Machamp clapped his two free hands together with a thunderous sound in his best Hulk impression. Far quicker than something that bulky should be able to move, it darted around Sol's Flamethrower and Siren's Scald. Honedge whipped around, deflecting the star-shaped Swift that Eevee was spewing like a machine gun, each one exploding as they were sent into the ground, or even towards my other Pokémon. Finally, the Fighting-Type was upon Betty, the Dragon-Type more than happy to meet the significantly larger and stronger Pokémon with a screech.
The flat side of the blade swung towards Betty's head like a club. In a move that only came from dozens of hours being smacked around with little to no effort, the Bagon focused and stomped heavily. A red light spread through the rock beneath her, before a small pillar rose from the stone to cover most of her body. The Rock Tomb she had learnt all the way back in Pewter wasn't anything compared to what Bruno's team could pull off, but it was a major improvement.
Honedge still smashed through it with ease.
The sheer force behind the blow would've been enough to knock Betty out, even with her monstrous constitution, but it didn't become relevant. Rather, at the very last moment, Honedge mustered enough focus to use Shadow Sneak, or at least the initial stages of it. Dipping into the border between realms rendered him incorporeal to the material world, slipping through Machamp's fingers like water.
And shooting off into the distance like a silver missile, perfectly straight and with no signs of slowing down, even as he vanished through a large cliff. He turned off Shadow Sneak, but that did nothing to help as he speared through the solid stone like a… well, like a sword through most things. Though he didn't have a mouth, I imagined I heard a sigh anyway.
I matched the feeling, imagining the hours of care it would take to make the sword presentable again.
He'd be back, though, once he landed. Just not in time to help with the fight.
"Your fangs are showing."
I ran my tongue over my canines to make sure he wasn't being literal, even as I snorted at his words.
"How am I supposed to keep calm when my team is getting crushed like that!? My Aura's all over the place!"
"It's your energy. Crush it and make it obey."
I stared at him. "That's your grand advice!? 'Just do it'!?"
"I told you, I'm no teacher."
My jaw quivered with the want to insult and rebuke, but I held it in, breathing deeply through my nose and slowly exhaling. It was hard to visualize with having to watch and pay attention to the battle, yet slowly, the gaseous purple 'core' I imagined my Aura as became clear, undulating with my agitation.
It felt like hours – though the fight was ongoing as well as the previous times we'd done that exercise had taught me otherwise – but the forcefield slowly came together and compressed it down, down, down, into a small ball.
Even as Machamp broke previous patterns and suddenly rushed towards where Siren, Vulpix, and Eevee were sniping at him, I forced myself to stay calm. Usually, Machamp was happy to hound Sol, Herc, and Betty, taking out the physically toughest first, before going for the ranged in a blatant display of his superiority. Him breaking from that habit was a compliment, if anything.
All four arms blazed with fire – a truly mastered Fire Punch coating the limbs all the way up to the shoulder in a blinding inferno Sol would've been proud of – were held aloft to shield against a storm of frozen Water Bullets, carried forth by an Icy Wind and Hyper Voice.
Frost clung to his lower body, puffs of cracked ice erupting with every movement, while the ice bullets hit the arms with a hiss of steam as they broke against the iron-like skin. Despite not being cold-blooded as their reptilian-esque appearance suggested, the chilly coating should still have slowed the mighty Fighting-Type down.
But nobody seemed to have told him that. Quads thicker than my body pulsed with explosive power as he pushed off the ground, stone exploding both as he set off and when he landed. It was less of a run and more a series of leaps and bounds, muscles so strong and dense he outpaced even Herc's Quick Attack and left the Electabuzz behind. With a grunt of effort, he jumped even higher, soaring up through the air while the Fire Punches faded, and he raised his arms, ready to bring them crashing down on the trio.
But he wasn't the fastest on the field.
A massive shape slammed into him from the side, sending them both tumbling. Like a reverse meteor rising from the ground, Sol's Flame Wheel hammered into him. The two Pokémon hit the ground like a falling star, devastating the area. Sol's maw opened wide, fire swirling around as he bit down on Machamp's shoulder.
Even as they rolled, another yellow-and-black blur rushed towards them, cloaked in bright white. Machamp grunted as a sparking fist joined the assault, much weaker than Hercules' usual Thunder Punches, yet if someone were watching closely, they'd see the lightning be absorbed into Machamp's thick hide.
Thunder Wave was a tricky move that relied more on electric control than pure capacity. It basically screwed with a Pokémon's natural bioelectricity and nervous system, throwing it out of whack and making it much harder to move. The finesse necessary to do it properly was still outside of Herc's reach, unless he used his ability Static as a starting point. His fur naturally generated a weak Thunder Wave and allowed him to cheat a little.
While he was punching, anyway, but he didn't mind that part.
A roar of pain escaped the Fighting-Type before he cut it off as Sol's blazing fangs painfully slowly sank through the inch-thick, steel-hard skin.
"HAH!" I cheered as Betty quickly joined in, beating the downed Machamp as if he owed them money. Being so close to the Superpower Pokémon was a serious risk, but as long as they stayed near the back, his limited mobility would keep them safe. I turned to rub it in Bruno's face, high on our first win and all thoughts of control forgotten. "How's that for arrogant, you fuc-are you smirking? Wh-"
"MAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!"
BOOOM!
I snapped back just in time to see an enormous dust cloud mushroom up into the sky, only to suddenly swerve sideways due to something hurling through it.
My jaw dropped as Hercules' limp body hit a rock, smashed through it, through the next three, and embedded deep into a cliff. From the other side, Sol came running with Betty hanging from his mouth, sprinting like Giratina was on his tail.
Which was not far off.
As the dust cleared, Machamp became visible, though I doubted it was him at first. His grey skin looked red, the veins pulsing angrily beneath the surface. His already huge muscles had swelled to grotesque proportions, pecs so wide his arms were forced almost straight out from his body.
With another madness-induced roar from the normally calm Pokémon, he crouched down and jumped. The earth exploded like a bomb had exploded as he took off like a rocket, shooting hundreds of feet into the air. I stared in disbelief as he hung, silhouetted by the sun for a moment, before plummeting down to earth like a comet.
Not earth, I realized with a sinking heart.
Siren, Vulpix, and Eevee.
The three fastest recalls of my life snatched them right before the maddened Machamp impacted.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
I clung to a nearby boulder as the earth quaked. Stone shattered like twigs, rock crumbled to dust, and the cliffs came tumbling down. The whole enclosed training area shook and wobbled under Machamp's fury, cracks as wide as trees spreading out like a spiderweb and ripping the ground asunder.
In the end, the somewhat heavily breathing Machamp ripped himself free from where he'd been entombed up to the groin and shoulders, leaving only half of his massive back exposed. The red faded with an exhale, and the Fighting-Type started climbing its way up.
And up. And up. And up over the sundered stone and the new, fifty-foot deep crater he'd made, stretching so far I gave up trying to measure it.
"HOLY SHIT!" I gaped at the destruction.
"Superpower," Bruno said in an insultingly mild tone. "Well, Superpower, then Earthquake and Giga Impact for the… impact."
"HE COULD HAVE KILLED THEM!"
"Nah, he's got full control. He's just playing."
Turning back to the Pokémon in question with disbelief, I couldn't help but find Bruno's words true. Despite seemingly losing his shit, Machamp looked remarkably calm as he dusted himself off. He even looked to have steadied his breathing already, like he didn't just wreck the world.
And then he disappeared under a white-tinted Flamethrower that melted the ground the Pokémon had been standing on and turned it to glass.
Sol cocked his head, confused, when the Flamethrower cleared, revealing nothing but smoke and melted soil, the rocks glowing as small droplets of slag cooled and froze.
I was a little proud when he recovered and searched for his foe, even looking upwards in case the Fighting-Type jumped.
Unfortunately, it was the wrong direction.
With a barely noticeable quiver as a warning, a sinkhole suddenly opened up right in front of Sol's legs, too close for him to see. By the time the miniature quake registered, it was too late to stop the rising fist – glowing with Fighting-Type energy so dense and smooth it clung to the hand like a white silk glove – from striking him under the chin.
Sol's eyes rolled back into his head, and he went slack immediately from the combined Dig and Focus Punch, Machamp doing a pivot in the air before he landed lightly on his feet, arms crossed and eyes closed as he posed, trying to look cool.
A stream of dragonfire tried to interrupt the Machamp's aura farming, but a small twist of the ankle had a large spear of rock shot up from the ground as a shield. Before the attack stopped, four palms smashed into the Rock Tomb, shattering it and launching the shards like a shotgun blast, the splinters still smoldering with purple not-fire.
Betty cried out when they struck her, but she was already mid-air and simply trucked through it. Another Rock Tomb had its top part destroyed by a Brick Break when she landed, followed by another leap straight at Machamp's face with a war cry.
She was easily caught, of course, but she seemed to have expected that. The purple and green light of Dragon Breath sparked at the back of her throat as she opened her mouth, the ember spreading to an inferno in the shape of a cone as it blasted over her teeth, a couple of feet from Machamp's head.
I straightened up at the apparent direct hit, only to slump again when I saw the bright green wrapped around the Fighting-Type's face.
"Making him use Superpower and Protect is a feat in and of itself. He's been trying to hold that back," Bruno remarked.
"Your face-!" I bit my tongue and breathed. Control. Awareness. "Thank you. I'm very proud of them."
"As you should be." Bruno nodded. "He had to put some effort in. No small thing."
I studied the Protect, knowing that there was nothing to do against the three Ice Punches slamming into Betty one after the other and finally putting her down. The hexagons that ordinarily made up the shields were hardly visible, if they were there at all. Instead, the technique clung to Machamp like a second skin before disappearing in a burst of green shards.
"I'm adding Protect to the list for Betty, Sol, and Siren, at the very least. Ideally, they'd all learn it, though." Bruno grunted in acknowledgment as I waved to his Pokémon, calling the Master-level – if not approaching Champion-level – Pokémon off before he revived someone for round two.
I sighed, looking down on my unconscious team as the last lashes of my Aura settled down. Not what I dreamed of, but definitely an improvement. Machamp was nursing the shoulder Sol had chomped down on, charred skin surrounding shallow teeth marks. The occasional twitch of the granite-like muscles showed that the Thunder Wave was still active, and I could see a dozen faint red marks across the grey hide.
Progress.
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Betty screamed with joy, heels kicking furiously as she pointed forward dramatically. Below her, Sol groaned with every snap of her feet hitting him in the ribs as he slunk across the ground, carrying the 500-pound Dragon-Type. Occasionally, his eyes would dart over to me for help, but he got himself into the situation.
He could get himself out.
Instead, I continued to brush Vulpix's long fur carefully, making sure not to pull too hard on the knotted bits. Normally, the thought of matting would've been anathema to the vain fox, but between her illness and Bruno's training, she'd let herself fall to the wayside a little.
So, since Eevee had started easing into training again and didn't appreciate my mothering, I'd switched to a target that would. It appeared to be working, too. Day by day, Vulpix's coat was regaining some of its lost splendor, the glazed look in her eyes fading a tad.
We'd left the training area behind for the day. Bruno had some real work to do and had given me the day off, suggesting I spend it socializing. Agreeing with the idea, I'd tracked down a little lake surrounded by some flowers and Berry bushes, though no one cared about them. Food was the last thing on our minds.
A few of the ever-present Fuschia cliffs shielded us from the wind and left the lake a plane of sparkling crystal, occasionally shattered by Siren leaping from the depths to check on me. Despite her reservations about her strength, it had taken her minutes to establish control over the pond, and she ruled it with an iron fin. The few dissidents crowded the shores, fleeing before the Feebas' steely, half-lidded stare.
Near the cowering cowards – who were scared – Hercules proved my earlier thoughts a lie as he was chowing down on what I recognized as one of Bruno's protein bars, much to my horror. The dealer of said illicit substance reclined next to him, Poliwrath's massive upper body poking out of the lake as he rested. Bruno had thrown me the PokéBall, allegedly as a guard in case more bounty hunters showed up, but I was pretty sure he was just giving the Water/Fighting-Type some time off. Pooliwrath was the one who got along the best with my team, followed by the lighthearted Blaziken.
I was pretty sure Betty had sworn a blood oath to eradicate Primeape's lineage. That thing was savage, and if Betty could pick up just an iota of its directed fury, I'd be happy.
Beyond the training, though, Bruno was a great guy just for feeding my team for over two weeks. Sol's appetite after evolving would've left me destitute on its own, and I was internally crying at the thought of Hercules getting used to so many calories.
Looking down at the Ice-Type in my lap, I sighed while thinking about her specific training. Ice Shard hadn't been that hard to pick up, and we were narrowing her Icy Wind in preparation for Ice Beam, but that wasn't what I'd hoped to accomplish.
"I wish I knew more about Fairy-Types," I sighed, finding a spot towards the back of her pompadour that had one of her hind legs kicking. "I'm sure there are people out there who know about it – and in hindsight, Walter probably knows more than he lets on, given Koga's words – but I don't know how to make them tell us. I'm afraid we're on our own, little one. But that's fine. We'll figure it out. We've already learned some things, like how sensitive you are to emotions. You don't eat that much, even when you were feeling better, which my wallet is thankful for. Between you and Honedge, we can almost make up for Sol's fat ass, though Honedge lives off my Aur-" the word died on my tongue, the penny dropping.
I was a fucking idiot.
I already knew that Pokémon, especially the more esoteric Types like Ghost and Psychic, could need more than just food, like Honedge, and what was more esoteric than a Fairy-Type?
Vulpix's health didn't drop because of Eevee's injury, though I was sure that didn't help.
She got sick because I was a mess, between my departure from Celadon and almost getting Eevee killed, again. Plus…
Plus my reservations from Ra. My emotions were a negative shithole, and I'd been standoffish with her. Then, when I gave her more attention and care, she got better.
I did it. I was the one to make Vulpix sick.
The Pokémon in question whined up at me, feeling my agitation as an emotional sledgehammer hit me in the ribs. I clutched her tightly to me, feeling her cold snout against my skin and her much too thin stomach, making my own roll in discomfort.
"I'm sorry," I choked out. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I'd known Fairy-Types were sensitive to emotions since all the way back on the way to Lavender. How could I have missed it?
"It's my fault you're sick." Vulpix was freaking out by then, nuzzling me and whining desperately. Her tongue left cold trails across my face and hair as I buried my nose in her fur. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Eevee, who'd been sleeping against my side, woke up from all the activity. Despite clearly being confused, she still stepped closer and brushed against Vulpix to try and calm her down, looking up at me with big, brown eyes.
My eyes lingered on the slowly fading scar across Eevee's flank and throat. Her shaggy fur and Chansey's assistance were doing a good job of hiding it, but the more knotted parts were visible.
That was my fault. Again.
"I'm sorry." The Normal-Type's ears twitched at my mumbled words. She was at a loss and clearly didn't expect me to be as bad as Vulpix. "It's my fault. It's all my fucking fault."
I'd been suppressing it since leaving Celadon, but it was the last straw. I'd pushed away my friends, Oak, and then, not only did I keep dragging my team into stupid, dangerous situations, but I was actively harming them.
It was my fault.
Eevee huffed at me, turning back to the then hyperventilating Vulpix, but once I got going, I couldn't stop.
"I got you injured. Again. I almost got you fucking killed, again, and, and, I've been hurting Vulpix too." She smacked my leg chastisingly, but I kept going. "The S.S. Anne, the Pokémon Tower. It's just fuck up after fuck up." My chest felt tight, and I swiped at my eyes to clear the moisture. I didn't deserve to feel sorry for myself.
I was surprised when she growled at my words, but I deserved it and so much more.
"You're not even my Pokémon." Her head fully turned to stare up at me, disbelief in her eyes. Even Vulpix seemed to calm a smidge, though still breathing heavily with eyes darting between Eevee and me. "I'd forgotten because I'm dumb and stupid and didn't think, but I promised to take you back to Cerulean if you wanted, and then I didn't even ask! I swear, we'll go tomorrow, and you'll never see me again-!"
Smack!
"Ooph!" The breath was knocked out of me as Eevee slammed into my chest, paws first, and pushed me over. Standing on my chest, she glared down at me with none of her usual calmness to be seen. "I'm sorry-"
Thud!
She reared up and stomped down on me, her light weight making it harmless. Again, she stood on her back legs and brought the front ones down on me, and then did it again. As she did so, I was surprised to see liquid start to leak down her cheek.
Especially when the tears started to shine, turning bright white.
I could only gape as, on top of me, Eevee's fur shape was consumed by a radiant glow, as if a star had been ripped from the night sky and brought onto earth. As I watched, her legs elongated and her paws shrank. The fur seemed to do likewise, moving as if alive as it retreated into Eevee's body. Said body grew in length and height, but not by that much, going from a little under a foot to a little over. On top of that, what was gained in size was lost in heft, her form slimming down as two massive ears grew from the top of her head and a long, thin tail with a forked tip swished behind her.
When the light of evolution faded, I was greeted by large, purple eyes looking down on me, white pupils dilating as they experienced light for the first time. The fine, short coat of fur was lilac, incredibly smooth, and soft, even through my shirt. A pair of large tufts grew right under the ears, framing the amethyst eyes – and right in between them, rested a red gem that pulsed with power.
Eev-Espeon reared up again and brought her legs down on my chest, eyes never leaving mine. As she did so, a foreign presence that felt so very familiar pressed against my mind. There were no words, images, or anything complex.
Just emotions.
Sadness. Pain. Worry. Anger.
I wanted to shut out the rush of negative emotions, feeling the tears pressing again, but Espeon didn't let me.
Hesitance. Longing. Reluctance. Acceptance.
She lay down on me, rubbing her head against the underside of my chin as she purred, the vibrations shaking my whole body as my left hand came up to scratch between her ears. Vulpix quickly climbed up as well and squeezed in next to the newly evolved Psychic-Type, still desperate for her own comfort.
Amusement. Happiness. Affection. Joy.
Contentment.
"I'm sor-" I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself even before Espeon's head shot up to glare at me. "No, you're right. Enough talking. Enough feeling sorry for myself and whining, it's all I fucking do. It's time to grow up." I looked down at my free hand and clenched it into a fist.
"For all of us."
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In hindsight, I should've set up Vulpix's situation earlier and drip fed it, but there was a lot going on at the time. Not terribly unhappy about it.
Pretty happy with Espeon's evolution though.
Thank you for reading. Hopefully you enjoyed. If you REALLY liked it, I have a P-a-t-r-e-o-n, under the same name, where you can read 5 chapters ahead.