"What's a great brute like that doing here?" Voltheo sneered.
The Jolteon moved protectively in front of Takashi, his legs tensed as if preparing to pounce on the Machamp and fight.
"I don't need to fight you," the Machamp retorted calmly. Takashi thought how strange that was, considering the situation. Voltheo seemed confused as well.
"I'll have to ask my Nopelt if she wants to fight a wild pokemon," he went on. "You might not be worth it if she has to carry me all the way to the Pokémon center."
"Pokémon center?" wondered Takashi.
"It's the place where Nopelt's monsters go to get healed much faster than by using berries," Voltheo hissed under his breath. "What do you mean we're not worth it?" he demanded loudly.
The Machamp ignored him. He turned around a let a loud roar escape him. The trees seemed to shake with the loudness of it. Takashi faintly wondered if the Machamp knew Hyper Voice.
For a few moments, nothing happened. Voltheo was just beginning to relax when bushes parted and a young female Nopelt stepped out.
"Yes, Sky?" she seemed to be bewildered. "Why'd you call me?"
The humongous fighting pokemon pointed at the two Pokémon hiding in the tall grass. Voltheo growled.
The Nopelt's eyes lit up. "Those are rare Pokémon!" she exclaimed, pointing at them. "We have to capture them!" Both wild Pokémon stared at each other in alarm.
"That's my order to fight." There was all the cold of winter in Sky's voice. "So prepare yourselves."
"Sky! Attack! Give'em all you've got!" the young Nopelt yowled excitedly.
Without a warning, Sky swung forward; Voltheo instantly defended Takashi. The fox growled and shot several sharp needle-like objects at Sky, an attack Takashi recognised as Pin missile.
However, the well-built Pokémon simply dodged all the blows and landed a punch on Voltheo. The Electric-type gave a loud yowl that shook the trees, causing the Nopelt to cover her ears, and Sky to use all four arms to cover where his ears would be. Aha. Now that was the real Hyper Voice.
The Eevee crouched down with his fur bristling. Takashi knew he was frightened, yet he knew he couldn't leave his father alone to defend himself. But, he didn't know if he even knew any attack moves…
But he could try.
With a sudden surge of energy, Takashi leaped forward and bit the Machamp furiously. Voltheo stopped trying to attack Sky and looked up, horror in his black eyes.
"Takashi!" he called. "Stop! You're not even trained! A Machamp can easily take out a weak Normal like you!"
"I'm ready if I say I am," growled Takashi, his voice muffled by his victim's skin. He bit down harder, until he could taste the metallic flavor of the Fighting-type Pokémon's blood.
Sky gave a roar and shook his body, trying to dislodge Takashi. But the Eevee held on, starting to pound Sky's humongous body. Distantly he wondered if these were counted as moves.
The Nopelt dashed over at once. "Sky! You're bleeding!" she exclaimed. "Come on. Leave those two...evil Pokémon! " she glanced at the two wild Pokémon. "You need to get to a pokemon centre quick. Come on. Get in your ball."
She took out a blue apricornball and instantly the Machamp disappeared in a flash of light. It had appeared to be coming from the ball. Takashi looked at it with interest. Ooh, interesting.
As the Nopelt strode away, Voltheo began to groom his ruffled fur; his pelt was smeared with Sky's blood. "You fought well," he murmured. "If not dirty. Don't bite so hard next time. That kind of bite is for prey, not battle-"
His voice trailed off. "Takashi. Your pelt's glowing," he told his son, looking with wonder at him.
"I...I feel new strength," Takashi stammered. He looked around at his brown pelt; it was indeed glowing.
"Evolution?" Voltheo murmured, mostly to himself. "And so soon? Even Nyroc took a few weeks..."
"What's happening, Dad?" Takashi yowled in panic as a cocoon of light enveloped him. He couldn't see; he only knew that some parts of him were changing. And in the transformation, he felt a new feeling flow into his limbs. Was he changing type?
Part of him still wanted to be an Eevee, to never have to experience this. But he knew that this was unavoidable.
Come, Takashi, a voice seemed to whisper. This is your new power-embrace it.
The blinding light finally faded. Around him, Takashi could still see the forest, everything was normal, apart from Voltheo staring at him like a hawk. He was lying on his side, dazed, he struggled to get up to his paws-paws, he saw now, were purple-pink.
"What happened, Dad?" asked Takashi. Then he wrinkled his nose. Even his voice sounded different: deeper and less of a squeak than when he had been an Eevee.
"Takashi," Voltheo replied. "You evolved."
Takashi stared at him. "Evolved? You mean, turned from one Pokémon into another?"
"Yes. Look." Voltheo guided his son, the newly-evolved to a puddle of water. In it, Takashi could see not his brown, fluffy face; but the reflection of a purple-pink pokemon, whose violet eyes sparkled like the sun and betrayed deep wisdom, wisdom beyond his young age.
Takashi was silent for many moments. Then, he lifted his head. On top, he could see a sparkling gem, glowing a bright red in the sunlight. "An Espeon. I'm an Espeon, aren't I?"
Voltheo brushed against him. "Yes. You are." Even this felt weird to Takashi. He was nearly the same height as his father now. And without his ruff-like collar, his neck felt exposed. Did Nyroc feel like this when he evolved? he thought.
"So I'm a Psychic-type now?" Takashi frowned, flicking his tail-a tail that was no longer fox-like and fluffy, and instead was long and forked at the end. "Is that why I feel like I know everything in this forest? And what is going to happen? And why I feel…different?"
"Not just the forest, Takashi." Voltheo twitched his blood-smeared ear. "The whole Kanto region. And probably even the whole universe."
Wow, Takashi thought as he stared at his reflection again. If a weak pokemon like me can have such great knowledge, then everything's possible.