Gary was surprised at how quick Eevee was to spring into action at the ready. He smiled. No, with a confident and well trained Pokémon like Eevee, he shouldn't be surprised. He hoped Eevee was really feeling up to battle. Despite Eevee's hard work during the last battle, Gary and Eevee had lost that one. Gary had figured Eevee just needed a good rest and would be ready to battle and win after being energized. Of course, the Pokémon standing in front of them just had to be a Houndoom – the evolved form of Houndour –a Pokémon they had battled just days ago.

The night was quiet except for the low snarling of the wild Houndoom standing just ten feet away. Even though Gary was afraid, he did his best not to show it. He knew Pokémon were excellent on noticing fear. Not the one to jump into things, Gary summoned his Pokémon out not just to battle this Pokémon but also for protection. If that Houdoom would use an attack, Gary's Pokémon would be there at the ready.

"Blastoise. Eevee." Gary said barely above a whisper. "Hold up. We just may have walked into this Houndoom's territory." Gary had remembered reading one such book written by his grandfather, Professor Oak, that Houndoom as well as a few other Pokémon could be very territorial and that they traveled in packs. Gary took a deep breath at this realization. There could be more although it wasn't totally unheard of to see a lone Houndoom.

He considered walking past the wild Houndoom careful not to make eye contact. The sooner he got back to camp, the better. However, with the wild Houndoom and his Pokémon, Blastoise and Eevee standing their ground, Gary realized ignoring the wild Houndoom was not an option.

Now with Eevee wanting to battle as well, Gary contemplated on which of his Pokémon he wanted to use first. Blastoise being a water type did have the advantage against Houndoom, a dual dark and fire type.

Eevee had already proven to be a strong Pokémon in battle and Gary had worked hard training Eevee along with his other Pokémon. Realistically, Gary knew it wouldn't be easy for Eevee to win a battle against a wild Houndoom alone and this one looked to be of a high level. However, with Blastoise and Eevee working together, the chances of winning the battle would increase significantly.

"Blastoise, hydro pump!"

On command, Blastoise aimed his two water cannons at the Houndoom. Blastoise's hydro pump attack was a direct hit and had actually weakened it considerably from when it first started out. Yet, with Houndoom being of a high level, it still had plenty of fight in it. The Houndoom arched down and let out a fire blast attack.

Gary took a deep breath. This was one heck of a strong Pokémon. Now he was determined to win this battle plus he really wanted to get back to camp and call it a night. He looked at his Eevee and Blastoise. He could see the determination in their eyes.

"Eevee, use tackle!"

"Eeeveee!" Eevee ran as fast as it could towards the Houndoom its head bent down ready for a tackle attack. The Houndoom snapped its attention over to the little normal type Pokémon. Before the Houndoom could counter with an attack of its own, Eevee's tackle made a direct hit. The Houndoom fell back as Eevee stood confident waiting for its trainer's next command. Eevee itself was at a high level too.

"Awesome job, Eevee!" Gary called out. Eevee had really done so much better than it had ever done before. Eevee truly was learning and becoming stronger. Actually, as Gary realized, the both of them were – both trainer and Pokémon.

Distracted by this train of thought, Gary almost didn't notice the Houndoom preparing for another attack as it slowly got up. Blastoise and Eevee weakened it considerably, but Gary knew better than to let his guard down.

The Houndoom shot out another attack.

"Eevee, dodge it!" Gary called out. Eevee swiftly leapt to the side right in the knick of time. It wagged its tail confident its eyes focused on its opponent.

The Houndoom had just enough strength to pull off one more attack. This time, a dark pulse attack directed towards Eevee.

"Eevee! Double Edge!"

The Houndoom growled in frustration and tilted it's head at the sudden duplicates of Eevee surrounding it. The Houndoom scanned through the Eevees very carefully for what seemed to be a significant amount of time. And then it let out it's dark pulse attack. It hit the real Eevee right on target. Eevee fell back towards Gary.

"Eevee!" Gary cried with worry in his voice. "Blastoise, Help Eevee out! Hydro- cannon!"

Blastoise was prepared to use Hydro Cannon but was interrupted by Eevee.

Gary couldn't believe how determined his Eevee was. Here, Eevee had almost gotten knocked out by Houndoom's dark pulse attack yet it still wanted to battle. For a moment there, Gary felt really worried about Eevee. This Houndoom's attacks were strong and could easily deal significant damage to Eevee if it wanted to.

As a trainer, Gary knew how important it was to stay focused til the very end. He tried not to ponder in worry too much as that would affect the battle. "Well, Eevee, guess you don't give up that easily."

Eevee nodded very positive. In truth, Eevee wanted to make up for that previous battle that it lost.

Gary understood. He knew Eevee would continue battling til the very end. "Alright, Eevee! Quick attack!"

Eevee charged towards Houndoom once more with all the swiftness it had making a direct hit. The Houndoom stood still for a few seconds before finally fainting.

Momentarily, Gary couldn't believe it. Eevee. Defeated. Houndoom.

Gary then contemplated his next decision. He gave a confident grin as he pulled out an empty Poke ball and threw it towards the Houndoom "Poke ball, go!"

The Poke ball blinked once, twice, then finally three times. Gary went over to pick up the Poke ball. He had successfully captured Houndoom. It was the first Pokémon he had caught in Johto. Since he already had six Pokémon on his team, Houndoom would automatically be transferred to Professor Oak's lab. It was getting late though. It was really time to get back to camp and get some sleep. It was getting close to midnight.

Gary stretched and looked down at Eevee with a smile. "Well, Eevee, you were great! I don't think we could have won that battle without you."

Eevee wagged its tail proudly. "Eevee!"

Gary could see that even though his Eevee had a proud personality, it was also noticeably tired. "Let's head back to camp, Eevee, and call it a night." Instead of recalling Eevee inside its Poke ball, Gary decided to let Eevee continue walking alongside him as they continued back to camp.

Walking back, Gary thought about his concern for Eevee when it was hit directly by Houndoom's dark pulse attack. "I was really worried about you back there, Eevee." Gary bent down to scratch Eevee behind the ears looking straight up at the stars. The clouds were beginning to break revealing a starry moonlit sky.

Eevee froze and perked its ears up. Clearly, it knew that its trainer had always cared. However, at this moment in time, Eevee was hit with a brand new realization. The tone of Gary's voice was the same tone one would use to speak to a close friend. It was caring and reassuring. Gary and Eevee's bond was becoming stronger. It was a bond of newly found friendship. A glowing aura began to surround Eevee.

Gary snapped his attention towards his Eevee. "What!" he gasped despite the fact he knew exactly what was going on. His Eevee was evolving.

When the glowing subsided, Gary was looking at a sleek black somewhat cat- like Pokémon with glowing yellow rings around the bottom of its four legs, the base of it's tail and forehead.

Gary whipped out his Poké dex. "Umbreon – the Moonlight Pokémon, The dark type evolved form of Eevee. It prefers the night. Its rings also glow during attack. "

His Eevee had evolved into Umbreon.

Eevee's confident nature and fighting determination were still there.

Gary and his newly evolved Eevee finally made it back to camp.

"Well, Umbreon," Gary said, "I can't wait to get to a Pokémon center so I can tell my grandpa all about what happened in Johto already. But for right now, let's all try and get some sleep."

"Umbreon!" the moonlight Pokémon nodded in full agreement as Gary finally recalled it back to its Poke ball.

As Gary glanced up at the stars waiting for sleep, he couldn't help but to ponder about Eevee's evolution. Being the grandson of one of the most well known and respected professors – Professor Oak, Gary knew quite a bit about Pokémon already. Still as he had since learned, there was still a lot he didn't know. As soon as morning came, he would stop by the closest Pokémon center and give his grandfather an update on the exciting news.

*The next morning*

Gary had just dropped his Pokémon off to Nurse Joy at the Pokémon center so that they could rest and regain their strength. Especially, Blastoise and Umbreon. After receiving his Pokémon, he gave his grandfather as call right away.

"Good morning, Gary!" Professor Oak exclaimed. "It's good to see you! How are your travels in Johto?"

"Good morning, Grandpa," Gary said. "Me and my Pokémon are doing great! One of them actually evolved last night."

Professor Oak raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Well, that doesn't surprise me. You've always raised each of your Pokémon to be strong. Which one was it?"

Gary smiled as he pulled out a Poké ball and released Umbreon. "My Eevee evolved into Umbreon – the dark type version of Eevee."

"Umbreon!" Professor Oak said excitedly. "That's wonderful, Gary!"

Gary was a bit confused by his grandfather's sudden excitement when he told him his Eevee had evolved into Umbreon. "What's so special about Eevee evolving into Umbreon, Grandpa? Wouldn't any evolved form of Eevee be just as great?"

"Of course, all evolutions of Eevee are very unique in their own way," Professor Oak said. "But do you know how Eevee gets to evolve into Umbreon, Gary?"

Gary thought. Honestly, he didn't. Having just traveled to Johto, a great deal of its Pokémon were still new to him. "Does Eevee's evolution have anything to do with when it evolved? It makes sense that Eevee evolved into the dark type form at night since dark type Pokémon are more relevant at night."

Professor Oak nodded."Yes, That's a very good observation, Gary. Evolution must occur at night for an Eevee to evolve into Umbreon. If it had been in the daytime, your Eevee would have evolved into Espeon. However, there is one more important factor one needs for Eevee to successfully evolve into Umbreon."

"What's that, Grandpa?"

Professor Oak smiled. "Friendship."

"Friendship?"

"Yes. You see, Gary, a trainer must have a high level of friendship with their Eevee so that it can evolve into Umbreon. That means you and Eevee's bond has really become stronger and that you really care for it. And I wouldn't doubt this to be true with your other Pokémon."

Gary glanced down at his Umbreon who gave him a friendly stare. He smiled at Umbreon patting it on the head before shrugging.

"I still think training a Pokémon to be strong is important but now I see how friendship is important too. I just didn't realize how important it really was." His mind briefly shifted to how Ash had always mentioned how forming a bond with one's Pokémon was just as important as strength. He laughed to himself. He really didn't want to admit it, but Ash was right.

"I must say," Professor Oak said. "You've really come a long way as a trainer." The Kanto region Professor was glad that his grandson was finally becoming more humble and open minded about learning and improving as a trainer.

"Oh, yes!" Professor Oak added. "I almost forgot. I noticed that you caught a Houndoom recently."

"Yeah, just last night!" Gary said. "It's really strong. I never would have caught it if it weren't for Eevee and Blastoise."

"I see. So Eevee must have battled this wild Houndoom you just caught right before evolving."

"That's right." Gary said. "I've trained Eevee to be really strong but that Houndoom was of a really high level. Eevee was hit by Houndoom's dark pulse attack. Yet, somehow, Eevee pulled through to the very end and won the battle."

"Well, Eevee must have obviously noticed your concern. That very well could have helped your Eevee to evolve. Not to mention the great deal of battle experience it's had." Professor Oak said. "Your Houndoom will be safe here at the lab for whenever you may need it."

Gary nodded. "Thanks, Grandpa. I really wanted to tell you about my Eevee. I really should be going now."

"It was nice talking to you, Gary. Thank you for the update. I hope you realize how special it was for your Eevee to evolve into Umbreon."

Gary bent his head down giving a humble composure. He honestly knew now how special Eevee's evolution into Umbreon was. "I know. And I promise to grow and improve every single day as a trainer."

"That's the spirit. Never forget that everyone has room to improve. Even I'm learning new things everyday as a Pokémon professor. It was good talking to you, Gary."

As Gary walked out of the Pokémon center, he now had a new perspective as a Pokémon trainer. He thought about what his grandpa had said about Eevee's evolution. He really did care about his Eevee now Umbreon and all of his other Pokémon. There was no doubt that Gary and Umbreon's bond had only gotten stronger over time. He and Umbreon were going to continue to be a great team. He also cared about being one of the best trainers out there. He shifted his bag over his shoulder and walked on as confident as ever.