Ch.11: Awaken

The blizzard had hit hard, leaving little time for Xenos to find shelter. Although it had taken him awhile to reach the top of Mt. Moon, he had still managed to make it just in time. Malik had been out cold all day and for most of the night as well. Luckily, Malik's Houndoom wasn't too stubborn to light them a fire to keep warm, and his Growlithe made good company for the Houndoom. Eevee, however, had refused to leave Malik's side, nor would it eat or sleep.

Malik had stirred uncomfortably in his sleep, and finally awoke. The blizzard was still howling viciously, and cold wind stung Malik's eyes. Eevee, who had almost passed out completely, was re-energized with happiness as Malik sat up. Eevee lunged at his chest, and began to nuzzle him happily, but Malik's head was still throbbing. He scratched the top of his head, and felt the bandages covering half of his face.

Dry blood had seeped its way through the cloth, and he now knew why he couldn't see out of his unscarred eye. He looked over to see Xenos, Growlithe, and Houndoom snoozing heavily, and decided not to wake them. He noticed the fire, and was thankful for its warmth. The cave was barely lit, but it was warmer than the blistering cold outside the cave's mouth.

Reaching for his bag, Malik's heart sank as he saw his right hand. It was solid black, and there was no feeling in it whatsoever. The frostbite had spread from his elbow to his finger tips, and he feared that he would have to amputate his arm. He grabbed his bag forcefully, feeling outraged that he had been so careless, and accidentally elbowed the cave wall hard. A large crack stretched around his forearm, and the cave was flooded with an intense light.

At first, the light had been blinding, and he was forced to shield his eyes, but then he noticed something peculiar. His arm began cracking more and more, and he actually felt the energy. Eevee had been watching curiously, and walked over to sniff his arm. The black skin was flaking off in chunks, and it reminded him of coal.

Xenos was stirring, and mumbled something like "Turn out the lights, I'm tryin' to sleep here," but Malik was too astonished by his glowing arm to notice anything else. As Eevee drew closer, the arm glowed even brighter, and Eevee's fur began to glow as well.

His arm reacted on impulse, and grabbed Eevee's head. Although it was frightened at first, Eevee relaxed in his hand, and began to glow even brighter than his arm. Malik was in complete shock, and couldn't help but watch as Eevee began to change. The light began pouring from his arm, and flowed into Eevee's glowing body. Malik's eyes had began to glow as well, and the bandages swirled off his head seamlessly.

The energy was so intense, that now all of the black from the frostbite was gone, and his arm seemed to be constructed of pure energy. It was like the swirling energy that a full moon had given off on a clear night, but it was so much stronger than that energy Malik had seen before. His eyes once again turned white, and light was now pouring out of the cave, defying the thickness of the storm outside.

Malik's arm jolted backwards with a sudden burst of intense energy, but Eevee was still glowing and changing. Malik watched as the fluffy form of Eevee changed, and was replaced by a slick, dark coat of black. It had kept its beautiful, bright blue eyes, and it had blue rings on its four legs to match, along with its forehead. It had just evolved into an Umbreon, but how?

Umbreon was looking at Malik proudly, and roared mightily. As it did so, its rings glowed brightly, and his arm seemed to return to normal. Malik was still in shock, with his mouth gaping open. He couldn't believe his eyes, nor could he believe what had just happened. Houndoom had woken up, and walked over to Umbreon curiously.

The two of them greeted each other by smelling, and although it took a few moments, Houndoom happily spoke to Umbreon in its own language. Umbreon twitched its tail playfully, and tackled Houndoom. Malik sat back smiling, but the recent evolution had intrigued him. He knew that, normally, the only way Eevee evolved into Umbreon was at night, but this had happened almost in the morning, and the evolution seemed to have been spawned by his arm.

The storm outside had finally passed, and Malik was having a silent staring contest with Umbreon, who was looking at him confused. He finally snapped out of it, but just as he was getting ready to put out the fire and get ready for the day ahead, a familiar figure stepped into the cave.

"Well well," smirked the Crimson Jewel, "If it isn't the blunder twins. I thought I smelled something new in here, didn't know it would be you two."

Umbreon stepped forward, baring its fangs and making its markings glow brightly. She looked at Umbreon, then back at Malik grinning.

"Oh how cute, your little Pokémon finally evolved. It won't do you any good, however, I'm not here to battle Pokémon. No, I'm much more interested in why your arm was lighting the entire radius of a mile?"

She pointed an armored hand towards his arm, and Malik saw the slick metal of her steel gauntlet shimmer in the morning light. Malik saw that her mask had been glued back together, but she was unable to fix the large crack that spread down the eyes diagonally. Malik remained silent, but Umbreon began growling at her, and its energy was humming quietly.

Houndoom had gotten up as well, but as he was behind her, she hadn't noticed. She tried to step forward, but Umbreon growled threateningly. She looked down at the Umbreon with a scowl in her eyes, and kicked Umbreon hard. Umbreon flew into the cave wall, and landed with a thud. Houndoom roared, and jumped at her, latching onto her shoulder. The pauldron was still cracked from when Eevee had almost broken it, and Houndoom's fire fang attack had done the rest.

Its sharp teeth were embedded deep into her shoulder and flaming violently, but as soon as she managed to get Houndoom off her shoulder, Umbreon slammed into her ribs hard. She fell backwards and landed on Xenos' lap, and then he finally woke up. He was blushing and looking at her with a glazed look. She elbowed him in the face hard, and ran out of the cave swiftly.

Umbreon and Houndoom almost chased after her, but Malik made them stop. He did not want to risk her taking them away, and he needed their help to get up. Xenos got up moaning, and was holding his nose, which was bleeding heavily.

"Who the hell was that, Malik, an ex-girlfriend or something?"

Malik shook his head and tossed Xenos a cloth to wipe his face off with. Malik was getting tired of running into her at the worst times imaginable, but with the storm finally past, he could set out to get off this mountain. As they were about to leave, Xenos spoke again.

"Wait, hold on a second," he said while looking down at Umbreon, "I can't help but feel I missed something, but when exactly did your Eevee evolve?"

Malik sighed, and Xenos finally agreed to just go and not ask so many questions. Malik was staring down at his arm, still replaying the scene in his mind. How had he gotten Eevee to evolve without even knowing what was going on? This must have been the power that his father had discovered. So far, Malik could communicate with his Pokémon telepathically, and now apparently he could induce evolution when the time was right.

As they continued down the mountain, Malik began to hear whispering in his mind, and slowed down. It was a voice, but it was inside his head. He couldn't make out the words, and then it faded. The whispers had slowly gotten louder and quieter spontaneously, and then just faded in an instant. He shook his head and kept walking.

As they finally got to the bottom of Mt. Moon, and made their way casually along Route 4, they were ambushed by two dark figures. Malik instantly recognized them as the two thugs he constantly found himself harassed by.

"Look who it is, Jeice," said the female, "That twerp that viciously demolished our machine."

"Yes, I see;" said Jeice, "So, Jade, should we return the favor?"

They both were looking at Malik, and both had dark grins on their faces. Xenos stepped forward smiling, and tossed a pokeball in his hand up and down.

"Looks like you two just didn't learn your lesson last time," Xenos said, "How about this time we teach you a lesson in humiliation?"

Malik and Xenos both sent out their Pokémon, with Umbreon and Eevee entering the battle field. Jeice and Jade both sent out their Pokémon, and Sandslash and Purrloin were staring them down. Xenos' Eevee rushed in first, and Sandslash met it in battle. However, Purrloin and Umbreon were staring each other down, both gathering their energy.

The only one who seemed to notice was Malik, because Jade was shouting angrily at her Purrloin to attack Umbreon, but it remained where it was. Malik could feel their energy, and it was so intense that he actually had a hard time differing which was which. Umbreon's dark energy was much more violent and powerful, however, whereas Purrloin's energy was mildly powerful, but just as violent.

Meanwhile, Sandslash and Eevee were going at it, with Sandslash gaining the advantage over Eevee. It seemed that Xenos' Eevee wasn't as strong as Malik's had been, and Sandslash was toying with it. It would dodge, and only rarely scratch it or slash with its claws. Xenos and Eevee both seemed to be growing agitated, but then something happened.

The Eevee began glowing brightly, and both Malik and Xenos knew it was finally evolving. Its bushy tail grew thin, and split into a fork shape. Its fluffy coat had gone sleek, and it was turning pink. It grew taller, and a wave of psychic energy projected wildly from it. Umbreon looked over to see Espeon sitting where the Eevee had began its evolution, and cheered happily.

Purrloin took advantage of the moment, and bit down on Umbreon's back hard. With a mighty roar, Umbreon began to glow brightly. Its dark energy began to project outwards, and it reminded Malik of a fine silk stream, and it grew larger every second. Suddenly, Purrloin let go, and was stepping back and hissing wildly. Malik had noticed a foul odor streaming from Umbreon's coat, then Xenos looked over at Malik's confused expression and piped up:

"It's one of Umbreon's special abilities. When they're agitated, they can secrete a venomous sweat to fend off their enemies."

Malik looked over at the Purrloin, who was now attempting to spit the toxin out, but it was useless. In a matter of seconds, the Purrloin was down. Jade called it back, and then glared at Jeice. Malik's Umbreon, and Xenos' Espeon were now cornering the foe's Sandslash, and it was getting nervous. Espeon lifted it up with psychic power, and Umbreon began gathering its dark energy into a ball.

With Jeice begging frantically for them to stop, Umbreon fired the shadow ball hard, and it crashed into all three of them. The two thugs went flying backwards, and ran off in a panic, threatening to get revenge yet again. Taking in the moment, Malik and the others sat down right there to eat.

Umbreon and Espeon were sitting near each other, and seemed to be talking among themselves in their own language. Xenos didn't seem too fond of this, however, and tried to return Espeon. Espeon refused to return, and kept talking to Umbreon, who glared at Xenos. Malik had finished cooking, and they began to eat the delicious steaks he had cooked with Houndoom.

Malik couldn't help but feel somewhat excited, after all, they were about to make their way to Cerulean City. Malik had remembered that girl that helped him beat the thugs the first time, and he realized that the steaks weren't the only thing making him drool. It seemed that the time of year for romance was upon them, and Malik planned on finding that mysterious girl, and taking her for his own.