The next day,
Treecko began to glow. Leaves grew on his arms and the top of his head, and his tail leaves became sharper and smaller. He also grew to four times his original size (although he was still shorter than Bayleef when they stood side-by-side). He evolved into Grovyle. He immediately ran to Ella and told her about it. She immediately hugged him and said, "Way to go, Treeck-, I mean, Grovyle!" He giggled, "Hehehe, Aw, Mom!" "Come on, let's get ready for your evolution party!" Grovyle cheered, and Ella invited her friends Neil, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Putts, Joe, Grace, Gene, and Kid to the party via her cell phone.
Neil and Bayleef were the first to arrive, followed closely by Mario and Charizard, then Kid and Venusaur, then Gene, Grace, and Croconaw; then Luigi and Pikachu, then Joe and Kricketune, then Peach and Sylveon, then Daisy and Leafeon. Putts couldn't make it; he was putting on a golf clinic. Ella and Treecko, I mean Grovyle, greeted Neil, Bayleef, Mario, and Charizard the most enthusiastically, with hugs. Croconaw ran over and hugged Grovyle tightly. "I'm so glad! Maybe we could do stuff together now!" she shouted. Grovyle grunted, "Mmph, maybe." Then Ella called the Pokémon over and said, "All right, everyone. It's time for games!" Everyone cheered, except for Charizard; he wasn't buying it. Ella seemed to sense his hesitation, so she assured him that she was telling the truth. And then he joined the others.
The first game was Musical Chairs. Venusaur was the first one eliminated, followed by Kricketune, Leafeon, Croconaw, Grovyle, Pikachu, and Sylveon. On the last turn, Bayleef ended up on Charizard's lap as they tried to take the last seat. She wasn't very disappointed, though; she was right with her best friend! She was laughing at their position. Then the Pokémon played Simon Says, with Grovyle as Simon.
Grovyle's the boss, Grovyle's the boss,
So you gotta listen to Grovyle, listen to Grovyle
Grovyle's the boss, Grovyle's the boss,
So you gotta listen to Grovyle, listen to Grovyle
And here's what Grovyle says!
Grovyle sang, "Grovyle says, spin around and around." Everyone did, singing, "Listen to Grovyle, listen to Grovyle." Grovyle sang, "Grovyle says, now lie on your bellies." Everyone did, singing, "Listen to Grovyle, listen to Grovyle." "Now reach for the sky." Venusaur, Kricketune, and Pikachu did. "Uh-uh, I didn't say 'Grovyle says'!" They were out.
Grovyle's the boss, so listen to Grovyle, and here's what Grovyle says.
Grovyle sang, "Grovyle says, you can stand up now." Everyone did, singing, "Listen to Grovyle, listen to Grovyle." Grovyle sang, "Grovyle says, now blink your eyes." Everyone did, singing, "Listen to Grovyle, listen to Grovyle." "Now stick out your tongue." Everyone except Bayleef and Charizard did. "Uh-uh, I didn't say 'Grovyle says'!" They were out.
Grovyle's the boss, so listen to Grovyle, and here's what Grovyle says.
Grovyle sang, "Grovyle says, wag your tail back and forth. Yes, that's good. Grovyle says, now start running in place. Yeah, that's right. Grovyle says, roll around on the floor. Way to go. Grovyle says, now stand as tall as you can. Grovyle says, bow your heads." Bayleef and Charizard did, singing, "Listen to Grovyle, listen to Grovyle." "Grovyle says, now lift them up and smile." "Listen to Grovyle, listen to Grovyle." "Now stick your tail up." Bayleef did, but Charizard didn't. "Uh-uh, I didn't say 'Grovyle says'!" She was out. Charizard sang, "Grovyle's the boss, so listen to Grovyle." And Grovyle sang, "And Grovyle says, Charizard wins!" Charizard was happy to have won both games at this party!
The next game was Pin the Tail on the Donkey, or should I say Pin the Ponytail on Ella (it was a picture of Ella's head). Everyone laughed hysterically at the ponytails being pinned all over the place, but once again, Charizard won (thanks to an insane amount of luck). Everyone cheered for him. Through it all, Charizard behaved very well, much to Mario's amazement!
Then it was time for dinner, followed by cake and presents. While they were eating, Bayleef told Charizard (to her left) how impressed she was with how he played the games. He blushed and said, "Awww." To her right, Sylveon and Leafeon said, "I think he likes you," giggling as they did. Bayleef agreed, "We've been best friends since the Marion Town Orphanage." Charizard said, "They treated us like dirt. But then Mario adopted me (and Neil adopted her) and now we have loving homes. The elders tried to take Bayleef back by passing as Pokémon rights activists. But I busted them and they went to jail. And now we live here in Palm Town, safe from them." Sylveon and Leafeon were touched by the story. Neither of then had ever heard of such abuse in their whole lives. They gave Charizard and Bayleef hugs to make them feel better. Then Grovyle began opening his presents. They were toy cars, board games, a little plastic golf set, a plastic bat and ball, a Sceptile action figure, and some Legos. Neil then said, "Grovyle, I'll get you my present now. Bayleef, stay and play with the others while I get his present." "Okay, Daddy." So she played toy cars with Grovyle, Croconaw, and Charizard. The other Pokémon were playing with the other presents when Neil came in with Grovyle's surprise present: a pair of swimming trunks! Grovyle immediately put them on. He then said, "Come on, everyone! Let's go swimming!" Ella had a medium-sized pool, barely even a quarter the size of Neil's pool. But everyone ran enthusiastically ran to the pool, after getting permission from their trainers, of course. They weren't in the pool for three minutes before it started to rain...hard! Fortunately, there was no lightning, so the Pokémon kept swimming; they were already wet! The rain, which was falling at a torrential two inches per hour, was actually rather warm, unlike Marion Town rain, so they wouldn't catch colds. They quickly found that Palm Town rain was fun to play in. They got out of the pool and started splashing in puddles and rolling in the grass, getting all muddy and dirty. Ella sighed, "You're lucky this is the back yard, or you would be in big trouble." Grovyle just took off his swim trunks and let the rain wash the mud off. Then he set them at the pool's edge and resumed playing with his friends Bayleef and Charizard (these three had their own clique). Soon, the rain stopped (it had lasted only fifteen minutes), and the Pokémon got back in the pool, Grovyle remembering his swim trunks. An hour later, everyone got bored swimming, and they played with the bat and ball instead. There were only nine Pokémon, so they couldn't have a real game, or could they? Even though none of them had ever watched The Sandlot, they played like the kids in that movie. Eventually, it got dark, and the party was over.
After the party, Neil and Bayleef went home, as did the other Pokémon and their trainers. Neil then noticed that his Bayleef was sad. He asked what the matter was, and she tearfully recounted the experience of her evolution and how the orphanage elders mistreated her. Neil then calmed her down and said, "Trust me, when you evolve, I will give you the greatest evolution party I can." Bayleef smiled on hearing that. She trusted Neil entirely, because she knew he loved her. She then thought about accelerating her evolution, but Neil said, "Don't rush it. It will happen when the proper time comes." Bayleef said, "Okay, Daddy."
It looks like things are changing. Treecko has evolved into Grovyle, and has enjoyed a big evolution party. And Neil has assured Bayleef that she will have a big evolution party when she becomes Meganium.
Please review. Have you ever experienced a good friend grow up suddenly? What changes did you notice? How did you change as you grew up? By the way, Grovyle's Simon Says was based on Flashbeagle's Lucy Says.