Chapter 6
"Eons"
"…Ash? Are you awake?"
"Mmmm…"
"…What time did you go to bed?"
"Mmmew……"
"…Pikapi?"
'…Ash?'
I dunno… I said finally.
I still hadn't bothered opening my eyes. I was tired. I wanted to sleep!
"Um…I guess…I'll leave you, huh?" Richie said finally.
Guess so… I mumbled.
"Okay…See you later, Ash."
"Pikachu."
'See ya.'
…Pikachu?
"Pikachu!"
'I'm hungry!'
Oh……
I put my head back down and fell asleep again.
* * *
"Ash! Wake up!!"
I jumped into wakefulness. I looked up to see Misty glaring at me from the doorway.
"That May girl is here. She wants to see you."
Oh……um……I'm kinda…
"Sleeping. Yeah. I know…Ash, do you have any idea what time it is?"
Umm……No?
"It's eleven o' clock. Now wake up!"
It's only eleven…?
"Ash!!"
Okay, okay…I'm awake… I said.
I sat up, and saw that I had been sleeping on the book……
"……Is that what kept you up all night?" Misty asked.
Guess so……
"…A book?"
Yeah.
"…You…?"
Wha…Yeah, me!! I know how to read!!
"Geez…Maybe you should get some more sleep……Well, I guess you can't do that, huh? Don't want to keep May waiting…"
Huh…?
I was too late. She had already left.
What is with her?
I glanced down at the book again.
'You'll never find what you're looking for'………How does that…person……know what I'm looking for, anyway…?
I picked up the book, somehow, and brought it downstairs with me. Mayo was sitting on the couch, with Eevee in her lap.
Hi, Mayo, I said wearily.
I then sat myself down on the couch next to her, set the book beside me, and almost dozed off.
"…Looks like somebody didn't get enough sleep…" she commented.
"Eev!"
'Right!'
…………What?
"Uh……Nevermind."
……Oh……Okay……
"………When did you go to bed?" she asked.
………What?
"Asha!"
What!?
"Uh……Nevermind……"
…Nevermind what?
"…………I was gonna ask you if you would help me start training Eevee, but………I guess now's not a good time?"
……Huh?
"…That answers my question……"
She eyed the book then picked it up and flipped through it.
"……Is this what kept you up all night?" she asked.
…Didn't you already ask that?
"No."
……I thought you did……
"…That was me."
I looked up. Misty was walking through the room.
…Misty?
"…What?"
There was something I needed to talk to her about……if only I could remember what it was……
Uh………
"………What are you guys doing, anyway?" Misty asked.
Um……What are we doing? I asked Mayo.
"Oh…um……I need some pointers on how to raise Eevee…It can evolve lots of different ways, right?…Which one is best?"
"Oh that's easy!" Misty replied, "Vaporeon's the best!"
You're just saying that because you like water Pokémon!
"Well……"
"……I think I want to evolve it into a Jolteon…but……"
…Why a Jolteon?
"Well……Electric Pokémon are really strong, right? I want Eevee to become as strong as your Pikachu, so Jolteon's the way to go, right?"
……It is if you want an electric Pokémon…
"……What about Flareon?" Misty asked.
"Flareon…?……I thought you liked water Pokémon…"
"I do! Um……Right, Ash?"
Yeah………Hey, Mayo, those aren't the only choices, you know…
"Huh?"
There's more. I found them in this book!
I took the book back from Mayo and started looking for those Pokémon again.
"…What's that book about, Ash?" Misty asked.
Uh…It's called "Pokémon Of Myth And Legend"…
"And………You're going to believe what it says about Eevee evolutions?"
………Yes.
"Are you sure that's a good-?"
Here they are!
I made sure Mayo could see. Misty was too far away though…
Misty, come here!
"Um……Okay…"
I showed both of them the Pokémon in the book.
There they are. Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Espeon, and eon. They're all supposedly "mythical" Pokémon.
"Wow……Vaporeon, too?" Misty asked.
Are you blind!?
Yeah. Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Espeon, and Umbreon…I just said that.
"…What elements are those other two?" Mayo asked.
Um……It says that Espeon is a psychic type…..and Umbreon is a……um……a dark type…
"I've never heard of a dark type before…" Misty said.
Me neither…Maybe that one really is mythical……but I think Espeon is real…
"What are you talking about, Ash? What makes you so sure?"
Well……This book says Gyarados isn't real, Starmie isn't real, Raichu isn't real, Moltres isn't real, Ninetales isn't real, Eevee isn't real……and it says that Mews aren't real…………If those aren't some good reasons, then……
"I guess……those are some good reasons……" Misty admitted.
"………Do you think Espeon would be a good choice?" Mayo asked.
I dunno…It's really up to you and Eevee to decide………Just remember that before you decide what to do, you should really ask Eevee what it thinks…It's decisions are even more important than yours……When I was thinking about evolving Pikachu, I asked it first, and it said it didn't want to, but if it had wanted to, I would have let it…You should do the same for Eevee. Let it decide what it wants to do…
Mayo was silent for a moment. She looked down at the Eevee in her lap and started petting it gently.
Misty smiled at me.
"The funny thing is, you knew that even before you became a Pokémon yourself…"
……That's not funny……No one asked me if I wanted to evolve……
"…You couldn't have evolved if you didn't want to, right? Just like Bulbasaur."
"………What was it like?" Mayo asked quietly.
Huh?
"…To evolve…?"
Huh!?………What was it…like…?
"Yeah…"
Umm………I……It's hard to……um………
What was it like? How am I supposed to……I guess I should be able to……
……It……It didn't hurt………It was kind of like……Like…there was some…power……that strengthened me and……um……I……It came from…inside of me……as if it had been there……forever………and it was finally ready to come out…………Did that make any sense?
"…Kind of……" Mayo said.
"………Was it a good feeling?" Misty asked.
Huh…?
"………You know what I mean…"
Umm……I don't know…It's kind of hard to remember……
"…That's okay Ash…uh………Right, May?"
"…Right," Mayo said.
Oh…Okay.
"Hm……What do you want to evolve into, Eevee…?" Mayo asked.
"Eee?"
'Evolve?'
I laughed. Eevee sounds like its not ready to evolve…
"That makes sense…" Misty nodded, "You just got it, right? Maybe it wants some time to get to know the way you train and think about the different options."
"Yeah…That sounds right…" Mayo said, "…Is that what you want to do, Eevee?"
"Eev!"
'Yep!'
"Okay then…We'll just have to wait."
Misty grinned slyly. "…Sounds like you're off to a better start than a certain Pokémon Master in the room……"
Huh!?
She just kept smiling, got up, and left the room.