Hello again everyone! I just had several papers due, which means that I had more free time today to write this for you guys. Hope you're all having a good week so far, and enjoy the chapter!

Teraunce: Thanks! The moss stone was a very obvious Chekhov's gun, I must admit.

Guest: I'm glad you like it! I plan to continue it for a while. I'm not sure on your request though, I might do it so that Tobias has a foil other than Joshua, or I might not to differentiate it from my other stories,

Wizpig12321: As I said in reply to Teraunce, it was a very obvious example of Chekhov's gun. The evolution choice came about in two ways. For one, if you were to go down my list of favorite pokemon you would see Glaceon, Umbreon, Leafeon. For another, it fits the story very well. I kind of built towards it both bottom up and top down.

Altar699: I always love to get positive feedback. I'm assuming you mean upload instead of download.

I could feel the eyes staring at me. Everyone was silent, motionless, the still eventually broken by a small pop. The Alakazam had arrived. It stood in place, joining the silence. I was scared. Were they just going to attack me? I had no clue what new abilities I might have gained when evolving, but I doubted I could fight off this many combattants.

On to the story!

The standoff continued for a few minutes before the Alakazam spoke. Not his usual telepathy, he actually spoke this time. "I told you the boy was unstable. He did not think, and he was defeated."

The Houndoom growled. "I asked-" He started, but was not allowed to finish.

The Alakazam's eyes flared purple, and Joshua groaned, signifying his waking. "I do not care. You ignored my advice, and you have paid the price. I trust it will not happen again." The Alakazam said, and with that, he vanished, another pop signifying his departure.

The Houndoom was visibly angered. "Let's go." He said through gritted teeth.

A faceless voice from among the encircling pokemon arose. "What of the once humans?"

The Houndoom glared at me. "Joshua failed, and this one is too soft. Leave them, for now. But if you ever see them again, don't hesitate to kill them."

The surrounding group filed away, until the Houndoom was the only one left. He rounded on Joshua, who had gotten back on his feet. Joshua seemed to shrink down, making himself smaller as the larger pokemon approached.

The Houndoom growled the words, barely audible to me. "I don't want to ever see you again. You're weak. You lost to someone who is weak. You're nothing."

Joshua didn't react. He just stood there, staring blankly. The Houndoom then left, just turned and walked away, leaving us alone.

"It's all your damn fault." Joshua said.

I grimaced. "Don't act like a child, blaming someone else for your failings. You lost because you didn't think, and lost yourself to your own aggression." I gazed down at him, conflicted emotions coursing through my mind. Hate and pity were hard to express at the same time.

"I had a chance at being truly appreciated for being me. I never had that as a human. Your dad this, your trust fund that. Bullshit, all of it!" He shouted the last sentence. He was visibly crying now, tears dripping from his face. "I'd rather be like this than be human. Humans are the real animals."

I felt vindicated, my bully had a worse experience of life than I did. "You're a fool, then." I said. "An animal cannot feel compassion the way a human can. You see the worst in people, try and see the best for once."

I turned to walk away. He didn't move to stop me, so I set off. I had taken only two steps before he spoke. "I'm sorry."

The words were quiet, but unmistakable. I looked back towards him. "I'm sorry." He repeated, stronger this time. "I thought you were weak because you saved me. I told myself that you were a fucking idiot for helping me. But I was so, so wrong, and I think I see that now." He took a step towards me. "You're stronger than I could ever be, because you were willing to let me redeem myself, and I fucked it up."

I raised my eyebrows. "And how much of that do you actually believe?" I asked.

"Less than half." He replied.

I sighed. Hopefully this wouldn't come back to bite me like it had last time. "It's a start. Follow me, I guess."

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"I dunno." I replied. "Somewhere away from the people who want us dead."

"I'm down for that." He replied, frowning.

We set off, walking in the direction opposite the way the Houndoom had gone. Joshua kept behind me, silent as we walked. I tried to focus on my motions. My actions felt fluid, practiced, yet I had only just changed. It was as if evolution had planted the knowledge in my mind, much unlike the transition between human and pokemon.

This is truly the opposite of what I had wanted for myself. Along that line of thought, what was my true self at this point? If I had evolved and adjusted this quickly, could I still say that my real form was human? Was this body any less real? I had never been big on philosophy, but the thoughts pressed upon my mind, inescapable, consuming my conscience.

It crossed my mind to ask Joshua for his opinion on the matter, but I quickly put that thought to rest. More likely he would laugh me off than give an honest response. I still didn't know why I decided to give him a second chance. It was spur of the moment more than anything.

It was the thought of my mom that pulled me back to reality, grounding my thoughts. This was at least the fourth day I had been gone. I thought of her, waiting for me to come home, and I felt sorry. It was a paradoxical sorry, I had no hand in this change, and yet I felt the need to apologise, as if it was all my fault. My fault that I vanished, my fault that I had been changed, my fault I evolved.

I knew it wasn't true, but then why did it feel as though it was?

The being floated above the forest, mentally observing the two that it had changed. The Growlithe was internally seething because it had lost its fight, but still had gained respect for the other. The newly evolved Leafeon was thinking of it's past, getting all sappy and philosophical. The being delighted in having knowledge others didn't, and what the Leafeon didn't know was that he had been kept in stasis for months. Even if he found a way to return to a human form his mind would shatter at the shock. It was too late for him.