Chapter 14 - The Stone Convention
The next day, we headed to the Goldenrod City Park for the evolution stone convention. I had both Flamefox and Firestorm out, as well as Eevee, walking with me. I could see how anxious Firestorm and Eevee were after I told them where we were going. They excitedly ran ahead of me, into the park, but Flamefox stayed at my side. I was so glad Flamefox decided he did not want to evolve. As I watched the other 2 running ahead of us, it made me realize how much I was going to miss them in their current forms. But this was what they truly wanted, and Professor Oak had told me at the beginning of my journey that putting your Pokemon's feelings first is very important. Besides, I'd never seen Firestorm and Eevee this excited before.
When we reached the park, there were dozens of people there with Pokemon that required evolution stones to evolve - Gloom, Poliwhirl, Weepinbell, Growlithe, and even a few other Eevees and Vulpixes. There were 3 seperate booths in the center of the park, each manned by one of the Eevee brothers. The first booth had fire stones, and it was being run by the brother with a Flareon. The second booth had thunder stones, and was being run by the brother with a Jolteon. The third booth with the water stones was being manned by the brother with a Vaporeon. I heard that there was a fourth brother, but he was too young to attend a stone convention yet. Anyway, Firestorm was waiting for me, with a big smile, by the fire stone booth. The brother working behind the booth said to me, "So, you want to evolve your Vulpixes! Smart move! Evolution is the ONLY way to go if you want to win!" I didn't like his attitude. I replied, "Evolution is NOT the only way to win. Raising your Pokemon to their fullest potential, to be the best they can be, is the best way to win! I'm only doing this for Firestorm because he wants to evolve. Flamefox doesn't want to evolve and I'm not going to force him to." He responded, "Come on! Imagine the power of 2 Ninetales! Oh, the power!" I answered him, "No. Flamefox was my first Pokemon, and he means a lot to me. I'm raising him to be the strongest Vulpix he can be! Firestorm wants to evolve, and once he does, I'll raise him to be the best Ninetales he can be! Winning isn't just about evolving your Pokemon!" I don't think he liked my attitude any more than I liked his. He gave me kind of a dirty look, and finally said, "Okay, it's your loss. Here you go. ONE fire stone!", as he reluctantly handed it to me. "Thank you" I said, insincerely. I would have liked to tell him off for being such a jerk, but I didn't want to ruin Firestorm's big day. I held the stone in my hand, and said, "Well, this is it, Firestorm. Are you absolutely positive this is what you want?" I looked him in the eyes, and his eyes were entranced by that fire stone. He looked at it in awe, as though I held his salvation in my hand. He nodded to me, and looked more certain about this decision than any other choice he had to make. "Okay, here you go" I said to him, and handed him the fire stone, and then I stood back with Flamefox and Eevee, and we watched. He held the stone in his two front paws, and soon he began to glow bright white, and he grew bigger. His height increased another foot and seven inches. Soon, the glowing stopped, and before us stood a gorgeous Ninetales, the sun shimmering on his golden/white fur as it swayed in the breeze, as did all nine of his tails and the thick hair on his head. "Firestorm?" I asked. He stepped forward and nodded. I looked into his now bright red eyes, and he looked so content, so at peace with himself. I petted his soft, golden/white mane. He now stood almost as tall as me. Flamefox walked up to his newly evolved brother. He showed no sign of jealousy at all. Instead, he looked happy for his brother. I was a little worried that evolving Firestorm might change his personality, but my concern faded when he started playing with Flamefox, just like they always did. I could see that he would never allow harm to come to his now smaller brother. One thing that did seem different about him was that he seemed a lot more confident in his abilities. He looked so regal and elegant that I thought it would be a shame to battle him and dirty him up. But I think he was more ready to go into battles at that moment than ever before. Anyhow, all of this excited Eevee, and she sprinted over to the water stone booth, and began "talking" with the Vaporeon there, as if telling him she would soon be like him. I walked over there with Flamefox and newly evolved Firestorm. The Vaporeon brother seemed much nicer than the Flareon brother. He said to me, "You're Eevee looks strong! She should make an even stronger Vaporeon!" I told him, "That's what she's always wanted. You should see her swim!" To that, he replied, "Then let's not make her wait any longer" and he handed me the water stone. I asked Eevee the same question I had asked Firestorm, "Are you sure this is what you want?" She had the same look in her eyes Firestorm had. She enthusiastically nodded, "Ee vee, ee vee!" I couldn't help thinking I was going to miss the odd little Eevee who couldn't pass a body of water without jumping into it. But this was her wish. So, I handed her the stone, then stood back with my Vulpix and Ninetales. She held the stone in her two front paws, just like Firestorm had, and her little body began to glow, and increased in size. She grew another 2 feet and 3 inches in height, and once the glowing stopped, there stood a beautiful, aqua-skinned Vaporeon, her fur replaced with smooth skin, a fin on her head and tail, with a fin around her neck that made her look like she was wearing a lace, and blue ridges going down her back, all the way to the end of her tail. "There you are - a Vaporeon!" the brother said. My Vaporeon was nose to nose with his, and then she came over to me and rubbed against me. "Vaporeon!" she said to me. "You're welcome!" I replied. Firestorm then walked over to rub against me and said, "Ninetales!" I replied, "You, too, Firestorm!" The 3 of us left the stone convention after that.
Firestorm used to be more distant, unlike Flamefox, and tended to walk behind us, or further away from us, than next to us. But now, he walked beside me, to my left side, as Flamefox walked to my right. It was like he had a newfound respect for me and felt like he was forever in my debt. Vaporeon was being the same way. I had all 3 Pokemon walking next to me, like my own personal body guards. I think that Firestorm and Vaporeon were finally truly happy.
There was a pond just up ahead, and I said to Vaporeon, "Why don't you go enjoy your new form for a while, Vaporeon, in the element you're meant for?" She excitedly ran for the water and dove in. She melted into the water, to the point that I couldn't even see her. Then she shot up from the water like a bullet, and dove back in. She was enjoying this! I sat in the grass next to the pond to watch her, with my Vulpix and Ninetales beside me. Suddenly, a voice came from behind us. "I didn't like your attitude back there. I don't like it when people disagree with me. I'm going to teach you a lesson about the power of evolution. I challenge you and your Vulpix to a battle!" It was the Flareon brother! I responded, "I may disagree with you about evolution being the only way to raise a champion Pokemon, but I'm not stupid! I know you're Flareon would be too powerful for my Vulpix to beat. I won't force him into a battle he can't win!" He said, "Okay, I'll raise your odds a little. I challenge you and your Ninetales!" I looked at Firestorm, then said, "But he just evolved. I don't think it's a good idea to make him battle so soon after evolving." He replied, "You're pathetic! You'll never make it as a Pokemon trainer. You may as well just quit now." I responded, "Watching out for my Pokemon's well-being is not pathetic. I..." Before I could finish, Firestorm had gotten in front of me, and stared down Flareon. "Are you ready to battle, Firestorm?" I asked him. He turned his head to look at me, and nodded, "Ninetales!" Then I said to the Flareon brother, "Okay, Firestorm accepts your challenge, and so do I!" He commanded, "Flareon, use smog!" His fire-eevee launched a black cloud from it's mouth. I couldn't see what was going on, and neither could Firestorm. Suddenly, I heard, "Flareon, use take down!" I shouted, "Firestorm, get out of there!" But he was so disoriented from the cloud, that he took a direct hit from Flareon. I saw him go crashing to the ground from the cloud of smoke. "Firestorm, no!" I yelled. The Flareon brother then shouted, "Use bite, Flareon, while it's down!" I watched as Flareon started to sink his teeth into my downed Ninetales. "Stop your Flareon! Firestorm is obviously not ready to battle him! I forfeit!" He came back with, "No way! You're not getting off that easy! I have a lesson to teach you. You disagreed with me, and now your Ninetales will pay the price!" I was stunned! This guy wasn't kidding. I didn't know what to do. Suddenly, Firestorm looked up at the attacking Flareon, and as he was about to bite again, Firestorm used confuse ray on him. Flareon became confused, and began biting himself! "Good job, Firestorm! Now get him with your body slam!" He thrust his body at the confused Flareon, causing him to crash to the ground! Flareon shook off his confusion. "Flareon, use your flamethrower!" commanded his trainer. "Firestorm, use yours, as well!" I commanded. Their streams of flames met, forming a ball of fire in the center. Flareon's flamethrower was intense, and the ball of flames started to move closer to Firestorm. "Firestorm, give it all you've got! I know you can do it! You're more powerful than ever before!" I shouted. His eyes glowed bright red, and his flames increased. Soon, the ball of flames was in the middle, then gradually worked its way towards Flareon, until Firestorm gave it a final thrust of intense flames, causing the ball of fire to hit Flareon, sending him flying backwards to the ground, defeated. "I don't believe it!" shouted the Flareon brother. "Way to go, Firestorm!" I shouted, and ran over to hug him. Firestorm was pretty beaten up, but he looked at me and smiled. He was clearly pleased with his new form. The Flareon brother recalled his Flareon, and said, "Your Ninetales is tougher than I thought. Maybe you'll make a good trainer after all." I angrily replied, "You would have killed my Ninetales just to get back at me for disagreeing with you! Your opinion doesn"t mean a thing to me! I'll be a great trainer, regardless of your opinion!" and I stormed off, with my Vulpix, Ninetales, and Vaporeon. We went back to Goldenrod City to visit the Pokemon center, where I had Nurse Joy treat Firestorm's wounds. "You did good back there, Firestorm. I'm proud of you. Thanks for standing up for me." He walked over to me and licked my face. I gave him a hug. Flamefox leapt into my arms, and I hugged both of them.
We returned to the pond from before, and I decided to take a little swim with my Vaporeon. She swam right next to me, and then she let me hold onto her while she swam. She was designed perfectly for the water, and gracefully glided right through it. She used the fin on her tail to propel herself forward in the water. She was now big enough for me to sit on her back while she swam, as well. The whole experience felt so mystical. After our little swim break, the 3 of us moved on ahead, to our next adventure.