Zubat, Golbat, and Crobat

As the sun began to cross the horizon, Zubat woke up. He didn't open his eyes, though. He never opened his eyes. His ears and sonar voice told him everything that he needed to know. What he found out for the moment was that he was still in the shadows of an old rundown barn. A difference in warmth told him that the sun was coming close to his location, something he didn't like. But an older member of his kind, a Golbat, was hanging next to him, blocking the light from reaching his more sensitive skin.

Zubat stretched his wings out to help wake himself fully. "Hey, thanks man."

"No problem, man. You think you can find your flock?"

"Pretty sure. Once I find some landmark, I should be able to find the cave, at least."

Golbat, who did have full use of his eyes and sonar, looked around the countryside. Farmland was all around them, fields full of wheat, soybeans, and corn. The barn they had spent the day in was abandoned and falling apart, but other buildings around were in better shape. From memory, he could name off twenty or so small caves that the young one could have come from. But he needed something to help Zubat become un-lost.

He rubbed an itchy spot on his nose with his wing tip, then pointed out to the northeast. "There's a group of three grain silos out that way a couple of miles. That any help?"

Zubat checked to hear which direction Golbat was pointing in, then nodded. "Three grain silos? Yeah, I think I know which ones you mean. We hunt around there sometimes. I can find my way back from there."

"Good. Well, you've got a little while before the sun fades. I'll hang out so nothing tries to snag you while you're alone."

"Right, they would once I was by myself. I got lucky last night in finding you before dawn."

"S'alright, man. No biggie."

Then, quite to their surprise, another one of their kind came flying over the roof. This one slowed abruptly, sending it into a couple of aerial somersaults to turn around and face them while hovering upside down. "S'up, dudes? Mind if I hang out and rest my wings for a bit?"

"Nah, we're waiting on the sun to drop anyhow."

Zubat was quite awed. "Hey, you're an actual Crobat, man!"

Crobat flipped around and clamped his lower wings onto the underside of the barn structure. "Sure am, little dude. I come from far off, by the western sea."

"Wow, I never thought I'd actually meet one of you. Almost nobody can evolve that far."

Crobat shrugged. "Well almost nobody means somebody has to, am I right?"

"So how do you get that far, man? Is it like some super hard quest of the gods?"

He laughed. "No, thankfully not that. You got dreams to fly this far, little dude?"

Zubat flipped his wings excitedly, almost falling off. "Well yeah! I want to be that awesome."

Golbat snickered at the near-accident. Then he added, "I've wondered that myself. I thought about it real hard, but can't seem to figure it out. It's not about getting real powerful like the other Pokemon 'round these parts, cause some of my kin can fight off a Tauros, but can't evolve."

Crobat nodded sagely. "Well, you're right, we ain't like that. It's a personal journey, dude, in order to get to this point. The inward instead of the outward, if you get my drift. You've got to take a good hard look at yourself and figure out who you really are and what truly makes you happy. It is hard; the answers will escape you at first, leaving you with more questions and uncertainty. But then there is that magic moment where you realize the simple truth and that's when you can evolve into a bat like me."

Golbat frowned. "Well if it is a simple truth, how come more of us don't evolve? And what is that truth?"

"Sorry, can't tell you."

"Is it one of the secrets of the universe?" Zubat asked, timid now.

Crobat laughed warmly and tapped the young one. "Dude, you've got some serious dreaming going on in your head! I ain't sure about that. The truth seems to be slightly different for each one that reaches this point. At least, mine wasn't quite like the other Crobat I met a year back. But keep on dreaming; it's a good sign that you might fly up to my level someday."

"Oh, okay. So what're you doing around here, man? You said you were from the sea."

"Well I heard it said that the Shellos of the west coast have different tasting blood than the Shellos of the east coast. Now Shellos aren't exactly the greatest meal in the world, yeah, but I've been wondering if that's true. I've lived on the west coast forever, it seems, so I'm flying out to the east coast to find that truth."

"I've heard about that too," Golbat said. "But I'm not sure it's worth flying a great distance just to sample the blood of a Shellos."

"Come on, dude, where's your sense of adventure? I'm sure there'll be other Pokemon I've never tasted before too, so I think it's worth the trip."

Golbat shook his head. "Nah, there's plenty of farm Pokemon around here, so I know there'll always be a meal. And if I get lucky, I can take the blood of a human. Now that's some good stuff."

"Oh, I'll agree with you on that. But humans are a dangerous prey to mess with. They got tools that'll mess you up far more than any Pokemon could. And the Pokemon will usually fight you back alone. The humans will bring up other Pokemon and stomp you flat."

"I wouldn't know about that," Zubat said. "I only eat microbugs right now."

"That's fine, you're just a little dude right now. But if you ever get the urge to try later on, make sure to confuse 'em real good. Or better yet, get them asleep."

"But make sure they're not confused in the first place," Golbat advised. "I did that once and her blood tasted funny. And then I was all funny in the head all evening, not flying straight and laughing at every stupid little thing. Then in the morning, ugh, it makes me queasy just thinking about that morning after."

Crobat snickered. "That's called being drunk, dude. The human probably had too many beers that evening. You can tell cause they smell like it."

"Whoa, okay, I'll keep that in mind." Zubat stretched his wings out again; he sensed that the warm areas were cooling down, a sign that the sun was completely down. "Well we've got to find my flock now. Goodbye, Crobat."

Crobat stretched out one of his main wings. "Bye, little Zubat dude."

…

Sapphire entry: Zubat avoids sunlight because exposure causes it to become unhealthy. During the daytime, it stays in caves or under the eaves of old houses, sleeping while hanging upside down.

Ruby entry: Golbat loves to drink the blood of living things. It is particularly active in the pitch black of night. This Pokemon flits around in the night skies, seeking fresh blood.

Crobat Pearl entry: A Pokémon that gained vastly enhanced flying performance by having its legs turn into wings.

Microbug is my term for insects that are not Pokemon: fleas, mosquitoes, flies, beetles, normal 'bugs' for us. I imagine that you couldn't catch them in Pokeballs (and wouldn't want to, anyhow). And Crobat is the hundredth Pokemon I covered!