Two seasons later, in early spring, when the forest was beginning to burst with greenery and new life, Yamper and Eevee were sitting nearby the river which formed the community's western boundary. The two pokémon were trying their best to catch fish pokémon. Yamper was better at the task, as she could subdue the water-types with ease. Over the winter, which had been wet with considerable snow, the two pokémon grew favorably, perhaps even on the cusp of being able to evolve by the summer from their play-fighting and training.

Eevee and Yamper were talking about heading back with their measly catch of three fish, as they weren't the best equipped biologically for this task. However, the two friends were distracted as they heard the noise of a tree branch cracking. It was sunny, and there was little wind, so some other external force had to be responsible for the noise.

"Let's check it out," Yamper said. The two pokémon rushed toward the sound.

Eevee began to hear a playful yet condescending voice harassing some other pokémon she couldn't distinguish. A high-pitch voice responded, and then an emphatic one muttered something after. The two friends parted through some high grasses, taking cover behind a thin bush to witness four pokémon in a narrow glade arguing. Eevee and Yamper suspected Impidimp to be a part of the fray, but what surprised them was they observed he was no more. Instead, a pokémon with scene black hair, a magenta upper half, and a green lower half replaced him. This was Impidimp's evolution, Morgrem.

"He evolved!" Yamper cried, her breath taken away. "Just now?"

"Must have been the case," Eevee said, staring at his odd new form.

An injured skwovet and an unscathed one stood near Toxel. A large branch freshly felled from a yew tree lay upon the ground nearby the three. Toxel appeared to have been on assignment to collect berries, and a tall bush with several bright green aguav berries grew a few feet from the conifer. It didn't take much brainwork to discover that the rodents, as they liked to do, tried to steal Toxel's berries.

"Get out of here," Morgrem told the rodent pokémon, waving his hand. "Unless you want to feel more pain." The goblin sounded more threatening now than as an impidimp.

The skwovet exchanged glances and fled, the injured one hobbling along until his healthy friend assisted him. They headed north, presumably toward the common area. Toxel was left to fend for herself. She grabbed one of the aguav berries the squirrels hadn't snatched and glowered at Morgrem.

"Are you trying to kill me?" she asked, raising her chin skyward. A malicious glint sparkled in her eyes. "I'll do you in really good."

"Oh…" Yamper said, "They've been told not to do this."

"They're going to," Eevee said. "They're ready to fight!"

"C'mon," Morgrem taunted, "Give me all you got!"

Toxel pressed the aguav berry into her mouth. A few seconds later, her response to his provocative words wasn't harmonious or pleasing to the eye. The poison-type vomited the berry, and it launched toward Morgrem in a big purple glob, landing in front of him. The fairy-type appeared repulsed at the belch, and he pinched his nose at the poisonous mass. "Disgusting!" he remarked.

"Should we… stop them?" Eevee mused.

"I've always wanted to see this," Yamper said, captivated by the fighting.

"What if they go too far?" Eevee asked.

"So be it," Yamper said. "It's not our battle."

Bug pokémon, like blipbug and grubbin, along with fliers like rookidee, were observing the battle from the nearby trees or hidden niches on the forest floor. None of them budged from their posts either. Most pokémon loved to watch a fight.

Morgrem retaliated by forming black tendrils of energy around himself. He hurled them at Toxel, who had not the speed to dodge them. She had been standing, but the attack caused her to fall. She cursed him as she wobbled upright again, and Morgrem laughed at her folly.

"See! You can't even attack me! One of mine, and you can't withstand it. Admit it, you baby, you're the weakest pokémon around!"

Toxel bristled from his words. She rubbed her forehead and cheeks and then proceeded to charge at Morgrem in response to his mocking. Once Toxel placed her electrified hands on him the fairy-type's body seized, and he cried out.

"Maybe that will shut you up," Toxel bit back, the electricity still wafting off her.

The morgrem was on all fours as if he couldn't recover from the paralysis. Toxel chuckled, and then Morgrem's hair flared out, becoming spikey in appearance like iron filaments clinging to a magnet. With his sharpened hair, he stabbed Toxel directly below her neck. The poison-type gasped as she fell to the ground, clutching where she had been stabbed.

Morgrem cackled this time, however, it was cut short as the paralysis stopped him. Toxel looked delirious, for she was on the cusp of fainting. On the ground, she cast out a stream of acid at the morgrem, who then hissed with pain as the poison assaulted his skin and prized hair.

"They aren't going to stop!" Eevee shouted.

Morgrem stood over Toxel. The goblin's movements were slowed from his status condition, but he was attempting to grab her arms and prevent her from retailing. Toxel feebly tried to defend herself by resisting Morgrem and blocking his blows.

Either the skwovet reported the skirmish, or the commotion caught the attention of the community's elite denizens. Arcanine and the fighters' guardian, Dragapult, raced into the clearing and their faces fell upon seeing the two dueling pokémon. Dragapult roared, distracting Morgrem for a second. Toxel made a noise, which sounded like a cross of relief and elation. Eevee was confused by the joyful sound the gravely wounded Toxel made, but within a few seconds her body turned brilliant white from head to foot. Morgrem let Toxel go instantly and backed away.

"Toxel! No!" Dragapult shouted, heading to the glowing form of the baby pokémon, who thankfully hadn't changed shape. Toxel remained white however, and Dragapult yelled, "Not yet! Not here! Please!"

Yamper whispered to Eevee, "Is Dragapult begging?"

Toxel's brilliant silhouette faded. She remained upon the ground, inert. The horrified look drained from Dragapult's face. Taking a breather, she took a long, pensive glance at the baby pokémon.

Arcanine restrained Morgrem by biting his hook-like hair. The dragapult looked at Morgrem and Toxel, shaking her head. The dragon's eyes darted from one adoptee to another, and her face retained a contemplative expression. Eevee knew that she was contacting the two community healers, who were both capable of communicating by telepathy. Within a few minutes, a gelatinous, green cell-like pokémon, Reuniclus, drifted into the clearing and floated to Toxel. He carried bandages as well as poultices of oran and sitrus berries in his hands. He applied the sitrus pack onto her chest to absorb into her skin, as she couldn't eat them since she fainted.

More community members—the second healer and the mothers of Eevee and Yamper—began to filter into the clearing. Morgrem got similar care, for a maid-like pokémon, Indeedee, tended to his wounds, using plenty of pecha and cheri berries during the treatment. Arcanine released his grip on the goblin to let Indeedee heal him. Unlike Toxel, Morgrem had five pokémon surrounding him if he wanted to try something. Vaporeon and Boltund, in addition to Arcanine and Dragapult, remained near him as sentries. The two canid mothers grimaced at both battlers, giving Morgrem a probing glance of disgust.

Dragapult floated closer to her fairy-type adoptee and announced, "It seems now, Morgrem, that you must leave this community."

"What about Toxel?" Boltund asked.

"She too. She's not innocent in this." Dragapult looked at Toxel lying upon the ground as Reuniclus tended her.

"You're disowning us?" Morgrem asked.

"No. I'm turning you loose," Dragapult said. "Admittedly, you two have been old enough… and now you're both strong enough."

"Well, Toxel isn't quite there," Boltund said.

Although Reuniclus was busy bandaging Toxel, he said, "She is. If she had marginally more strength, she would have disregarded Dragapult's plea. From here on out she'll try and evolve from any little scrape. She has been dreaming about it."

The eavesdropping Eevee and Yamper exchanged glances. "Where would they go?" Eevee asked.

"Since the ocean's to the east, they'd need to go west, to the wetlands."

"How will they cross the river? It's at flood stage, and neither can swim," Eevee pointed out.

"I'm sure Dragapult will see to that," Yamper answered.

All but Reuniclus, who was caring for Toxel, escorted Morgrem out of the glade.

"I know that you've been watching," the psychic-type said as he applied a compress to Toxel's forehead. "Come out, you two." He beckoned the hiding pokémon with his free arm.

Eevee and Yamper did as the elder instructed and moved past the low foliage that had been giving them cover. As they approached the reuniclus he asked, "Did you see the entire fight?"

"Mostly," Yamper said. "We came after we heard the branch snap." She looked up and over at the long branch of the yew tree lying on the grassy forest floor.

"Neither of you thought to intervene?"

Eevee glanced at her friend. Yamper said, "We figured given their record, we'd let them settle their differences."

Reuniclus regarded Eevee with suspicion. "She doesn't seem to feel that way."

"Well, Toxel is my friend, so I was concerned about her. It's like… after Morgrem attacked I couldn't help but keep watching," Eevee said, her ears falling.

"Now you understand the bystander effect," Reuniclus said.

"Which is?" Eevee asked.

"Well, since your friend and other onlookers" —he looked up into the nearby trees to spot other pokémon— "were with you, you did nothing to stop the fight, but if you were alone, you would have done something."

"It's too late to change that now," Yamper said, frowning.

"It is," Reuniclus said. "Although I can't blame you for not jumping in, Eevee. Morgrem might have tried taking you both on, and we'd be in even more of a predicament."

"Did Dragapult mean what she said?" Eevee asked.

"Of course. Morgrem will recover quickly, but when he does, he'll go. Once Toxel gets on her feet, so will she."

"Well, I'm glad for that. I was getting tired of their drama," Yamper said.

"See it from their view," Reuniclus said, "Both were trying to get approval from Dragapult. Their real parents aren't around to support them."

"Why ever take in two unruly pokémon in the first place?"

"Dragapult wanted to give them both an equal chance at survival. Although they will have characteristics of their individual species, it's a given, how they were raised might make them more tolerable than most."

"Really?" Yamper blurted out, her eyes bulging in disbelief.

Reuniclus smiled and wistfully said, "Meet a grimsnarl or a toxtricity who mingled with none other than their own."

Yamper averted her gaze from the healer to the forest floor. "I don't even want to think about that."

Eevee redirected the conversation and asked, "Can I speak to Toxel before she leaves?"

"I don't think Dragapult will mind," Reuniclus said. The psychic pokémon telepathically lifted the toxel, keeping her stiff to prevent aggravating her wounds. "I'm going to send her back to her den to rest. In the meanwhile, you can petition Dragapult."

Eevee nodded. She and Yamper watched as he and the toxel floated away toward the forest interior.

Yamper nudged her friend. "We should collect those fish we caught," the electric corgi said.

"I hope they're still there!" Eevee exclaimed as they raced back to their post on the riverbank.

"Drat," Yamper said as she skirted up and down the section of the river. "Something took them."

Eevee's face fell. "We should have expected so," the foxlike pokémon said. "Let's return to the commons."

When Eevee and Yamper returned to the dell that served as their meeting area, the two pokémon found it teeming with activity. The fray between Morgrem and Toxel was the topic of the afternoon, and by the looks of the pokémon there, many were glad to have the two unpopular pokémon set to depart.

"Where's Dragapult?" Eevee asked a ladybug-esque pokémon, Orbettle, who was floating about the common area. He typically lingered in the open glade to direct pokémon to certain tasks that needed attention.

"She was speaking with Morgrem. After his injuries have healed, she's going to take him over the river," he said.

Having been told the same by Reuniclus, Eevee and Yamper decided it was close enough to supper to eat their meal. Pokémon compiled food on the common grounds, and it was some pokemon's responsibility to gather berries, seeds, and plants, while others would be tasked to get fish. With the battle at the forefront of the pokemon's minds, Eevee and Yamper managed to get food without being inquired about the share they should have supplied.

Eevee, however, feeling bad about not bringing anything, convinced Yamper to catch more fish while they waited for news to transpire about Morgrem. Since the psychics in the community might find out about their freeloading, especially Reuniclus, they decided to lay low. The commons were within sight of the section of the river that they picked to fish. The initial excitement of the community calmed down, but as the afternoon became evening, many pokémon started to loiter in the glade.

Yamper and Eevee heeded the sign and returned to the commons with their five catches, depositing the fish upon their respective piles. Within ten minutes of their return to the commons, Yamper prodded Eevee and yelled, "Here they come!" Yamper directed her head north, pointing out the large, floating Dragapult ahead. Morgrem walked alongside her, with Arcanine and Reuniclus flanking them. The goblin's two feet tall figure was hard to find over the other pokémon gathered, but his brightly colored body distinguished him whenever a gap in the assembly formed. They headed toward the pokémon in the common area. This obvious display was done as confirmation that Morgrem was leaving and that everyone saw what would happen if one attacked fellow pokémon in the forest.

The majority of the pokémon followed the quartet as they headed toward the river. Morgrem appeared unfazed by his fate. If anything, he appeared proud and satisfied. Crossing the river meant he was unchained from community duties, and having learned plenty from his guardian, he could brave what lay across the river.

Dragapult took Morgrem into her small arms, holding him as she floated over it. Once she arrived on the opposite side, she placed him down. Eevee, standing on the opposite bank, pricked her ears up as she heard Dragapult say, "I can no longer protect you. You are on your own."

Morgrem smiled at her. "It's good to be on this side, and not with those gawking idiots," he said as he flicked his hair. He observed the pokémon on the opposite bank and waved at them. "I'll never see you again. Good riddance, you xenophobes!"

"One question," Dragapult said, "Before you go."

Morgrem cocked his head.

"Did you purposefully fight Toxel because you knew I would release you?"

"Oh…" he began. He snapped his fingers. "We've been wanting a fight. It's been a long time coming, you see."

"Conveniently you two did it at the cusp of evolving." Dragapult shrugged. "Your machinations always surprised me."

Morgrem grinned at Dragapult and bowed. "And you, ghostly matriarch, I wish to take you on eventually… and defeat you."

Dragapult inclined her head, her two residential dreepy squealing with concern. "I'll be ready," she said.

"Of course, of course…" he said with a malicious grin. He bolted into the bushes behind him, laughing. Dragapult watched him for a minute as he fled into the unknown land, and then she floated back to her comrades.

"When does Toxel leave?" Boltund asked, standing next to her mate.

"A few days after she heals. Morgrem needs to be given a good head start," Dragapult said.


Having discovered she could evolve, Toxel had been eager to leave despite her healing injuries. Hardly anyone could keep her in her den, and every time she left it, the community members made sure to repair her back to it. Dragapult gave all pokémon strict orders not to provoke her like she were a koffing contemplating using self-destruct.

Toxel personally asked Dragapult if she could fight her guardian to evoke her evolution. Eevee had heard the conversation as Dragapult shared the idea with a few pokémon later at night in the common area. Eevee's den was due south of the common area by a large oak tree. Hearing the voices, she crept out of the dwelling to hear the discussion. Accompanying Dragapult were Appletun, Reuniclus, Indeedee, and Yamper's mother, Boltund.

"She, a little toxel, wants to fight you!" Boltund cried. "She's out of her mind!"

"Toxel's looks are deceiving now," Appletun said, looking at each member of the crowd. "Her mindset has been drifting toward that of a toxtricity." He rolled his eyes. "As expected, we all knew this was going to happen eventually."

"It's still worrying to some," Indeedee remarked, "She might turn out worse than Morgrem!"

"It's possible… I know toxtricity have two forms, and one is particularly contentious," Dragapult said. "She's exhibiting traits from both forms: the amped and the low-end. I'm unsure which one she'll be."

Reuniclus said, "Not only that, but when she evolves, she'll have evolver's mania like a magikarp that became a gyrados."

"Why wasn't Morgrem as bad?" Boltund asked.

"His power jump wasn't as extreme," Reuniclus said. "She's going to evolve and she's going exact revenge. I've read her mind enough over the seasons."

"Same here," Indeedee said. "Have her leave not seeking revenge, but the other thing she thinks about." Indeedee looked at Reuniclus, who nodded and then at Dragapult who sighed with apprehension.

Dragapult said, "I don't enjoy knowing some poor water-type in the wetlands will be crippled once she picks one as an opponent. She knows from hearing what happened to Morgrem that I'll take her over the river. There, I'll battle her in the wetlands. As for her mania, it will be prevalent for some time until she adjusts to her new form."

Her mate's eyes widened. "You'll honor it?"

"What better way to make her reconsider her new strength than against me, a tough, ancient dragon compared to her half-dozen four-seasons? It'll knock sense into her," Dragapult said, "and she's going to need it!"


Two days after that night, and six since Morgrem's departure, Toxel received the same fate as her rival. Before she was to cross, Eevee approached Toxel at the riverbank to give her a curt farewell. Dragapult floated adjacent to the two friends. Eevee's parents, Yamper and her parents, along with most of the community watched with pointed interest to see her released.

Eevee asked, "Will this be the last time I see you?"

Toxel looked at Dragapult to obtain confirmation of her exile. The dragon offered Toxel a slight nod. Toxel said, "Yes, unless you intend to leave this forest."

"If I want to evolve as you will, I might need to leave my sedentary life," Eevee said.

"You will," Toxel said with a grin. "For moons curiosity kept me questioning when it would happen, but of course no one would encourage me. They'd hate to see me stronger." Eevee noted that Toxel glimpsed at everyone condescendingly except those she was closest to, who were Dragapult, Reuniclus, Appletun, and Eevee. The poison-type turned back to her friend and said, "Once you get a taste of that awesome power flowing through you in battle… you'll understand."

Toxel kept her signature soft smile on her face as she turned to Dragapult. "I'm ready," Toxel said.

"Farewell," Eevee said. Toxel's face clouded with a blank expression as she nodded.

Dragapult took the little poison-type into her short arms and she floated with Toxel across the river. The community murmured among themselves regarding the fact that Toxel would never be in their forest again. Once they crossed the river, Dragapult set Toxel down. "That's the last time anyone will pick you up without trying to attack you," the dragon said.

"I know," Toxel said, with a nostalgic hint in her voice.

"Let's go," Dragapult said. "I know you're ready."

Toxel didn't look back at those watching her leave. She wasted no time going into the lands beyond with Dragapult. Eevee and the community lost sight of the two as the foliage swallowed their figures. None had been permitted to watch the fight, but Eevee liked to imagine that she could hear it. The assembled community dissolved and returned to their usual tasks. Eevee, along with some pokémon bordering the river, under the pretext that they were fishing, saw the dragon reappear from the greenery on the opposite bank an hour later.

When the mighty dragapult returned, all noticed the faint bruising on her belly from the fray she agreed to. Her residential dreepy in her horns appeared pale with fatigue. The little dragons left their mother to seek Reuniclus.

Dragapult addressed the assembled pokémon surrounding her with a sigh. "She gave me her all, as I expected."

"Will they be the last outsiders?" Boltund, who lingered near Eevee, asked.

"Yes," the ghostly dragon confirmed. "They'll be the last two I ever take in. I hope they can brave the wilderness."

"You're sure they won't come back?" Boltund stressed.

"Why would they?" Eevee mused.

Dragapult looked at the two canids to indicate she heard them, but the dragon said nothing.