Stories were exchanged and nerves were settled as the cave finally calmed down after such a hectic evening. Unfortunately, not many answers were known about Andre's situation. No one had ever seen a Pokemon display traits of two evolutions, much less those with such opposing energies. The glowing yellow ring of an Umbreon and the shining red gemstone of an Espeon. Neither Andre nor Sasha had ever seen Honchkrow so perplexed.
"Have you tried to use any psychic or dark abilities? What did they feel like? Oh, I've always wanted to try telekinesis, it would make stealing stuff from your Dragonite's hoard of a room so much easier!" Sasha hit Andre with a barrage of questions, not even giving him a second to respond.
Andre bopped her on the snout to slow her down. "No, I- well kinda. I made myself float on accident but that ended with me slamming into the alley floor. And I think I felt a dark pulse by the river? I couldn't tell 'cause the sun was already- Wait did you say you stole stuff from my room?!"
The two locked eyes before Sasha took off, slithering circles around the room, Andre sprinting after her. "What did you take?! Oh it better not have been my sword-shaped stick that I found that's my favorite stick! Or was it one of my bottle caps!" Sasha was able to outpace and dodge Andre's every attempt to capture her, and Honchkrow was unable to catch either or talk them out of their pursuit. Eventually, they began to tire and Andre surrendered the chase and, exhausted, lay down on the pile of leaves meant to represent a chair or couch.
The dull headache had returned as Andre panted, catching his breath. He winced slightly but did his best not to show his discomfort. Luckily everyone's attention seemed to have shifted to Doublade.
"So what will you do now? Do you have a home to return to? Pokemon who might be looking for you?" Honchkrow calmly asked the Doublade.
The calmer of the voices was the one to respond. "Unfortunately the only Pokemon looking for us are likely the ones you stole us from. As for home, we don't have anywhere to return to."
Saber spoke up. "We hope to stay near the brown one, for he freed us from the mutts."
Honchkrow pondered for a moment before giving her response. "We don't have any extra rooms but so long as you are alright sleeping out here with me I see no reason for us to part ways."
"Very well! We thank you for your hospitality and hope that we may be of service to you all!" Saber spoke with reverence as if they were addressing royalty. "Ah! In all the… excitement… we neglected to make introductions! I am called Saber and my other half is named Épée."
Taken aback by the sudden formality, Honchkrow did their best to reciprocate. "A-ah yes, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. This is Andre, Sasha, and you may call me Honchkrow."
Épée was caught off guard. "You use your species name while the others use their given names? Why is this?"
"I- well, see it's a long story and-"
Sasha interrupted Honchkrow's stumbling with a question of her own. "So you're one Pokemon but you have two names and, I guess like, two souls or something? How does that work? Are you two Pokemon or one? What kind of relationship do you guys have?"
"Sasha, will you let them answer one question before jumping to the next? And don't you think some of those are a bit personal?" Andre interrupted the barrage and looked to Doublade. "But I agree, I wanna know what your deal is."
The two eyes of Doublade looked to each other. Épée was the first to speak up. "It's a sort of complicated situation. We're one Pokemon but two souls. For the most part, we are two separate beings, like how we each control our own blade and ribbon. However, we can feel each other's physical state and emotions, even if we are not in the sheath or even in the same location. Oh, that's another point. We can disconnect ourselves from the sheath but when we do, we can't really move so we always hold onto it with our ribbons. As for your question about our relationship, we view each other as siblings. Does that satisfy your curiosity?"
Andre and Sasha looked at each other and with a nod, agreed that they were satisfied, for now at least. With the questions surrounding their new guest taken care of, attention turned back to Andre, though it was not a welcome shift for him. They now had the task of figuring out what was happening with his evolution.
Ideas were tossed around, some better than others. Andre rolled his eyes at the suggestion that he just so happened to touch a sunstone and a moonstone simultaneously without noticing. Aside from the nigh impossibility of that coincidence, he would have only reacted to one. Not to mention evolution stones were a rarity already so randomly finding two and not seeing them was virtually impossible. With that and many other suggestions squashed, the four were at a loss for ideas.
"Well, that leaves us with one option. Andre, you must go into the city and seek out someone who may know more. Not many psychic Pokemon live in Windy Hill, but it is worth a shot." Honchkrow spoke with their usual poise.
Andre muttered. "Guess that means I'm going there alone, again." He slumped his head on the table with a sigh. The others refused to go into the city during the day and anyone who would know anything wouldn't likely be around during the night time. Except maybe… Andre perked up quickly. "Wait! I might know someone who can tell us more and judging by how tired she looked, she's probably around late at night too! You guys can come with me!"
Sasha and Honchkrow looked at each other, hesitating a bit. Neither had good memories of going into the city. However, they also hated to see Andre go there alone, and he seemed so excited for them to tag along. Honchkrow opened their beak to reply, but Sasha was faster. "Yeah let's go together! It'll be like we're on a mission but we don't have to worry about some grumpy client telling us what to do!"
The crescent moon showed dim overhead, barely illuminating the way to Windy Hill. Exiting the forest into the open plains, the four made their way to the city of bricks and stone. Despite their larger silhouette, Honchkrow was able to keep to shadows surprisingly well, and navigating the city streets was a breeze for Andre. They had to take some longer routes due to patrolling rescue officers, but they eventually made their way to a small corner store. It was one of few shops still open this late at night. Behind the counter sat an exhausted-looking Hypno with bags under her eyes. She barely turned to acknowledge the group, waiting for them to pick what they wanted. To her surprise, they were there for her. It was quite a surprise to see a young-looking Eevee accompanied by an Ekans, Honchkrow, and Doublade.
"You know about psychic power right? That's what you told me yesterday. Well, what do you know about Espeons? How do they evolve?" Andre berated the clerk with questions, forgetting that he often admonished Sasha for doing the same.
The Hypno wore a mixture of shock, confusion, and a hint of fear across her face. "Uh, well- yeah I know about that stuff but uh, young one, I must say you keep strange company."
Andre's brow lowered. "What's that supposed to mean? Something wrong with my friends?"
"No- no it's… nothing." She hastily changed the topic. " A-As for your questions, Espeons often evolve due to exposure to psionic energy or a natural affinity for such power. However, those who are lucky enough to find a sunstone can also evolve. This is pretty standard stuff and you seem to have begun the process already so I'm not sure what else you want from me."
"I want to know why I'm evolving like this! You're the only psychic type I've ever seen in Windy Hill and as soon as I left your shop I started floating in the air and turning into an Espeon. I don't have any 'grand psychic power' so explain th…" Andre's voice trailed off as his mind wandered to what he was carrying. Items containing psychic power. Quickly he took the small satchel off of his back and dug through it until he found the two split ends of the stick he broke the day before. Slowly, he placed the two pieces on the counter for Hypno to inspect.
"Ah, now this feels familiar. Yes, you had this with you the last time we met. This was once the wand of a powerful witch, one with a particular knack for pyromancy if the charring of the wood is any indication." The instant she laid her eyes on the shards, Hypno's eyes widened and a sort of wonder pushed away the deadpan exhaustion that shrouded her earlier. "There are only traces of power left in these fragments. Even the remnants clinging to the wood contain more energy than I. Oh, what I would have given to see this when it was whole."
She paused her excitement for a moment and looked at Andre, then to Honchkrow, Sasha, and Doublade. "How did you get your hands on something this potent? I doubt a witch capable of wielding this kind of magic would just give it away, much less to you all."
Andre became agitated all over again. He barked the Hypno, asking what she knew about them, saying that they very well could have a friend like that. She swiftly retorted by pointing out how they barged into her shop in the dead of night and commented on their criminal aura. No self-respecting witch would associate with the likes of them. Very quickly, the two devolved into screaming at one another, interrupting and yelling over whatever comments or arguments were being made.
Honchkrow tried to speak up and calm them down, but nothing she could say would stop the shouting. Even pushing her way between the two was ineffective as Andre jumped on her back to get on the same height as the Hypno. Craning her neck to look back at Andre, her good eye widened and her pupil shrank. She watched inky black fur spread across his right shoulder and creep up his neck. It covered his throat and whisps drifted to his cheek before halting as the golden ring on his forehead began to glow with an eerie light.
These changes went unnoticed by Hypno and Andre, who were engrossed in their screaming match. As Andre drew in another breath to continue his barrage, he finally heard some of what Hypno was shouting at him. "You're all just wild Pokemon trying to look and act civilized! Well, you don't fool me! You can't just crawl out of the woods and act like you belong here. So why don't you tuck your tails like good Lillpups and whimper back to whatever hole you call home."
For the first time, Andre was speechless. His eyes trembled and his vision blurred. What was happening? What was this wet, damp feeling streaming down his face? Tears. Slow at first but picking up in pace. He felt like someone was squeezing his heart and his head pounded with thoughts trying to escape, swirling in his head and building pressure. Andre closed his eyes for only a moment. His brow furrowed, his teeth bared, and every muscle in his body tensed. He hadn't even noticed his claws beginning to dig into Honchkrow's feathers and scratching their back. Time felt as if it stood still, his anger building more and more, rage taking over, heart being squeezed, thoughts building pressure, more and more and more until!
He snapped.
Unfettered dark power flowed forth with every word as Andre snarled. "You pompous, arrogant, self-righteous PRICK! You don't know anything about me! About us! All you city 'mons are the same, thinking you're better than everyone just because you live in some fancy brick box! You don't get to treat me like garbage! I'm not some Trubish you step on in the street! I'm not wild!"
His voice faltered, cracking as he ran out of steam. The tears began to flow freely again and he had to steady himself to stop from falling off Honchkrow's back. Andre's eyes were squeezed shut as he sniffled, wishing he could just curl up and disappear.
Sasha didn't burden him with reclaiming the shards of the wand that sat on the counter. Honchkrow let him rest upon their back as the group slinked out the door into the cool night air. Saber and Épée refrained from mentioning the unconscious Hypno who sat slumped against the wall. Unfortunately, they couldn't let Andre rest for long, as the city streets were still swarming with rescue team patrols, and there was one more place Honchkrow wanted to visit before the sun rose over the brick landscape once more.