The Path to Eterna

Kneeling down in front of Hawke, Chris gives his partner an Oran Berry to help to ease more of the pain. Dawn said that she wanted to have a quick look around Eterna Forest, so Chris told her to go on ahead while he tends to Hawke. The Mud Fish Pokémon sits to eat the berry, as his Trainer brushes the last of the dirt from its body. Once Chris finishes, he looks at his friend in the eyes. "Are you okay?"

Hawke finishes eating the berry, then nods at Chris. Chris gives the Marshtomp a couple of pats on the shoulder, before going to rise up to his feet. Hawke grabs onto Chris's hand before he can get all the way back to his feet, and looks into his eyes with a hopeful look in his own eyes. "Marsh, Marshtomp." He says as he tries to grab at Chris's shoulder.

"No, bud." Chris starts. "You aren't a Mudkip anymore. You're too big to be riding on my shoulder." His partner has a sad look in his eyes, as he looks to the ground. Chris can't help but feel sad about the facts, but decides to make a compromise. He turns his back on Hawke, before crouching back down. "Climb on my back, instead. You are still injured after all."

"Marsh!" The water/ground-type exclaims with a happy tone, as it climbs onto Chris's back.

This draws the attention of Chris's other partner. "Mon! Monferno..." Caesar says with jealousy.

"Oh don't be jealous, Caesar. Hawke's still in pain from the battle."

"Ferno..." Caesar says somewhat dejectedly, as he looks at Hawke with envy.

With his Marshtomp on his back, Chris and Caesar continue on down Route 205. After a few brief, and fairly easy Pokémon battles, Chris and his team set foot inside Eterna Forest. Once inside, they find Dawn waiting for them. "Chris!" She greets him with a wave as she joins him. She looks at Hawke with a look of concern in her face. "You alright back there, Hawke?"

"Marsh." Hawke responds with a nod. Chris takes a second to take in the landscape.

"When I was coming through this way last, there was a path that completely bypassed the forest." Chris says.

"Yeah," Dawn starts. "but according to a lady who owns a cabin back on Route 205, a tree had fallen, and is blocking that path now."

"I wouldn't have taken it anyway. There could be some worthwhile training to be done here." He takes a second to open up the town map app on his phone, and look through any information about the place. Something in particular catches his eye. "It says there's supposed to be some kind of stone in here that can help certain kinds of Pokémon evolve. I wonder if..." Chris cuts himself off, and activates his Poké Ball containing his Eevee. He summons the little fox-like Pokémon, and then kneels down in front of her. "Hey sweetie, is there something about this place that you feel like is calling to you."

The little one tilts her head to the side, before her nose starts to twitch. "Eev?" She says, as she turns to a certain direction in the forest. "Eevee!" She starts to take off.

Chris looks at Dawn, motioning with his head for her to follow him as he runs after his Pokémon. Chris manages to keep his eyes locked onto Eevee as to keep it from getting away from him. Right as Eevee is about to turn a corner, a String Shot is fired at it from some tall grass. She manages to avoid it, and Chris sees a wild Wurmple crawling its way out of the tall grass.

Chris sees the Wurmple about to fire off another String Shot, and reacts. "Eevee, use Quick Attack!" Eevee does as she's told, and speeds up to nail the Wurmple hard. Defeated, it scampers away from the party, and Chris kneels down next to Eevee. "Good girl." He says, as he scratches behind Eevee's ears. "So, what do you sense?"

"Eev." She responds, as she looks back towards the corner she was about to turn. Now walking, Eevee leads Chris and Dawn to a strange, moss covered rock. Chris stops to observe the rock, but his Eevee is compelled to approach it. She walks right up to the rock, and extends one of her paws onto it. In an instant, Eevee starts to glow with a familiar brilliant blue light. Her body starts to drastically change, the fluffy fur around her neck seeming to retract. Her tail grows into one long leaf-like shape, her legs become longer and seem to sprout blades of grass. Blades of grass also seem to sprout on her chest and behind her neck. And then her ears seem to take on the shape of leafs as well, along with another blade of grass sprouting on top of her head, as her hair seems to spike. Once the light fades, what was once Eevee now exclaims, "Leafeon!"

"So, Eevee evolves into Leafeon?" Dawn asks, as Chris pulls out his Pokédex.

As an image of Leafeon pops up on the device's screen, the robotic voice speaks. "Leafeon: the Verdant Pokémon. Although Leafeon doesn't like disputes, it will sharpen the leaf on its tail into a blade, and fight if it has to protect its friends."

Chris also notices that the data entry lists Leafeon as a grass-type. "So when an Eevee evolves, its type changes as well." He then looks at Dawn. "Professor Rowan saw Eevee first, and requested that I capture it. He says that Eevee is supposed to be able to evolve into several different forms. I wonder if they all have different types."

"Bidoof!" Chris then suddenly hears a wild Bidoof coming out of the tall grass, and charging his and Dawn's way.

Leafeon notices this as well, turning around to fire off a brand new attack at the wild Bidoof. Before it can get close to try and attack Chris, Leafeon fires off sharp-edged leaves at Bidoof. the leaves slash it, and scare it off. "Woah!" Chris says, as his Pokédex indicates that Leafeon has learned Razor Leaf. He puts the device away, and kneels down in front of Leafeon, his Marshtomp also climbing off his shoulders to stand by the grass-type. Chris rubs underneath his Pokémon's chin. "So, how are you feeling?"

"Leafeon!" His newly evolved friend exclaims happily.

Chris examines Leafeon's appearance, and it suddenly dawns on him what said appearance reminds him of. "I've never given you a name, have I?" Leafeon tilts her head to the side in curiosity. Chris smiles. "Welcome to the team... Zyra."

"Is it easy for you, coming up with nicknames?"

"Most of the time." Chris says, as he rises back to his feet and looks to Dawn. "I make sure to do it though, because it feels moral to me. Not like we just go around calling people human, after all."

Dawn chuckles at that one. "You make a good point. Maybe I should try to come up with nicknames."

Chris smiles. "Come on, let's keep going." He looks down at Zyra. "I'm gonna keep you out of your ball for a while." He then looks down at his Marstomp. "You feeling all better now, Hawke?" His partner nods, and he looks over to his Monferno. "Come on Caesar. I didn't tell you you could have a turn, but I'm going to give you one, anyway." Caesar lets out a happy sound, and Chris kneels down to allow him to climb onto his back.

Dawn giggles at this. "You've really built a great bond with those two."

Chris nods. "Yeah. I like to think that they're building a great bond with each other as well." Before they leave, Chris takes a picture on his phone of the moss-covered rock that his Leafeon touched to evolve.

Chris and Dawn continue on through Eterna Forest, observing Zyra marvel at the trees, plants, and bushes along the way. She's obviously found an enjoyment for nature after evolving into a grass-type. Her enthusiasm was more than just a little contagious to Dawn, as she stayed close to Zyra to take in the sights herself. Whilst Dawn stayed close by Zyra, Chris took his phone out to give Professor Rowan a call. "Hello Chris." The old man greets. "How has your day been?"

"Rather eventful, Professor." Chris says, as he rubs the side of Caesar's head. "I wanted to let you know that Eevee evolved."

"Has she really? Tell me how it happened."

"Well, I'm with Dawn in Eterna Forest, and I checked the Town Map for some information on the place. It indicated that there was supposedly some stone here that allowed certain breeds of Pokémon to evolve. I let Eevee out to see if she'd be drawn to it, and she led me right to it. Once she touched the stone, she evolved into a grass-type called Leafeon." He then opens up the pictures app on his phone, and sends it to Professor Rowan. "I sent you a picture of the rock, in case you wanted to see for yourself."

Rowan pauses for a second, and then makes a sound that indicates that he's received the picture. "I have it now." He says. "Very good work, my boy. If you happen to come upon any Eevee's in the future, would you be so kind as to see what other evolution methods they may have?"

"If that's what you'd like for me to do Professor, then that's what I'll do."

"Thank you for your assistance."

"Hey Chris," Dawn suddenly interrupts. "Who are you talking to?"

Chris moves the phone away from his mouth a bit, and responds. "Its the Professor, Dawn." He says before returning the phone back to his face.

"Tell him I said hi!" Dawn says.

Chris nods. "Hey Professor, Dawn says hi."

"The same girl from Lake Verity? You two are spending time together?"

"We are." Chris says, as he takes a second to admire Dawn's features.

"That is a rather different standing compared to when I first met you two at Verity."

"It's amazing how talking with someone can change your perspective of them."

"I must ask my boy: what of your childhood friend? I believe her name was Danielle, correct?"

"Yeah," Chris starts, as he begins to speak more quietly. "that's her name. What about her?"

"Well, I assumed you'd be focused entirely on her, as far as women are concerned."

"Professor, I want to find her. But I'm not about to make any assumptions that she's going to be the love of my life or anything. Forget about not knowing what kind of person she grew up to be, I don't even know if she even remembers me."

"From what you told me Chris, it seems reasonable to assume that the experience of you being ripped out of her life was just as traumatizing for her, as it was for you."

Chris sighs. "Maybe so. But... I'm finally being given the chance to live my life. So with that, there's just gonna be things that I wanna do."

"I understand my boy. Still, I know about your notebook. Don't lose sight of the reasons you started your journey."

Chris nods, as he knows the Professor is right about that. "I won't." He starts to notice that the sun is going down. "Dawn and I really need to pick up the pace if we're gonna make it to Eterna City before sundown."

"Very well, Chris. I will speak with you another time. Have a good night."

"You too Professor. I look forward to seeing you again." Chris hangs up the phone, and then hurries up to Dawn. "The Professor says hi, too." He then grabs Dawn's arm, and looks into her eyes. "We gotta get moving. Come on, Zyra!"

Dawn for her part, becomes completely flustered when Chris takes the lead like this. The two make a dash towards the end of Eterna Forest, only slowing down once they spot the abandoned Old Chateau, only just visible behind quite a few rows of trees. Once they have slowed down, Dawn overcomes the butterflies in her stomach with Chris, and looks into his eyes. "Ch-Chris. I want to battle you." She says.

Chris lets go of her arm. "Do you now?"

"Yeah. I do." She cracks a smile, and activates a Poké Ball. "I challenge you to a Pokémon battle, Chris Harper."

Chris nods, then starts walking backwards to make room. "Alright Dawn. You're on."

Once Chris has made more than enough distance between himself and Dawn, he activates a Poké Ball, and holds it up. "On the count of three, we throw out our first Pokémon." Dawn nods at him, and Chris begins to count. "1... 2... 3!" He and Dawn throw out their Pokémon. Chris throws out his Luxio named Skarr, and Dawn throws out her Kirlia. "May the best trainer win." Chris says.

Dawn cracks a smile, and overcomes her nerves to call out the first attack. "Kirlia, use Magical Leaf!" Kirlia's eyes start to glow, as it scatters some rather curious leaves that start to fly at Skarr. Skarr tries to run away from the leaves, but they change direction in an instant, then speed up and nail Skarr.

"Not bad. Skarr, use Bite!" Skarr quickly overcomes the damage, then darts towards Dawn's Kirlia to Bite it hard. Skarr keeps his jaws clamped onto Kirlia.

"Use Teleport to get away from it!" Dawn commands, as Kirlia vanishes out of Skarr's grasp, and then reappears behind it. "Now, Confusion!" On Dawn's command, a weak telekinetic strike lands a critical hit on Skarr.

"Keep it going Skarr, use Spark!"

As Skarr dashes towards Kirlia with electrical energy surging from his body, Dawn issues a counter-attack. "Kirlia, Magical Leaf!" Kirlia fires off more of the curious leaves at Skarr, who is running right at him with reckless abandon. Skarr cannot take the pain, and teeters out. He cannot continue the battle.

Chris sighs, and calls his Pokémon back. "You did good." He says as he deactivates Skarr's Poké Ball. He then looks over to his Leafeon. "Zyra, your up!" His newly evolved Pokémon nods, and then runs to take her place onto the field.

Dawn wastes no time. "Kirlia, use Confusion!" Kirlia's eyes start to glow.

Much to her chagrin, Chris doesn't waste any time either. "Sand-Attack!" Before Kirlia can fire off his attack, Zyra kicks sand right into his eyes. She has now created an opening, as the sudden surprise completely cancels out Kirlia's attack. Dawn gasps in some shock, before Chris goes back on the attack. "Use Tackle!" As fast as she can, Zyra charges right at Kirlia, and puts him down for the count with a big collision. "Great job, Zyra!" Chris says in excitement.

Dawn calls back her defeated Kirlia, then looks at Chris with a smile on her face. She sees that Chris has taken to battling with ease, and she has no doubt that all the experiences in his life have taught him to keep a level head when put in a situation like going down a team member. She readies her second Poké Ball. "It's not over yet, Chris! Go Staravia!" Dawn throws her ball, and out comes her own Staravia. It stares down Zyra from above, but not for long.

"Zyra, come on back!" Chris recall his Pokémon back into her ball, and then activates one of his other Poké Balls. "Mirror match." He states, before throwing the ball. "Ikaros, take to the air!" He exclaims, as his own Staravia emerges from her ball. The identical bird Pokémon lock eyes in the air, and prepare for their orders.

"Staravia, use Tackle!" Dawn commands.

"Ikaros, Quick Attack!" Chris's Staravia picks up substantial speed, and collides head on with Dawn's. Ikaros's extra speed from Quick Attack gives it the edge in the collision. Even still, Dawn's Staravia avoids hitting the ground. "Now, use Wing Attack!" Chris commands.

"You use Wing Attack too, Staravia!" Both birds charge right at each other, and their attacks end up in a stalemate. "Keep going, Staravia!" Dawn's Staravia continues to use wing attack, until it finally manages to slip one through Ikaros's guard. As Ikaros goes careening down to the ground, she manages to regain her composure, and land on her feet. Dawn doesn't let up. "Now, use Quick Attack!"

"Whirlwind!" Chris calls out, and Ikaros gets her wings going just in time to completely negate Dawn's Staravia's Quick Attack. "Now, use Wing Attack!" While Dawn's Staravia struggles to get its flight under control, Ikaros charges in and nails it for massive damage with Wing Attack, taking it out of the battle.

Dawn looks down at her defeated Staravia, brushing her fingertips along her two remaining Poké Balls as she does. Suddenly, she lets out a sigh. "You've got me, Chris." She states, as she calls her Staravia back to its ball. "My Grotle probably doesn't stand a chance with the type disadvantage. I'd rather not send him out just to lose."

While Chris wasn't really a big fan of quitters, he knew enough about Dawn to know that she loves that Grotle of hers. "I understand." Chris calls back Ikaros back, and then steps up to Dawn. "But it looks like you have one other Pokémon you could use."

Dawn pulls her other Poké Ball off her belt, and then addresses what lies within. "Yeah, but... it's just a Magikarp. I don't even know why I caught it really. The only useful move it knows it Tackle."

Chris hears the name Magikarp, and immediately knows what Dawn is currently sleeping on. He remembers seeing the match that the Champion of both Kanto and Johto had to become champion, and how much of a unit his Gyarados was. Then he found out in school that Magikarp evolves into Gyarados. "Train it." He tells Dawn. She looks up at him with pure confusion in her eyes. "Trust me. It might be a pain to do so, but you'll want to train Magikarp."

Dawn can tell just by looking in Chris's eyes that he knows something she doesn't. She smiles, then puts the ball back on her belt. "I'll do that." She then takes in the scenery around her, and they both realize that the sun has gone down. "Oh shit. We need to get moving."

"Eterna City should be just up ahead." Chris states. "Let's go."

After a short trip through the remainder of Route 205, Dawn and Chris arrive at the lights of Eterna City. With all the flower gardens and trees seamlessly find a place among the hustle and bustle of the big city. They agreed to split on a two bed hotel room for the night, and were pleasantly surprised with how clean it was. Since they had eaten lunch together earlier in the day, they went out to a restaurant for dinner as well. Because Chris went running off to Valley Windworks and accidentally left Dawn no choice but to pay the entire bill, Chris paid the bill on dinner as an apology. Dawn seemed to accept the apology, as she pulled his lips down to hers the second the door of their hotel room was closed after dinner.

At about three in the morning, Chris woke up naked in bed, with Dawn's head resting on his chest as she cuddled up naked to him. As much as the excitement that feeling built up in him was hard to resist, he felt the urge to smoke a cigarette. He carefully got out of bed, trying to be as quiet as he could. Dawn didn't know that he smoked. His efforts weren't enough however, as Dawn woke up at his motion. "Hey," She said, before he could put her head down onto the pillow. "You okay?"

Chris kept his tone completely calm. "Yeah. Just a little cramp in my leg." He lies. "I'm gonna take a short walk."

"Okay." Dawn says softly, before leaning up to kiss him. Chris kisses her back, then heads over to his bag by his clothes. He puts his clothes on, then as quickly as he can to avoid suspicion, he grabs his room card, Marlboro pack, and lighter, then heads outside. He steps outside the lobby, and lights the cigarette to take his first drag. He starts to head out to the street as he smokes, and unlike when he first passed through Eterna City, he takes a moment to stop and have a look around. He also decides that his partner should have a chance to look around as well, and activates Hawke's Poké Ball so he can share the moment.

It is at this moment that a Team Galactic grunt makes his unwanted presence known. "Hey you!" The light-blue bowl cut says, as he stomps his way over to Chris. "Yeah, you, Trainer!" He shouts once he has Chris's attention. He then gets a good look at the six-foot tall, muscular trainer standing before him, as well as his Marshtomp partner who's giving him a death glare. "Uh... Never mind. You look tough. I won't take... Um, I'll just let you keep your Pokémon."

He goes to say another word, but Chris's own death stare scares him to complete silence. "Excuse me?!" Chris says, as his now booming voice causes the grunt to turn and run away. Chris briefly considers chasing after him, but instead watches where he's going. He runs off to some strange looking building with a yellow ring spinning around it. Chris thinks about breaking in, but then remembers what time it is. "Tomorrow morning." He simply states, as he finishes his cigarette, and returns to bed with Dawn.

I don't know if I've pointed this out already or not, but I have my own original teams that I've given each of the rivals. The exception is Barry, who only has one team member switched out for a different Pokémon.