Chapter 62; a new path forward, bond evolution
Team rocket admin Archer found himself caught by surprise many times during the car ride to the coordinates the survivor had given them.
Throughout the ride, they were stopped by the cops twice for speeding, which had him sweating bullets. One of the female grunts riding along charmed the male officer the second time into letting them go without a ticket. It was fortunate but it showed Archer a lot.
His long stay in the hideout had made him relax. Drop his guard. Thinking that just because they were in the shadows no one could see them.
But when a shadow moves it is only natural someone would notice it. If they were looking for it.
Team Sonic was doing that every thing. They were chasing shadows. And they were winning. They were winning hard.
The grunts, as Ariana had foreseen, had almost started a riot when he ordered a team assemble to retrieve the survivor. Archer had given a speech as to boost their morale, convincing them temporarily that they were not out of this yet. Twice they had clashed with team Sonic and twice they had lost but survived.
"We persevered this long. Let's persevere a little more. Those who remain loyal will be the ones most rewarded when the boss returns. And when he does, we will be safe once again. Safe from the menace that is Sonic the hedgehog".
Yes. Sonic the hedgehog. He had banned the grunts from calling him the hero of Kanto. By referring to their enemy like that, they were deifying him. And that was not good for their morale.
Their enemy was not a god. He was an average trainer like so many others out there. Sure somewhat gifted in battling but nothing the boss wouldn't be able to handle. After all the hedgehog had not fought him alone in silph co.
Soon enough, they reached the agreed coordinates. Exiting their sedan, they looked around, finding themselves following a small path into the woods. The path eventually led them to an abandoned rundown cabin.
Archer, taking the lead to pass off as a leader to the grunts, slowly and cautiously pushed the door opened.
Inside he witnessed a scene that made his skin crawl.
On an old mattress in the middle of a broken down bed, lied team rocket agent Butch, breathing heavily and coughing up a storm. He was also covered in burns from the thunder and the fireball that had followed Raikou's attack.
On his side was his partner, agent Cassidy. She was in a somewhat better state but she was shivering and had obviously caught a cold.
Archer felt himself shaking in his boots. Team Sonic had already proven they were capable of dark acts but now allied with legendary pokemon that seemed to have no regard for life?
A small part of him considered turning himself over to the police for safety. The thought was drowned quickly as his hatred for Sonic came to the surface.
Ordering the grunts to get them back to the hideout ASAP, they were quickly and somewhat roughly carried to the sedan. The drive back was quick though theυ were spared from receiving a speeding ticket by Butch and Cassidy's obviously bad state.
Reaching the hideout in record speed, the two agents were rushed to the infirmary. As Butch received intense treatment as he had been diagnosed with pneumonia from the long exposure to the elements while in that rundown cabin, Cassidy was given something to trick her hunger as well as medicine to ease the pain in her chest from the cold. When she felt just a little bit better, Archer asked to have a word with her. She obliged only after being assured Butch would be looked after.
When they were away from everyone else, Archer immediately asked her what happened. More specifically, how they had lost.
Cassidy started trembling right at the end of the question. In her mind's eye was the look of burning hatred Raikou had on when it summoned that lightning bolt, causing the truck to explode.
Cassidy, with a quivering voice, explained that she had grabbed Butch and jumped off the truck's roof right as the lightning bolt began falling from the sky. The moment it came into contact with the truck, it ignited the gas, causing the explosion. The grunts who were all inside the truck were incinerated or torn apart by the explosion. As for her and Butch, the explosion had sent them flying into the woods. Thankfully they were too far away from team Sonic at the moment to be noticed.
They immediately went into hiding, though Butch was too injured to move. Cassidy had risked multiple times going to Olivine city to steal food and medicine for the two of them to survive until the police investigation was complete.
"I sincerely thank you sir" she thanked Archer after finishing the explanation "you came very quickly. I don't know how much longer we could have lasted".
Archer looked down, his hands clasped together.
"It's thankful we retrieved you alive agent. But you have not answered one of my questions. You had outsmarted them. How did they end up coming out on top?"
Cassidy hesitated. She wasn't sure Archer would believe it. Especially after an isolation period of two weeks in a cabin in the woods accompanied by illness and subsequent hallucinations.
"The fox sir… the inexperienced one… who got mad at the hedgehog and their common brute friend a while back… he came to their rescue".
"How? You had one truck and they followed you on the second. The grunt told me it was only the hedgehog who was trying to fight you. The brute was driving. The fox wasn't on the truck".
"He… he followed us sir. By flying".
"What?! But how? Our Intel says he doesn't have a flying type capable of carrying him".
"He wasn't flying on a Pokemon sir. He was flying on his own".
Archer didn't respond. Instead he remained silent. Almost looking at her in sympathy.
"I see. That's enough for now. Get some rest and we will figure out the rest when you're better".
Cassidy felt panic crawling all over her. He didn't believe her. The fox had become a major threat, maybe just as much of a threat as the hedgehog and admin Archer had no idea.
"Sir please you need to believe me. The fox could fly. I'm not lying. My partner saw it. There is no way we could have both hallucinated the same thing and you know it".
Archer couldn't disagree with her logic in the moment but he still didn't seem to believe her.
"Lay low for now and recover. You and your partner are to stay at the hideout until recovery. For this reason the operation at the whirl islands has been assigned to Petrel. Dismissed".
"You can't do this sir. We tracked down the targets there".
"I'm well aware. And for that reason we need to move quickly. Before the hedgehog and his crew stumble upon this as well. We can't afford another defeat like yours".
He got up to leave.
"When your partner… if… your partner recovers… I will ask him to verify your claim. If he does then I will set counter plans in action immediately".
Cassidy waited until he got to the door of the interrogation room before scoffing.
"By then it will be too late sir".
Archer left the agent alone as he went to inform Ariana of the rescue as well as Petrel who was already on his way to the whirl islands. The latter would need some time to set up the temporary base there before going for the targets.
At the same time Archer considered Cassidy's claims. At first the very concept of the fox flying seemed ludicrous. But in hindsight, her claim that they couldn't have both have the same hallucination checked out.
"Unless…" he murmured rubbing his chin "they did. But in that case they witnessed something so shocking it was etched in their minds".
Question marks. That was all they had when it came to team Sonic.
Another thought came to his mind as he recalled the rest of his contact that day with Butch and Cassidy. The fox had been accidentally electrocuted by Raikou.
"Meaning that there is a good chance he was hospitalized afterwards" he concluded murmuring as he met up with Ariana.
"What?" she asked upon realizing he was murmuring.
"Things have taken a plethora of turns. I'll fill you in and Petrel as soon as we get things under control again. But first I will need you to gather a team and pay a visit to the Olivine hospital".
"The hospital sir?"
"I have reason to believe the little nerd who runs along with the hedgehog has somehow become a major threat. There is also indication he was hospitalized. I need you to infiltrate the hospital and find something. Anything. Am I clear?"
"Crystal clear sir. But how are we going to do that?"
"That's up to you. You are the genius planner here. You have your orders so follow them".
Ariana wanted to object but after the catastrophic failure to capture the legendary Raikou, she knew Archer wouldn't order something so risky unless it was of the utmost importance. Nodding she got to work planning how to pull off this mission.
While team rocket's sinister plot began taking shape, team Sonic was getting ready to dominate Cianwood city. Sonic and Knuckles were all ready to fight the gym leader, Chuck. Their training had made them unrivalled. Sonic almost felt like he was back in Kanto. Just after his first encounter with Giovanni when his team had started becoming unstoppable.
But before being done with their task in Cianwood and taking it easy for a short while before heading back to Olivine to challenge Jasmine, Tails needed to prepare too. He too would have his chance against Chuck. And he was really nervous about it.
What was routine for Sonic and Knuckles at this point was a huge deal for Tails. This would be his first real pokemon battle. And even though Chuck would be the perfect opponent for a team like Tails', which consisted of two bug and flying types meaning the resisted Chuck's fighting types 4 times, they also had counter moves in confusion for Butterfree and wing attack for Scyther. The only thing that Tails wasn't quite sure about was eevee.
It had been a long time since Azalea and he and eevee had grown very close. It had also proven very capable in battle even as just an eevee having learned swift and, with its growl and quick attack as well its natural agility, could rival several of his friends' pokemon.
But even so, as long as it remained an eevee its power would be limited. And Tails knew that.
He had tried talking to eevee a couple of times about evolving, thinking that just like Sonic's Bayleef once did, eevee didn't like the idea of evolving. But it was in fact quite the opposite. Eevee wanted to evolve.
That perplexed Tails as he couldn't help but wonder why eevee had chosen the leaf stone as their trophy after the bug catching contest if it couldn't use it to evolve.
But since their time was running out and Sonic and Knuckles had defeated Chuck, it was now Tails' turn. He decided he would use eevee as a last resort which was not a bad strategy. It would most likely be able to defeat a weakened fighting type, especially with a move like quick attack.
Sonic had noticed Tails' hesitation when it came to eevee. The night before the battle was set to take place, right after Knuckles went to town to buy some sausages for them to cook and eat at the campfire, Sonic decided to check on his friend who was practicing with eevee one final time.
"You ok dude?"
"Yeah. Why you ask?"
"Just checking in".
Tails answered after a few seconds.
"How did you feel? Before your first gym battle?"
Sonic knew this would come eventually. Since the first day of their training.
"Honestly, I felt pretty confident. Having fought off team rocket twice the previous day, although one of the two encounters was with the three idiots, I felt somewhat unstoppable. Though Giovanni humbled me when we ended in a draw".
Tails looked at eevee that was practicing swift.
"Your Raichu evolved from Pikachu before your third gym battle right?"
"Yes. Why you ask?"
"I can't help but wonder what's in store for eevee. We have no evolution stone for it and it even rejected all 3 possible options back then. Why would it?"
Sonic scratched his head.
"I mean… we saw it with my Bayleef. It didn't want to evolve but changed its mind later. Maybe eevee didn't want to evolve back then either".
"But it considered it. It considered picking up a stone that could allow it to evolve. And yet in the end it chose the leaf stone".
"Well then, I guess we'll have to wait and see. I suggest we let go for tonight, calm down and enjoy the sausages. What's taking Knuckles so long anyway?"
Knuckles was then spotted walking towards them with the sausages.
"Speak of the devil. Let's get cooking" Sonic said slurping. He was starving.
An awesome feast later, the three trainers were fast asleep. But the same couldn't be said for their pokemon. Eevee was up practicing its moves.
Raichu, who was sleeping by Sonic's side, was woken from the noise and exited the tent to find eevee practicing.
"What are you doing up so late?"
Eevee didn't stop but still answered as it fired a swift.
"Getting stronger".
"You should be resting. You and Tails have a big battle tomorrow".
"I need to be ready. My time is coming tomorrow I can feel it".
"Your time?" Raichu asked confused and slightly unnerved.
"My time to battle. I want to make Tails proud tomorrow. So I have to be ready".
Raichu approached eevee, causing it to stop firing swifts.
"More power won't do you any good if your mind is not clear. You need sleep not more practice".
Eevee stared for a few moments with a blank face, then turned towards the sea. The moon was casting its light across the water, illuminating the two pokemon.
"I know what you're trying to say. But… you don't exactly understand".
"What do you mean?"
"My time is coming. My time to evolve".
"Evolve?" Raichu cried out in surprise "you found a stone? Which one?"
"None. I don't need one to evolve".
"Huh?"
Eevee looked at the moon, its eyes reflecting the bright white light.
"I don't need a stone to evolve. I can do it anytime at this point. But I'm bidding my time".
"Bidding your time? What do you mean?"
Eevee looked sideways towards Raichu.
"Is there no bond evolution in your homeland?"
"Bond what?"
"Bond evolution. Some pokemon evolve by being really close with their trainers. My kind is one of those pokemon".
"What?" Raichu cried out in utter disbelief.
Eevee nodded and looked up again smiling.
"That's right. Tails and I have gotten to the point where I can evolve. All I have to do now is wait for the right time".
Raichu remained silent as it was comprehending what was reaching its ears. Eevee continued.
"Tails has been so nice to me and has allowed me to gain so many cool experiences. Battling, travelling with friends, eating until I can't eat another bite. Thanks to all that my body and spirit are ready for my transformation into my evolved form".
Raichu understood the sentiment but still it seemed out of this world. A pokemon evolving out of love?
But then again, wasn't it how it had managed to evolve? That night. When the thunder stone was shattered to bits and Sonic was lying at the mercy of Zapdos, Raichu had still miraculously evolved from Pikachu.
Eevee suddenly turned and headed for the tent.
"Believe it or not, relaxed talking made me drowsy. Thanks for the chat Raichu" eevee said about to enter the tent.
Raichu was left there, pondering all the question marks partying inside its head.
Heading back inside the tent to get some sleep, it made a note to self to continue that chat after their battles with Chuck. There were just so many things Raichu just had to ask eevee.
The sun eventually rose to the sky and upon awakening Raichu found itself still plagued by the question marks from last night. Only now it knew why they plagued it so hard.
A quick breakfast later, team Sonic had entered the gym. Chuck was expecting all 3, having prepared his pokemon for 3 consecutive battles. He had heard from Morty who, after informing Jasmine had set out to inform the rest of the gym leaders who had yet to face team Sonic in battle, of their accomplishments and also to ask them to keep watch in their respective towns for any signs of Ho-oh or the legendary beasts while team Sonic was in town. The last bit had slipped Chuck's mind at the face of the opportunity to battle the three heroes.
The battle spirit of all the participants was ignited the moment team Sonic entered the gym. Chuck welcomed them and informed them of the rules, clearly eager to begin.
They would use 3 pokemon each, and so would Chuck. Afterwards they would allow his pokemon to rest for an hour so they would be able to take on the next opponent fully rejuvenated. Sonic was to fight him first, then Knuckles and lastly Tails.
Eevee came out of its pokeball right before the start of the first fight. Raichu and eevee exchanged a glance, as Raichu knew it would scout out the competition, again eager to make Tails proud.
"But if it can evolve at any time" Raichu thought as it stood beside Sonic waiting in case he would send it out first "what's it waiting for?"
Its inquiries were forgotten when the battle began. Chuck's team consisted of Primeape, Poliwrath and Machoke. Having battled Primeape many times before, Sonic went with the perfect opening. His shiny hitmontop. With intimidate weakening Primeape and the advantage fake out provided it was able to easily best Primeape.
Chuck then sent out his Poliwrath. That was new for all members of team Sonic. Thinking ahead the blue hedgehog recalled Hitmontop and went with Bayleef. The grass type johto starter and the water fighting type had a match of unstoppable force versus immovable object which resulted in an unexpected knockout for Bayleef. Sonic comforted it before recalling it while making a note to self that he needed to urgently find a way to teach it protect.
"Or better yet" Sonic smiled as he sent out Hitmontop again "meet up with an old friend who knows it".
Hitmontop then proceeded to clash with Poliwrath, overpowering it with ease, intimidate working like a charm.
Unexpectedly, Poliwrath landed a critical hit in the final attack causing both pokemon to faint. Sonic was taken aback but alas, that meant that his original plan to fight the last pokemon with Quagsire and hitmontop was out of the question. Raichu would deal with it.
The last pokemon was revealed to be a Machoke. It and Raichu collided with earth-shattering might, trading a flurry of punches, mostly thunder punch and dynamic punch.
During the clash, both Knuckles and Tails observed their friend fight to cover the fact that he felt every punch Raichu was taking, as if he was getting punched himself. The fact that Sonic not only took part of that punishment and fought back even harder had them in awe of him. Knuckles even found himself wondering if he even stood a chance against Sonic. Be it now or at the Johto league.
Raichu eventually managed to block a cross chop by using iron tail to block the chop, then using the momentum to deliver a devastating right hook thunder punch knocking Machoke out, earning Sonic the storm badge.
Chuck burst out laughing from excitement at the end of the battle, saying that the Johto tournament would be very interesting this season. When asked by Sonic why that was, the gym leader explained he had battled a kid named Ash a few days ago who had just as much of a heart to heart battle with his pokemon as Sonic just did. The latter smiled, hoping that was indeed the case.
Apart from bringing down team rocket he wanted nothing more than to battle full power Ash.
Taking an hour-long break for Chuck's pokemon to heal so they would take on Knuckles' party next, Sonic and Tails sat while Knuckles and Chuck had a friendly sparring match, fists to fists. The fighter gym leader was impressed by Knuckles' strength though he pointed out Knuckles could use a lesson or two in combat techniques.
As Chuck went to take his pokemon to prepare for the battle with Knuckles, a quick chat was initiated between Knuckles and Sonic.
"You know, with a confrontation with the entirety of team rocket in our future, maybe you should take him up on his offer. We might just need that kind of edge".
"Agreed. He shows me, I show you and Tails".
"I won't need that" Tails refused confidently.
"How are you planning to defend yourself if anyone charges you?" Sonic looked at his friend in confusion.
"Let's just say for now that my tinkering is coming along nicely" he answered mischievously, eager to finish his new invention as soon as possible.
After that short discussion, Chuck's battle with Knuckles took place. Knuckles used his weepinbell, his heracross and his Quilava for this. The battle went smoothly for Knuckles all the way. Knuckles even used the move he used against Eusine the previous day, covering the room in smokescreen and allowing a flame wheel rolling Quilava to strike over and over. The combo didn't decided the battle as Machoke was a lot tankier than Alakazam but it had Chuck distracted long enough to deliver a powerful newly-learnt flamethrower to the face, knocking it out.
During the battle, Raichu chatted with eevee, asking it if it still felt it wasn't the right time to evolve. Eevee confirmed that was the case.
"I know it sounds confusing to you but you don't ever know when the time has come. Until it comes".
"How do you know?"
"One of my two siblings, my sister, was like that before she evolved. She was drowning in anxiety when we were younger as she lived with the trainer who raised us".
"That girl you were with before you joined us?"
"No. She wasn't my original owner".
"Really?"
"Really. But that's a very long conversation. So let's have it in greater detail later k?"
Raichu was intrigued. Eevee had a lot more than meets the eye to it. Although there was something familiar about it too. Something that just reminded Raichu a lot of Jolty. But it had also already verified while thinking it over, that it wasn't the fact that they belonged to the same evolution family.
After Knuckles earned the storm badge himself, Chuck let his pokemon rest one more time. Tails took deep breaths to calm himself.
Even though he had seen both Knuckles and Sonic battle Chuck and had several ideas on how to go about the battle, he still felt a lot of anxiety.
He recalled the battle with Butch and Cassidy. They were powerful opponents for sure but Tails had essentially battled from the sidelines. Now he would be the one doing all the battling. His first real battle.
He and Sonic glanced at each other for a moment. Sonic nodded to his friend, thereby helping him calm down a little. Tails took out Butterfree's pokeball as Chuck chose to go with Primeape this time around, having used Poliwrath first against Knuckles.
"All right kid" Chuck winded up his hand "your two friends we're worthy challenges. Let's see if the triangle will be completed".
"I sure hope so" Tails though as he too winded up his hand.
"Go Primeape!"
"Butterfree! Give me a hand!"
The two pokemon emerged and once the referee gave the word, Chuck immediately went on the offensive.
"Rock slide!"
Primeape unleashed a barrage of rocks towards butterfree.
"Dodge, then sleep powder!"
Butterfree having trained rigorously avoided the rocks with elegance, then sprayed primeape. Primeape staggered and then fell on its back, snoring.
"Primeape get up!" Chuck called out to it but it answered with another snore.
"Butterfree quick! Confusion!"
Confusion landed dealing great damage to Primeape which still snored.
"Primeape get up! This is supposed to be our third glorious fight against them!"
"Now silver wind!"
Silver wind was fired but Primeape didn't seem to be very affected by it.
"Huh? Why no damage?" Tails asked surprised.
"Bug can't be harmed much by fighting moves" Sonic said mostly to himself "but apparently it's also the other way around".
"Correct" Chuck said as Primeape opened its eyes "bugs can't hurt fighting that much!"
"Dammit! Butterfree quick confusion!"
"Rock slide!"
The confusion didn't get its chance to land. Rock slide knocked out Butterfree cold.
Tails' face became a mask of horror and disappointment. He felt the same emotion of powerlessness begin to wash over him.
Thankfully Sonic noticed it.
"Tails!" he called out to his friend "the past has come and gone. You're here now. And it's not over. The battle has only just began. Now go out there and earn your spot in our team. You promised yourself right?"
Tails stared for a moment with widened eyes before getting the same wild confidence Sonic had against the illusion Entei in Greenfield.
"Butterfree return" he recalled it "you were great. But together we will become greater".
Hoisting the pokeball on his belt, he picked up scyther's next.
"Scyther! Time to mow through the competition!"
Scyther appeared, eager to slash through everything in its path. Chuck was unnerved. Scyther could be a terrifying opponent. There was a reason one of them was gym leader bugsy's ace.
"Primeape! Get ready!"
Primeape stood its ground ready for battle.
"Rock slide!"
"Wing attack!"
Primeape attempted to fire rock slide at Scyther but was met with a wing attack to the face. The attack sent it flying for a moment. Next moment it slammed into Chuck, knocked out.
"Hell yeah! Amazing work Scyther!"
"Scy scy!"
Chuck got out from under Primeape and let it know it was incredible before recalling it himself. He then took out his second pokeball.
"Go Poliwrath!"
Poliwrath emerged. Scyther prepared its scythes for combat.
"Wing attack!" Tails immediately went on the offensive, his confidence growing.
"Poliwrath hypnosis!"
Poliwrath's chest started swirling creating the spinning hypnotizing illusion. Scyther slammed into Poliwrath dealing some damage but the illusion took away from its momentum, bringing it to a a halt and soon after making it fall asleep.
"Oh no Scyther!"
"Not so nice when you're on the receiving end is it? Poliwrath! Body slam!"
Poliwrath jumped as high as it could and landed flat on Scyther.
Getting up from the attack, Scyther was revealed to be bruised, though it was still asleep.
"Scyther wake up!"
"Poliwrath again!"
Poliwrath repeated the attack. Tails was now really worried. Scyther was certainly strong but endurance was not its strong point.
"One last time Poliwrath! Body slam!"
"Scyther! Wake up and dodge!"
Scyther's eyes jolted open. Moving incredibly fast it dodged the attack causing Poliwrath to fall flat on its belly.
"Quick! Use wing attack before it gets up!"
Scyther's attack landed before Poliwrath could get a good stance, resulting in a critical hit. Poliwrath was sent flying momentarily and in that moment when it was in the air, Scyther, high on adrenaline, used slash without Tails ordering it, knocking Poliwrath out.
Tails had won the round. But Scyther wasn't stopping. It prepared to slash again.
Tails realized this and jumped in front of Scyther before it could strike.
"STOP!" he screamed with a strict voice, trying his best to sound assertive.
He had learnt throughout the training with his pokemon that Scyther's wild nature could make it unpredictable. The only way to control such a pokemon was to assert one's self as a dominant figure in its eyes. Tails of course wasn't planning to hurt Scyther in any way but had to be strict with it so as to keep it line.
He had achieved this by immediately halting the training and demanding Scyther stop attacking. At first, Scyther would either try to continue or ignore him altogether a lot of the time. But as the days went by and Tails continued to be assertive with Scyther, he slowly established himself as the alpha of their team. Scyther had learnt enough to not go against him, although there were times its instincts prevailed and Tails would have to fly away, baiting it into Raichu so the electric mouse ace of Sonic would stop it.
Thankfully there was no need for that this time. Scyther lowered its scythes and backed away to its side of the field, waiting for the final opponent while looking at Tails with a little bit of an uneasy respect. After all two dominating types of characters wasn't the best idea.
Chuck was impressed with Tails' ability to wield his team as efficiently as he did while also managing to establish himself as the alpha in their eyes with no prior badges. He took out his final pokemon.
"Here it comes" Tails thought while getting focused in the moment.
"Machoke! Let's go all out!"
Machoke emerged. Tails allowed himself to recall Sonic's battle with Chuck and smiled.
Machamp only knew fighting moves. Scyther had this in the bag. Or rather it would had Chuck not planned ahead for fighting counter picks.
"Wing attack!"
Chuck didn't make a move. Machoke took the attack but stood its ground, fighting to bring scyther to a halt.
"Slash!"
"Now! Submission!"
Machoke moved in an instant before Scyther could strike. Tackling Scyther to the ground, the two rolled for about 2 seconds before Scyther was trapped in a meatball with Machoke. The fighting type, having technique on its side, shoved Scyther down.
"Now cross chop!"
Unleashing the attack, which ended up being a critical hit, Machoke struck at Scyther's check, knocking the air out of it. Even with the 4 times resistance to the move, the attack was devastating enough to allow Chuck the opening he needed.
"Dynamic punch!"
It was the death blow. Scyther was knocked out. Overpowered for the first time in its life.
Tails' jaw was hanging open. Things had gone very south very fast.
Approaching Scyther, Tails thought it wouldn't hurt and comforted Scyther.
"You were amazing".
"Scy?"
"Don't doubt it ok? Now get some rest" Tails assured it as he recalled it.
"One pokemon left" Sonic commented with his arms crossed "things are not looking good for Tails".
"He'll pull through. I know it" Knuckles expressed.
Tails took out eevee's pokeball. He noticed his hand was trembling.
"Go eevee!"
Eevee emerged and bravely stood against the towering machoke.
Eevee and Raichu exchanged a quick glance. Eevee nodded with a determined look. Raichu wondered if it was time.
"Do it you moron. You'll get destroyed" it thought concerned for its friend.
Eevee cried out its name and looked back at Tails awaiting instructions.
"… ok. Eevee. Swift!"
Eevee unleashed a small barrage of star-like objects towards machoke. The attack would have normally merely tickled it, but after a wing attack from Scyther, Machoke wasn't in tip top shape. Chuck wasn't particularly bothered, as he was aware the odds were in his favor.
"Machoke! Karate chop!"
"Dodge with quick attack!"
Eevee disappeared faster than eyes could see, running a circle around Machoke then headbutting into Machoke's belly.
Machoke was pushed slightly back. Chuck began getting worried. But at the same time, the battle passion was filling his very being.
It was a pity Tails wouldn't be taking place in the Johto league along with his two comrades.
"Machoke! Karate chop!"
"Dodge with quick attack again!"
Eevee dodged again but no strategy was perfect. Chuck waited for only a moment so eevee would get into position.
"Submission!"
Machoke jumped towards eevee just as it was about to try and headbutt it again. The attack landed, with eevee taking the brunt of the attack as they rolled on the ground.
Unlike with Scyther, eevee was pushed a little farther from Machoke. It struggled to get up. Raichu was barely resisting the urge to defend it.
"Do it now you moron" it cried out to it, which to Sonic sounded like a normal cry.
Tails was now sweating bullets. It couldn't end like this. Not after all the training. All the bonding.
"Eevee! We can still win! So let's win together!"
Eevee didn't turn to meet his eyes but smiled confidently. It was time.
"Machoke! End this now! Dynamic punch!"
Machoke prepared to deliver another death blow.
"Veeeeee!" eevee suddenly cried out loudly as it began glowing.
"WHAAAAT?!" every single member of team Sonic shouted at once.
Machoke was so taken aback that it just stood there, forgetting to finish the attack.
Eevee's body began growing. Sonic couldn't believe what he was seeing but regardless tried to notice anything within the glow that would give away what eevee was evolving into.
Among the many characteristics he noticed that didn't ring a bell, he noticed one that he knew no eeveelution – a term created by eevee fan clubs in Kanto – had. A thin tail splitting in two near the end.
The glow stopped. A new pokemon was standing there crying out its name loudly.
"What! Is! That!" Tails grabbed his head in disbelief.
Knuckles was quick to scan the new pokemon with his dex.
"Espeon, the sun pokemon. Espeon are able to read air currents, allowing it to predict the future, as well as its opponent's next moves".
"A new eeveelution?!" Sonic exclaimed. This was unreal.
Chuck burst out laughing.
"You really are something kid! Your eevee had grown so close to you that you enabled it to evolve!"
"Wait what?" Tails asked confused.
"Eevee can evolve into two possible pokemon if it shares a strong bond with its trainer" Chuck explained, still very impressed "the psychic type espeon and the dark type umbreon. What it evolves onto depends on the time of day it chooses to evolve".
"The dex called it the sun Pokemon" Knuckles muttered "and it's daytime. So that's why it evolved into Espeon!"
"Espeon" Tails whispered as Espeon turned to meet its eyes. They were now purple and serene. But eevee's burning and adventurous soul was still visible through them.
Trainer and pokemon smiled.
"Looks like the winds are changing Chuck!"
"I don't think so! Dynamic punch!"
Machoke again attempted to go for a death blow. Espeon's eyes narrowed momentarily as it dodged with immense ease.
Machoke looked to its right in utter shock at Espeon. The psychic type's eyes began glowing blue.
"Machoke! Don't let it move! Dynamic punch!"
Machoke attempted to deliver the punch to Espeon's face but the confusion the psychic eeveelution fired caused it to deliver it to itself. Machoke stumbled back shaking its head trying to snap out of the confusion.
"It's over! Swift!"
With its enhanced power, Espeon sent a barrage of stars towards Machoke. The stars struck over and over until the final one landed on Machoke's forehead. The fighting type stood still for a moment before falling back and fainting, defeated.
Chuck processed it for a moment before bursting in laughter once again.
"Incredible! Absolutely incredible! I daresay team rocket doesn't stand a chance against the three of you!"
"They certainly don't" Sonic agreed with a confident smile.
Tails was gleaming. He had won. His hard work had paid off.
For the first time he finally felt he actually belonged in team Sonic, while also making a self-note never to reveal this thought to Sonic.
After the battle, the three friends bid farewell to Chuck and returned to their campsite, with Knuckles agreeing to come by the gym sometime in the following days to train with Chuck and Machoke in combat technique.
Later at the campsite, after a long feast to celebrate their victories, during which all the Pokemon got to interact with Espeon and Quilava in particular to spar with it, Raichu and Espeon finally had their chance to talk.
"Well… you certainly stole the show today" Raichu congratulated Espeon.
"Thanks mate".
"Why didn't you explain in greater detail how you could evolve yesterday?"
"I guess I'm like Tails in that regard. We both like surprises".
"He's really preparing something?"
"Yes. They won't believe it when it's ready".
When. Not if. Espeon certainly seemed to have a lot of faith in Tails.
Raichu then recalled Espeon taking about how its sister evolved the same way it did.
"Did your sister evolve into Espeon as well?"
"Nah. Into umbreon, our other possible form. They had a heart to heart talk with our caretaker one night and upon reaffirming their bond it happened".
"I see" Raichu said moved "how come you didn't evolve when you were with that girl though?"
"Cosmo?" Espeon inquired before taking a moment to consider the answer to the question.
Raichu waited patiently.
"Well… she did treat me nicely. But if I'm being honest… life with her was always so…quiet. Somewhat mundane sometimes. Don't get me wrong. She was amazing to live with. But she was also… just not what I was looking for I guess".
Raichu didn't respond immediately.
"But Tails isn't like that either".
"But he is the helping type. He wants to go out of his way for others. That makes him unpredictable. And life with him all that much more exciting of a prospect" Espeon explained.
Raichu looked at the yellow two tailed fox who was talking and laughing with Knuckles and Sonic. Espeon did make a valid point.
"I understand. And I'm happy for you. But maybe next time try being less cryptic" Raichu joked.
"Don't bet on it. I'm a psychic type now. We are very unpredictable" Espeon joked back.
"Oh I know" Raichu smiled "one of my old teammates is an Alakazam. You know we should get you two together sometime. You could learn a lot from him".
"That would be cool" Espeon agreed, the opportunity sounding very tempting.
The two Pokemon then just remained silent enjoying the quiet of the night. Until Raichu remembered one final question it wanted to ask.
"You said you were three siblings right? What did the third evolve into?"
"Jolteon".
Raichu's expression momentarily changed.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing" Raichu brushed it off "just knew a Jolteon once".
"Friend of yours?"
"Yes".
"What a coincidence".
"Yeah… so I assume your brother lives with your sister?"
Espeon's expression darkened for a few moments.
"No. He is somewhere in Kanto".
"How so?"
"Taken… by those guys you are after… a while back. But believe it or not he was saved. And he managed to relay a message to me in the craziest way possible".
"Really?"
"Yeah. You see it was in a big city with a big port where a big ship called the S.S. Anne docks. It befriended a Pokemon that was moving to my hometown back then. It told it to come find me and my sister and tell us it's ok and not to worry. It also told it to tell us that we would meet again one day. And that was a promise".
"That's nice to hear" Raichu smiled.
"Yeah. I just wonder when that day will come. I only hope when that happens I am there to reunite with him again. Though that is up to its trainer… if only I could remember his name".
"I'm sure you will reunite with him one day" Raichu assured Espeon before yawning "well I think I will go get some shut eye. Battle exhausted me today".
"Ok. We'll talk tomorrow then" Espeon said and turned back to looking at the dark sea.
Raichu motioned to leave.
"Wait I remember!" Espeon suddenly cried out, causing team Sonic to momentarily look at it.
"What was that?" Raichu turned around.
"I remembered my brother's trainer's name".
"Really?"
"Yeah".
Pause.
"Well what is it?" Raichu asked impatiently.
"It's Mike".