Chapter 136: Limitless Possibilities

Chloe sat in the laboratory's common room, pencil and paper in hand. She'd been working on her paper for school for weeks now, and she was almost finished. But there was still one part that was eluding her. She absentmindedly tapped her foot, trying to think of the words when Ash, Goh, and Lillie came in through the door.

"Hey Chloe, what's up?"

"Working on my research paper. I'm almost done, but I'm stuck on the conclusion."

"The conclusion?"

"I don't know, I'm having trouble bringing everything together in a conclusive paragraph."

"Here, let me take a look."

Chloe shrugged, and handed over what she had so far. Goh flipped through the pages a few times, but in the end he had to give up.

"Sorry, I thought I could be more helpful."

"It's ok, thanks anyway."

"We're on our way to Galar," Lillie said. "Sonia said she has a new lead on the Dynamax phenomenon, and wants us to help check it out. Want to come along?"

Chloe smiled, and put down her paper.

"Sounds great, right guys?"

"Vee!"

"Yamp!"

A few hours later, the four of them were in Galar, their flight having just arrived.

"Alright, so where'd Sonia say to meet?"

"Actually, she said she'd pick us up from the airport. Wonder where she is…"

Just then, a red jeep came speeding up to them, screeching to a halt. Sonia climbed out of the car and waved to them.

"Hey guys! Thanks for coming."

"Hey Sonia, no problem!"

"You remember Chloe, right?"

"Of course! Glad you could come along."

"Thanks, I'm glad too."

"Now hop in! We've got mysteries to explore."

"Slow down, will you?!"

"Aw, come on, where's the fun in that?"

"You don't think living is fun?!"

After a fast but intense ride, they reached the site of Sonia's new research. What they didn't expect to see was an old friend.

"Cynthia?"

"Hey guys!"

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm always interested in old ruins like these. I was in the area training for the tournament, and Sonia invited me to check them out."

"No problem! I could always use the critical eye of a historian like you."

"So, what're we looking at?"

"Come on, I'll show you."

As they climbed the stairs, Sonia explained her new endeavor.

"Do you remember those weird guys who tried to destroy the mural here?"

"Yeah, but what of it?"

"Turns out there were a bunch of Galar Particles in there!"

This got everyones' attention.

"For real?"

"Yep! Was all over the news and everything. So that got me thinking, if these particles were hiding behind that old mural, who knows where else we might find some!"

But when they reached the mural, they were disappointed to be stopped by a Macro Cosmos employee.

"Sorry, but the area is closed for right now."

"What are you talking about? This mural is a public site."

"Not anymore. Chairman Rose is concerned the structure will collapse, and has closed it off until further notice."

"But I got permission from him to be here!"

"If you have a complaint, feel free to contact Customer Service at…"

Sonia sighed, and waved him off.

"Alright, I get it."

"Well, this sucks," Goh said.

"This is stupid, I got permission yesterday," Sonia huffed. "Hold tight guys, I'll fix this."

With that, she walked off to make a phone call, leaving her companions alone.

"Well, this sucks," Ash said, voicing what they were all thinking. Just then, a Glaceon peaked out from behind Cynthia's leg.

"'Eon?"

Cynthia sighed, and bent down to pet her.

"Sorry girl, looks like we're going to have to wait a little longer."

"Wow, a Glaceon!"

Chloe's Eevee leapt from her arms and ran up to her, curiously sniffing at the older Pokemon.

"Eevee, don't! Sorry, Miss Cynthia."

"Don't worry, she's just curious."

But Chloe needn't worry, as Glaceon playfully licked her Eevee on the nose before chasing her around in a game of tag.

"Aw, how cute!"

"Glaceon loves playing around, so I don't mind."

After a few minutes of chasing each other, Eevee ran up to Chloe excitedly.

"Voi!"

"What is it, Eevee?"

Eevee nodded her head towards Glaceon.

"Are you saying you're ready to evolve?"

Eevee nodded excitedly.

"Are you sure? Once it happens, there's no going back."

But Eevee was more than determined, and gave a firm nod. Cynthia chuckled fondly.

"My Glaceon was just like that when she decided to evolve. Trust me, once their mind has been made up, there's no changing it."

Chloe smiled, and dug out the Ice stone May had given her, holding it out to Eevee.

"Alright then, let's do this!"

Eevee smiled, and eagerly placed her paw on it, the brilliant glow of evolution enveloping her as everyone watched with anticipation. But when the glow died down, there was no Glaceon standing there, just a very surprised Eevee. Confused, she tried again, only to get the same results.

"This doesn't make sense."

"Maybe the stone is defective?"

"It's a rock, how can it be defective?"

Finally, Sonia returned, looking none too happy.

"Stupid Macro Cosmos helpline. Hey guys, what's wrong?"

"Eevee won't evolve, and we can't figure out why."

Sonia looked Eevee up and down for a few minutes before speaking.

"Well…I have an idea, but…"

"Yes?"

"I can't test it here. I need somewhere with a lot more space."

Chloe nodded, but couldn't help but worry. What could be the problem, and why did Sonia look so worried?

After another hectic car ride, they reached the wild area, Sonia still keeping quiet about what she had in mind.

"Can I see Eevee's Pokeball?"

Confused, Chloe handed it to Sonia.

"Thanks. Alright Eevee, return!"

Eevee was uncomfortable, but did so without fuss. Sonia took out her old Dynamax band, and used it to Dynamax the Pokeball before tossing it into the air. Eevee came out, giant as expected, but looked different. Sonia sighed, and shook her head.

"I was afraid of this."

"Afraid of what?"

"Eevee has the Gigantamax factor. It's rare for unevolved Pokemon to have it, in fact the only ones who can are Pikachu, Meowth, and Eevee."

"But what does that have to do with Eevee being unable to evolve?"

"She can't. A Pokemon with the Gigantamax factor has reached its farthest evolutionary state. I'm sorry, I wish there was something I could do, but…"

With tears in her eyes, Eevee began running off into the wilds.

"Eevee, come back, please!"

But Eevee was already gone, leaving Chloe in a panicked state.

"We need to find her before something happens to her!"

Goh pulled her into a comforting hug.

"It'll be alright, we'll get her."

"Everybody in the car, we have a runaway Eevee to catch!"

Eevee ran forever, giant tears running down her face. After everything she and Chloe had been through, she couldn't evolve, no matter how much she wanted too. She didn't want to go back, she couldn't even look at Chloe. Why would Chloe even want a failure like her?

As she ran through the Wild Area, she saw a glowing Pokemon den not too far away. For some reason, she became entranced by it, and walked towards it.

Sonia brought her car to a screeching halt, and everyone climbed out.

"Alright guys, keep a lookout. Eevee couldn't have gotten too far."

"EVOI!"

"I think we found her."

The six raced to the source. There was Eevee, but something was wrong. She seemed even bigger than before, and her eyes were a deep red.

"Eevee!"

Eevee growled, sending a massive shockwaves rocketing right towards them.

"Garchomp, Rock Tomb!"

Garchomp acted quickly, jumping in front to form a protective wall of rocks to block it. The wall absorbed most of the impact, but the shockwave still nearly threw everyone off their feet.

"Max Knuckle, Charizard!"

Before Eevee could attack again, a massive fist knocked her back, Leon coming running up as his Charizard moved in to protect them.

"You guys alright?"

"We are, but my Eevee's out of control!"

"This has been happening a lot," Leon grunted. "Pokemon have been Dynamaxing like crazy!"

"What can we do?"

"Stand back!"

Eevee roared, and tried to charge forward with a Max Strike.

"Max Guard, Charizard!"

Charizard crossed his wings in front of him, forming a shield to protect him and the others from Eevee's attack as she bounced off him harmlessly.

"Please don't hurt her!" Chloe begged.

"I'll try. Charizard, Max Airstream!"

Charizard sent a massive gust of wind right at Eevee, blowing her back quite a bit. But even that seemed to have no effect, and she countered with a Max Lightning, dealing a good chunk of damage to Charizard as he returned to normal. But surprisingly, Eevee didn't.

"I don't get it, she should've returned to normal size!"

"Whatever's causing this isn't normal. Everyone, stay back!"

But Chloe didn't. Instead, she cautiously started walking towards Eevee.

"Chloe, get back here!"

But Chloe kept going.

"Eevee, if you can hear me, I love you. I know this is all a lot to take in, and I'm sorry you can't evolve. If I could change that, I would because I know how much it means to you. But I never caught you to evolve you, I caught you because you're my friend. I promise, nothing has to change because of this."

Chloe closed her eyes, bracing for the worst. Eevee stood there, silently taking all of it in, before she began to shrink until she was back to normal size.

"Ee…Evoi?"

Chloe opened her eyes to find her partner staring up at her, tears welling up. Chloe smiled, and held her arms open wide. Eevee smiled, and with tears running down her face leapt into them, Chloe shedding tears as well as she embraced her partner tightly.

"It's okay Eevee, I love you no matter what."

"Vee."

"And so," Chloe concluded in class later as she gave her report. "Even though Eevee can't evolve, we've resolved not to let this setback stop us. Instead, we choose to move forward in our journey to learn more about ourselves and the world we live in. When one door closes, another one opens, and I can't wait to see where this one leads. Thank you."

The class applauded, and her teacher nodded in approval.

"That was excellent, Chloe."

Chloe smiled, and returned to her seat proudly.

Later that day, Eevee and Yamper sat at the entrance to the garden patiently, eagerly awaiting their trainer's return. They didn't have to wait long, for Chloe soon appeared, the two of them running over to shower her with affection. She giggled and picked them both up.

"Hi, guys! Did you miss me?"

"Yamp Yamp!"

"Vee Eevee!"

"Guess what? We got an A on the paper!"

The two eagerly nuzzled her, happy for her success.

"Now come on, let's go get some ice cream!"

The two cheered, leaping out of her arms to lead the way, making Chloe smile. She didn't know what the future held, but as long as she had her friends she'd be alright.