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Chap. 45: Evolution en Masse

Alex sighed in contented bliss as he leaned back in the booth at the Mount Moon PMC. His belly was full. His Pokémon were strong, and getting stronger by the day. His lover, Elle, was actually his lover, attested to by the hand that continually groped his enduring erection beneath the table at the cafe. She wasn't truly working him, just occasionally keeping him hard with a squeeze or light caress over his shorts. Across from them, scattered around them on the floor or benches, several of their Pokémon ate their own meals. One of the workers had scowled at them for it, but when Alex had promised to clean it off himself if they made a mess, nothing more had been said. It wasn't like the cafe was busy, anyway. There were a couple individuals and one other couple in the place that had seating for about fifty.

That was easily explained, though: the hour was nearly one in the morning. Only night-owls and those who had been brave or stupid enough to finish the hike in the dark rather than camp (like themselves) were still out and about.

He and Elle had done pretty well to arrive as early as they had, given the late hour of their departure from Pewter. They had passed the gates that kept wild Pokémon out of the city at around three in the afternoon, after having checked out of the swanky hotel just before time, done a little shopping, and then tried to help Megumi and Kinta deal with the death of their father.

Route Three had been shorter in terms of distance than Alex or Elle had expected, and easily the shortest of the now three full routes the pair had taken since leaving Pallet Town at the start of their journey. There had only been a few Trainers to contend with, too, possibly also because it had been growing late. They had only encountered a few Campers and young men and ladies out for a good time, whether that was enjoying time together, or with their Pokémon.

But the wild Pokémon had been fierce, and plentiful. Their battle teams, back to what they had been for the most part, were each close to gaining a level, and even the couple that Elle and Alex had swapped out to use earn their respective first Gym Badges were growing stronger, too.

All in all, their progress up the foothills and mountains had been slow, but rewarding. Nothing, so far, compared to what they were gaping at currently amid the contented sighs.

"I can't believe it," he chuckled, "Twenty-three points, and you got two more."

"To be fair," Elle reminded him, "even if you fucked a porn star on camera, which was a big gain, it was just two for the new partner past the first, three for fisting someone for the first time, and three for being on camera in addition to the three for intercourse itself. Eleven points is a lot, yes. But I had the two for a new partner, too, so that balances out. It was my first time ever, so even if you got a bonus for taking my virginity, that was balanced by me tasting it later, I guess, and, well, you can see the points total and history. They add up. At least, they do now that I remembered my own Prowess Technique, Experimenter, gave us both a bonus point. Well, me two."

"I know, and I'm not complaining," Alex told the girl, "I'm just surprised, that's all."

"Told you I was a slut," she whispered into his ear, a moment before biting the lobe softly. "Do you want to-"

He was pretty sure he knew what she was going to ask, but she was cut off by a loud, high call, "Hey, you! Elle, right? And Alex?"

They looked up to see the same olive-skinned girls and their slightly lighter brother the pair had met just inside The Steelworks. "Lana? Wait, no, you're Lilah. Lana challenged the Gym, right after Alex!"

"Oh?" he smiled up at the cheerful looking, but exhausted and unkempt siblings, "I knew you were going in, but right after me, huh?"

"I went in about twenty minutes after you did," the shorter girl told him, "That's when they said my run was, so... I got it! I didn't beat Brigid so amazingly, I went in with all Fire- and Ground-types. I'm not good enough to make it cool, I had to use Typing as much as I could! But I got it!"

"A win's a win," he told her, giving the trio a look. "You, uh... you guys just got here, huh?"

"Yeah," Kenny groaned, the first time Alex had heard the young man speak. Now that he got a better look, and wasn't distracted by nerves, he realized this was the same young man he had recognized during that first big meeting as the youngest participant of the Special Beta. His hair, in the real world, was not quite so long, but he was otherwise quite recognizable, since he looked about twelve, perhaps thirteen, years old. "So tired..."

"It was a pretty long walk," Lana, the one who wore her Armory Badge proudly on the slightly torn lapel of her jacket, added. "We got lost twice, and we had to run from a horde of rampaging Mankeys. I barely dodged a handful of Mankey crap!"

"It's a good thing you did," her sister said with a giggle, "or you'd have smelled foul for a week. Those things weren't kidding around. Remember what the guide said? It can take days to wash the smell out if it gets on you, because of the bacteria or something."

"I still need a shower," Lana muttered, "but I should eat first. Is the food here any good?"

Elle answered with shrug, "Same as any other PMC, I guess. It's alright, but nothing to write home about."

"That expression never made any sense to me," Lilah told them as she sat down at the nearest table, sideways so she was facing the rest of the group. "Write what? An email? But that'd just go to a person, not somebody's house."

Kenny rolled his eyes, "Don't you know anything? It's an old saying, dummy, from hundreds of years ago when people actually wrote letters. With pens and stuff like that, and sent them like... through parcel post, except it was just letters."

"Psh, like that ever happened," Lana scoffed, "You always do that, Kenny. Act like you're so smart... well, you aren't."

"He's, uh, right about the letters," Alex told her, "My grandmother used to write them sometimes. Said it was a dying art."

Both girls gaped, and their younger brother took on a smug expression as he folded his arms over his scrawny chest, "Told you."

"Please," Lilah scoffed, "That was one thing, then. You said Pewter had a Rock Gym. Not even close, and that was way more important than some stupid custom from hundreds of years ago. All three of us could've handled a Rock Gym, but none of us are good against a Flying, and only one of us stood a chance against Steel, without borrowing each other's Pokémon, and yours are too weak!"

"I'm building for long-term potential," the younger man argued, sounding like he was quite tired of saying it. "Yes, they're weak now, but they will be the strongest in the end. You'll see."

"Right, the day you beat either of us is the day we put you in charge of the family finances," Lilah snorted, rolling her eyes at her sister. "Right, Lana?"

"Exactly right, dear sister," the taller sister agreed, "Come on, let's order, I'm starving. We're probably going to have a late start tomorrow. Almost everyone else has already gotten to Cerulean!"

"What everyone else?" Elle asked, confused, as Lilah stood up again.

Lana answered her, "Our family. A bunch of cousins, some of their friends, our parents, they mostly got a badge early and went on. We decided to stay, didn't want to hang out with the group. Too much competition for Pokémon."

"That's probably the one time Kenny was right since we got into this game," Lilah pointed out as she started walking away, "See you two later."

Alex frowned at the siblings' backs as they walked away. Something about their interaction bothered him, but he couldn't put his finger on exactly what. Something about the way they interacted went beyond what he wanted to call normal sibling rivalries. It was... something like how Colt treated Cora these days, maybe.
Whatever it was, it was unpleasant.

"You wanna fuck 'em?" Elle asked quietly a moment later.

He jumped. "Uh, huh?"

"The girls. They might be twins, even if they aren't identical. Lana's the tall one, Lilah the short one with the badge. Do you want to fuck them? Either, or both? I saw you staring."

Alex blinked, glanced back, then shook his head. "No. No, I was staring- well, I wasn't really staring at all. I was looking, but... they're both kind of bitchy, aren't they?"

"I guess, if you go by how they were just acting," Elle shrugged, "But Lana treated me really well when we were watching you Challenge Stirling's Gym. Rubbed my pussy right there in the stands, you know?"

"Huh," Alex grunted, "I... I'm not sure I'd have let her do that to me. Not because of... well, what we talked about before, but because she treats her brother like crap. He's smart."

"Sure," Elle nodded, checking her drink cup to find it empty, "but that's not everything. My guess is they were tired and cranky, and that's part of it, but he's still a kid, too."

"That's not an excuse."

"Isn't it?"

"No," Alex frowned, looking down at his companion, "Should I treat you like dirt because you're two and a half years younger than me?"

"No, of course not," Elle chuckled, "and if you did I'd break up with you in a heartbeat. I love you, but I'm not here to be abused... unless it's for fun. No, think about it, Alex. He's a kid. He hasn't hit puberty, yet. He's not interested in the same stuff they are. That's why they're mad at him for sticking with them, or something."

"Not following," he shrugged.

Elle grinned and leaned in to whisper, "They want to fuck... and their kid brother, who isn't interested in that stuff yet, is tagging along. Buzzkill, you know? That's why they want to get to Cerulean, catch up with their family, so they can ditch him with them."

"Oh. Now I feel like a moron," Alex laughed.

"Eh, you're my moron. Come on, let's get up to the room. I'm probably a bit too sore, but I'd love to watch you with Gobbler, or maybe someone else if you're frisky. Tomorrow I'll probably be alright, I think. I do want a shower, though."

"Same. Yeah, let's go."

Mount Moon, Alex decided quickly, was a tourist trap. Lured by the possibility of finding a 'very rare' Moonstone, there were at least seventy people waiting in line for a series of so-called Moon Guides to take groups of five or ten through the well-trodden pathways of the mountain's lower reaches. "Tradition," one of the louder guides shouted, "dictated that all Trainers making a Pokémon Journey for the Indigo League Challenge pass through Mount Moon on foot." Of course, that same Moon Guide continued, "But that doesn't mean you have to brave the dangers for long! Why, a simple passage less than a hundred yards long, just two hundred and eighty feet, passes through this tunnel right behind me, to come out on the other side of this ridge! That's all it takes!"

Others shouted the virtues of another path, "Take this tunnel, and you're guaranteed to see a real, actual, Pokémon-evolving Moon Stone with your very own eyes! You can't touch it, but you can at least see the rarest of the rare Stones found on Mt. Moon!"

A third promised, "Yes, my fees are a little higher than the rest, but I can all-but guarantee you will find a fragment of Moon Stone for your own Team! Evolve those pretty little Clefairy, or Jigglypuff! Turn your Nidorino or Nidorina into the mighty Nidoqueen or Nidoking! All it takes is taking this route here, the one I'm happy to guide you through for the low, low price of nineteen thousand for a three-day trip!"

None of them looked particularly good at Battling, or even guiding a group of people from one side of a well-traveled cavern complex to the other. Or maybe it was just the generally sleazy aura that pervaded most of the Moon Guides that put him off. In several small, almost miniscule ways they reminded him of the various bad-guy teams that had been a part of Pokémon games since their inception. Individually, even in a cluster, there wasn't that much that painted the Moon Guides in a bad light. But as a whole, each and every one of them just screamed slimeball to him. Taken together, the group seemed even worse. "Come on," he urged Elle, actually reaching out and taking her arm to lead her away form the back of the queue. "We don't need their help."

"But they're experienced Guides," she complained, "They can take us right to where we need to go!"

"I don't really think they can," he shot back. It didn't escape Alex's noticed that more than a few of the Guides were suddenly keeping an eye on them. One rough-looking man in his lower forties or so watched from a small way off in the increasingly narrow valley that was dotted with old mine entrances, and another, younger Moon Guide who must've been in his mid-twenties pulled out a radio and started talking into it while keeping an eye on them, too. "This whole operation's fishy."

"Hey, where do you think you're going, hot stuff?" A buxom but otherwise slender, red-haired woman wearing a feminine version of the other Moon Guide's outfit called, "It's not safe to traverse Mount Moon without a certified and registered Guide, you know?"

"Not interested," Alex told her brusquely. A moment later, he had to physically shake his arm out of the woman's grasp as she pressed her breasts around him.

"Aww, don't be like that," the woman tried again, "If it's about your girlfriend or sister, well, I don't mind sharing!"

"That's nice!" Alex called back, "Still not interested!"

"Alex," Elle cried, "Stop! At least slow down! What's gotten into you?"

He did slow, a little. Enough that Elle could keep up without panting, though he mostly did so only because Lingus was starting to lag behind them her roly-poly body and relatively short legs unable to keep up.

They made it into the next cavern by dodging past the next Moon Guide, literally in Elle's case as the man made a grab for her that she just ducked. How had things escalated so quickly? Why were people trying to grab them, when Alex had simply declined an overly-pushy guide's advances?

He just had time to register that the path they were in had a door just inside, which was open but seemed to have a simple, effective bar lock across it that one might see on a naval ship, or some factories to keep dangers from spilling out of the area they started in. He grabbed the door at once, physically punched the man who had grabbed for Elle, now one of a half-dozen Moon Guides chasing them while the rest struggled to keep the suddenly-rowdy crowd back, out of the fracas.

Then the Pokéballs started flying. First, a Rattata. A Koffing. A Meowth. Then more, Houndour, Murkrow, Ekans, and a dozen others beside those. Lingus was still bringing up the rear, but hoofing it as fast as she could, even using her tongue to pull herself forward like a video game grappling hook. It wasn't enough.

She was going to be caught, or they all were.

"Loki, use Confuse Ray on as many of those Pokémon as you can! Squirt, Smokescreen, cover Lingus! Morpheus, put them to sleep- the Trainers! Gobbler, blast the Pokémon with Sleep Powder, too! Kole and Nike, you two go cover her, make sure our girl gets back here safely!"

"Cock, get out-" Alex shouted, but he was cut off by Elle.

"No, don't! Your Pokémon need to cover the other side! I've got this! And get ready to slam that door, Alex!"

He wasn't sure what 'other side' she meant, and didn't dare risk it, but he knew he had to trust Elle, or what had started as a quiet morning with the promise of adventure would quickly turn into a nightmare. He wasn't about to lose one of his Pokémon. His first capture, no less! "Come on, Lingus, you can do it, just a little farther!"

She had a dozen feet go go when the first attack, a Water Gun by the look of it, pelted her back. Nike and Kole were getting blistered suddenly too, but Lingus got the worst of it, though Elle's team did an admirable job of distracting the nearly two-dozen Pokémon and their eight Trainers.

Then she was through. A moment later, Nike whizzed by close enough to stir Alex's hair, then Kole turned, barking, and unleashed a small torrent of fire from his mouth.

"Come on, Kole, I know you're upset, but get in here!"

"Grow, Grow, Lithe!"

Another Ember followed, then he was through, and Alex slammed the door shut. He bolted it quickly, just as someone reached the other side and hurled themselves against it bodily. Elle was there a moment later, a metal rod from a pile nearby that had once been neatly stacked slammed in between the locking mechanism and the corner of the wall.

"That oughta hold for a bit," she gasped, then immediately turned. "Holy shit, that's a lot of Zubat..."

Alex whipped around too, and found why she'd ordered his team to guard their rear.

The small, sightless bat-Pokémon were swarming around his own team, screeching, clawing, biting... but his team were holding their own. Lingus alone wasn't fighting, as she stood by Alex's legs, panting and heaving. He reached down to pet her round skull, which was drenched in sweat. "You did good, Lingus," he murmured idly, most of his attention on the newest fight.

Their were dozens upon dozens of Zubat. Five of his own Pokémon, and now Kole and Morpheus, fighting them off, outnumbered eight or ten to one.

But they were winning.

Zubat fell, screeching and clawing feebly at the air, by the droves or vanished back into the caves in a panic. Despite their numbers, in less than a minute it was over, as the muted shouting and pounding on the door behind them continued.

"Holy fuck," Elle grumbled, shooting Alex an annoyed glare, "Would it have been so bad to put up with that lady? And what's wrong with hiring a guide? Even if they're a bunch of assholes. Now we're locked in a cave with no idea where it goes."

"They weren't guides, they were scam artists," Alex shook his head slowly. "I can't prove it, but I'd bet all my money on it. Every bit. The fact that they were so pushy and even tried to attack us, grab you, was proof enough for me. But that guy making a report? The one eying us? They were both passing word to someone further ahead."

"What do you mean?" Elle grimaced as she watched the last few Zubat give their all against her and his much more powerful Pokémon. "Why would they do that/"

"My guess is they are scouts for a bigger operation. Identify people with money, or people that won't be missed. Identify them, and then make themselves scarce for some kind of ambush. Kidnapping, Poké-napping, extortion, just outright theft... who knows what they're doing. But it was shady as fuck."

Elle sighed and shrugged heavily, "If you say so. It's too late now, I guess. You guys about done with that... oh... oh, fuck! Alex, look!"

The moment she stuttered, he noticed, too.

They had seen that light before, just once, when Chris' Eevee had evolved into Umbreon. But this wasn't just one or even two Pokémon. It was four.

Alex's started, Cock, was shimmering with amethyst-colored light. Sappy, who had struggled bravely against the Flying-type Zubat, was too. Gobbler, Elle's own Poison/Grass-type, was in a similar state, both half-collapsed, but shining with verdant energy. The last one, Nike the Pidgey, had collapsed to the ground with a quiet squawk, before soft blue-silver light coalesced around it.

Between them, in moments the light was blinding. Alex soon found Elle's small, sweat-clammy hand in his own, while he continued to pet Lingus' head as she, too, watched in awe.

Nike finished first, but was among the most impressive changes. She had been just under a foot tall, small even for Pidgey, but now she stood nearly four feet tall, at about the level of Elle's shoulder, with a wingspan almost as long as she was tall, too. Her beak, once just an inch and a half long, was probably wider than Alex could stretch his whole hand, and her talons could easily take hold of Elle's head, he thought. "Pid- Pidgeotto!" Nike screeched, louder than ever before.

"Oh, baby," Elle laughed happily, jumping up and down like a giddy schoolgirl, "She's evolved into Pidgeotto! Yes, that's my girl!"

Cock was the next to finish, and he was almost as impressive a gain in size. He stood about as tall as Nike had before, though he was much larger as a quadreped and not a bird. Even so, while he stood three feet and an inch or so high now, Alex suspected Nike now outmassed and outweighed his own Starter, even if the Nidorino was almost certain to win in a straight-up fight. His body was now about four feet long too, and while slender and toned, the spines on his back were a foot long in themselves, and his central horn an inch or two shorter but razor sharp. "Ni- Rino! Ni!"

"That's my boy," Alex laughed too, unable to help himself. He had been hoping and praying for this day for... well, since he had first gotten the notice that he'd been selected for the Special Beta. Even before that, in the hopes and dreams of a child who grew up playing Pokémon games. Now, he was seeing- had seen- his Starter evolve for the first time, in the flesh.

His dream was a reality.

Their Grass-types finished at almost the same moment. Gobbler was much larger too, though she hadn't quite doubled in size, and her height had only gone up a few inches. But her bell was now the vast majority of her body, and two long leaves had replaced the stem of her body as both hands and arms. "Wee- Weepin, Bell!" she squealed, the first time he'd truly heard her speak.

"I bet she could throat Surtr now," Elle chuckled, wiping an amused tear from her eye.

"You probably aren't wrong, but... uh... Sappy? Baby? Are you... are you okay?"

He didn't know why, but his little nightshade bulb was larger... and sobbing uncontrollably. Her bulb was almost two feet tall instead of just a few inches, and her leaves had darkened to a mottled-yellow orange ochre color, while a stinky, smelly sap was leaking out from her wide mouth. "Gl... Glo-ooooomm!"

He didn't know what she'd said, of course. He didn't understand the speech of Pokémon better than anyone else.

All he knew was that she was very, very upset.