Chapter 55 – Evolution Solution
“Waaaaah! Good morning, everyone! Best sleep ever!”
I was feeling great. Making it through the whole night without being victimized by Misdreavus left me enough time to enjoy a full night’s rest. Judging by the amount of sunlight falling in through the windowpanes I figured it was almost time to get out of bed and get started with my first task of the day picking up Rena at her mother’s.
Most of my team was scattered around the room having made full use of the castle’s complementary pillows and blankets to build themselves a makeshift fort. The rascals were using Numsy’s body as a tent pole. The big guy didn’t seem to mind judging by his lackadaisical body language but I couldn’t help but worry about the possible fire hazard this careless use of amenities posed.
“Numsy you alright there?”
“Rupt…”
“Numsy, you do not have to act as their pilaster if you don’t want to, we could just get a table or bench… wait why are you looking at me like that?”
My trusty bovine friend was making a weird face as if to suppress a bout of laughter. The rest of my team roused from sleep were also now staring at me as if I had grown a second head followed up by a bout of sniffling coughs as if they’ve seen something funny. I was quite quick to catch on though.
“Guys… did something happen to my face?”
I hastily got out of bed and made my way into the ensuite bathroom. To get a look at my appearance in the bathroom mirror. The visage that looked back at me in the mirror was reminiscent of how one might appear after a kid’s birthday party. My face looked like it was victimized by a juvenile delinquent, a pirate’s eyepatch covered my left eye, I had big cartoony cat whiskers and worst of all I had the word dummy spelled across my forehead. Instinctively I immediately realized who was responsible.
“That darned Misdreavus! I’ll need some kind of alcoholic solution to get this stuff off.”
“Miss! Miss!”
The ghost type fazed through the bathroom mirror eager to let me know that she got one over me despite my numerous precautions. She was zipping around me eager to rub her pranking success in my beleaguered face.
“Mark my words Misdreavus… by the end of my stay here you will be the one that has the wool pulled over your eyes!”
“Dravus!”
Misdreavus wisely chose to exit the ensuite bathroom before suffering the full force of my wrath unbeknownst to the ignorant specter I was quietly gleeful. Permanent marker on my face was the mildest prank I’ve experienced up until this point. If she kept it to this level I might even forgive her for past transgressions. Still, it was important to keep up the ruse so that things wouldn’t escalate out of control.
After washing my face in the sink I’d gotten the worst of it off my face. You could still see faint black lines which I resolved to fix at a later date. My skin’s natural oils would in time remove the lines entirely but that would take a few days. This could be resolved quicker if Phoebe’s family kept some high proof alcohol in stock but I didn’t have my hopes up. The ghosts living here used acid diluted in water to keep the floors clean and I was not willing to take the risk using that on my delicate face.
“I am heading out to pick up Rena from her mother’s place. Does anyone want to come with me?”
“Lit!”
I didn’t have many takers. It was still early in the morning and only a half hour’s time removed from when we usually woke up as a team. Orin did offer to come with me, the little ghost type not being bound to the ever-present circadian clock like us living creatures are. He is always in the mood to hang out no matter what time of the day it is. I picked up the little ghost type before placing him on my left shoulder. This way he could enjoy the mountain’s picturesque views as the rising sun slowly illuminated the surrounding area.
“That sounds good! I am coming along as well!”
Victini sluggishly levitated herself out of the makeshift blanket fort to join us. Landing on top of my head and wriggling around until she finally made herself comfortable. The little rabbit previously content to laze about was now doing so while using me as her personal mode of transport.
I walked out of the room and into the adjoining hallways which eventually led us to the main gates of the castle. The ghost types seemed content to leave the three of us alone for now probably slightly disoriented by the morning’s sunlight. Orin wasn’t affected by the sun in the slightest probably due to being part fire type. Luckily the guest room which I stayed at was situated close to the castle’s gates, so we were out in a matter of minutes.
Mt. Pyre being bathed under the morning sun was a sight for sore eyes and best of all there were no stray ghost types in sight. The only Pokémon in sight were the flocks of wingull who were known to make their nests on the cliffs overlooking the sea. In fact I felt safe enough that I started to hum the tunes of an old song I once heard in my youth whose name I’ve long since forgotten. Orin cheerfully hummed alongside me as I walked down the steps leading away from the castle and towards Ninetales’ cave.
“Lit Lit!”
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At the cave*
After some mild hiking and a run in with a wild Meditite practicing their morning Tai Chi, we finally made it to the cave. I didn’t feel comfortable barging in without being invited to, so we stood outside for a while before I deigned it proper to call out Rena’s name.
“Renaaaa!!”
The response was immediate. We heard some loud yips before seeing my little fox Pokémon dash out of the cave’s opening gracing us with her presence. For some reason, my fox companion had a weathered look to her as if she had been emotionally drained. Being a man with experience I recognized the look of a kit that’s been dealing with rambunctious younger family members all night long.
“Vuuuul!”
“Calm down Rena, what’s wrong? Did you miss me that much?”
“Pix Pix!”
“You got pestered by your own siblings?!”
“Ninee!”
Ninetales walked up to the two of us with her own clarification of yesterday’s events. It seemed like her siblings were expecting their sister who was a couple of years older than them to have already evolved by this point and couldn’t help but tease her for acting mature despite her diminutive stature.
“Pfft…! Maturity is not measured by size if it were I’d be buckling under both Flannery and Phoebe’s antics. The only thing that’s important is experience. That's why I am only deferential to trainers who have proven their mettle in the big leagues. Your little brother and sister are just too young to realize the difference between the three of you.”
“Pix?”
“We still have that fire stone tucked away in my backpack, right? You could at any point decide that you are ready to evolve.”
“Vuuuul…”
Rena was sporting a conflicted expression on one paw she had a desire to evolve and show up her younger siblings on the other the fear of assuming a much larger form.
“You still think evolving is scary?”
“Pix Pix!”
“What!? Of course you can sit on people’s lap afterwards. Frankly some trainers prefer larger Pokémon that way there’s more fluff to enjoy.”
“Vuuul!”
“Vi Vi…” “She’s not wrong…”
“Numsy can still get on my lap if he wants to. Well… maybe not. He’d probably break my bones during the attempt. But a ninetales weighs less than a tenth of a fully grown Camerupt so you have nothing to worry about and I still try to do stuff with him from time to time. It’s just that working in all our new team members is taking a lot of my attention right now. When Flannery’s done with catching the sixth member of her team she’ll go back to Lavaridge town leaving me available to spend some more time with you all.”
“Pix!”
“Then it’s settled. We’ll show up those siblings of yours at the end of our stay here. You can only evolve once so we will make it extra special by having your entire family come and watch.”
Rena darted back into the cave probably to share the big news with her younger sister and brother. Victini growing curious followed her inside as if she was a playmate who had a tacit permission to come and go whenever she pleased, leaving me alone with Rena’s mother.
“Nineee.”
“You don’t mind? We’ll be staying here for a month, training for our upcoming gym battles. I already received permission from Phoebe’s grandparents to let us train on the summit so the three of you can come visit us anytime you want.”
The ancient fox Pokémon seemed to be amused by the notion that a Pokémon who has left the nest would not be welcome to stick around for longer periods of time. I knew for a fact that hatchlings usually had around a year or so to strike out on their own. That grace period fluctuated depending on their parent’s breeding cycle but seeing as Ninetales were especially long lived I could safely assume the regular rules didn’t apply to this species.
“You must know lots of other vulpix and ninetales right? Has any one of them ever developed an ability other than flash fire? Like say for instance their mere presence on the battlefield causing the sun’s rays to grow more intense as if the move Sunny Day had been used?”
“Nine!”
“You do!?”
“Tales Nine Nine!”
“Your sire who has long left these lands? Too bad… I would have loved to ask him all about his experiences while developing that ability. Torkoal are also known to develop this ability called Drought making them staples for fire type specialists like me. I long suspected that your line was capable of doing so as well. That’s why we’ll be training on the mountain’s summit. Torkoal need harsh sunlight for long periods of time in order to learn this ability and I thought to put Rena in the same conditions to see if that also works for a vulpix.”
“Nine…”
“In any case we’d best be going, the sun has almost reached its zenith. We need to be at the summit before that happens.”
‘Can you let Rena know that it’s time to go?’
“On it! You’ve gotta see this place! Ninetales has everything, even a bouncy house!”
The surprising revelation that a wild Pokémon took the time to have her cave furnished came as a shock to me until I realized that Ninetales used to be a trainer owned Pokémon. It made sense that she would grow accustomed to the perks of living in human society and would try to combine free living with modern amenities. It did make me wonder which human handyman she cajoled into coming up here to spruce out her cave though.
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Eventually the duo came back out of the cave’s entrance and this time Rena seemed to be filled with newfound confidence having probably taken the time to show up her siblings with the knowledge of her impending evolution. She gave her mother a few head bumps and a playful lick on the cheek before taking off with me obviously in a much better mood.
“Okay we’ll make a quick stop at the castle to drop off Orin at Phoebe’s for his scheduled training sessions and then we’ll go straight up to the summit.”
“Lit!”
“Vi? Vi!” “We are in a hurry, right? I’ll teleport us!”
Without waiting for an answer Victini grabbed a hold of both me and Rena and just like that we found ourselves back inside the guest room startling my team members with our sudden appearance. Teleportation didn’t come with any side effects but the sudden shift in surroundings could make one experience vertigo if one’s mind wasn’t properly prepared. Orin didn’t experience any dizziness of the sort which could be explained away by his ghostly nature but Rena didn’t get off so easily. The little fox was scolding Victini in a series of heated yips while the rest of my team got woken up by the sudden commotion.
“Pix! Pix! Pix!”
“Vi…!?”
While Rena was busy establishing her boundaries the rest of the team got up and ready for the day. I still needed to make breakfast for them to give them all the energy they needed to go through a day’s worth of training. That meant our next destination would be the castle’s kitchen.
“You guys ready for breakfast?”
“Alright! Now I just need to figure out where I can find one of the castle’s kitchens.”
“Vess!”
“Halo knows. She hid inside the kitchen pantry during yesterday’s hide and seek game.”
“That’s perfect! you can lead the way then.”
My excitable little bug type clambered onto Numsy’s back intent on having the big guy walk in front of the rest of our group while she busied herself giving him directions to the closest kitchen. Because all my teammates were out of their balls the castle’s hallway got a little bit too crowded, but we managed to successfully navigate our way through until we reached our destination without upsetting any of the other residents. I was also quite sure most of the ghost types living here didn’t actually use the hallways preferring to phase through walls to get where they were going. Before we could make headway into our short journey the commotion being produced by my hungry team did wake up the other guest in the castle whose room was directly opposite to ours.
“Egon, wait for me!”
Standing behind the opened doorway was Flannery who had just gotten dressed, her crazy bed hair bunched up by a single elastic band.
She quickly joined our procession walking next to me as we were being led around by my eager Larvesta.
“Halo’s leading us to the kitchens so I can prepare breakfast. I am betting the kitchen is fully equipped so this would be an excellent opportunity for you to learn how to cook your own team’s meals.”
Thus far I’ve been letting her help me with prep work but not trusting the clumsy teenage girl with a sharp knife. We do have a first aid kit but being stuck on the routes with an open knife wound while constantly having to change her bandages seemed like a bad idea. This wouldn’t be an issue if one of our team members was able to use life dew or heal pulse but thus far, I haven’t known a single fire type able to use those moves.
“Just you wait! I’ll master Heal Pulse in no time!”
‘Just because you are a psychic type doesn’t mean you’ll be able to learn every psychic type move, it doesn’t work like that. Every species of Pokémon has an innate aptitude…’
“I will!”
This was the first time Victini got excited after hearing about a new move. Not even learning teleportation got her excitement levels running this high.
‘Well, we’ll need a specialized move tutor to check if you are compatible with the move… It’ll take a while before we have enough money to afford hiring one, not even mentioning the fact that we also need to find a tutor we could trust to keep your existence a secret.’
While I kept mentally conversing with Victini, the baby of my team had managed to lead us to our destination. Unlike what one would expect from an old landmark like this castle, the kitchen was fully modernized while at the same time being the largest kitchen I’ve ever seen. It even beat out the ones lodging trainers had to share while staying at a city’s Pokémon center. To avoid overcrowding I directed the rest of our group to lounge inside the nearby dining area while me and Flannery got busy prepping(preparing the meal. Unlike the hall's guest rooms which were made to handle his weight the dining room floor was not constructed to hold up such a heavy Pokémon.
“Rupt!”
“I know this sucks, but I’ll give you an extra diced berry to make up for it. I just don’t want you to be stuck in the stables all by yourself like last time.”
I gave the big lug a much-needed hug. Being the size of your average ten-year-old meant that it devolved into me just wrapping my arms around his large head, but it was the thought behind it that counted. After returning him to his ball I started out by opening my backpack to lay out our cookware on a kitchen counter while Flannery went out to look for a kitchen apron. However, I was startled by the sight of multiple specters phasing through the wall giving me and my female cohort the evil eye. I recognized some of these ghosts as the servants who made us a welcome dinner last night. A Haunter, Duskull and Banette strangely enough the Haunter was wearing a large white hat marking him as the head chef.
“Haaaunt!”
“Oh, excuse us. We were looking to make breakfast for our teams. Would you guys terribly mind the two of us using the kitchen counters to make meal sets? We have our own ingredients and everything.”
“Duuuussk!”
“They do mind!”
“Uhmm you see, each of my team members are on very specific diets. Yesterday’s dinner was kind of an exception. I can’t have them pigging out each and every day. The meal itself was an amazing feat of culinary expertise though! I especially liked the cold noodles!”
My last comment seemed to have mollified the ghostly kitchen staff somewhat, but this group of specters was still insistent on us not being in their work area.
“Nette!”
“Banette says that visiting guests are not allowed to prepare their own food. Tradition dictates that the castle’s staff takes care of their every need.”
‘Hmm… I never figured ghost types to be such lawful creatures. These servant Pokémon must have had some type of obsession with the rules while they were still alive.’
Eventually we managed to come to an agreement, we would not be allowed to prepare our own meals, but the ghost types would follow our directions while making the food for each of our Pokémon. They were very set in their ways but luckily most of my recipes were made up out of mixing a portion of food pellets with sliced berries, so they got done cooking food for us at a fairly rapid pace.
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Nearing the summit*
After finishing breakfast and going for another round of sparring with Phoebe my entire team, minus our little candle buddy, went up the mountain to take in the sights of the summit. Despite not being allowed near the altar housing the two orbs I was still eager to experience what the mountain’s peak looked like. In my experience places like Mt. Pyre’s summit where the celestial bodies could be clearly observed with the naked eye are a hotbed for psychic type Pokémon aside from the expected meditite and chimecho who I was sure to meet there I was also looking forward to finding out what other Pokémon made that place their home. Flannery decided to head off on her own instead of going up the mountain she decided to descend. No doubt planning to woo one of Rena’s siblings into partnering up with her.
Luckily the mountain’s summit wasn’t that far removed from the castle and after what felt like only ten minutes walking, we reached the mountain’s peak. At the end of the mountain’s grand staircase, we were warmly welcomed by a familiar face.
“Ching!”
“Chingling! How have you been, little buddy?”
“Ling!”
The sound of the little psychic type’s ringing caught the attention of Victini who was taking a powernap inside my backpack after having exchanged blows with Phoebe’s Dusclops this morning. Used her telekinesis to unravel the zipper she came out to see where the chiming noises came from.
“He’s happy to see us again and wants to show us around! Can we go?”
“Of course! Hey, little guy, do you know a spot that gets lots of sun?”
“Ling!”
“He wants to introduce us to his family first.”
“That’d be fine too. They say a Chimecho’s cries are as beautiful as they are dangerous. It’d be an interesting experience at the least.”
The entire summit was made out of tiled temple grounds with small shrines and gravestones dotting the landscape. I knew we weren’t allowed to go further up, and it seemed Chingling knew as well since the little bell Pokémon was leading us to a well-maintained shrine. I knew each shrine was dedicated to specific legendary Pokémon and with this place being inside Hoenn it wouldn’t be hard to figure out which. Before I had the chance to discover more about the shrine’s origins we were greeted by the sound of melodious wind chimes. I was deeply moved by this sound just hearing it eased out all the stress I had accumulated while trekking through route 120’s dangerous swamps.
“Vi!” “Egon look!”
The small shrine which was decorated with various charms was also sporting a pair of Pokémon which I hadn’t noticed before since they didn’t stand out from all the other talismans and paper lanterns drifting in the wind.
“Chimeeee!”
“Amazing…! Just listening to the two of you is very calming. My name is Egon, me and Chingling met a while back and he wanted to show off his home. Sorry for intruding.”
“Chimeeee!”
“We are welcomed and are invited to stay for as long we like.”
“So which Pokémon is this shrine dedicated to?”
“Chimeeee.”
“Two Pokémon which she calls the travelers. They favor humans and Pokémon who are on their journey and love observing those that intrigue them from afar.”
“Sounds like Latios and Latias. Do they ever visit shrines dedicated to them though? I know for a fact that they tend to keep clear from humans.”
“Chimeee?!”
The two Chimecho seemed startled by the fact that I knew which Legendary Pokémon they were speaking of. I have done my fair share of research on all publicly available information regarding Hoenn’s legendary Pokémon. The Eon duo were not known by their proper names but there are stories of trainers claiming to have seen the two of them from time to time. Usually describing them as blue and red blurs streaking across the skies.
“They are surprised that you know their names.”
“Ehh… It’s not a big deal. This little girl here might also have a shrine or two dedicated to her back in Unova.”
“Vi! Vi?!” “I do?!”
“Hey since this is a shrine what would be an appropriate offering?”
“Chimeee!”
“Food preferably something that doesn’t spoil.”
“Okay! just let me check what I have on hand.”
I combed through my backpack while being glared at jealously by my fire rabbit companion. She wasn’t a fan of me frivolously offering up food to other Pokémon but I felt it only right to do so since we’d be staying on the summit for up to a month. After a while I finally decided to crank open the old cookie jar and fishing out two of my grandmother’s famed Lava cookies.
“Vi Vi!” “Those are mine! Ehm, I mean ours!”
“Relax, these ones will stay fresh for up to three days in open air. If the Eon duo hasn’t eaten them by then I’ll put up some fresher ones and you’ll get to eat these before they expire. The odds of them actually visiting this shrine should be pretty low.”
Victini’s grumbling eased up a bit. The realization that she’d be getting extra desserts as long as the two of them didn’t show up eased her worries. Unbeknownst to the fact that I would make her skip that day’s desert in the event that she got to eat those two cookies.
After placing the two cookies on top of the altar I thanked the two Chimecho for their hospitality and their beautiful singing. Whereupon Chingling excitedly guided us to a spot suitable for Rena’s special training. The ambient temperature was fairly warm, not unlike the Lavaridge gym’s volcano.
‘My sense of warmth is all messed up if I can’t even distinguish the massive difference in temperature between the sun’s rays and the inside of a volcano. I should really have myself looked over by a professor when I get the chance.’
Unlike the geothermal heat from the volcano all the tiles here are warmed by solar radiation. The sun’s light is of a similar intensity comparatively to when a Pokémon uses the move, Sunny Day. I immediately realized that this spot would perfectly suit our training needs.
“Come on out everyone!”
With one sweeping motion I released everyone from their poké balls. In one bright flash my team materialized onto the white tiled temple grounds.
“This is the place where we’ll be training every day for the next two weeks. You all know what to do so for the next four hours we’ll be getting used to the benefits of fighting under intense sunlight.”
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*Four hours later.
Our practice went smoothly by the end of it Halo even managed to successfully perform her first learned move. Victini’s psychic imaging helped Halo get the basics of Flame Charge down pat. While we were all busy enjoying our lunch something peculiar happened. Victini started zipping around frantically searching for something.
“Vi!” “It’s gone!”
“What’s gone?”
“The last sliced custap berry I was saving for tonight’s dinner!”
‘That’d mean something, or someone got inside my backpack while my back was turned. All of my team was busy enjoying their meals so it must have been a wild Pokémon. This’ll be an excellent opportunity to test out the nose of my newest partner.’
“Raven! Come here girl, we need your assistance.”
“Arf!”
Raven who was busy basking in the sun’s glows while digesting her meal trotted up to me tail waggling. Eager to know what all this commotion was about.
“Tini lost her special berry and is very upset about it. Could you sniff this container here and follow the lingering scent?”
“Ruff!”
I didn’t know how reliable her nose was in comparison to Rena’s but this was as good of a time as any to find out. At least Raven didn’t bother haggling with me for a reward in exchange for her helping to track down the thief. Raven stuck her nose inside the now empty container and with a few rapid sniffs got all the information she needed.
“Arf!”
“That way? Okay let’s go.”
Raven led me and Victini towards the nearest headstone as soon as we got close to it we started hearing munching sounds.
“Wy Wy! Naut!”