After dinner, Reiji headed to the battle field beside the Pokémon Center to watch a few matches and see if anyone stood out.
He stayed for a while, but nothing caught his eye. Most of the Trainers were using unevolved Pokémon, and almost all of them relied on Evolution Stones. It was clearly the local trend.
With Evolution Mountain nearby, stones were easy to get. Naturally, people here favored Pokémon that could evolve with them.
Among those, Eevee was by far the most popular. There were several breeding houses in town selling Eevee. Prices were much lower than elsewhere—an Eevee egg could go for just 100,000 Pokédollars, though the potential was a gamble.
After watching for a bit longer, he lost interest. A light rain began to fall, and he decided to head back to the Pokémon Center.
Just as he was about to leave, a shout cut through the noise.
"Useless! You can't even win a battle, and you still won't evolve! I gave you a Thunder Stone, a Water Stone, a Fire Stone—nothing! I don't need you anymore. Get lost!"
"Eevee… Eevee…" The Eevee sat in the rain, head lowered, silently taking the abuse. It didn't blame its Trainer. In its mind, it was just too weak.
It wasn't that it didn't want to evolve. It simply couldn't. No matter how many stones it touched, nothing happened. It didn't know why, and that only made it more frustrated.
"Get lost! I don't want to see you again!" The boy turned and walked away.
Eevee tried to follow, but the boy spun around and snapped, "Vaporeon, Water Gun!"
"Vap!"
The Water Gun struck Eevee head-on, blasting it into a wall. It crumpled to the ground, unable to get back up.
The boy and his Vaporeon walked off without another glance, disappearing into the rainy night.
"Eevee…" It wanted to chase after them, but it was already at its limit. It hadn't recovered from earlier battles, and the rain only made things worse. Its body burned with fever, and it couldn't even stand.
"Eevee…" Reiji sighed when he saw the scene. If the kid didn't want it, he could've just returned it to the breeder. Why abandon it like this?
"Eevee…" The small Pokémon saw a shadow stop in front of it, but it didn't even have the strength to cry out. It blacked out.
Reiji picked up the Poké Ball the boy had discarded and captured the injured, feverish Eevee.
Why did he always end up in situations like this?
Either way, someone would have something to say.
After capturing Eevee, he returned to the Pokémon Center and handed it over to Nurse Joy for emergency treatment, hoping it would be alright.
While capturing it earlier, he had already checked its panel. He wanted to know why it couldn't evolve.
[Eevee]
[Type: Normal]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 54%]
[Level: 26.13%]
[Ability: Adaptability/12.23%][Hidden Ability: Anticipation/16.13%]
Normal-type [Moves: (Protect/13.34%) (Tackle/22.53%) (Helping Hand/12.34%) (Growl/23.23%) (Roar/14.67%) (Tail Whip/12.33%) (Quick Attack/12.62%) (Swift/13.71%)]
Dark-type [(Bite/23.14%) (Dark Pulse/30.82%)]
Psychic-type [(Rest/21.27%) (Future Sight/13.21%)]
A potential of 54—solid for an Eevee. So why couldn't it evolve?
The only strange part was the extra moves. Dark Pulse and Future Sight.
Those weren't moves an Eevee at this stage should have. And Dark Pulse's proficiency was even higher than its level.
Future Sight was even more unusual. It wasn't just a high-damage Psychic move—in this world, it also carried its literal meaning. It could glimpse the future.
"I can feel it. Strong Dark-type energy," Darkrai said from Reiji's shadow. It had sensed it the moment Reiji approached Eevee.
"Dark-type energy? From where? Eevee?" Reiji asked.
"Yes. And something powerful is approaching," Darkrai replied, looking toward Evolution Mountain.
"Go check it out." Reiji already had a guess. The dense Dark-type energy inside Eevee was likely the reason it couldn't evolve with stones.
But how could an Eevee carry that much Dark energy?
He didn't figure it out until Darkrai returned.
"It left. I forced it back. It'll probably come again," Darkrai said as it slipped back into Reiji's shadow. "It was an Absol."
"Absol? There's an Absol here?" Reiji's eyes widened. That was a rare Pokémon.
Absol was notoriously difficult to catch. Like Riolu or Ralts, it chose its own Trainer. It usually lived in harsh mountain regions.
Which fit perfectly—Evolution Mountain.
"So why would it come down here?" Reiji asked. "Isn't it afraid of humans? People see it as a disaster Pokémon."
"That Eevee is its child. They share the same Dark-type energy signature."
"…What?" Reiji almost swore out loud.
That explained everything.
The high potential. The abnormal Dark-type moves.
That Eevee wasn't normal—it was Absol's offspring.
The picture came together quickly. An Absol had taken an interest in an Eevee in town, and the two had produced an offspring. Somehow, the Absol had left the child with the boy to raise.
And the boy had thrown it away.
Sensing its child in danger, the Absol rushed down from Evolution Mountain—only to be stopped by Darkrai.
Now everything made sense.
Why Eevee couldn't evolve with stones.
Why its potential was so high.
Because it wasn't just an Eevee—it carried Absol's blood.
But instead of excitement, Reiji felt a headache coming on.
After thinking it through, he let out a long sigh.
He gave up on the idea of keeping it.
Tomorrow, he would take Eevee back to the mountain and return it to Absol.
Catching it?
He could—but Absol would never leave him alone. It would chase him down to get its child back.
He thought of kidnapped children.
Yeah… better not.
He wasn't so desperate that he needed this one Pokémon.
Eevee's treatment lasted until midnight.
To avoid misunderstandings, Reiji explained everything to Nurse Joy beforehand—that Eevee wasn't his, that he had found it abandoned and brought it in.
Nurse Joy just sighed and left the room. This wasn't the first time she'd seen something like this, and there wasn't much she could do about it.
She told him Eevee wasn't in serious condition. It was just exhausted from battle, had caught a cold, and got soaked in the rain. With rest, it would recover by morning.
Reiji thanked her and stood outside the ward for a while, watching Eevee sleep. Its breathing was steady.
Satisfied, he returned to his room, took a shower, and went straight to bed.
He had to get up early tomorrow.
He needed to take Eevee back up the mountain.
As for finding Absol?
No need.
Absol would come to them.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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