One phone call settled everything about the hot spring inn. The remaining details would be handled tomorrow, when Cissy went over in person and brought back everything Reiji needed.
After lunch, Reiji went outside the cabin to feed the Pokémon. Plenty of them were missing from the yard. His cover Pokémon, the cloned Pokémon, and anything else that couldn't be shown in public were all hidden in the woods.
For the Pokémon hiding there, he could only have Gengar deliver their food. He and Cissy had only just made things official. It was not the time to lay all his secrets out. As for when that time would come, even he didn't know.
When Cissy saw him feeding the team, she released her own Pokémon too. Among them were the cloned Pikachu and the others, the Escavalier Reiji had given her, her team, and Feebas.
"How did this dumb fish end up with you?" Reiji had brought the Pokémon back yesterday, but he hadn't even noticed Feebas. It was too easy to overlook, and he had never planned to evolve it into Milotic in the first place.
"It is not a dumb fish. I saw it getting bullied all by itself in the water, so I brought it out and started feeding it separately. I forgot to tell you yesterday." Cissy smiled as she stroked Feebas in the basin and fed it.
Feebas had quite a temper. The moment it heard Reiji call it dumb, it spat two Water Guns at him.
"Pfft! Pfft!"
"Little thing holds a grudge." Reiji didn't care about the Water Gun. He wiped the water off his face and clicked his tongue in surprise. "You've raised it pretty well. Its Water Gun is accurate, it doesn't act insecure at all, and it even has a bit of pride. That confidence is good. It's already met the condition to evolve."
"You know about that too?" Cissy had always thought Reiji was just a battle maniac. She hadn't expected him to be good at raising Pokémon or reading their condition. Somehow, he had noticed what was different about Feebas right away.
"Haha, a little." Reiji scratched his head awkwardly. He had paid attention to Feebas before. The way this one behaved was clearly confidence. It wasn't ashamed of its appearance, which meant Cissy must have helped it build confidence in some other way.
"There you go again," Cissy muttered through her teeth. Every time he acted like this, he was playing dumb. She could tell he was capable. He simply didn't like showing it. He liked hiding what he could really do.
It was the same whether he was battling or raising Pokémon. Even when he won, he stayed so modest that people almost thought he was the one who had lost. He never lost his temper, and he didn't care when people talked badly about him.
"You're not planning to evolve it?" Reiji took out a Pokéblock and offered it to Feebas, only to find that it refused to eat. It was still mad at him. So much for the seven-second memory myth.
"Isn't it your Pokémon?" Cissy looked up at him in surprise. Why was he asking her when his Pokémon should evolve?
"It's closer to you now, so you can have it." Reiji stood and waved it off. He wasn't that interested in Milotic. He still preferred fierce Pokémon like Gyarados.
"You're giving it to me?" Cissy's heart immediately went wild. They had only just made things official. Was this supposed to be a token? Something to mark their relationship moving forward?
"Of course I'm giving it to you. Who else would I give it to? If you don't want it, I'll take it back." Reiji didn't know why she was staring into space. They were already together, weren't they? What was there to freeze up about?
"I want it!" The moment she heard he might take it back, Cissy quickly scooped Feebas up and lifted it high, smiling so brightly she didn't know how to put it into words. She was happy. Truly, unbelievably happy.
"By the way, when did it become like this?" Reiji was still wondering how she had made Feebas so confident. That was the key step in its evolution.
"I kept it with me and trained its Water Gun. Gym battles here are target-shooting matches anyway. After it won enough times, it naturally became much more confident."
"So that's what happened." Reiji nodded, then made a suggestion. "Then let's have a battle. You use Feebas."
He was giving Feebas the last push it needed to evolve. All it lacked now was a battle.
He looked down at the fish. "Hey, dumb fish. You brave enough?"
"Pfft! Pfft!" Feebas fired another Water Gun at him. Of course it was brave enough. It would not be underestimated.
"Mrii! Little thing, don't push your luck." Butterfree was right beside Reiji. The first time Feebas attacked with Water Gun, Reiji hadn't cared, so Butterfree had let it go.
But the second time, Butterfree immediately moved in front of him. It blocked the Water Gun with Confusion, gathered the water into a ball, and threw it right back at Feebas.
Splash-crack!
The basin shattered under the impact. With no water left to swim in, Feebas could only flop around on the grass.
"Feebas!" Cissy looked at it in concern. If they were going to battle, water would be much better. How was Feebas supposed to fight on land?
"Don't worry." Reiji raised a hand to stop her and shook his head. Cissy could only trust him. He clearly had another plan for Feebas's evolution.
"Butterfree, use Confusion. Throw it into the open and slam it around a few times."
"Mrii!"
Butterfree's eyes flashed blue. It caught Feebas with Confusion, hurled it onto the grass farther away, and slammed it down several times. Feebas ended up covered in dirt, its eyes nearly rolling back.
An unevolved Feebas had no chance against a Butterfree over level fifty. It wasn't even close.
"Are you sure it'll be okay?" Cissy was still worried. Feebas looked half knocked out. Wasn't this going too far?
"It'll be fine. Just cheer it on. Make it want to get back up." Reiji gave Cissy a reassuring smile. He was good at triggering evolution.
"Feebas, don't give up! Get up!" Since Reiji looked so sure, Cissy chose to believe him and shouted to Feebas, trying to stir up its fighting spirit.
"Wuu!" Feebas refused to give in. Even if it hadn't evolved, it could still fight. Its unfocused eyes cleared at once, and it flopped toward Butterfree.
"Butterfree, again," Reiji called.
"Mrii!" Butterfree used Confusion again and slammed Feebas hard into the ground several more times.
"Dumb fish, is that all you've got? How are you supposed to protect your Trainer like that?" Reiji mocked it while tossing a pink Elite Four-tier Prism Scale toward Feebas. It was the one from Riku's bag.
"Come on, dumb fish. Evolve already. Stay like this, and you'll never beat Butterfree. You'll never be able to protect Cissy either." Reiji took Cissy's hand and gave her a quick look, trusting her to play along.
"Feebas, help me! Hurry, save me!" Cissy shot him an annoyed look. Of course she knew what he was doing. As Reiji dragged her toward the cabin, she kept calling to Feebas for help.
"Wuu!" In Feebas's eyes, Cissy was struggling against Reiji's grip. Her calls for help made it snap back to life. It glanced sideways, saw the Prism Scale beside it, bit down on it, and sprang upward with a flick of its tail, launching itself toward Cissy.
The instant it leaped into the air, blinding white light burst from its body.
Evolution.
The light was so bright that Reiji, Cissy, and the Pokémon all instinctively closed their eyes. All they saw was a flash of pink.
"Mroo… mroo…"
When the white light faded, Milotic appeared in all its beauty. Then it saw Reiji still holding a crying Cissy and immediately opened its mouth, gathering a frightening amount of energy.
Boom!
Before Milotic could fire, Rhydon's Rock Wrecker slammed into it head-on and knocked it out of the air. The ground shook under Rhydon's steps as it charged in, grabbed Milotic by the tail, and hammered it into the grass again and again before hurling it into the lake.
"Rrrah. Easy there, little one." Rhydon had no intention of letting Milotic fire on Reiji. It smashed Milotic into the grass several more times, hard enough to knock the fight out of it, then swung it out over the lake and let go.
Splash!
The moment Milotic hit the water, Reiji released Cissy. The act was over. Feebas had evolved, and there was no reason to keep pushing it. Cissy ran straight for the lake.
"Slowking, take some Potion spray and Pokéblocks over there." Reiji took out the medicine, then paused. He had almost sent Butterfree, but Butterfree was the one that had roughed Feebas up a moment ago. Milotic might still be upset, so Slowking was the safer choice.
"Yaa." Slowking nodded, lifted the Potion spray and Pokéblocks with psychic power, and drifted toward the lakeside.
"Mrii?" Butterfree shrank back a little, suddenly unsure of itself. It looked like it thought it had caused trouble again, and it didn't dare meet Reiji's eyes.
"Butterfree, you did great." Reiji noticed right away and walked over to stroke its head. "I'm not mad. I don't blame you either. If a Pokémon wants to leave, no one can force it to stay. What you did back then was right."
"Mrii?" Butterfree looked up. Once it realized Reiji really wasn't angry—and was even praising it—it immediately pressed its face into his chest with the most pitiful little whine it could manage.
"All right, enough. Don't start." Reiji knew exactly what it was doing. Butterfree had been a little actor even when it was small, and age had only made it worse. When it came to acting cute for attention, Butterfree took first place. Umbreon could fight for second.
"Vee." Umbreon saw Reiji holding Butterfree and instantly got jealous. It jumped onto his shoulder and rubbed its head against his cheek, refusing to be left out.
"You're both amazing, all right?" Reiji gave them both the praise they wanted, then carried them with him as he walked toward Cissy. "How is it? Is it hurt?"
"A little, but nothing serious. I explained everything to Milotic too." Cissy turned back with a smile. She still couldn't stop looking at it. This was Milotic, the Pokémon she had only ever heard about in rumors, beautiful enough to feel unreal. People said its evolution requirements were incredibly strict, yet Reiji had brought it out with a few words and one battle.
"Good." Reiji nodded, then glanced at Milotic. It was still wary of him, and its tail had curled protectively around Cissy. Not bad. It had already started protecting its Trainer. He smiled. "What about you, dumb fish? Still want to fight? You're not strong enough yet."
"Mroo." Milotic called back, then looked from Butterfree to Umbreon, then to Rhydon standing nearby.
It hadn't even been able to beat Butterfree. Rhydon was stronger, and there were several others nearby with the same heavy presence. Milotic understood very quickly that picking another fight here would only end badly.
"It's okay, Milotic. We tricked you earlier because we wanted to help you evolve. I'm sorry." Cissy stroked Milotic gently, soothing its nerves. Its scales were smooth, cool, and beautiful under her palm. In summer, just hugging it would probably feel amazing.
"Mroo, mroo." Milotic rubbed its cheek against Cissy's. It didn't hold the earlier fight against them. Reiji had been the one to give it the Prism Scale, and Cissy had explained the rest. It could tell Reiji and his Pokémon hadn't meant any harm.
"What did you throw to Milotic just now?" Cissy asked after calming it down.
"A Prism Scale. Milotic's evolution item."
"You had a Prism Scale? Then why didn't you evolve Milotic yourself?" Cissy couldn't understand it. Milotic was gorgeous and strong. Wasn't that exactly the kind of Pokémon Trainers wanted?
"Do you want the honest answer or the polite one?" Reiji asked with a helpless smile.
"Never mind. Don't say it." The moment he put it that way, Cissy knew nothing good was coming. Better not to ask. She treated Milotic's injuries, fed it lunch, then recalled it into its Poké Ball.
"Let me see." Reiji wanted to check Milotic's panel. Feebas had already started with decent potential, and the Prism Scale had been Elite Four-tier. He wanted to see what kind of result that combination produced.
"Here." Cissy handed him the Poké Ball without hesitation. Feebas had come from Reiji. The Prism Scale had come from Reiji. Even the Poké Ball was his. There was nothing for her to be suspicious about.
"Not bad." Reiji opened Milotic's proficiency panel and checked its potential. The result was about what he had expected.
[Milotic]
[Type: Water]
[Gender: Female]
[Potential: 69.98%]
[Level: 38.16%]
[Ability: Competitive/16.21%][Hidden Ability: Cute Charm/33.21%]
[Moves Mastered…]
"Another sixty-nine. It jumped from fifty-four to sixty-nine, so that's a fifteen-point increase. Pretty good." Reiji nodded to himself, satisfied with the number.
It wasn't Gyarados, after all. His Gyarados and Gulzar's had both broken seventy because they started at fifty-eight and fifty-nine. From there, crossing seventy was not that hard. Starting below fifty-five was a different story.
Competitive and Cute Charm made sense too. Both could help with confidence, especially Competitive.
A Pokémon with that kind of drive could build itself up faster. Once its confidence caught up with the change inside it, evolution became possible.
"So what was that honest answer or polite answer from earlier?" Cissy saw Reiji sitting under the eaves in a daze and couldn't help asking again.
"I thought you didn't want to know." Reiji gave her a teasing look. Curiosity really did get people into trouble.
"Just tell me." Cissy tugged his hand, her voice softening on purpose. "What was it?"
"All right, all right." Reiji gave in immediately. That voice was cheating. "I already have Gyarados, so I don't need Milotic. You got lucky. This Milotic even has a dragon bloodline, so raise it well."
"Was that the honest answer or the polite one?" Cissy stared at Milotic's Poké Ball, stunned. She hadn't expected Milotic to be that special. It even had a dragon bloodline.
"You guess." Reiji gave her a look that said she already knew.
Cissy rolled her eyes and pinched the back of his hand hard. She was not playing that game.
Reiji laughed. "Hahaha…"
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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