Battle! Battle! Battle!
Moonlight poured down like liquid silver over the open ground at the outskirts of Stonetown, coating every blade of grass in a clean, cold sheen.
Silver, at times, looked very much like the color of war.
Eevee's ragged breathing rang out with startling clarity in the still night air.
Its small body trembled faintly. Its brown fur was soaked through with sweat and streaked with dust.
But those eyes — once soft and guileless — were burning now with a fire they had never held before.
It was a toughness forged under pressure, a will ignited by the deep connection between Pokémon and Trainer.
...Perhaps it was the bond built through years of growing up together.
...Perhaps Ho-Oh's bathwater had genuinely done its work.
...Either way, both were possible.
Pikachu and Mengmeng drew back their attacks in perfect unison.
They could sense it — an invisible string in the air pulling taut, a transformation rooted in the very essence of life, poised on the verge of happening.
Ash raised his hand in a quiet signal, his gaze settling calmly on the center of the field.
Taiichi clenched his fists so hard his fingernails were nearly cutting into his palms.
He could feel it — the invisible thread connecting him to Eevee was radiating a searing, blazing light.
Courage! Courage! Courage!
And then — right at that moment —
Eevee let out a cry. High and piercing, utterly unlike anything it had ever voiced before.
The sound tore through the night, as if resonating directly with the bright moon hanging in the sky above.
And then the evolution began.
A soft, moonlike radiance began to emanate from its entire body. At first it was faint — then it swelled, brighter and brighter, wrapping Eevee completely within it, forming an oval cocoon of light.
Within that light, you could see Eevee's form beginning to change.
This was the wonder of Pokémon evolution.
And among all the Pokémon whose evolutions could be called wondrous, Eevee ranked near the very top.
In its base form, Eevee is a Normal-type with extraordinarily unstable cellular genetics. But once it evolves, those genetics stabilize — the contrast with its pre-evolution state is nothing short of violent.
Taiichi held his breath, his heart hammering so hard it felt like it might break free of his chest.
He could feel it — through the light cocoon — Eevee's furiously pounding heartbeat, and the rhythm of a life force that was at once agonized and jubilant.
That radiance was no longer merely light. It was something closer to liquid energy, reshaping, elevating, sublimating.
Eevee's cells — those cells of such extraordinary scientific value — were transforming right before everyone's eyes.
"Now, Taiichi!" Ash's voice was not loud, but it carried a kind of power — like a lighthouse beam cutting clean through fog.
"Call out to it in your heart!"
"Tell it — you're here. That you're facing this together!"
That might have sounded a little mystical, admittedly.
But Ash had undergone Psychic-type training, and he had spent time alongside Ho-Oh.
The bond between a Pokémon and its Trainer can sound abstract and hollow when spoken aloud — but it was a real and tangible thing.
— The power of the heart is real!
— So wish for it sincerely!
— So pray for it with everything you have!
— A Trainer's belief guides what a Pokémon becomes!
— A Pokémon's belief answers what strength truly means to its Trainer!
This was the [Secret Technique] Ash had come to understand.
Of course, Ash wasn't cheering Taiichi on because he thought the evolution was going to fail. He simply felt that this was the moment of Eevee's physical reconstruction — and that if both hearts were aligned in that moment, the result would be even better.
After all, since the body was already in the middle of metamorphosis and restructuring, wouldn't it be better for it to attune itself more naturally to the Trainer's heart?
Taiichi gave a sharp, decisive nod.
He didn't even need to close his eyes. Every fragment of his will converged on that cocoon of light as he cried out silently from the depths of his soul:
...Eevee!
...I'm right here!
...No matter what you become — we're still the best partners!
...We face it together!
Ash's words had been a bit too cryptic for Taiichi to follow precisely, so this was the only way he knew how to answer them.
Taiichi called out from his heart.
As if in answer to that silent cry, the cocoon of light suddenly blazed with a blinding brilliance — then just as swiftly drew sharply inward.
The radiance didn't disperse. It was absorbed entirely by the silhouette at its center.
In that very spot, where Eevee's small, delicate outline had been — as the light faded away — a new form was revealed. Longer. More elegant.
In the moonlight, the newborn Pokémon stood in stillness.
Umbreon's fur is black, its eyes are red, and the ring-shaped markings across its body glow in a dazzling gold. When its body is bathed in the waves of the moon, those ringed patterns begin to faintly luminesce — awakening a mysterious, wondrous power within.
Umbreon is a Pokémon that evolved under the influence of moon waves; moonlight altered Eevee's very genetic structure. It is a nocturnal Pokémon, most active during the midnight hours when moonlight blankets the earth.
Its black coat melds seamlessly with the darkness — it lurks, patient and still, waiting for prey and watching opponents from within the shadows. Even in pitch darkness, its large eyes can fix unerringly on its quarry.
To unsettle those who approach, the ring-shaped markings on its body glow naturally as the sky darkens. On nights of the full moon, or when it is excited, those golden rings blaze with an especially vivid luminescence.
When Umbreon is enraged, it secretes a venom-laced sweat through every pore of its body, targeting an opponent's eyes.
...Although it carries no Poison typing per se.
...But that toxic body fluid is precisely the sort of attack a Dark-type Umbreon employs most readily.
...Pokémon really are fascinating creatures.
And this — was Umbreon.
It tilted its head slightly.
Those crimson eyes turned toward Taiichi.
The dependence and affection within them was unchanged — but now it held something new: a quiet, unwavering resolve to stand side by side.
Compared to its former weak, timid state — this [Umbreon] was immeasurably stronger.
"Um... Umbreon..." Taiichi's voice trembled — with disbelief, and with an enormous, surging joy.
He couldn't hold himself back a moment longer. He crossed the space between them in a few quick steps and threw his arms tightly around Umbreon's sleek neck.
Umbreon dipped its head gently and nuzzled his shoulder with its cheek, a low and deeply contented sound rumbling in its throat.
Its body still carried the warmth left over from the evolution, and a faint, cool fragrance — like night-blooming jasmine drifting on the dark air.
Pikachu and Mengmeng exchanged a glance, then quietly drifted back to Ash's side.
"Pika~chu~" The sparks at Pikachu's cheeks flickered warmly — a gentle, electric congratulations.
"Muu~ muu~" Mengmeng still pouted in her habitual way — but even in her violet eyes, a flicker of something moved.
Again and again, she had watched other Pokémon evolve.
By now, Mengmeng wasn't quite as resistant to the idea of evolving herself.
But.
Mengmeng had decided: she would pick a good moment before she evolved.
Mengmeng: (0w0)
Ash watched quietly, a warm, satisfied smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
Their ages weren't that far apart, and there had never been any formal declaration of teacher and student between them.
And yet Ash felt, unmistakably, the satisfaction of someone who had raised a protégé.
It reminded him of Shandou from the Fighting Spirit Dojo — who had taught Ash without ever asking for a bow or a pledge of discipleship.
This, perhaps, was why the Pokémon world kept becoming a better place.
People genuinely looked out for the people they encountered who needed help.
— There are those who say the chain of hatred can never be broken.
— If that is so, then the chain of love ought to be able to carry forward just the same.
No matter how many times you bore witness to the transformation of life and the deepening of bonds — it never stopped being something that stirred the heart.
The embrace didn't last long.
Ash knew: evolution was only the beginning.
"Alright, we'll let the touching reunion continue later."
He clapped his hands together, drawing the attention of both Taiichi and Umbreon.
"Right now, it needs time to get used to its new body."
"Think about it — if you suddenly shot up several inches overnight, you'd need time to figure out how to coordinate your arms and legs again, wouldn't you?"
"So we still need to make the most of the time we have tonight, so we can give everyone a surprise tomorrow."
The second half of the training session began.
This time there was no intense pressure — only careful, patient guidance. The goal was to help Umbreon grow familiar with its new body, and to draw out the strength that came with this form.
Ash had Umbreon try running, jumping, and experimenting with the new moves it might have learned.
For instance — gathering a faint halo of dark energy in front of its body. That was the nascent form of the move Foul Play.
Or suffusing its body with a dim glow, practicing the move Taunt — luring opponents into directing their attacks at it.
At first, Umbreon's movements were still a little clumsy, and its control over its power fluctuated unevenly.
Generally speaking, a Pokémon that has shifted into a new form cannot immediately bring the full power of that new form to bear.
— There's actually a very interesting nuance to this.
— A competent Trainer must be able to judge the right timing for their Pokémon's evolution with care.
— The kind of evolution that happens mid-battle is, strictly speaking, a serious breach of form.
— Because the evolution process itself grants no invincibility, and it isn't instantaneous — it can, in fact, be interrupted.
— In official League matches, if an evolution occurs mid-battle... the evolving side is generally considered to have forfeited their right to continue.
— After all, during an evolution — should the opponent attack or not?
— In the early days, they tried to handle it on a case-by-case basis, but found the rulings extraordinarily difficult, and people began trying to exploit the timing of an evolution to disrupt their opponents.
— In the end, they found that a blanket rule was actually fairer — no one gets to exploit that loophole. (Mega Evolution, Gigantamax, Battle Bond, form changes and the like are a separate matter entirely — those come down to the individual's timing. A combat transformation of that kind doesn't carry the severe side effects of an interruption the way a permanent evolution does. If you misjudge the timing, that's simply your own skill being insufficient.)
— This is one of those places where reality differs from how it's depicted in the anime, incidentally.
— Of course, if you've already knocked your opponent flat on the ground before you evolve, that's a different story entirely.
And on this particular evening —
Faced with Eevee's evolution into Umbreon, Ash was guiding with his full attention.
"Watch how you're using your hind legs — your center of gravity sits a little further back than when you were an Eevee!"
"Try to see if you can start secreting venom through your body — that would give you a significant advantage in close combat!"
"Against Mengmeng's Ghost-type attacks, you can take the hits!"
"Dark-type energy has extremely strong resistance to both Ghost-type and Psychic-type!"
"Your HP and Defense are high, so now is exactly the time to push forward and trade blows!"
Ash worked to help Umbreon break away from the behavioral habits it had carried over from its Eevee days.
Umbreon, comparatively speaking, was built to take a beating.
Its base stats included a Defense of 110 and a Special Defense of 130 — among all of Eevee's evolutionary forms, these two values ranked among the highest.
And at Ash's side, Taiichi was encouraging Umbreon with everything he had.
"It's okay, take your time — let's go again!"
"You're doing amazing!"
"If we keep at it, we can definitely get there!"
Under Ash's lead, Taiichi had grown considerably bolder.
...The only small issue was that his way of speaking and some of his habits seemed to be picking up Ash's influence as well.
...Though that kind of influence was almost certainly a positive one, so let's quietly set that aside for now.
Just —
=_= Pikachu: Strong sense of déjà vu... it's like some kind of virus is spreading.
(0w0) Mengmeng: Ash is the best!
As for Taiichi?
Mengmeng couldn't care less about Taiichi.
That said — even if Mengmeng didn't care about Taiichi personally, under Ash's direction she was still putting her full effort into helping train Umbreon.
With Pikachu and Mengmeng providing perfectly calibrated demonstrations and sparring, Umbreon quickly found the rhythm of its new body.
Its movements grew smoother and more fluid with every passing minute, and that elegance — that quiet, composed grace that was the nature of the night — gradually began to surface.
Umbreon was the Moonlight Pokémon.
It truly could bathe in moonlight and draw upon the power of the moon.
This aspect of it didn't lend itself to scientific explanation.
It wasn't the kind of thing where science could say: moonlight is simply reflected sunlight, so the power of moonlight must already be contained within sunlight.
The power of the moon was simply the power of the moon.
During a break in the training —
Ash and Taiichi sat side by side on a large boulder, watching Umbreon practice on its own not far away.
"Taiichi."
Ash's voice took on a more serious tone.
"Evolution brings strength — but true power runs far deeper than that."
He pressed a hand to his own chest.
"It's the conviction in here. The unshakeable trust between you and Umbreon."
"I won't be staying in this town for long."
"What I want to say to you is this: a real Trainer must carry in their heart an absolute belief in their Pokémon."
"The true strength of a Trainer and a Pokémon — that is the power of the heart."
Ash felt this was the threshold — the entry point — into the deepest mastery that a Trainer could pursue.
It was the kind of thing that could be understood through feeling but could never be fully put into words.
After all, every Trainer's mastery was different, and the level of that mastery varied greatly.
"I don't know exactly what tomorrow will bring."
"Maybe you'll be facing your brothers. Maybe you'll be facing me."
"But remember this."
"If you end up facing your brothers — don't go in trying to prove them wrong. Go in to show them that the path you and Umbreon have chosen is just as right, and just as brilliant, as any other."
"And if you end up facing me in the end... then don't hold anything back. Come at me with everything you've got."
Ash paused, his gaze deepening as it settled on Taiichi, and he spoke the reality that had to be faced:
"There's one more thing you have to remember."
"Tomorrow, in front of everyone — you cannot let it show that you and I know each other."
This was an important point. A crucial one.
More important, actually, than the question of winning or losing.
Taiichi went still, looking at Ash with confusion in his eyes.
Ash let out a quiet sigh, his tone carrying a note of resigned practicality:
"We're just passing through here — we'll be leaving soon."
"Stonetown, in the end, belongs to you and the people here."
"If your brothers — or the more old-fashioned people in the town — find out that you stood up against them with the help of an 'outsider' like me, once we're gone, life could become very hard for you and your Umbreon."
It wasn't as though Ash could simply conquer the town by force and remake it in a day.
All he could do was give Taiichi the power to push back against his own fate.
And then leave Taiichi to change this town on his own terms.
When all was said and done, the culture of this town was merely a little feudal and conservative — it wasn't criminal, and it wasn't evil.
The local people's change should be left to the local people to choose.
After all, the world was vast, and every place had its own character — and its own path forward.
The experience of one place wasn't necessarily suited to another.
Taiichi fell silent.
He was a clever boy, after all. He worked through the logic of it quickly.
Taiichi lowered his head, small hands gripping tight at the hem of his clothes.
After a long moment, he looked up again. There was still a trace of disappointment in his eyes — but what shone through more was an unyielding, stubborn resolve.
That's right.
He wanted to change things too. And he would change them himself.
"I understand, Teacher Ash."
Taiichi gave a solemn, earnest nod.
"Someday... when I set out to travel, I'll definitely come find you!"
"And if... if I stay here."
He looked toward the distant, half-seen silhouette of Stonetown in the dark, and his eyes hardened with determination.
"Then I'll work to change this place!"
"I'll bring Stonetown in line with the League — I'll make sure everyone knows that evolution isn't the only path, and that Pokémon and Trainers alike should have the right to choose their own way freely!"
Young and unpolished as it was, still far from fully formed —
The dreams of a boy were not bound by age.
"Now that you have a great goal, walk toward it." Ash looked at the fire burning in those young eyes — earnest, unguarded, and true — and felt something quietly stir inside him.
He didn't know where this boy's future would lead.
Would he become a Trainer who roamed the world?
Or the leader who transformed his hometown?
But whatever path lay ahead — a seed had been planted. A seed that yearned for something good and free.
Whatever happened, it wouldn't grow into anything wicked.
And how bad could it be, really?
"That's a fine dream." Ash reached out and laid a hand on Taiichi's shoulder, his tone gentle and full of quiet strength.
"Any dream that's worth having is worth working for."
"Remember what you said tonight."
When the eastern horizon began to show the faintest, barely perceptible blush of pre-dawn white, and the chill of the small hours deepened, Ash knew the night's special training was at its end.
"Mengmeng." He called out softly.
"Would you please take Taiichi and Umbreon back to his room? Be careful — make sure no one sees you."
After all, Taiichi's Eevee had evolved into Umbreon — that was meant to be a surprise.
And it might very well catch everyone who didn't know completely off guard.
"Muu!" Mengmeng gave a nod, and then — with a gentle, enveloping shadow — she drew the still-tired Taiichi and Umbreon into her shroud, drifting silently and soundlessly toward the large house at the heart of the town.
Ash, with Pikachu at his side, walked back toward the inn through the deepest darkness that comes just before dawn.
He pushed open the door to the room.
Warm light spilled out to meet him, along with two pairs of concerned, watchful eyes.
Misty and Brock had clearly not slept — they had been waiting for him.
As for why they hadn't gone along with Ash and Taiichi?
More isn't always better when it comes to teaching.
Ash, Brock, Misty — the three of them were companions, yes, but their styles were quite different from one another.
If all three had taught at once, it would have become muddled and disruptive, each getting in the other's way.
Yes — even good things, piled on top of each other, could produce the wrong result.
And besides, even in the most intensive tutoring, you don't cram a child until they break, do you?
"So? How did it go?" Misty asked, brimming with curiosity.
Ash smiled, eyes bright. "Everything went smoothly. And Umbreon is beautiful."
Misty looked at him, and then — pfft — she laughed, a teasing glint in her eyes: "Ash, you were really something tonight! You sounded just like a real teacher — spouting wisdom left and right."
Brock and Misty had actually crept close earlier and watched Ash guide Taiichi for a while from a distance.
They'd only stayed for a bit before quietly slipping away.
Brock smiled and nodded, his tone full of genuine approval:
"Truly."
"You didn't just solve the problem of the Pokémon's evolution — you guided that boy's heart as well."
"And you thought carefully ahead about any complications that might follow."
"It's really just like you, Ash — you handled every angle, exactly right."
At least from Brock's perspective, he could see no problems with any of it, no flaws to find anywhere.
Ash scratched the back of his head and walked to the window, looking out at the sky beyond — the darkness slowly, steadily retreating.
"We're travelers."
He said it quietly — partly to his companions, partly to himself.
"We pass through different places, and we meet different people and different Pokémon."
"Our purpose isn't to go around turning everything upside down — it's to... if we can... leave something good behind."
Ash turned from the window to face Misty and Brock, the smile they both knew so well spreading across his face, and he extended his open hand.
Misty and Brock exchanged a glance — and understood immediately.
Both of them smiled and stepped forward, each extending a hand of their own.
Three palms met in the air with a crisp, clean clap.
"For a better world —" Ash began.
"— may there be blessings!"
The three called out together, in perfect unison.
At that very moment, the morning light finally broke through the last of the darkness, and spilled through the window — falling across three young Trainers, smiling at one another in the growing dawn.
____
👻🔥Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: JJK: Naoya Zenin Reborn as a Woman
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone