"Sylveon!"
The Pokemon let out a happy cry before continuing to lick Faust's face. Faust was stunned. He did expect Eevee to evolve eventually but never had he imagined that the Pokemon would evolve whilst it was away from him.
The requirement for Sylveon to evolve was for it to know a Fairy-type move and have a very high level of affection with it's trainer. Perhaps the affection was in a way a reference to loyalty or resolve to protect it's trainer no matter what. But what Faust didn't realise was that the distance would act as a catalyst.
'Well,, I guess it's true when they say absence makes the heart grow fonder.'
Sylveon on sensing the happiness from Faust began licking him more enthusiastically. Faust laughed and tried to lift his hands to no avail. Sylveon had bound him using her feelers. Faust also used the identifier and was pleasantly surprised.
[Pokemon: Sylveon(♀)
Ability: Pixilate
Type: Fairy
Aptitude: Blue
Strength: Early Senior(Lvl. 37)
Moves: Growl, Helping Hand, Tackle, Sand Attack, Swift, Covet, Double Kick, Yawn, Moonblast, Disarming Voice, Fairy Wind, Draining Kiss, Skill Swap, Misty Terrain, Light Screen, Take Down, Charm(TM), Facade(TM)]
Eevee had grown into a Senior stage Pokemon! Moreover, she had improved her Aptitude to Blue! This speed of progress was monstrous. Eevee had not over advanced about ten levels but also overcome a bottleneck! Faust was genuinely impressed. As Faust was thinking of the battles Eevee might have had to fight, he heard a weak voice.
"We…vile?"
Before Faust could react, the Sylveon turned its head and growled at the Weavile group. To Faust's surprise, the group stood there with their heads hanging low as if they were being reprimanded by a senior. The Sylveon then turned back to Faust its attitude changing 180 degrees as it settled down on top of Faust and nuzzled its face into Faust's coat.
"So you're telling me these Weavile work for you?", asked Faust his lips twitching at the innocent and happy nodding of the pink Pokemon.
"Hahaha! Damn Faust this Eevee…errr…Sylveon is amazing!", Kyle burst out laughing at the entire situation.
The Weavile shuffled standing in front of them shuffled uncomfortably as Sylveon looked over at them.
"Okay stop intimidating them. We were actually chasing one of your…errr people since Kyle wanted to catch a Weavile."
The Sylveon tilted its head at Kyle and he just smiled nodding. Sylveon then looked at the Weavile group who visibly flinched and the female Weavile stepped forward moving towards Kyle. Kyle watched as the Weavile stopped in front of him and held out its claws as if asking him to hand something over. Kyle understood and handed over an empty Pokeball. The Weavile tapped the button and disappeared in a flash of light. The Pokeball fell down and didn't even shake as it beeped once signalling a successful capture.
Kyle looked at the Pokeball with a blank look and turned to Faust.
"What just happened?"
"You got your Weavile."
"Just like that?"
"Yeah…just like that."
The Sylveon then let out a happy cry before wrapping its feelers around Faust's arm. Having found Eevee, now a Sylveon, the group returned to Articuno's cave. Sylveon wanted the Weavile pack to come over with them as her personal attendants but Faust refused. He wasn't very fond of the Pokemon and having four of them he wouldn't know what to do with them.
Back at the cave, Faust introduced Sylveon to Wimpod and Dreepy. Wimpod was very curious about Sylveon's feelers. He tried to munch on them only to be smacked silly by Sylveon. Dreepy didn't have much of a reaction but just lingered around Sylveon for a little longer than usual.
Kyle was meanwhile ecstatic on catching his Weavile even trying to hug her only to end up with scratches. Faust was very sure that the Weavile would've done more than that if not for Sylveon sending glares its way ever so often.
Having found Eevee, it was now a waiting game. The Galarian Articuno hadn't been sighted ever since it entered the rift. Six weeks passed peacefully. Faust and Kyle stayed on the mountain training the Pokemon and refining their own commanding skills. Faust had also managed to convince the Aurorus and Amaura about the convenience of being with a trainer and offered one of the Aurorus to Kyle. Kyle had instead opted for an Amaura saying that raising it from its unevolved form would be more beneficial in the long run. Faust actually thought that it was a good idea and had readily agreed.
Faust had also begun exploring his own psychic capabilities and while he hadn't managed to improve the overall rating in his stats. He had figured out three of his abilities, one being the most common Telepathy, the second which was telekinesis that he used to move Eevee earlier and the third, a lot more difficult but rare ability being Apportation.
He had come across the Apportation ability accidently suddenly making Sylveon's Pokeball disappear and reappear in his hand. He had been trying to use telekinesis to improve its range and strength when the Pokeball he had placed at a distance of few metres suddenly disappeared. Faust had been startled for a moment before the Pokeball appeared again in front of him and dropped right into his outstretched hand.
Faust had tried using the ability again only to be hit by a sudden intense headache before blacking out. Since then he had tried meditating to improve his mental capacity but had only had little success. Telepathy was more natural since the principle behind it was thought projection and as long as the target was willing, he would be able to project his thoughts. The telekinesis and application was a bit more difficult as it was difficult for him to figure out the principle behind the two. Faust figured that he would need a psychic Pokemon to help him explore his ability, so he had come up with a plan to get one once they were able to tide over the current situation.
"Sylveon dodge, use Sand Attack and keep kiting with Swift", commanded Faust as Kyle's Weavile tried to use Metal claw to strike Sylveon.
"Oh no you don't, Weavile use Ice Beam!", countered Kyle.
Sylveon was quicker as it used its hind legs to fling dust towards the Weavile before putting in some distance and running around and firing Swift stars in bursts while moving.
Sylveon's Pixelate kicked in and the Swift stars glowed with a pinkish hue before hitting the Weavile multiple times. Weavile couldn't find any opportunities to charge up the Ice Beam and soon fell to one knee panting having been hit by a continuous barrage of Swift.
"Damn that Sylveon of yours is too slippery with all the control moves. Weavile is barely able to put its speed to use", sighed Kyle recalling Weavile.
"Actually you could've started out with Ice Beam and followed it up with Quick Attack combined with Metal Claw", suggested Faust patting Kyle on the shoulders.
"You know Pokemon's moves can be used in combination to create new attacks. Weavile's speed should be complemented with fast moves and Metal Claw is something that can be activated while moving...so try that next time", continued Faust.
Kyle nodded and grumbled, "Damn man why're you so good at battling...arent you supposed to be a nerd whose expertise lies in books and papers."
Faust chuckled and said, "The researcher thing is for the money and resources. I actually plan to be a competitive battler."
Faust and Kyle continued training while the Articuno observed them from its resting spot in the corner. Just as Faust was consoling Kyle over another loss of his Amaura against Faust's Wimpod, he felt an immense oppressive pressure wash over him. Faust instantly identified it as a psychic oppression and watched as Kyle suddenly passed out unable to bear the pressure. Articuno's voice sounded in his head with an urgent tone.
"The Cruel one is here. Get Kyle to safety and do as I have asked of you."
Faust glanced over at Articuno who was now standing alert and tense. Suddenly a dark shadow appeared above them and Faust looked up to see the majestic purple and black plumage of the Galarian Articuno. The Galarian Articuno was suspended in air unmoving using its Psychic powers to float instead of making a physical effort of using its wings. The Articuno let out a loud aggressive cry and shot towards its Galarian counterpart firing an Ice Beam at it. But before the beam could connect the Galarian Articuno moved out of the way and flapped its wings charging towards its incoming blue adversary.
Faust quickly lifted Kyle in a princess carry and ran into one of the caves. Making his way into a large cave he saw the chibi Articuno who was napping peacefully unaware of the situation. Faust set Kyle down and summoned the Gastly Gadget mecha. Popping open the hatch he put Kyle into it and ran to the sleeping baby Articuno. The chibi Articuno was suddenly awakened on being picked up by Faust and seeing the human who always seemed to have tasty treats the Articuno let out a happy cry. Faust ignored it and dumped it into the opened mecha as well, tossing in a bunch of Pokebloc to keep it occupied. The chibi Articuno didn't mind the rough treatment as it began pecking at the Pokebloc. Faust looked at Kyle feeling an uncomfortable guilt as he used the rift core to create a spatial gate into the overworld. He then called out one of the Aurorus.
"Push this mecha into that rift, I won't be joining you now. Till I come out, guard this mecha."
The Aurorus nodded and pushed the mecha into the rift. Seeing the Aurorus disappear, Faust hesitated for a bit before calling out Dreepy, Wimpod and the rest of the Amaura herd. The Pokemon looked at Faust waiting for his directions.
Faust sighed and commanded, "Kyle and the baby Articuno are on the other side. Keep them safe and if Kyle wakes up...don't let him get any stupid ideas."
The Amaura and the Aurorus complied. Dreepy looked at Faust before going into the rift as well. Wimpod looked at Faust.
"Pod?"
Faust smiled and petted Wimpod's head.
"You're getting smarter day by day. I won't be coming...yet. There's a friend here who needs help."
"Wimpod...wimp, pod!"
"Don't worry I'll have Sylveon if anything goes wrong. Like I said earlier buddy you'll be a very strong Golisopod. The strongest ever. To be honest...even now you're pretty amazing. But you're not strong enough yet. Go now! There isn't much time!", said Faust pushing the Winpod towards the rift ignoring the complaints of the Wimpod.
Finally using the rift core he closed the spatial gateway and pulled up his inventory. Looking at one of the items he had retrieved earlier he sighed.
'I just hope you don't fail me.'
Articuno spread its wings firing a Blizzard at the Galarian Articuno. A bluish wind with snowballs the size of melons hit the Pokemon making it cry out in pain and frustration. The Articuno followed up with an Ice Beam but the Galarian Articuno's eyes glowed yellow as a screen appeared before it dissipating the Ice Beam.
The Galarian Articuno flew towards the Articuno, the edges of its wings glowing purple before pulling back suddenly and firing two purple cross slashes at the Articuno. The Articuno tried to move to dodge it but found that it couldnt. The two slashes hit the Articuno sending it crashing into the ground.
Having used Imprison, the Galarian Articuno watched on as its adversary was hit by the Psycho Cut and crashed into the ground kicking up a miniature duststorm. It then closed its eyes and a ball of purple energy appeared just above its crown growing to the size of a basketball before suddenly shooting into the sky and disappearing. Just as the Galarian Articuno had finished using its move, a flurry of ice shards shot towards it from the ground. Moving swiftly to dodge it he wasn't able to see the blue shadow with glowing white wings shoot towards him.
The Articuno felt her steel wing connect and the Galarian Articuno flew out of the sky towards the ground. But the Galarian Articuno managed to avoid crashing into the ground. Just as it turned to look up, it saw the Articuno flying towards it with its body enveloped by a purple orb with orange streaks running over it. Even though the Galarian Articuno saw the Articuno shoot towards using Giga Impact, it didn't move and nor did it brace for any impact. Just as the Articuno was about to the hit Galarian Articuno, dozens of purplish beams of light struck it rapidly in succession thwarting its advance and running it into the ground. The blue Articuno let out a pained cry as it struck the ground hard making a deep crater into it. This was the move Galarian Articuno had used earlier, Future Sight.
The Articuno moved weakly trying to get up but suddenly found its wings pinned into the ground. Turning its head to look up, it saw the towering purplish figure of the Galarian Articuno charging a hyper beam aimed directly at its face. Seeing the perilous situation it tried to fire an Ice Beam but suddenly found herself unable to turn her neck. Gradually, she stopped struggling and closed her eyes, in what she believed could be her last breath she prayed that Faust had done what she asked him to.
Just as she had given up, a sound of scurrying mechanical footsteps sounded. The Galarian Articuno stopped charging up the hyper beam and looked ahead into the dark cave vigilantly. But before it could react, a pair of extendable metal arms shot out of the dark grabbing its head in a vice grip. The Galarian Articuno stumbled backwards trying to shake the bright mechanical red claws off and started to use its psychic energy to float. But before it could fly off, it felt a sharp pain as its head was shocked by the electric discharge from the claws.
Faust cheered as the retractable claws of the spider mecha caught the Galarian Articuno's head. Seeing the Pokemon trying to fly off, he quickly flipped the switch for the electrical discharge before flipping it off. Only hearing the low cry of pain, he frowned.
'Twice, just for good measure.'
Thinking so he flipped it on again making the Pokemon cry out louder this time.
'Okay three times the charm. Just to be really sure.'
He flipped the switch again and the Galarian Articuno dropped down twitching. Faust quickly retracted the claws and looked at the downed blue Articuno before flipping another switch. One of the claws retracted, replaced by a nozzle dispenser. Making his way over to the blue Articuno, he used the nozzle to spray a sparkling mist over the Pokemon before projecting his thoughts for the Articuno to hear.
"You better be thankful...that's 15 bottles of hyper potion right there."