Two months had passed since the Zapdos incident, and Gladion's journey had progressed significantly. Both the Rainbow Badge and Volcano Badge now adorned his case, but more impressive were the changes in his team. He was now on his way to Saffron City.
Zeus had evolved during an intense training session. The moment of evolution had been particularly memorable, mainly because Zeus had immediately tried to hug Gladion with his new, significantly more powerful arms.
"Personal space!" Gladion had wheezed as Zeus accidentally crushed him in an enthusiastic embrace. "We talked about this! No electrified bear hugs!"
But the most dramatic transformation had been Nyx. The once playful Eevee had evolved into an Umbreon during a midnight training session, and with that evolution came... changes.
"Nyx, please stop psychologically torturing the wild Rattata."
The Umbreon turned to him, red eyes gleaming with entirely too much amusement. [But Master,] she projected telepathically, her mental voice dripping with false innocence, [I'm merely teaching them the futility of his existence in an uncaring universe.]
"You're making them question their life choices by telling them about their evolved forms and making them judge their life decisions."
[Precisely. Character building.]
Gladion pinched the bridge of his nose. "What happened to the Eevee who used to chase her own tail for fun?"
[She evolved into tactical superiority,]Nyx replied primly
The change had been dramatic. Where once there had been a playful ball of fluff, now there was a calculating creature who took entirely too much pleasure in outsmarting her opponents. And someone who was extremely sadistic. Gladion now knew why people were afraid of dark type Pokemon and dark type specialists.
[Master,] Nyx called out, [have you considered that we could win battles before they begin by simply convincing our opponents Pokemon that victory is an illusion and their trainer's love is conditional even if they lose? They would just give up and fight is over.]
"Nyx, we've talked about this. No breaking other Pokémon's will to fight."
[But it's so efficient!] Nyx protested as she added, [Besides, I find their existential crises absolutely adorable.]
The worst part was that she maintained her cute, innocent demeanor while orchestrating psychological warfare. She'd sit there, tail swishing gracefully, eyes wide and innocent, while systematically dismantling another Pokémon's self-confidence with carefully crafted words.
'I want my cute and innocent Eevee back. At least, the evolution has increased her strength significantly. This solidifies my assumption that before reaching their final Pokemon, a Pokemon should be trained to their limit of they wanted the best results. Now that I think about it, Ash's Torterra who rapidly evolved from Turtwig was such a let down since he did not get much training before he evolved.' Gladion thought as Ash's Torterra never won a fight after evolving. He was Gladion's favourite Grass type Pokemon and he was quite sad about it. Anyways, Gladion focused his attention back to Nyx.
"At least she's on our side," Gladion muttered, watching as Nyx convinced a wild Pidgey that its wings were conspiring to overthrow its beak as the rightful ruler of its body.
Meanwhile, Hydros had taken inspiration from these evolutions and doubled down on his training. His determination to evolve into Blastoise before the league had reached almost concerning levels.
"Hydros, buddy, maybe take a break?" Gladion suggested, watching his Pokémon attempt his five-hundredth water gun of the day.
[No breaks!] Hydros declared. [Must become swole! Must get bigger cannons!]
"That's not how evolution works—"
[BIGGER CANNONS!] Hydros flexed his tiny arms. [Going to be BUFFEST Blastoise ever! Watch!] He proceeded to do water gun push-ups, shooting at targets while exercising.
Mystique, watching from nearby, turned to Gladion [He had been taking advices on how to evolve from Guy since he hed reached his final form.]
'That explains it. He is doubling down on his training since he wants to reach his final form while also covering all his basics like Guy and Nyx. Well, Who am I to stop him? I will have to change his diet for more intake of proteins and fat if he is going to train this much every day.' Gladion thought with a sigh.
[Should we tell him that Blastoise's cannons aren't actually related to muscle mass?] Mystique said
"Let him dream," Gladion replied, then called out, "Looking good, Hydros! Really feeling the... cannon energy?"
[MAXIMUM HYDRO POWER!] Hydros shouted back, now attempting to do squats while maintaining water pulse.
Gladion couldn't help but smile. His theory about pre-evolution training was proving correct across his entire team. By focusing on mastering moves and building power before evolution, his Pokémon were showing remarkable strength in their evolved forms.
Of course, some were showing remarkable... other things too.
[Master,] Nyx called sweetly, [I've convinced this Caterpie that its string shot is actually the web of lies it tells itself of evolving into a butterfree.]
"Nyx, we talked about this. No existential crises before dinner."
[But they're having such profound realizations about the nature of their existence!]
Gladion turned to Mystique "We really need to stop letting her read philosophy books before bed."
[At least she's stopped quoting Professor Oak philosophies during battles,] Mystique offered.
"Small mercies." Gladion watched as Hydros attempted to bench press a boulder while shooting water guns. "Though I'm starting to worry about Hydros too. Yesterday I caught him trying to arm-wrestle Guy's lower right arm while he was sleeping."
Mystique chuckled. "We should keep Guy away from any new Pokemon that you catch. He's....."
[Boss] Hydros interrupted, [I've calculated that if I do one million water guns while running uphill backward in a thunderstorm, I should evolve exactly 3.7 days before the league!]
"...Okay, maybe I see your point." Gladion sighed. "At least Zeus is taking his evolution well."
Right on cue, Zeus wandered over, accidentally shocking a small bush into combustion with his new power levels. [Oops. Still adjusting to the voltage upgrade.]
"See? Totally under control." Gladion paused. "Nyx, the Caterpie is crying. What did you do?"
[Merely suggested that its metamorphosis might be a metaphor for the impermanence of all things,] Nyx replied innocently. [Also, that its mother never really liked its string shot pattern.]
Gladion face-palmed. "Right. New rule: No more psychological warfare against wild Pokémon. Stick to regular battles like a normal dark-type."
[But Master,] Nyx's eyes gleamed, [what is normal but a social construct designed to limit our true potential?]
"...No philosophy books for a week."
[Harsh but fair.]
As they headed back to camp, Gladion reflected on his team's progress. They were stronger than ever, even if some of them had developed... interesting quirks along the way. Still, he wouldn't have it any other way.
Though he really needed to find Nyx a hobby that didn't involve traumatizing local wildlife.
------Author Notes------
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