Credits: Sai Manoj Nelavalli
In just a few days, Rihua's understanding of Stephen's abilities had reached a whole new level.
Before eting Stephen, she had studied under many famous teachers on how to nurture Pokémon.
But none of them could compare to Stephen, who seed to excel in every aspect.
Suddenly, she could understand why that idiot Will was willing to follow him around.
"Hehehe~ pals, let show you sothing cool!"
At this mont, Will spoke in a voice mimicking a certain codic internet personality, approaching them like an excited golden retriever showing off a newly learned trick.
By the way, the phrase "pals" was sothing he had picked up from Stephen by chance.
"Did you find a wallet?"
Stephen replied casually. He knew if he ignored this guy, Will would just get more worked up.
"Of course not."
Will's grin widened as he pulled out a Pokéball and opened it.
With a flash of white light, a brand-new Pokémon appeared between the three of them—
Slowbro!
Or, you could call it Slowpoke's Evolution.
"What do you think? Just now, a Shellder bit onto my Slowpoke's tail, and then it evolved."
Recalling what had just happened, Will exclaid with amazent:
"It's incredible! I didn't know evolution could work like this."
"Slowbro likes to fish for food with its tail. Once a Shellder bites down on it, it evolves into Slowbro," Rihua interjected.
"The one who discovered this phenonon was Professor Oak himself. It caused quite a stir in the academic world back then because no one had ever seen this type of evolution before."
Noticing that Stephen hadn't said anything, Will curiously asked:
"Hey, Stephen, why aren't you saying anything?"
Stephen, however, remained silent, staring intently at the shell clamped onto Slowbro's tail—a nacing, cone-shaped shell.
That was the Shellder that had transford.
But unlike the goofy expression of a regular Shellder, the shell that beca part of Slowbro's body now bore a fierce expression, resembling that of Shellder's evolution, Cloyster.
Instead of replying to Will, Stephen crouched down and began examining the connecting point between the shell and Slowbro's tail.
He noticed that the sharp teeth at the base of the shell were tightly biting into Slowbro's tail.
"What do you think would happen if it let go?"
Stephen's question left both Rihua and Will montarily stunned.
This... they had never considered it.
Stephen stood up and walked to the training yard, rummaging through the dical kit before pulling out a syringe.
As he walked back, he exchanged a glance with his Umbreon.
Umbreon seed to read sothing in his gaze.
Its expression subtly changed.
"Hold it down."
Stephen crouched next to Slowbro again.
With Will's Jynx firmly holding the shell in place, Stephen injected the syringe into the mouthpiece of the Shellder-turned-shell.
The shell instinctively loosened its grip after feeling a stinging numbness in its gums.
What Stephen had injected was a specially formulated anesthetic made from Stun Spore, designed for Pokémon surgeries.
The cone-shaped shell fell to the ground.
Almost imdiately upon hitting the ground, its body emitted a faint blue light of de-evolution, reverting into a regular Shellder!
Was this... "de-evolution light"?
And the Slowbro, which had just been standing upright on two legs, collapsed back into its original quadrupedal form—
It had turned back into a Slowpoke!
"It... it reverted?"
Both Will and Rihua stared in disbelief.
If a Shellder biting a Slowpoke could evolve it into a Slowbro, then logically, if the Shellder let go, wouldn't it revert?
They had speculated about this possibility before.
But they never thought it could be done!
"Perhaps this could be..."
Stephen, deep in thought, turned to Will and said:
"Let borrow your Slowpoke and Shellder for a while."
"O-okay..."
Will nodded blankly.
It was rare to see Stephen with such a serious expression.
He was completely overawed by Stephen's intensity.
...
A month later, after a day of training, the trio and their Pokémon finished dinner together.
Stephen stood up and said:
"Everyone, take a rest. Umbreon, co with ."
With that, he opened the door and walked out.
Umbreon, seeing this, spat out the last bite of Pokémon food she had been chewing and quickly followed.
Both Will and Rihua, seeing Stephen's serious expression again, tactfully remained silent.
Pretending not to notice, they began cleaning up the dishes.
Even the mischievous Pokémon like Maria, Rose, and Sina obediently retreated into their Pokéballs.
Hopefully, whatever the Umbreon had to deal with wasn't too serious.
...
Walking through the streets of Cianwood City, Stephen and Umbreon strolled silently.
Thanks to the Poke Ball Disruptor invented by Joker, trainers from various regions had gradually gotten used to walking with at least one Co to think of it, the HeartGold/SoulSilver gas had a similar follow system.
Why did they remove that feature in later gas?
Was this one of the butterfly effects he had triggered?
Moreover, as Professor Oak continued to spread knowledge about Dark-type Pokémon, Stephen's Umbreon walking alongside him no longer attracted the attention it did when he first captured her.
After walking for more than half an hour, Stephen finally stopped.
Umbreon looked up and realized where they were—this was a cetery.
Stephen continued walking in, and Umbreon hurried to catch up.
When Stephen stopped again, Umbreon hadn't even lifted her head before he said:
"Grandma Sakura passed away."
Hearing this na, Umbreon was struck by lightning.
"Sakura" was her forr owner, the elderly woman who had abandoned her.
Looking up, she saw the photo on the tombstone—it was her.
"Although I didn't want to, she did take care of you for over seven years. After much thought, I decided to bring you here to pay your respects."
With that, Stephen pulled three incense sticks from his bag, lit them, and placed them in the soil before the tombstone.
Umbreon remained silent for a long while before bowing slightly to the tombstone.
No matter what, thank you.
A few seconds later, she opened her eyes.
Stephen took a vial of liquid from his pocket, dug a small hole in the soil, and placed the vial inside.
"Umbre?"
Umbreon tilted her head curiously.
Stephen explained:
"This is a 'Devolution Agent' I synthesized by studying the genetic factor changes during Slowpoke and Slowbro's evolution. I've temporarily nad it 'APTX4869.'"
Umbreon's eyes widened in shock.
She rembered the promise they had made when they first t half a year ago.
"I completed it last week. But I didn't tell you because I was afraid of losing you."
Stephen buried the vial in the soil.
"But now, I can finally put my mind at ease... It's no longer needed."
The next mont, Umbreon threw herself into Stephen's arms.
The words "I was afraid of losing you" ant more to her than anything else.
Seeing this, Rose also rushed over, pushing against Stephen.
Maria and Sina jumped out of their Pokéballs as well.
Their fierce faces clearly said three words: Hug too!
In less than two seconds, Umbreon, who was enjoying a heartfelt hug, was shoved from Stephen's chest down to his stomach, her face squished into -worthy expressions.
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