Swampert, Golbat, Toxicroak, and the others took one look at the chaos around Zapdos and wisely stayed back. A few calls of congratulations from a safe distance were more than enough. None of them felt like walking into that mess.
Magmar glanced toward Pidgeot. "What's with her?"
Lucario leaned against a tree and gave a lazy shrug. It had already called out its congratulations and clearly had no interest in figuring out the bird drama. A moment later, it was back to staring at the moon.
Starmie stayed beside Reiji, then looked at Dratini as if to say they should probably move.
Dratini understood none of it. It stayed curled around Reiji, bumping its head lightly against Umbreon.
Ditto, Spinarak, and Dugtrio had congratulated Zapdos and slipped away early. Somehow, Ditto—the most shamelessly social one in the group—had read the room better than most.
Weezing had it worst. It had barely come out before the smell got it sent right back into its Poké Ball, leaving it deeply offended.
Behind Reiji, Golurk stared at Zapdos's golden body.
"Golurk? Is that evolution? Can I do that too?"
Zapdos was glowing gold. Golurk had golden light on its own body too. To it, the connection seemed obvious.
Umbreon turned on Reiji's shoulder. "Big guy, you're already fully evolved. You don't get another one."
Umbreon had read the Pokémon evolution guide. Golurk was already the final stage. There was nowhere left to go.
Golurk sagged instantly. It crouched down, lowered its head, and began drawing circles in the dirt.
Umbreon realized too late that it had crushed the big guy's hopes. It quickly jumped onto Golurk's shoulder, lit up the golden rings on its body, and tried to cheer it up.
"Don't be sad. Look, we both glow."
"Golurk… Golurk can't evolve…"
The comfort did not help.
Gengar rose out of Golurk's shadow with a handful of Pokéblocks. "How about a snack instead?"
It pushed the Pokéblocks into Golurk's hands, muttered a few words of comfort, then drifted off toward the trees to share late-night snacks with Toxicroak, Spinarak, and the others.
Reiji looked back at the ridiculous scene and smiled despite himself.
Then his attention shifted to Electivire.
The big Electric type had been standing off to the side since it woke up. It looked stiff, uncertain, and very much like it wanted to quietly disappear before anyone noticed it.
"Electivire, wait."
Electivire froze, then pointed at itself.
"Elee?"
Was the tiny human calling it?
Reiji walked over with Lokoko. "Do you remember your Trainer?"
If Electivire already belonged to someone, taking it in would be a problem.
Electivire thought for a moment.
"Elee…"
Lokoko translated softly. "It says it doesn't know what a Trainer is."
Reiji's expression shifted.
That was both good and bad.
If Electivire remembered nothing, he had a clean start. No old habits, no old loyalty, no Trainer waiting somewhere for it to return.
The problem was what might happen later. If it remembered everything after he raised it, trained it, and fed it into shape, then decided to go back to its original Trainer, he would have done all the work for someone else.
That was not happening.
"Ask it what it remembers," Reiji said. "Anything at all."
Electivire tried again. It stood there for a long while, searching for even a fragment.
Nothing came.
"It says it can't remember anything."
Reiji went quiet.
That was a clean wipe.
Still, he needed to be sure.
He picked up a leaf from the ground, then pointed at the lake.
"Ask if it has seen these before. Leaves. Water."
Lokoko asked.
A moment later, she said, "It has seen water before. This is its first time seeing a green leaf."
That was enough.
If Electivire had seen water, then Team Rocket had at least kept it alive. But if it had never seen a green leaf, it had probably spent its whole life shut inside a facility. No forest, no travel, no Trainer, no real world.
It had not forgotten ordinary life.
It had never had one.
That made it like Golurk in a way: a blank page. Reiji could teach it from the beginning.
"You don't have anywhere to go, right?" Reiji held out his hand. "Then join us. We'll be friends. Partners."
An Elite Four-tier blank page.
How it grew from here would depend on how he guided it.
And naturally, everyone could trust the moral integrity of a fisherman.
"Elee...?" It looked toward the others.
The group was noisy, messy, warm, and alive. It did not know any of them, but it wanted to stand there with them.
"I can join too?"
"Of course. Shake my hand, and you're one of us."
Reiji took Electivire's huge hand without hesitation. He looked tiny beside it, but he showed no fear.
If anything, Electivire was the nervous one.
Reiji led it back toward the group and clapped his hands.
"Everyone, we've got a new partner. Snacks are on me."
The Pokémon stopped what they were doing and turned. Then, one by one, they welcomed Electivire in their own way.
Electivire let out a low sound.
Umbreon had already climbed onto its shoulder, and Electivire barely dared to move in case it hurt the little Pokémon.
"You're big too," Umbreon said, pointing toward Golurk, who was still sulking nearby. "You two should be good friends."
Reiji nearly laughed.
Umbreon had managed to pick the worst possible friends for a pure Electric type. Between Golurk and Rhydon, Electivire was going to learn type matchups the painful way.
Electivire looked at Golurk, then at Rhydon. They were both over two meters tall, just like it. That alone seemed to make it relax a little. At least it would not be the only huge one here.
Reiji nudged Rhydon with his foot.
Only then did Rhydon remember it was supposed to be welcoming the newcomer. It grabbed a handful of ore and offered it over.
"Rhy. Want some?"
Electivire had no sense of manners yet. Rhydon offered food, so it took it.
Then it put the ore in its mouth and immediately spat it back out.
Rhydon stared.
After a moment, it reached over to Zapdos's pile and grabbed some Electric-type Pokéblocks instead.
"Rhy. Try these."
They both discharged electricity. Close enough.
Electivire tried one.
Its eyes lit up.
"Good."
One of the cable-like tails on its back reached out and tapped Zapdos's claw in greeting. They had been through the same disaster earlier, after all.
"Can I have more?"
"Zaa. There's plenty."
Zapdos swept one wing through its pile of Pokéblocks, neatly cutting the pile in half, then pushed half toward Electivire.
Reiji saw another big eater being born in real time and simply opened a whole box of Electric-type Pokéblocks, pouring it between Zapdos and Electivire.
If food was all it took to win Electivire over, that was the easiest deal he had made all year.
Once the two were eating, Reiji picked up another box of Electric-type Pokéblocks and looked around for the wild Zapdos and Raikou.
Only then did he realize they were gone.
He had no idea when they left.
Reiji paused, then let out a quiet breath.
They were wild Legendaries. Of course they would not stay. The fact that they had helped at the critical moment was already more than he could ask for. Without them, Zapdos, Magnezone, and Electivire might still be unconscious.
The night had been long.
Once everyone had eaten, Reiji recalled most of the Pokémon, leaving only the ones needed for night watch. Then he pulled out his sleeping bag.
Before recalling Zapdos, Magnezone, and Electivire, he checked their panels one more time.
Magnezone and Electivire had not changed much. Both were already near their limits. Expecting another jump right away really was greedy.
Zapdos, though, gave him exactly what he wanted to see.
Its transformation was complete.
[Zapdos]
[Type: Electric + Flying]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 79.99%]
[Level: 51.11%]
[Ability: Pressure/26.59%][Hidden Ability: Static/38.51%]
[Moves]
Electric-type: [Thunder Wave/41.61%, Thunder Shock/49.93%, Charge/54.63%, Discharge/49.23%, Thunderbolt/43.15%, Thunder/41.11%, Magnetic Flux/26.22%, Zap Cannon/25.23%, Volt Switch/22.31%, Electro Ball/19.81%, Eerie Impulse/17.58%, Electric Terrain/17.21%, Wild Charge/21.78%]
Flying-type: [Peck/32.21%, Pluck/28.11%, Roost/25.54%, Drill Peck/26.51%, Air Cutter/9.52%, Fly/3.12%, Hurricane/6.33%, Brave Bird/2.35%, Sky Attack/6.13%]
Normal-type: [Take Down/5.14%, Endure/29.11%, Sleep Talk/16.31%]
Psychic-type: [Agility/19.21%, Rest/41.31%, Light Screen/11.91%]
Other: [Rain Dance/13.65%, Ancient Power/14.26%]
"A quasi-Champion Zapdos…"
The tension finally drained out of Reiji's body.
"Now I can actually sleep."
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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