Eevee trotted back to Kay with a sparkle in its eyes, looking proud of itself. It had just been healed, but the little Pokémon wasn't thinking about its own pain anymore; it was happy that it had managed to help its trainer.
Kay bent down slightly to meet its gaze, still feeling the strange warmth in his body from Espeon's Heal Pulse.
"What did you tell that Espeon so that it healed me?" Kay asked, his voice full of curiosity.
Eevee tilted its head and began making soft cries, "Eevwee… Eevwee." Kay listened carefully, watching Eevee's ears twitch and its tail swish while it tried to explain.
After a moment, he pieced the meaning together. Eevee had told Espeon that Kay had come all the way to this dungeon just to help it evolve into an Espeon.
It had also told Espeon how much it liked and trusted Kay. The warmth Kay felt inside wasn't just from the Heal Pulse anymore; it was also from knowing that Eevee had spoken about him like that.
Hearing this made Kay's mind jump to the question that had been quietly sitting in the back of his head: could Espeon help them with the evolution?
If this Espeon was strong enough to heal injuries in seconds, maybe it could do more than that.
Kay was about to ask when, all of a sudden, a voice echoed inside his mind. It was calm, smooth, and certain: "Yes, I can help you with that."
Kay blinked in surprise and looked around the cave, but nobody was speaking out loud. Then his eyes landed on Espeon, who was staring at him with an unreadable expression.
Then Kay realized that it was Espeon using its psychic powers to talk directly into his head. "Is that you?" Kay asked aloud, just to be sure.
Espeon gave a small nod and replied inside his head again, "Yes, it's me. And I told you I will help you evolve your Eevee into an Espeon, but you must first fulfill my challenges."
Kay straightened his back, feeling a mix of excitement and determination. "What challenges? I'm ready to do anything if it means I can evolve Eevee," he said without hesitation.
Espeon's gem glimmered faintly as it continued, "You should understand that the method we use here to evolve Eevees is not like the normal method. Our way is better."
"Better?" Kay repeated, confused. "Do you mean it makes a stronger Espeon?"
"Not exactly in that way," Espeon replied calmly. "But the Espeon that evolves through our method receives a large amount of Psychic-type energy within its body. It will slowly consume this energy over time, due to that the gap between our Espeons and those who evolved normally will grow larger and larger as time passes."
Kay's eyes widened. He imagined Eevee as an Espeon, growing stronger with every day that passed.
It was a tempting thought, and it made him even more eager to begin right away. But before he could speak, Espeon's voice cut into his thoughts again.
"Because our method is better, my conditions will be hard to fulfill," Espeon said.
Kay stepped closer. "So, what are these conditions?" he asked firmly, ready to hear whatever came next.
"There are three," Espeon said without pause. "First, I have noticed that your Pokémon is trying to learn the move Calm Mind. I want it to learn the move today, before nightfall."
Kay's face tightened. That was already a challenge. Eevee had been trying for days and still hadn't learned Calm Mind; how could it do it in just a few hours? Before he could voice his doubt, Espeon continued speaking.
"Second, I want your Eevee to reach the Inferior Bronze stage in two days. Third, and this will be the hardest, I want your Eevee to win a battle against one of my Eevees."
Kay took a deep breath. He knew that refusing would likely make Espeon take back the offer to evolve Eevee.
Still, he couldn't agree to everything. "I accept all the conditions except for the second one."
Kay said carefully. "I don't have a Power Stone ready for Eevee. Without it, the breakthrough won't give the maximum benefit."
Espeon closed its eyes for a moment, then opened them again with a calm but firm look.
"You should understand something. The reason I agreed to evolve your Eevee is that it caught my interest. I will not ask anything that would harm it or slow its growth."
After Kay heard Espeon's reassurance, he was ready to begin with the challenges right now.
He gave a small nod, choosing to trust the psychic Pokémon's words. "Alright," he said quietly, "I understand."
Kay turned to his partner with a determined look in his eyes. "We have some very hard challenges ahead of us in the coming days. Are you ready, buddy?"
Eevee's ears perked up immediately. It gave a quick nod, then started barking in its cheerful tone, "Eevwee… Eevwee!"
The little Pokémon hopped from side to side, its tail swishing like an excited flag. It didn't need to understand every detail; it just knew Kay was by its side, and that was enough to face anything.
Espeon, watching the scene with its calm, focused eyes, gave a short nod. "Follow me," it said in a voice that echoed faintly inside Kay's mind.
Without waiting for a reply, it turned and began walking deeper into the cave, its steps light and silent.
Kay and Eevee followed behind. They didn't speak, partly because they were focused on keeping up and partly because the air in this part of the cave felt heavier.
The walls were narrowing, and the path twisted several times until it suddenly opened into a much larger space.
Kay stopped for a moment in surprise. In front of him was what looked like a wide stone chamber, almost like a secret training room hidden far beneath the earth.
Even though they were deep inside the cave where sunlight couldn't possibly reach, the space was filled with a gentle, steady light.
Strange, beautiful gems were embedded into the walls and ceiling, each one glowing softly. The light was so warm and even that it almost felt like standing outside on a cloudy day.
Espeon turned to face them. "You can train here," it said, its gaze moving from Eevee to Kay.
Then its eyes shifted toward Growlithe's Pokéball resting in Kay's pocket and said, "You could use your two Pokémons, no problem."
Before Kay could ask how Espeon knew, the Psychic-type Pokémon's gem flashed, and its form shimmered.
In the blink of an eye, it vanished completely. The air rippled faintly where it had been standing, proof that it had used Teleport.
Kay let out a quiet breath and took out Growlithe's Poké Ball. Then he said after calling out his two Pokémons.
"Alright, both of you, continue working on the moves you were training in the last game."
He was grateful, truly grateful, that Espeon had brought them to this safe place. With the group of Espeons protecting this area, no wild Pokémon would disturb them, and they could train without worrying about surprise attacks.
Kay knew that if he passed the coming four days inside this cave, he would pass the fourth game successfully.
Growlithe barked happily and began practicing Flame Charge, racing forward in short bursts, each time leaving a sharper trail of heat in the air.
Kay noticed right away that Growlithe's movements were more refined now; the breakthrough it had gone through earlier had clearly sharpened its abilities.
Eevee, on the other hand, closed its eyes and began focusing on Calm Mind, trying to control its breathing and still its mind.
But Kay knew the real pressure was on Eevee. The first condition from Espeon's challenge was to master Calm Mind before the day ended. That was going to be hard enough, but they had no choice but to try.
As Eevee focused, Kay's eyes wandered to the strange glowing gems in the walls. They were beautiful, almost hypnotic, and their soft light seemed to calm the mind just by looking at them. "System," Kay said, "scan these weird gems."
There was a short pause, then the mechanical voice in his mind answered,
"Scan complete. These gems are called Auracite. They emit light when infused with Psychic-type energy."
Kay nodded slowly, impressed. The glow made sense now; it wasn't just some natural light; the stones themselves were drinking in Psychic energy from somewhere and releasing it.
He turned his eyes back to Eevee, watching carefully. Something about Eevee's Calm Mind training seemed different from before; more focused, more stable. It was improving faster than usual, and the change was obvious.
"System," Kay asked, "how could Eevee improve this much from the last time without even practicing the move a lot after the last time?"
The system's voice replied,
"It is because of the high amount of Psychic-type energy in this cave. This environment greatly accelerates learning of Psychic-type moves."
See you in the next chapter...
Droooop Power Stones...