Equestria. Ponyville. The Pokemon House. Nightfall.
"Scorbunny. Chikorita. I heard you loud and clear." Currently, Fluttershy was speaking to the two First-Stage Starter Pokemon. "We're going through with it. We'll have you all evolve."
"Scorbun!"
"Chiko!" They were all for it. Growing into their second stages was favourable in their eyes. Evolving into their second stages would do wonders for them. Faster, stronger and more durable than ever.
"I'll be at the Pokemon School this morning. Krookodile can help you out and Audi will stay behind this time. They can help you both evolve. Isn't that right, Audi?"
"Audino." Audino gave a swift thumbs-up to her teammates.
"I'm tired so..." Fluttershy yawned as she fluttered over to her bed. "We'll have you evolve tomorrow. Raboot and Bayleef here we...come..." She fell asleep in midair, feeling truly exhausted. Audino caught her before she could hit the ground.
The Hearing Pokemon then placed Fluttershy on her bed, covering her trainer in sheets. Fluttershy caught some Zzzs as it was time for the rest of them to clock out. But, Scorbunny was so excited to see his evolved form that he might even have trouble sleeping tonight.
He could imagine himself moving faster than he already does. Jumping higher and hitting harder too. Just better at doing things he was already good at in general. Chikorita felt the same way too. But hers was different.
She's already seen Ash's Bayleef and the size difference was incredible. She was hoping to get bigger. Chikorita believed that being bigger meant that she would be more imposing in front of opponents. But in truth, Bayleef is still adorable. But can be fierce either way.
They all went to sleep, waiting for tomorrow to come.
Morning.
10 hours later, the morning was here. Fluttershy was already prepared to head to the Pokemon School. But not before leaving everything in the good hands and claws of Audino and Krookodile.
"Okay. I'll be off now." She said. "You take care all of you. Pokemon Battling's the most common way to evolve. But if you have other ways of doing it then go ahead and try. I can't wait to see you all become Raboot and Bayleef."
"Scor!"
"Chikori!"
"Take care of them, you two!" Fluttershy took the skies, waving at her Pokemon. "Bye!" They all waved back at her. Not just her Pokemon but the Pokemon within the Pokemon House. At least the ones that had limbs, Voltorb and a few others were exempt.
Now it was just Chikorita, Audino, Krookodile and Scorbunny, being left to their own devices. At least, Chikorita and Scorbunny were. Audino and Krookodile were tasked with not only taking care of them but helping them evolve and reach their next stages as soon as possible.
Scorbunny stood on the belly of the resting Snorlax, ready to make a declaration. He wanted to involve instantly. Whatever he could do and however he could do it. His best thought was challenging the strongest Pokemon he could find. "Scor! Scorbunny."
"Di...Audino!" Audino snapped her fingers as she had that answer. The Fighting Fields. Where she crushed on a Gallade for a while. Potentially, she still does. But aside from that, Audino knew that many powerful Pokemon resided over at those fields and they were certainly capable of making Scorbunny evolve.
"Krook!" Krookodile objected to that. Mainly because he wasn't fond of the Gallade residing in those fields due to his crush on Krookodile. "Dile. Krooko." Instead, he recommended that he would be good enough. Krookodile thought himself stronger than Gallade, even though he lost to him before.
"Scor. Scorbunny!" Scorbunny chose the first one. Although, he did prefer getting out there and battling, much like Ash. But this worked out too.
Scorbunny hopped off Snorlax's stomach, landing in front of the Intimidation Pokemon. Scorbunny tried pulling off a fearsome look to try and intimidate Krookodile, acting tough.
But he wasn't fearsome at all. As noted by Angel Bunny's tiny laughter in the distance. Scorbunny turned around, seeing his fellow rabbit laugh. But he would show Angel otherwise. He stomped his foot for a bit, facing off against the Ground-Dark-Type.
Scorbunny hopped off to gain some distance as Audino looked at them both, seeing that they were ready. "Au? Audino." She could allow the battle to begin immediately acting as a referee. "Audino!"
"Scorbunny!" Scorbunny started strong by going first. With High Jump Kick. The Rabbit Pokemon's legs lit up before he leapt into the air. This attack would work well on a Dark-Type like Krookodile.
"Krook!" But Krookodile wouldn't just allow that to happen. In response, the Intimidation Pokemon used Shadow Claw as a way to counter. The claw of Krookodile and the foot of Scorbunny met, creating a small brief clash with sparks flying around.
But afterwards, they separated with Scorbunny hopping back. "Bunny!" After moving away, Scorbunny used Ember, spitting out sparks of flames from his mouth like bullets.
"Krookodile." However, this was not very effective against Krookodile, who simply stood there, taking every hit. He was barely phased by it. Krookodile chuckled, laughing at Scorbunny's futile attack. He then showed off, flexing his muscles to Audino.
Audino just laughed nervously as she wasn't impressed at all. Ground-Types naturally resist fire so it wasn't anything to be proud of. Krookodile then lowered his head after Audino wasn't impressed. "Krook..." But that gave Scorbunny the chance to attack.
"Scorbun!" The Rabbit Pokemon used Quick Attack, moving at blinding speeds and tackling Krookodile in the head.
"D-Dile!" Krookodile was staggered from that initial hit. A consequence for letting his guard down.
"Scorbunny!" Scorbunny then followed up with an upwards High Jump Kick to the chin, finally dealing super-effective damage to the Intimidation Pokemon.
"K-Krooko...Dile!" Krookodile was staggered even more. And more than that, he fell on his back from this little Pokemon. Something that he hoped would never happen. At least, he was hoping a Pokemon his size or bigger would be responsible for it.
The other Pokemon enjoyed seeing a good Pokemon Battle. And this one was certainly entertaining so far. Scorbunny was waiting for the evolution to kick in. Nothing so far. He hadn't evolved mid-battle. He was expecting himself to evolve after the battle. So with high hopes, he went in with Flame Charge, hoping to increase his speed.
"K-Krooko...Dile!" But while sitting up, Krookodie smashed his fist on the ground, using Earth Power. Golden lights rippled and quaked through the ground while moving.
And as they moved, they struck Scorbunny while he was running with an aura of Fire. The Rabbit Pokemon was met with an erupting golden shockwave that consumed him. "Scor!" Scorbunny was hurled through the air from that with everyone's eyes tracking him.
It was a one-hit KO. Scorbunny could not withstand the force of Krookodile's Earth Power. "Scorbunny..."
"Audi! Audino-No!" Audino called this battle off, declaring Krookodile the winner as the Pokemon let out cries of cheer and applause.
"Krook." Krookodile sighed with a sweatdrop appearing. Even though he won, he was afraid that Scorbunny could've defeated him if he let his guard down some more. Krookodile, instead of showing off, helped Scorbunny up from the ground, congratulating him for a fairly entertaining battle. "Krookodile."
"S-Scor." Scorbunny was a bit upset that he didn't evolve. But he had fun battling either way. Chikorita got in the mood for battling as well as she jumped up and down with excitement.
"Chiko! Chiko!"
"Audino." But Audino insisted that they should rest before making other hasty and energetic movements. Scorbunny and Krookodile needed the healing. Mostly Scorbunny.
"Bunny. Scor-Scor." Scorbunny wished to evolve soon. Very soon. He wasn't sure if battling with Krookodile would be the key to that goal. The rest of Ponyville still existed, along with the Pokemon House. Many Pokemon and Trainers to choose from. Either could help him.
He insisted on trying the Pokemon House or Ponyville. Especially the Fighting-Type room. Audino nodded as that was a sound decision. They would take a small trip to the Fighting-Type room for potential evolutions.
The Fighting-Type room.
The Fighting-Type room, much like every other Type Room within the Pokemon House, catered to the Fighting-Type Pokemon and their needs. And it looked exactly like a dojo. From the heavy bags, mats focus and kick pads and a lot more for specific Pokemon.
And as for the Pokemon within the room, they were all in the same boat as Scorbunny and Chikorita. They were pre-evolved. Machop, Pancham, Crabrawler, Meditite were among them. In fact, the Fighting-Types were one of the least common types in the Pokemon House.
But, even though they were all pre-evolved, there was one Pokemon within their group that wasn't. Their teacher was a Throh. Throh didn't have an evolution either way.
"Throh?" He turned his attention to the visitors.
"Scor! Scorbunny!" Scorbunny and Chikorita ran over to him before coming to a screeching halt. They started asking him to help them evolve. "Scorbun! Bunny!"
"Chi! Chiko!"
"Throh. Throh." Throh heard their requests after nodding. He then asked if they had tried the Fighting Fields, which was coincidentally what Scorbunny was thinking of earlier.
"Audino!" Audino gushed, hoping they could go there, but Krookodile stepped in once more.
"Krooko!" Krookodile then asked the Judo Pokemon if he had a method of making them evolve quick enough.
"Throh." Throh had but one piece of advice that was easy to follow. His personal advice. It was to have others help them. Which was exactly what Scorbunny was already doing. Krookodile had helped him try to evolve.
"Scor." Scorbunny and Chikorita found that answer redundant as they sighed. But, it was easy to follow and was straightforward. They then decided to tackle every Pokemon they could, asking for a battle. "Scorbun!"
"Throh-Throh." But Throh declined, saying that he was busy with the younger Fighting-Types. He would battle them later when he had the chance. But it was still a possibility.
Scorbunny and Chikorita then ran out of the Fighting-Type room to ask other Pokemon if they could battle. The closest to this room was the Fairy-Type room which only had three Pokemon. Cleffa, Spritzee and Marril. Fairy-Type Pokemon weren't that abundant here in the Pokemon House. Making them the least common types by far.
"Chiko?" Chikorita asked for a battle from them. So did Scorbunny.
"Cle. Cleffa." But Cleffa and the others declined. They weren't really fond of Pokemon Battling at all. So this room was a bust as well. But the duo then rushed over to the next room for potential battles.
But each room they went to was a failure. Most Pokemon were either too busy, didn't bother or were asleep. Scorbunny and Chikorita weren't too fond of this. This seemed like a cruel trick fate was playing on them.
"Dino. Audino." But Audinotold them that despite this being a heavy Pokemon area, not everyone is down for battle. In fact, the Pokemon here in the Pokemon House are rarely seen battling. The only times it's seen are with the Fighting-Type Pokemon, threats or even if a Trainer was coming by for a pick. The Pokemon here in the Pokemon House are close to pacifists due to the peaceful lives they've been living.
But all was not lost. Ponyville was still up for grabs. The Pokemon there, while they don't battle a lot, they've been through their fair share of battles without a doubt. Plus, they had Pokemon Trainers by their side, making them stronger due to the bond they shared.
"Scorbunny!" It was settled. The trainers at Ponyville were next. Nothing is stronger than a bond between a Pokemon and its Trainer after all.
Ponyville Streets.
Most of the ponies here in Ponyville go to the Pokemon School to learn about Pokemon. Which meant that the town was sometimes silent until they got back.
The only ones here were Spike, Mayor Mare, Cherilee, Cold Colt, Jade Skies, Mr and Mrs Cake, the Cake Twins and sometimes Derpy. Not a lot. But thankfully, there are enough Pokemon in this town that either stay here while their trainers are at school or Wild Pokemon like the all-seeing Noctowl who acts at night.
Not many options to choose from here in Ponyville. Hours were needed until everypony would get back. But each Trainer had strong bonds with their Pokemon so it was fine. Currently, Mayor Mare and Cheerilee were conversing before spotting the trio.
"Hello there, you three." Cherilee greeted Scorbunny, Chikorita and Audino. Krookodile stayed behind, acting as the Pokemon House's guardian as always. "Fluttershy didn't bring you along, did she?"
"Audino." Audino shook her head before giving hand signs to Cherilee, trying to communicate with her. She was able to do so as Cherilee has studded something similar. Hoof signs for ponies who can't communicate. Audino explained what she was doing with Scorbunny and Chikorita.
"Evolution, eh?" She replied. "Oh, I see. That can be done in any way, really. I know a way myself. Hopefully, enough to garner the attention of the Pokemon School..." She said under her breath with that last sentence.
"Jealous Cheerilee?" Mayor Mare replied.
"Jealous?" Cherilee pulled back before trying to play it cool. "No, no, no. I'm not jealous Not in the slightest. But...I do have to reschedule so much for my students since they go to the Ponyville Schoolhouse and the Pokemon School on different days. It's not easy when you don't want to tire them out with double the school."
"They're only free on Monday and Tuesday, so there are little breaks for the little ones than usual. We'll just have a talk with the school to see if we can change their timetables. And you three?" The Mayor then turned to the trio of Pokemon.
"Scorbunny and Raboot here are trying to evolve. And I can grant them that request. It seems that battling isn't turning out. Besides, there's more than one way to evolve, as I say."
"Mhm." Mayor Mare nodded. "You were the first pony to spot a different way of evolving last year. I suppose you had one major piece of knowledge about Pokemon to give out. So what way can you show to these two?"
"I doubt it'll work the same way as before, but I made something over at the Ponyville Schoolhouse. A sort of obstacle course to help Pokemon evolve quicker. Although um...It's not panning out as much as I want it to." She laughed nervously. "Scootaloo's Ponyta has yet to evolve after all, along with a few others."
"Is it efficient?"
"It's..." She scrunched her face before shifting her eyes. She then lowered her head, admitting to the truth. "Not at all. Only 4 Pokemon have managed to evolve thanks to it. And those were months apart."
"Scorbun." Scorbunny sighed as he enjoyed himself a challenge. And an obstacle course to try and evolve sounded like a sure-fire bet. But since it wasn't efficient, that made him less excited.
As they stood there, Audino's ears sensed something approaching this way. Her ears picked up on the sound of hoofsteps. Rapid moving hoofsteps of someone running. "Audino?"
"Stoutland?" Stoutland's nose already sensed the arrival of someone heading towards Ponyville. Old reliable dog nose after all. Both Stoutland Audino looked in the direction of the west, wondering who was showing up.
And with gallant and graceful speeds plus a beautiful jump over the acre of trees near the entrance to Ponyville, one of the Swords of Justice had made an appearance.
And it was Virizion for this.
They gawked as Scorbunny's eyes lit up. Scorbunny was already attracted to beautiful Pokemon. An example was Rarity's Milotic. And as soon as Virizion appeared in midair with her graceful jump, he had yet another crush in his heart. "S-Scorbun!"
"Virizion?" said Cheerilee and Mayor Mare.
"Good morning," Virizion said before landing perfectly on her hooves. "A bit quiet here than usual, isn't it?"
"S-Some of our citizens are at the Pokemon School. What are you doing here exactly?" Mayor Mare asked.
"Oh. I'm here for something wonderful that I heard the other day. Something I've been missing out." She stood up tall. "I heard from Keldeo that this SugarCube Corner place has some wonderful food. I couldn't ignore it, so I'm here for your delicacies."
"Fair enough. Head in then, Sword of Justice." Mayor Mare aimed her hoof at SugarCube Corner. Virizion could already picture the kind of food she could be trying now. Her fantasies were running wild as she even stuck her tongue out.
"Bunny!" But before she could head there, Scorbunny hopped in the way. Acting cool, he decided to do the honours of guiding Virizion towards SugarCube Corner. Virizion chuckled before walking past the Rabbit Pokemon. Scorbunny was swooned by this until Chikorita slapped him in the face with her leaf. They needed their evolutions stat. "Scor?!"
"Chiko!"
Entering SugarCube Corner, Virizion and the others were met with a surprising sight. Mr and Mrs Cake plus the Cake Twins were here along with Jade, obviously. But someone had joined them.
Within the room, Cold Colt was there, doing something frantic and from his heart's desire. Music was playing from a radio that he had created with his magic. And with that music, he was jamming out with no one else in the kitchen.
Cold was clearly enjoying himself, favouring this music as it made him move like crazy. He was holding and playing the guitar that he had created, jumping around in the kitchen. Of course, Cold Colt was horrible at playing the guitar with zero experience, so he made the sounds of the guitar being strummed silent as he sang along to the song.
"Filling up with such emotion! It's so exciting to be putting our dreams into motion! Bra-" But then, he soon paused after noticing Virizion, Mayor Mare, Cherilee Jubilee and the other Pokemon staring at him from the entrance of the bakery. The music was cut off as Cold dropped the guitar.
Virizion tried holding her laugh in along with Mayor Mare, Cheerilee and Scorbunny. "S-Sorry for the intrusion," Virizion said while quietly chuckling. Cold's face turned red as he made the radio and guitar disappear. He was embarrassed after they had seen him. Even though they were trying to hide their laughter, he could hear them.
"Nice moves." Suddenly, another individual had seen him. Jade. She appeared behind her fellow Rift Pony, startling him.
"Jade! How long have you been watching?!"
"Long enough." She replied in her usual dry tone. But she quickly gave a teasing smile that she managed to muster before growing once more.
"Ah geez..." Cold grumbled, using his magic to create a paper bag as he hid his head in it. "Knew I should've stayed in the castle...But Nyx would've seen me."
"Oh, don't worry." Virizion went up to him. "I found it charming. Anyway. I'm here for the food that is said to be so delicious. Where do you keep it?"
"Nothing's been made yet but there's some food in the fridge if you want." Jade nudged her head to the fridge. Virizion went to help herself, however, Scorbunny rushed over to the fridge to open it for the Grassland Pokemon.
"Scor! Scorbunny!" Scorbunny opened the fridge door by kicking the side of it, showing off to Virizion. Once the fridge had been opened, Virizion was treated to the sight of various foods she could try.
"Thank you." She then licked her lips after witnessing the pastries. So much to choose from just from the fridge alone.
"Ri. Chikori." Chikorita then used her vines to grab Scorbunny by his ear, dragging him. "Chiko!"
"S-Scorbun?!" Scorbunny then cried out, flailing around to try and free himself from Chikorita's hold's hold.
"Chiko!" Chikorita then told Scorbunny that they needed to evolve instead of wasting time, making googly eyes to the first pretty Pokemon that caught his attention.
"Scorbunnt." Scorbunny pouted before looking to the side.
"You want to evolve, do you?" Virizion translated. "Here's an idea. I once saw a few Pokemon evolve just by simply eating."
"Eating? That's another way of evolving?" said Cherilee.
"Every Pokemon can evolve in different ways and unique methods. Not just by battling or using special stones and items to do so. The power of the Evolution Process is vast with many possibilities. No matter what you try, there's a chance your evolution will come. Unless you have one of those um..what are they called?" Virizion put her hoof on her chin. "Everstones."
"Bun." Scorbunny and Chikorita looked at each other before seeing the food in front of them. If they could evolve by eating, then that would leave both their stomachs and needs satisfied. They decided to give it a try, taking, Virizion's recommendation.
Cold used his magic to place the food from the fridge on the table for consumption. They were cold but still edible. However, Scorbunny could change that. He used Ember, heating up the food to match a nice and suitable temperature for him, Chikorita and Virizion. Afterwards, they could eat.
The three Pokemon started eating the food given to them. Scorbunny ate the fastest, Chikorita ate an average speed and Virizion took her time with it. Cold Colt then sheepishly walked out of SugarCube Corner, still embarrassed from before. But Mayor Mare promised not to tell a soul about this.
As they ate, their stomachs were being filled. But one of them was gaining significant difference. Scorbunny. Since he was eating so fast, he was filling up faster than the others. And he did it just to evolve. He thought about his future. How cool he would look as a Raboot and especially when he becomes Cinderace. He thought of it all while eating.
And just like what Virizion said, that was another way of evolving. By thinking of his future and snacking down on some tasty treats, Scorbunny's body started glowing. Everyone paused, witnessing this light. A spiral of flames surrounded the glowing body of the Rabbit Pokemon, covering him. His body started growing with alterations and additions being given to him. And bursting out of the spiral of flames was Raboot at last.
"Raboot!"
"Ooh! There you go!" Cherilee exclaimed as she, Audino and Mayor Mare applauded his success. "Well done!"
"Ri! Chikori!" Chikorita jumped up and down, glad for her friend. Now she was waiting for herself to evolve as she started thinking about becoming a Bayleef while snacking away. She even tried Raboot's method of eating faster to try and make it happen.
However, eating too fast made her sick as her stomach started growling. Chikorita paused before hopping off the table. Switching from eating at an average speed to eating at a fast speed was overwhelming. Her method of evolution was a bust, unfortunately.
"Boot." Raboot hopped off the table as well, patting Chikorita on the back.
The Pokemon House. Afternoon.
"It was worth coming here for the food. And I'm surprised I've never been here before. A place for Pokemon to live their lives. Fluttershy thought ahead, didn't she?" said Virizion as she, Raboot, Audino and Chikorita had arrived at the Pokemon House. Krookodile immediately spotted the view of a new Pokemon. Two of them. One was the evolved Raboot and the other was the Sword of Justice Virizion.
"Boot. Raboot." Raboot was here to show off and tell Krookodile how he managed to evolve, hoping his friend would be proud of him.
"Krook!" But Krookodile had something else in mind. After seeing Virizion, just like Raboot, he swooned as he ran past Raboot without acknowledging his evolved form.
"Ra?!"
"Krookodile!" Krookodile grabbed the nearest flower he could find for Virizion, trying to get to her. But it was soon revealed it was a Petilil he was holding. "Dile?"
"P-Petilil!" The Bulb Pokemon cried out before being put back down, bouncing away. A few minutes until Fluttershy would return along with everypony else at the Pokemon School.
And given that this was Winter, the sun had set sooner than before with the moon being raised at a quicker rate. It was already sunset with the sun radiating a gallant and soothing orange glow on the horizon. Scorbunny and Chikorita took a moment to sit back and relax, looking at the sunset.
So did Virizion and some of the Pokemon here at the Pokemon House. "Raboot." Raboot felt proud of himself for evolving. He wanted to evolve in a cooler way like a battle or a daring adventure. But perhaps Cinderace would fill that void. As for Chikorita, she was a tad bit upset that her evolution did not kick through.
She wanted to be in sync with Scorbunny so that they evolved at the same time. Plus, it would've been exciting to show Fluttershy their double evolution when she returned. But alas, that never occurred. "Chiko."
"Don't be so upset, little girl," Virizion said. "There are various opportunities still waiting for you. Perhaps, you'll evolve when the time is right."
"Chikorita?" Chikorita asked if that was what could happen. That her evolution would only occur under certain situations instead of being randomized like Raboot.
"It will come." She nodded before patting Chikorita on the head.
"Di? Audino." Audino's ears then heard the sound of many hoofsteps and wingbeats in the distance. Everypony was returning from the Pokemon School. "Audi. Audino."
"Well. Looks like it'll be lively once more. I should be going. But I'll be back." Virizion stood up. "If you would, could you tell Pinkie Pie to make me something when I return in let's say 4 days?"
"Audino." Audino would keep that promise.
"Thank you. Can't wait." Virizion could already imagine the delicacies she could taste. It would be beyond fruits. "Until next time." And like always, Virizion ran off with bountiful speeds.
"Krooko!" Krookodile held his arm out, trying to reach Virizion. But then, he thought about how Audino could be furious and jealous. But really, she wasn't in the slightest.
The streets of Ponyville were lively once more with everypony returning home after learning more about Pokemon at the Pokemon School. And showing up was Fluttershy who was greeted with the sight of something joyful. Standing at the entrance was Raboot, deciding to show off his new appearance.
"Raboot!" Fluttershy zoomed through, landing right in front of her newly evolved partner. "You did it! Look at you, I'm so proud!"
"Ra-Raboot." With this new evolution came a new personality. Raboot had always tried to look cool when he was a Scorbunny. Now he certainly did as a Raboot as he crossed his arms.
"And Chikorita? Is she a Bayleef?" Fluttershy asked.
"Boot." But with a head shake, it was confirmation that she wasn't. "Ra. Raboot." Raboot then explained that Virizion came over, telling Chikorita that she would evolve when the time was right. AKA, during a specific scenario.
"I see." She nodded. "Well, I can always still help her evolve. And you too. You're brand new and everything."
"Raboot-Ra."
"Come on. I have so much to tell you about today's lesson." Fluttershy said before heading towards her cottage and Pokemon House. Raboot ran by her side, speedier than ever in this newly evolved form.
There are different ways of evolving. Some are easy, some are difficult and some are hard to explain. But every Pokemon has a way they can approach it. Whether it be through battle, eating or even emotions themselves, one way or another, they'll break their limits and reach new heights.
Unless they have an Everstone, then that's a problem.
As the journey continues.
Chapter 590 End.