A Pokemon Tale, Part II: The Rise of Team Rocket

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Evolution by Stone

 

Celadon City-

            Red and Blue managed to catch a bus in Lavender Town that took them to the outskirts of Saffron City, where the road was cut off yet again due to fears of a Team Rocket invasion.  The two teenagers had to trek the east-west underground path that ran under the largest city in Kanto to arrive at Celadon City early the next morning.  Though they were tired, their sense of duty to save Agatha and shut off Team Rocket’s Scopes compelled them to keep moving.  Luckily, one of the first buildings they ran into was a Pokémon Center where they rented a room for the day and night. 

            They took turns getting cleaned up and doing laundry, and finally they left the Center in the late morning hours, deciding the pressing matter of Team Rocket was more important than sleep.  They had wandered around the city almost aimlessly for hours, with no sign of the Rockets anywhere. 

            “Darn!” Red said finally, and sat on the brick sidewalk between beautiful shops in disappointment.  “There’s no way we’ll find them today this place is huge!”

            Blue wasn’t as discouraged.  “Well, what did you expect? A big sign that says ‘Team Rocket HQ?’ Wow look at that!”  She pointed to a nearby shop where shiny colored rocks were on display in the store window.

            “Only a girl could think about shopping at a time like this,” mumbled Red as he walked over to see what Blue was looking at.  Inside the shop a middle-aged, well-dressed man was talking to a customer with a red, dog Pokémon no larger than a terrier.  Red’s eyes got wide as he recognized the species.  “That guy’s got a Growlithe! It’s a fire-type Pokémon!”  The man, who Red deduced was the store owner took some money from the customer and handed him in return a shiny red stone. The customer then proceeded to touch the stone to his Growlithe and in a flash it evolved right before the eyes of everyone around!

            It more than quadrupled in size and now stood about five foot tall from head to foot, and was now more than 7 feet long from snout to tail.  Red immediately pulled out his Pokedex.

            “Arcanine,” he read, “the evolved form of Growlithe.  This majestic, noble Pokémon is one of the fastest Pokémon ever discovered, and is a powerful adversary in battle.”

            Blue noticed the stones on display again, there were three distinct kinds.  “These are evolution stones!” she exclaimed.  “The red one is a Fire Stone, the blue is a Water Stone, and the yellow must be a Thunder Stone! Certain Pokémon evolve with these!”

            The shop owner congratulated the customer on his newly evolved Pokémon as he recalled Arcanine and exited the store.  Red and Blue entered the store out of sheer amazement. 

            “Hello young trainers!” said the owner.  “Welcome to Evan’s Evolution Stones! You are new faces! Feel free to observe the merchandise!”

            Red was researching if he could use any of the stones, when he saw a chart that showed through the power of a Thunder Stone he could evolve his Pikachu into Raichu, yet the hefty price tag discouraged him.  He looked around for Blue, and found her crouched over in front of a little play pen with many small, cute, furry, brown Pokémon with long ears were playing together.  The store owner was there with her.

            “Those are Eevee,” he said with a smile.  “A peculiar Pokémon indeed. They’re the offspring of my very own Pokémon, Jolteon.”  Blue wasn’t listening, she was tickling the little playful creatures and scratching their ears.  Red checked his Pokedex about Jolteon.  It was an electric Pokémon about the three times larger than Eevee, according to the Pokedex, and looked much fiercer.  The picture showed Jolteon’s yellow, spiked fur, almost like the needles of a porcupine.  Red checked what his ‘dex had to say about Eevee when he was confused.