I only lingered in Mauville for a single day after the Gym Battle. I planned to attract sponsors by making a strong showing early in the League by beating the first two Gyms within one month, so I needed to leave as soon as possible. However I had only been training with my Pokémon recently so I wanted to let them have a day of rest to experience something fun and relaxing.

The giant mall that made up half of Mauville wasn't all dedicated to shopping. The lower floors were dedicated to vendors, but the upper floors were dedicated to residents. At the very top of the building, on the roof, was a massive open-sky park that extended across the entire mall.

The park on the roof lessened the environmental impact of the giant mall by providing a natural environment for wild Pokémon to visit. The park was open 24/7 to anyone who wanted to see it, including residents and tourists. Several wild Pokémon even lived in it permanently and were used to the presence of humans.

I took my team there to let them relax in a wild-like area without the need to stress about aggressive wild Pokémon. Vulpix ran around to play with other Pokémon, the same as she had done in the park in Mossdeep. Marill found a small pond that was stocked with non-Pokémon fish and slept half in the water and half on the shore. Flabébé, on the other hand, seemed to be intimidated by the many larger creatures around her and stuck next to me most of the day. I eventually found a public flower garden that she explored while I stayed nearby.

My team was able to enjoy a day of rest and relaxation while I spent the time strategizing. Inspired by Old Man Harvey's journal, I bought my own journal that morning to organize my thoughts, take notes, and record my observations.

One of the reasons I trained with my team so much is because honestly, I got bored easily. I came from a world with an overabundance of types of media, enough to keep a mind constantly occupied. The Pokémon world didn't have the same luxuries as I was used to, which meant I frequently ended up sitting around lost in thought. If I had a device that could be used to browse the Pokénet I would use it, but devices with that function were exorbitantly expensive. I regretted not asking Steven for one, but had no plans to use a favor to obtain something as simple as a PokéNav.

The journal let me record my thoughts in the downtime between training. People of this world might think I was crazy for focusing on training so much, but Pokémon was a game where I came from. Creating strategies and planning what moves to teach your Pokémon? I found that fun. It would be a long time, if ever, for me to get used to seeing real life Pokémon.

So that's how we spent our last day in Mauville. My Pokémon played and relaxed, and I worked on our strategies and training plans.

For the first time in a while, I found myself forgetting to stress about any people after my knowledge.

It was nice.

To the north of Mauville were Routes 111 and 112. They extended over craggy brushlands that served as a buffer between the volcano, Mt. Chimney, and the desert valley north of Route 111. Fire and Ground Types were prevalent in these areas, which meant that Pokémon not threatened by Marill's presence were quickly defeated by her Water Type moves.

Unlike the games, Lavaridge could easily be accessed from Route 112. There was no need to take a cable car up the mountain and climb down Jagged Pass to reach the town. It was much safer to not climb the mountain, since strong Fire Types lived close to the summit. I doubted we had a chance at victory if we encountered something like a wild Magmortar.

Despite my rush to get to Lavaridge Gym, it would take several days to travel there. Not one to let this spare time go to waste, when we settled down to camp on the first night on the route, I lined up my team to set up training goals.

"Listen up!" I said, trying my hardest to embody the spirit of a drill sergeant, "I have a goal for each of you to complete before we reach the next town. If you complete it, your efforts will be rewarded."

The reward money from beating Wattson was added to my account the night after the Gym Battle, and just like that I had 3000 Pokédollars to spare. When I called Marty after the Gym to tell him I had won, he gave me advice for what kind of treats to use as a motivational tool. I ended up going to the same store as before and buying Pokéblocks again to use for the reward.

I clapped my hands together to make sure everyone was paying attention. Flabébé jumped and I immediately felt guilty so I toned down how serious I was acting.

"Pay attention! I'll only say this once."

I paused.

"Unless you need me to repeat it."

I looked at my Pokémon in the order I caught them to give them their instructions.

"Vulpix! You need a move that Fire Types can't shut down. You have the capability to learn Extrasensory, a Psychic Type move that twists the space around your opponent imperceptibly. I have notes in Old Man Harvey's journal that should help. I’ll go over them with you after this."

Vulpix nodded and ran off to find something to practice on, completely ignoring the fact I just told her I had tips to help her practice.

"Marill! You’re going to learn a Water Type move that takes advantage of your physical strength as well as your Typing."

Marills ears perked up at the mention of such a move.

"For that, you’re going to learn Aqua Tail. To use it, channel Water Type energy into your tail and slam it into your opponent rather than just using brute force."

Marill feigned a salute then scampered off to start slamming her tail against a nearby boulder. Her smile combined with her angry eyes made her look absolutely murderous.

"Last but not least, Flabébé!" I dropped whatever was left of the drill sergeant persona I adopted to talk to her. It was intimidating and I already got my point across to both Vulpix and Marill. I didn’t want to scare her.

"I'm going to work with you to help you use Fairy Type energy. Your body isn't capable of exerting too much power, so I was hoping to get you to evolve, if possible. It'd be a bit of work, but you should find yourself stronger in the end. Are you okay with evolving?"

Flabébé was still a bit nervous from my drill sergeant act, but she understood it was just a show. She hardly moved for a few moments, holding onto her flower and thinking about whether or not to evolve, before slowly giving a short nod of her head.

I smiled at her.

"Great, let's start practicing your Fairy Type control by seeing if you can pump a bit more energy into Fairy Wind."

I've used the term "Type energy" before, but I never fully explained it.

All Pokémon moves, outside of some very weak low-level moves, used Type energy. Type Energy was the mysterious power that let Pokémon break the laws of physics and bend reality to their whim. All Pokémon used Type energy since it was what powered their moves and bodies to do what they needed to do.

An easy way to think of Type energy was to think of it as an internal power source. It was attuned to certain aspects of nature generally referred to as “Types,” and Pokémon anatomy was generally aligned to one or two forms of Type energy, which was how Pokémon got their Types.

As Pokémon become stronger, their ability to channel Type energy improves. This manifests as better control over a specific Type or an increase to the power of their moves. In the games this was represented as stat points, but those were highly simplified versions of the process. It’s important to know that as Pokémon get stronger, it becomes easier to learn new moves. So Pokémon who had trained for a while, like Marill and Vulpix, were more likely to learn new moves over a Pokémon who had just started training, like Flabébé.

I wanted Flabébé to evolve since that would help her both control her moves and empower her own capabilities. She wanted to get stronger and evolution was a quick way to do so. Flabébé as a species was inherently weaker than other Pokémon, so even if we delayed her evolution to further increase her control of Fairy Type energy, like I was doing with Vulpix and Ice Type energy, she was too inherently weak to be able to develop her control at a decent rate. She would need to do some catching up as a Floette to learn how to properly develop her Fairy Type capabilities, but I had no doubts she would be able to do so.

The amount of training that both Vulpix and Marill had already gone through reflected in the results of their training. Both Vulpix and Marill learned their new move in only the few days it took to reach just outside of Lavaridge. Their moves weren't battle ready since it took them a moment to prepare the move, but by the time we would be in the Gym, their new moves would start fast enough to be used in battle.

Vulpix’s Extrasensory was her sole Psychic Type attacking move. Her evolutionary line had some Psychic potential, but it would never manifest as anything stronger than Extrasensory. With enough mastery of the move, she could eventually perform minor telekinesis, but not telekinesis strong enough to use in battle. Extrasensory would help her cover her weakness to Fighting Type moves right now, and Poison Type moves once she evolved.

Marill’s Aqua Tail attack was scary. The little Water Type Pokémon had a brutal streak, and Aqua Tail was a new weapon in her arsenal. Since Aqua Tail was a Water Type move and Marill was a Water Type Pokémon, the move's power was amplified due to her shared Type with the move. Aqua Tail was stronger than Slam would ever be.

Slam could crack the ground. Aqua Tail could split a boulder.

Considering that Aqua Tail had the strongest base power out of all of her moves even without the shared Type amplification, Marill was now even more of a monster when it came to melee combat. Honestly, her aggression combined with her power, as well as her Type advantage, meant that she would do most of the heavy lifting in the Fire Type Lavaridge Gym.

I noticed that Marill was strong enough to evolve, but she was foregoing evolution. I could tell it wasn't a permanent choice, as staying a Marill would limit the amount of power she could eventually obtain, but I got the sense she wanted to prove something before she did.

Just exactly what she wanted to prove, I couldn't tell.

I spent a lot of time with Flabébé practicing Fairy Wind to try to increase her control of Fairy Type energy to evolve. It would be difficult to teach her a new move before evolution due to how little energy her species possessed, but she made good progress over these past few days.

Just like in the Gym Trial, she performed better than expected and was close to evolution. However, something was missing to give her a final push to evolve into Floette.

Lavaridge was less than a day away and Flabébé still hadn't evolved. She felt down since both Vulpix and Marill had completed their goals, despite the fact that Flabébé had the harder job to do. Her control of Fairy Type energy had improved but that last bit before evolution was just out of reach.

I sat with Flabébé as we took a break for lunch, racking my mind for possible solutions, until I finally realized what we were missing.

“I’ve been so stupid!” I said, smacking my forehead. “Pokémon develop the most under stressful situations! Just training isn’t enough, we have to push you in battle!”

I jumped up from my seated position. Flabébé flinched from the sudden movement, so I stopped myself before I started to pace to not make her more nervous.

“Alright, let’s see. Which would you prefer, a wild Pokémon, or a trainer battle?”

Flabébé thought about it before shrugging.

“No preference, then. We should search for wild Pokémon. If we’re lucky, one will attack us.”

I chuckled at the idea of actually looking to get attacked. Flabébé gave me a dubious look.

I walked over to Vulpix and Marill, who were practicing their new moves, to return them to their respective Pokéballs. Before returning them, I informed them about the situation and told them I would let them out at a moment’s notice if Flabébé was overwhelmed.

Flabébé was timid, that’s for sure. Pokémon Natures weren’t the sole personality trait a Pokémon had, but they were the primary trait that affected a Pokémon’s growth. It was possible to change a Pokémon’s nature, but that generally only happened after a traumatic event, or a significant change in their life. Only the most cruel of trainers tried to force a change of nature onto their Pokémon. For Flabébé, her small size and lack of power meant she was afraid of getting in close and quick to run. Therefore her nature was listed as “Timid.” I wasn’t going to force her to fight in a way she was uncomfortable with. Flabébé was a ranged combatant through and through, she just needed a bit more confidence in herself.

I hoped that evolution would grant her that confidence through the increased power that came with an evolved body. Her personality wouldn’t change, she would just not flinch as much. It made me sad to see her so scared all the time and I wanted her to experience more moments of happiness without constant fear.

We continued towards Lavaridge, purposely traveling along the edges of the route where more wild Pokémon were located. The stronger and more aggressive Pokémon lived off-route, which meant trainers generally didn’t travel off of routes until after they’d earned several Gym Badges. The edges of routes contained tougher Pokémon since the wild Pokémon there needed to be strong enough to defend themselves against the off-route Pokémon. While it was a bit risky to stick towards the edge, there was a higher chance for wild Pokémon to engage us in battle.

We ended up fighting some weaker aggressive Pokémon that ran away after only a Fairy Wind or two. It wasn’t too long until we stumbled upon the strong opponent we sought. A small, tired and bruised Tyrogue emerged from a nearby bush and charged at us. It looked like it had been following the classic wild Fighting Type Pokémon training method: challenging anything that moves to hone its skills. Flabébé had been sitting on my shoulder, playing with her flower, but immediately tried to hide by moving behind my head when she saw Tyrogue.

I jogged backwards to keep some distance from the approaching Tyrogue and spoke quietly to Flabébé.

“Come on Flabébé, this is what we were searching for. It’s a bit scarier than the others, but neither Marill or Vulpix are out right now. I only have you to defend me. If you don’t do anything, both of us might get hurt.”

Nervously, Flabébé moved back to my shoulder and dropped down between me and the approaching Pokémon. As she floated towards the ground, she nervously glanced back at me before locking eyes with Tyrogue and trying her best to look brave.

“Just like we practiced Flabébé, Fairy Wind!”

Holding onto her flower, she shimmied midair and her flower waved, causing sparkling dust to blow out towards the Tyrogue. It held its arms up in a cross shape to defend itself while the Fairy Wind crackled against its purple skin. Its tough hide prevented some of the damage, but the energies of the move penetrated and damaged it internally.

As Flabébé readied herself for the next attack, the Tyrogue stood still and breathed in carefully, using Focus Energy to prepare for its next attack. I waited to give my next order, expecting Tyrogue to continue moving.

It wasn’t long before it did. Enhanced by the power of Focus Energy, and now ready to target Flabébé’s vulnerabilities, it ran forward to hit with a Tackle attack, getting closer exactly as I expected it to.

“Trip it up with Vine Whip!”

Following the same strategy we used in the Gym Trial, large green vines extended from beneath Flabébé's flower and snapped towards Tyrogue's feet. It managed to nimbly jump over the first vine, but a second one caused it to to fall face down as the vine smacked Tyrogue's legs midair.

Tyrogue skidded along the ground before stopping just a few feet away from Flabébé. While it was still recovering, I gave my next order.

“Fairy Wind again!”

Flabébé repeated the swaying motion of her flower and another sparkling gust of Fairy Wind impacted Tyrogue’s prone form.

It struggled to get on its feet but the damage caused it to collapse back on the ground.

“Great job Flabébé! You did amazing!”

Flabébé squeaked in pride, when to my amazement, I was blinded by a white light.

I had never seen a Pokémon evolve in this world, so I was excited to witness the process. The abundant Type energy caused the signature white glow of evolution, and I wanted to see how exactly Flabébé would shift in her process of obtaining more power.

As my eyes adjusted to the bright light, I heard a squeak and felt something tap on my leg. Looking down, I saw Flabébé sitting on her flower and urgently trying to get my attention.

If Flabébé is here and not where the light is, that means...

To my horror, the Tyrogue, prone on the ground, was the one engulfed in light. Its body elongated and the spikes on its head grew larger and flattened out. Its arms lengthened and filled out with dense muscles as its skin tanned and hardened. Its hands transformed to look like gloves as the Tyrogue completed its evolution.

Tyrogue was no longer ahead of us, rather, Hitmonchan picked itself up and stood at the ready, intent on continuing the fight.

“Shit!” I cursed.

I knew Flabébé was too weak to handle this, so I grabbed the Dive Ball at my belt and sent out Marill.

“Marill, it just evolved so it's not used to its body. Overwhelm it, use Aqua Tail!”

I started to run backwards to give myself more distance to the battle. The strength of Hitmonchan’s punches was dangerous and I needed to be able to focus to command my Pokémon. Hitminchan could seriously injure me and I couldn't let that happen if I wanted to get us out of here safely. Since Marill was sent out so close to Hitmonchan, she had to use Aqua Tail rather than Aqua Jet. Unfortunately, Hitmonchan was faster since Aqua Tail still took time for her to build up the move.

Marill jumped in the air, her blue ball of a tail pulsing with watery energy. She spun to pick up momentum and tried to slam her tail down into Hitmonchan’s body.

Hitmonchan's glove-hand impacted Marill’s body midair and she was sent flying back. Looking closely, I saw its hand was tinted yellow and crackled with lightning.

Thunder Punch! It probably learned how to use all elemental moves on evolution. That means Fire Punch could take out Vulpix. This isn’t good.

I returned the beaten Marill to her ball and I sent out Vulpix instead. Since I had created distance from Hitmonchan, she was far away from it, which was perfect for her ranged attacks. Flabébé had clung to my leg as I ran so she was safe with me.

“Use your new move! Extrasensory!”

The Psychic damage of Extrasensory should have dealt more damage to Hitmonchan, but the fact that the move hadn’t been perfected yet allowed Hitmonchan more freedom than it should have had. The space around Hitmonchan bent and twisted as Vulpix exercised what little Psychic energy she had, but despite sustaining Psychic Type damage, Hitmonchan confidently strode forward, and Vulpix struggled to use her move against a moving target.

I started to go over strategies in my head, contemplating moves and tricks my Pokémon could use.

Icy Wind? Slowing it might work, but Fire Punch could remove the frost. Confuse Ray? Might work but it might choose to target me in its confusion. Tail Whip? Too weak to use in battle against a Fighting Type. Damnit! I got too cocky, we might be fu-

My thoughts were interrupted by a second bright light that appeared on the battlefield. I glanced down to where the tiny flower Pokémon had clung to my leg to see that she was in the process of evolution. Through the light, her body grew and her tail extended. Her ears elongated and became floppier. Two arms moved out and grabbed her flower by its stem, now large enough to hold it rather than just cling to its pistil.

As Flabébé finished her evolution, Floette floated ready to fight on my behalf.

I started to shout Fairy Wind to make use of her new power, but she waved her flower like a wand and a multitude of spinning, glowing leaves appeared around her body. They shot out towards Hitmonchan, who tried to punch them down.

The Fighting Type Pokémon was able to knock a few of them out of the way, but the majority hit its body and caused cuts across its skin. I initially thought Floette had just used Razor Leaf, but the control of the move and the fact that the sharp leaves glowed made me realize she had used Magical Leaf instead.

Hitmonchan was injured at this point, having sustained damage from both Vulpix’s weak Extrasensory and Floette’s Magical Leaf. It pulled its arm back like it was about to punch, then shot forward, carried by the force of its own attack.

That’s Mach Punch! We don’t have time to react!

Vulpix, focused on Extrasensory, was unable to move in time as the fist impacted her body when Hitmonchan appeared ahead of her. As a Fighting Type move, it dealt extra damage to her Ice Type body as she was knocked back and landed on the ground, on the verge of fainting.

The Fighting Type continued its confident stride towards Vulpix as it suddenly tripped and face-planted on the ground once more, caught by Floette’s Vine Whip.

It moved its arms to push itself up, but Floette had already started to use Fairy Wind. I was proud she was acting on her own so confidently, because that was my ultimate goal in training her. I readied myself to tell her to use Fairy Wind again, but the sparkling dust kept going.

And going.

And going.

Until eventually, under the constant stream of Fairy Type infused wind, the Hitmonchan fully collapsed onto the ground, unable to completely push itself up through the continuous super-effective damage.

With the Hitmonchan fainted, I immediately ran to Vulpix to use a Potion on her. I only had a tiny bit left, so I chose to heal her instead of Marill since Marill had taken less damage in the battle.

Floette floated by my side, fussing over Vulpix as I made sure she was okay. No matter what, we would need to stop at a Pokémon Center after this.

I looked down at Floette, who stopped looking over Vulpix once she realized Vulpix would be okay. She smiled at me, this time without any hint of fear.

“You were incredible out there," I said to her, "I’m proud of you.”

Agreeing with my feelings, Vulpix nuzzled Floette, who was now as large as Vulpix’s head. Floette laughed and hugged Vulpix on her snout.

“Floette, it’s great and all you evolved, but I think you’re forgetting something.”

Both Vulpix and Floette cocked their heads in confusion. Reaching into my backpack, I pulled out what I promised so many days ago.

“Here you go, a pile of the sweetest Pokéblocks, like I said you would get.”

Excited, Floette immediately dug into her small pile of treats. I probably should have bought a bit less than what I gave her due to her small size, but her eyes at seeing such a large pile of Pokéblocks after finally evolving made it worth the purchase.