Chapter 44: Evolution!

The trio's Pokemon Rosters expanded once more, with the three of them catching one new Pokemon each. A Shiny Galarian Slowpoke for Ricky, a Shiny Nidoran Female for Serena, and perhaps the biggest prize of the batch, a Shiny Buizel for Lillie! Because of its evolution, Floatzel was definitely a strong Pokemon.

Lillie was already planning to continue using Bulbasaur, and her newest addition Buizel to challenge Brock. Most of Brock's fights were two vs two Pokemon. Each Pokemon Gym placed different rules that Pokemon Trainers needed to adhere by. Otherwise, the Gym Leaders would straight up ignore their challenges outright.

She did have initial interest in using Snowy against Brock, but knowing that Brock likes to use Rock-type Pokemon, she decided against using Snowy. She was very weak to being hit by Rock=types. But now, with this newest addition to her roster, her confidence was soaring now!

The trio bid Route 22 farewell. Ricky didn't go in on catching a Mankey. If he was going to catch a Fighting-type Pokemon, he had interest in catching a Machop. Its final evolution, Machamp, is a very strong Pokemon, compared to Primeape, which was Mankey's final evolution. Plus Ricky learned to evolve Pokemon that require certain conditions to evolve. There was a basement-level in most Pokemon Centers that allowed Pokemon Trainers to trade Pokemon back and forth. That made it very accessible for Pokemon Trainers!

They did spend most of Saturday out on Route 22, encountering several of the Pokemon the route had. They didn't want to walk away empty-handed, so they were ready to stay there a while. They left early in the morning, and made it back to Viridian City by nightfall.

To the trio's surprise, a night storm swept the city, grounding them inside the Pokemon Center. Inside the second floor of their room, Serena had her hands rested on the windowsill, hearing the gentle rain continue to patter against the glass. The skies above were dark, enveloping Viridian City in a giant shadow. It was well into the night now. They all had their Pokemon healed up by Nurse Joy.

It's not like they had the Fishing Rods rented either. They purchased the Fishing rods themselves. The two Fishing Rods were kept in Ricky's inventory, so if they wanted to fish around some more, they could! Ricky did see himself fishing again once they arrived in Cerulean City. That was when the waters opened up, allowing cruises and the like. The waterfront would open even more once they reached Vermillion City, which had the ever-so-popular SS Anne. That cruise ship in particular had a course that took its people all the way from the Kanto Region to the Johto Region! Just passing through Mt. Silver wasn't the only method!

"Man, this storm really isn't letting up, huh? I saw those gray clouds rolling in while we got back into the city. We sure got lucky to avoid the storm.", Serena said, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Well, I didn't think we'd be on Route 22 for the majority of the day, but this was something I should have anticipated. If you're determined to catch a good Pokemon, we'll likely stay in the same spot for a while. I did check the weather on the tv, and they said it should let up by morning.", Ricky responded.

"That means we're stuck here tonight then. Thankfully the rooms here have small kitchens inside, so preparing dinner shouldn't be an issue! Besides, I want to get to know Buizel better. I'm considering using Buizel and Popplio for Brock, or Bulbasaur. What about you two?", Lillie questioned.

"A night in doesn't sound too bad. We can use it to spend more quality time with our Pokemon. As for Brock, it's good that you're already starting to think of strategies to use against him. The easiest ones are to use Pokemon with type advantages. Me personally, I'm leaning toward Froakie and Charmander.", Ricky answered.

"Charmander? Isn't Charmander not that effective against the Pokemon Brock uses?", Serena questioned.

"Normally, yes. But this Charmander is exhibiting some Dragon-type moves early on. It is one of some-odd Pokemon that can learn type moves that don't directly correlate to it. But I have plans to use Charmander and Mega Evolve it into a Charizard-X later on, so its Dragon Claw will be much more effective then. This will be a good training opportunity for Charmander!", Ricky happily replied.

"So that's what you're planning, huh? I think I'll go with Squirtle and Chespin and battle at my own pace.", Serena said with a nod.

"Yeah. I've already had a couple battles, and I'm feeling much more confident now. Isn't that right, Bulbasaur?", Lillie questioned her Bulbasuar. Lillie still had him out of his Pokeball before the storm hit. He was present in the room with the trio.

"Bulba!", Bulbasaur happily responded. As if responding to Lillie's newfound anticipation of how they will do from here, the trio were distracted by the sudden white glow that enveloped Bulbasaur. Lillie's eyes raised up in surprise.

"Ohh! Bulbasaur is evolving already!", Serena happily replied, seeing Bulbasaur's body start to expand out in all directions. It got bigger and bigger, until the white glow died down. Bulbasaur's evolution finished, and a new figure emerged. If there was one immediate difference, the flower on top of the figure's back was now in full bloom. It had four large leaves sprouting from it, with a large pink bud in the middle.

"Ivy.", Ivysaur greeted the trio. He walked up to Lillie and nuzzled his head against Lillie's hand.

"You...", Lillie uttered, not expecting to see her Pokemon suddenly evolve like this.

"Would you look at that? Guess those couple of battles were enough to meet the criteria to evolve. Pokemon evolve in many different ways. Most of them require a certain amount of battle experience, and they can happen during battle, or when they are close enough with their Trainers. They connect with us. Bulbasaur likely sensed your determination to defeat Brock. After defeating Pidgey and Buizel, it gained enough experience.", Ricky explained.

'In the games, all you need to do is reach a certain Level to evolve, but this is more geared toward the anime. Level ups don't happen here. As long as we gain a certain amount of experience, and give them a good push like what Lillie just did, our Pokemon should evolve without much issue.', Ricky mused to himself.

"Is that right? Is this your way of wanting to beat the first Pokemon Gym with me?", Lillie questioned, reaching her hand down and patted her new Ivysaur on the head. His eyes curved upward into a smile.

"Ivysaur.", Ivysaur answered, nodding his head.

"Hehehe, guess you got the jump on us and managed to evolve a Pokemon before Ricky and I! I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of that as we progress through Viridian Forest and beyond.", Serena said. She was happy to see Lillie trigger a Pokemon's evolution. It was always exciting to see it whenever a Pokemon evolution happened. That meant they're leagues stronger than what they used to be!

"Just don't get this over your head, alright, Lillie? While there might be plenty of Pokemon that can evolve early on like this, they could grow complacent with this newfound power. It is still up to you to keep their training up so they still listen to you in battle.", Ricky said, reminding Lillie. Ricky wasn't sure if this world of his would behaves like the games where Pokemon stopped listening to their Trainers if they reached a certain Level.

But considering Levels weren't a thing here, he only reminded Lillie to not let this get over her head. As long as she, as well as himself and Serena keep training their Pokemon steadily, they should grow well. He definitely didn't want his Pokemon to not listen to him!

"Yeah. That wouldn't do us any good if our Pokemon grew too strong and they couldn't respond to our commands. I'll be sure to keep note of that. Thank you, Ricky.", Lillie said, thanking him.

"You're very welcome. That also means we can't slack on our own training, Serena. Let's continue training our Pokemon so we don't fall behind Lillie. Once we all feel ready, we could even do a battle ourselves, or find some trainers to fight before reaching Pewter City. I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities for us!", Ricky happily said to the two.

"Well, let this rain clear up tonight and we'll all head out tomorrow so we can have some fun!", Serena happily responded with a nod. Serena shifted her eyes back to the windowsill, and saw the rain was still continuing.

"Looks like we'll take the rest of the night off. I'll go make us some grub. Tomorrow morning will come before you know it.", Ricky said, hopping off the bed he was sitting on, and wandered off to the small kitchen they had access to. Seeing as it was damp and cool out, Ricky decided to make a hotpot, and pick out assorted berries for their Pokemon. It got quite cramped once all of their Pokemon came out of their balls. Many curious stares were shared between them!

As everyone's Pokemon grew to learn each other more , Lillie's Buizel remained aloof, and acted strongly toward the others. She hoped Buizel would come to accept the rest. Seeing Buizel's defiant behavior, Ivysaur put Buizel in their place, and reluctantly spent some time with the rest. Lillie giggled seeing Buizel behave like this, but she thanked Ivysaur. It was Ivysauri who bested Buizel in battle. It would seem Buizel is only going to acknowledge those who beat them in battle?

That was up to Lillie to find out as she grew closer to her own Pokemon. Serena and Ricky also played around with theirs as they enjoyed a hearty meal. The night soon descended, making them quickly pass the time. Before they realized it, their bellies were stuffed, and all of their Pokemon were recalled back.

Sunday dawned, and as the morning started, the sun started to peer into the gray clouds, greeting everyone to begin their day!