Night fell.
With the arrival of guests, Sunlight Gym became much livelier than usual.
Garchomp and Kommo-o, the absolute main forces for this Master Tournament, were diligently studying the move machine.
"Kaaoo?"
Little sister, what's wrong with you?
Kommo-o merely yawned slightly but was immediately startled into focus by Garchomp's death glare. Its gaze quickly returned to the screen where Milotic was passionately dancing.
For once, Riolu wasn't travelling and stayed in the training area instead, being tested by Cynthia's Lucario to assess its progress during this period.
Even through thick walls, one could occasionally hear the crisp sounds of their impacts.
Miraidon continued to maintain its lazy dragon persona, conscientiously guarding the gym entrance.
Of course, if anyone really wanted to come in, it probably wouldn't react at all...
Everyone had their own tasks to do; how wonderful, truly wonderful.
After scanning the gym once, Aiden originally planned to watch a movie with Eevee.
However, when he returned to the living room, he found that Cynthia had already sat on one side of the sofa, flanked symmetrically by a blue and a brown Eevee.
Seeing Aiden approach, Cynthia quickly made space and smiled:
"Eevee has pretty good taste. The movies it's been watching lately are all starring Kalos' new champion, Diantha. They've been box office hits in both Unova and Kalos."
Aiden paused, looking up at the TV screen.
The woman on camera was none other than the new champion of the Kalos region, the movie queen of Kalos and popular actress from Pokémon Hollywood in Unova—
Diantha!
Ever since he saw her in XY for the first time, Aiden thought this champion must have drawn inspiration from the world-famous Audrey Hepburn.
So when he watched this popular film called "Miaoussance Holiday," he didn't feel like criticizing it at all...
After all, it was based on a real-life prototype. Reasonable, very reasonable.
Sitting on the couch, Aiden's gaze soon shifted to Eevee, which lay comfortably on Cynthia's lap.
Damn it, your trainer is right here!
Eevee, engrossed in the film, completely ignored the somewhat murderous look in Aiden's eyes, but it did draw Cynthia's light laughter.
"This child still likes people as much as before."
Cynthia spoke slowly, but her words carried an inexplicable hint of provocation in Aiden's ears.
She was definitely showing off, wasn't she?!
Why are you so skilled at this?!
Aiden immediately reached out his hands and pulled Eevee back into his arms.
Though Eevee let out discontented grunts at his action, it quickly quieted down and continued watching the Gardevoir on TV.
Eevee had never seen a Pokémon like Gardevoir before.
But the first time it saw it on TV, Eevee was utterly mesmerized.
There are actually such beautiful and elegant Pokémon in this world!
If only I could be that pretty...
Cynthia just chuckled at Aiden's childish actions, not minding them at all.
After observing the Eevee in Aiden's arms for a while, a doubt suddenly arose in her mind, prompting her to ask,
"By the way, I feel like Eevee should have evolved long ago. Is it because it hasn't decided what to evolve into yet, so it remains in its current form?"
As an "excellent student" who had been dealing with Pokémon in research labs since childhood, Cynthia was certain her judgment was accurate.
This Eevee was hatched by Aiden in Shion Town and had been with him ever since, so there should be no issues with their bond.
As for strength...
For Eevee's special evolution method, that was the least important factor.
Therefore, there was only one explanation.
"Huh?"
Hearing Cynthia's comment, Aiden scratched his head and instinctively looked at the Eevee in his arms.
Eevee is going to evolve?
How did I not know?
It never showed any signs of evolving...
Noticing Aiden's reaction, Cynthia was almost certain of her thoughts.
Eevee itself was a highly sensitive and delicate Pokémon, often keenly sensing its trainer's thoughts.
Even its evolution could be subtly influenced by the trainer.
Because of Aiden's laissez-faire approach, Eevee probably felt that maintaining the status quo was fine, leading to its delayed evolution.
What a pair of gentle yet awkward fools.
If she didn't remind him, who knows when Aiden would realize this.
"Perhaps, you can try to determine the future direction with Eevee."
Cynthia faintly smiled and picked up the seemingly very affectionate Glaceon lying beside her.
"Like this child, because it loved snow when it was young, we set the goal of evolving into Glaceon from the very beginning."
"Bui~"
Even the aloof Glaceon couldn't help but soften its voice when it was with its trainer.
Reminded by Cynthia, Aiden gazed at the Eevee in his arms, lost in deep thought.
From the start, his idea was to let Eevee decide what it wanted to evolve into, even if it evolved into the unique king, he would gladly accept it.
But now it seemed he had indeed overlooked a very important factor.
Trainer and Pokémon should always be one entity.
Assisting one's Pokémon in completing its evolution was the trainer's duty, and his previous thoughts seemed somewhat incompetent.
Realizing this, Aiden sighed.
Indeed, there was still much room for improvement on his journey as a trainer.
Thinking this, Aiden slowly lifted Eevee, gently stroked its head amidst its confused gaze, and then asked softly:
"Eevee, do you really like Gardevoir?"
Recently, Eevee had watched many films featuring Diantha and Gardevoir, something Aiden knew well.
"Bui!"
Eevee nodded.
"Then... let's aim to evolve into Sylveon and strive to catch up to that Gardevoir, okay?"
Aiden smiled again.
"Bui!"
Eevee nodded emphatically, its expression more serious than ever.
If it could truly follow its trainer's words and match that Gardevoir...
It would work hard too!
Thus, Aiden and Eevee finally determined their future path.
Gardevoir was indeed beautiful, but if it could evolve into Sylveon...
At least in terms of cuteness, it wouldn't lose!
The evolution condition for Sylveon required sufficient friendship or affection, and it also needed to learn at least one Fairy-type move.
Eevee liked to cuddle, so the conditions should be met.
While Aiden was pondering, Eevee's body suddenly emitted a slight white glow.
It was a sign of evolution.
This startled him.
Although they had confirmed the evolution direction, if Eevee evolved now...
Wouldn't the Eevium Z he obtained become useless?
At least use it a few more times!
Fortunately, the evolution glow only lasted for a short while and then disappeared.
Aiden exhaled in relief, and Cynthia couldn't help but smile.
Just as expected.
Unlike her Glaceon, Sylveon's evolution condition didn't require any external items, only the bond between the two.
So...
Given Eevee's closeness to Aiden, it should be able to evolve at any moment now, right?
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