28 4. The test

This kid had a Pokémon that had broken past its first hard level block. If this was truly his Pokémon, then he had the right to be a bit arrogant. Margret narrowed her eyes a little. She found this hard to believe though. It was more likely that this Pokémon wasn't trained by this kid. Margret was sceptical of this possibility as well, who would raise a shiny Pokémon only to give it to a kid. Margret decided to stop thinking about it. She would find out if the Pokémon was his when she tested him.

Robert saw an array of expressions on Margret's face as she looked at Eevee's data. The truth was that both Eevee and Vulpix had been stuck at level thirty for a while. Just because they were both gold talent Pokémon didn't mean that it would be easy for them to pass the hard level block at level thirty, just easier than others. Robert himself was surprised at how difficult it was. The two never stopped with their regular training and exercises and while their stats still seemed to improve, it was very slow. Especially recently, both seemed to hit a wall and saw no improvement. Until about two weeks ago.

Two weeks ago while he was in the clearing alone with Eevee and Vulpix, three Beedrill had shown up. Eevee immediately bristled up and beat down on all three in no time. She might not have been as strong as Dennis Tauros, but she used her nimbleness and small size to her advantage. Add that to the fact that none seemed over level twenty while Eevee was level thirty and they had no hope.

Vulpix was frightened at first when she saw the Beedrill. Usually, she never shied away from a fight. However, she never faced a Beedrill after that day Robert found them because of how uncommon they were around here. After seeing how easily Eevee dealt with them Vulpix wanted to join in. unfortunately all three were already flying away. Eevee was injured a little and poisoned after the battle, it was three vs one after all even if she was a lot stronger than each one. With a real battle and facing her old foe the Beedrill, it was enough to push her over.

Vulpix was disappointed she didn't get to fight the Beedrill before they ran. Robert was simply happy that she didn't seem at all afraid of them anymore. Vulpix was a fire type after all and could defeat them easier than Eevee did if she didn't panic. After Eevee broke through to level 31 her strength soared. Although she hadn't reached level thirty-two yet, Robert was confident that she could take on two of her level 30 self to a draw.

"Alright stop looking so smug. If this Pokémon was really raised by you then I'll admit that you're a little impressive. Let's move on to the real test then shall we." As Margret said that she took out a Pokéball threw it. It popped open and shot a red beam to the ground. After the light faded it revealed a Pokémon that looked like a little, fat, orange elephant. It had a green bump on its head and the bottom half of its trunk was also green.

Margret smiled a little when she saw Robert looking at her Cufant in shock. "this is a Cufant I recently got from Galar. Your test will be to battle my little Cufant here." While Margret thought Robert was shocked because he didn't recognise Cufant, he of course recognised it as soon as he saw it. Robert was just surprised at seeing a rare Pokémon from Galar here in Johto.

When Robert heard his test, he was a little worried. While he was still confident he would pass the test, he wasn't sure if Eevee could beat Cufant. The only move it knew that could damage Cufant was bite and close range was Cufant's specialty.

This would be difficult but there was no way he would back down. After Robert stopped worrying about if he could win, he started getting excited. This would be a difficult battle, even if Cufant didn't look like it had broken past level thirty. Because of its type, there were few moves Eevee could use that do any real damage. Not to mention its trainer. Robert was starting to look forward to the challenge.

"Alright, let's go somewhere else. We might damage something if we start right here in the middle of your family's farm." As she said this, she returned her Skarmory to its ball. Amanda expected Robert to complain or something like that when she announced the test was to battle her. Even if her Cufant was level thirty while his Eevee had pushed past the hard level block, not many kids would willingly battle her. Robert seemed to get more excited the more he thought about it. Margret decided to prompt him to hurry this along, lest she starts to get a headache. Couldn't this kid react like normal for once?

Dennis had to stop himself from snickering throughout the whole exchange. "ahhh, my son truly always lives up to my expectations." As he smirked and thought this he felt something and turned his head, only to find Mariah glaring at him. Dennis turned his head back like he didn't see anything as he chased after Margret and Robert, who was heading towards the little clearing. Mariah shook her head and sighed as she followed. "And he wonders where Robert gets it from".

After they all arrived at the clearing Margret hesitated a little before she asked "Robert what level is your Vulpix."

"level 30, whys that." Margret sighed a little at the response. She couldn't help feeling surprised and like she was expecting this. "If you want, I will allow you to use Vulpix. Both my Cufant and it are at the same level and with a bit of luck this battle might push both past the level block." Robert seriously considered for a moment. He didn't doubt Cufant might push past as it was gold grade talent just like Eevee and Vulpix. In the end, he still shook his head, "no I'll stick with Eevee, I can't just swap it out after I said I would use her. I'm sure there will plenty of opportunities for Vulpix at the junior league anyway."

Margret's brow twitched. There he goes acting as though he has already passed again. She couldn't help but admit he had a point, there would be no lack of opportunities there. "All alright then, send out Eevee and we can get started." Robert smiled as he held Eevee's ball, he was really getting excited about this.