8 Testing the Waters

As Espiria, Asmond, and Happiny looked on with anticipation, Eevee crouched low to the ground in a predatory position and crept slowly towards the two battling Pokemon. The battle had clearly been going on for a while, because their fatigue was quite visible.

     As the two Pokemon clashed once again, the Plusle had moved a bit closer to her position. Asmond, seeing no reason to waste this opportunity in hopes for another, commanded Eevee to ambush Plusle with a Double Team/Quick Attack combo and to make sure to bite its neck as soon as it was on the ground.

     Eevee, of course, immediately complied by activating his Double Team ability, dashing forward, and then using Quick Attack once she was in range. Landing a Quick Attack headbutt on the unsuspecting Plusle, Espiria pinned the helpless Pokemon to the ground and bit savagely into its exposed neck.

     Minun, having seen Eevee about to attack his partner but not being able to do anything about it, was momentarily stunned at the sudden turn of events. However, as soon as Eevee confirmed Plusle's death, she immediately locked onto Minun who was just standing there in shock.

     Quickly realizing that he would be next if he didn't move, Minun immediately activated his own Quick Retreat, as Eevee began dashing towards him. It was quite unfortunate for Minun that most of his energy and stamina had already been expended during his training session with Plusle. 

     If he had been fresh, even if Plusle had still died, he might have been able to escape. As it was, however, he was very close to collapsing from exhaustion. The only thing that was keeping him going at this point was his sheer will to live but that wouldn't last him much longer.

     Eevee continued sprinting at top speed towards his prey and he was quickly closing the gap between them. With one last Double Team/Quick Attack combo, Espiria finally caught up to Minun, landing a powerful headbutt into the center of his back and sending him flying.

     Espiria didn't slow down and continued rushing forward to meet his body where it landed. Seeing his body come to a stop, Eevee pounced on him and struck the killing blow. Having accomplished the mission that Asmond had given him, he felt quite proud of himself and clutched Minun's corpse in his jaws dragging it back towards Plusle's corpse. 

     "The reason I wanted you all to see this is not only because this is the kind of thing that happens every day out here but also to make it more real to all of you that these two Pokemon could have been any one of us. If Torchic, Seedot, and Eevee hadn't begun cooperating before they started their training, they could've easily ended up like this.

     "Basically, what I'm telling you is that it's us against the world. The world is harsh and cruel and doesn't concern itself with any of our plans. It's possible for us to play, train, and even take it easy sometimes but only because we stick together and work as a team. It's only through our unity that we can afford ourselves these luxuries. Last night and this morning's training are prime examples of this. Does everyone understand what I'm talking about?"

     After every one of his five Pokemon nodded their understanding, Espiria and Happiny went back to sleep, while the others stood guard so that Eevee could finish his meal.

     Asmond had a decent amount of supplies that would probably last them a couple of more days, if they couldn't find their own food. It would probably take them the better part of the week, however, to reach their destination. This is why he had told his Pokemon to alert him to any Pokemon they come across, regardless.

     They not only had his supplies but they also gathered various berries and fruits as they found them. This type of food wasn't ideal, since most Pokemon lived off of a diet of other Pokemon. His Pokemon just wouldn't develop as well if he only fed them berries and fruit. These things were fine as snacks but in order to get stronger they need their proper natural diet. If he had access to a Pokemart and specialized Pokemon food, that would solve much of their problems but, of course, he didn't.

     Asmond and his team continued forward, for another three days and made camp yet again. At this point most of the supplies he brought with him had been burned through. However, they had been fairly successful in procuring not only berries and fruits but also a goodly amount of Pokeflesh. The last of his original supplies would probably be gone by tomorrow night and they would need to make an effort to hunt more, even though it slowed them down.

     At this point in their journey, they could not only see the forest's edge but also the ocean beyond. Asmond suspected that it would take only two more days at the most to reach the shoreline. After setting up camp, they all went right into their regular training.

     Shortly after they had been banished and had started their journey, Espiria had informed him that, during the time she spent searching for the meteor, she had unlocked a type of detection ability. By spreading her psychic power out in a sphere around her the thoughts in people and Pokemon's minds would create disturbances in her power, allowing her to determine their location. 

     This ESP ability was certainly a welcome development but, even more welcome, was that the growth spurt she seemed to have started, before that mission, apparently ran its course by the time she returned. As of the day of their departure she was a full twelve inches tall, which was the normal height for a fully grown Eevee. Although he was pleased at her having reached this waypoint, he didn't think too heavily on it as he assumed that she would have much more growing to do before she was a full sized Espeon.

     During their training, however, they all saw a bright light shining from Espiria's general direction. They all looked over in her direction and saw a sight they knew all too well. The telltale signs of a Pokemon evolving. 'Wait, is that really Espiria?' Asmond thought as he witnessed the unexpected scene before him. 'She's already an Espeon. How could she be evolving and into what is she evolving? This is too bizarre!'

     Asmond stared expectantly at the sight before him and watched as the light of her evolution gradually dimmed revealing her figure. She hadn't changed at all. To be precise, she had actually grown into a fully matured Espeon but absolutely everything else about her was the same, except for her size.

     *Espiria, what happened? Did you know this was going to happen? How did this happen? Weren't you already evolved when you were born?* Asmond began rattling off questions.

     *Yes, I suspected this was coming and the only thing that happened was me fully maturing and my powers getting boosted. Also, no I was not already evolved. I'm not sure how I know that but I'm certain that this was the first evolution of my life.*

     Hearing all of these revelations back to back, Asmond went silent. 'This is her first evolution? What does that mean? Could the influence of my psychic power have caused the Eevee embryo to actually create a fully biological Espeon, with no evolutionary energy required? Doesn't that mean that…? She said her powers were boosted so this was a true evolution, just not an evolution of shape but of only size and power. This…? The implications…'

     *Hey, Asmond! Are you still there?*

     "Huh? Oh, right, sorry. I was just thinking. Anyways, I'm glad that you've evolved. We may not be anywhere close to expert level power but with your evolution we're one step closer.

     "We'll have to test your power in the morning but for now let's continue our training and then get some sleep."

     Asmond's head was spinning with possibilities, as he thought about what he had just discovered. 'I'll keep trying to evolve Jolteon the way I've been doing but I'm going to have to insist that my next Eevee be an unborn Eevee. If what I'm thinking is correct, then Eevee's can actually be born in the form of any of their evolutions and then go on to still be capable of evolving into a matured version of that form once they grow to adulthood.

     'Based on what my father told me, Pokemon like Eevee, and really it's almost only Eevee, are better off evolving as soon as possible so that they can gain access to their elemental energy. Other Pokemon, however, are usually better off training to the highest point possible, before evolving, since evolution gives them a boost to the powers they already have. Since Eevee's evolutions unlock their most impressive powers it's the other way around for them.' 

     After thinking these thoughts, Asmond tried to calm himself down because he needed to go to sleep soon and he didn't want to be hyped up on imagination adrenaline all night and be unable to sleep. This was truly a marvelous discovery but he could hardly do anything about it in his current situation so it was best to set the matter aside for now.

     The following morning, when it was Espiria and Happiny's turn to train, Asmond set up a series of rocks, the smallest of which was about the size of an adult Human head, and then waited for Espiria to show him what she's got. There were no giant heads in the sky so he figured it should be safe.

     Epiria stood beside the smallest rock and proceeded to go through the exercise with ease. She then moved on down the line completing all of the exercises. As she was on the last orbit of the last rock, Asmond told her to keep going, until she could no longer maintain it. Espiria complied and managed to orbit the rock around her eleven and a half times, before she collapsed from exhaustion.

     The last rock was slightly larger than a basketball and was the largest one Asmond could find. If he wanted to truly test her powers, he would have to wait until they reached the shore. They didn't have the time or luxury to go out of their way to rock hunt every day. 

     'This development should be a huge boon to our team. With Espiria's fully matured form we should be able to handle ourselves against stronger threats, instead of running away, which of course wastes quite a bit of our time. Until we get to the shore, however, I'll need to improvise her training regime.'

     Asmond then told Espiria about the new training she would be doing. Instead of focusing solely on orbiting rocks, she would instead practice levitation, until it became second nature to her. She would also wrap her entire body in her psychic power and use it to constrict her body and weigh it down, while doing physical exercises.

     After receiving Asmond's instructions, Espiria went ahead and completed the multiple orbit control test as well. She was able to maintain an impressive ten simultaneous orbits. Dammit! That's three more than my maximum. Control was supposed to be my strong point. Oh well, I suppose I should have expected as much.' Asmond thought a bit dejectedly but also quite pleased with his partner's progress.

     Once the Night Guards had completed their training, they returned to their sleeping stations and the Trekkers set off once more. The six of them continued pressing forward for another day and a half before they could finally see the edge of the forest was within walking distance. They had encountered several other Pokemon along their way and some of them were turned into Pokefood but the others were left in their dust as they quickly retreated.

     Fortunately for them, the more dangerous Pokemon were usually also more intelligent and understood that there was very little benefit in wasting their energy in trying to kill these small fries. It simply wasn't worth the effort and so, as long as they left immediately when confronted, they usually weren't chased very far.

     It was exhausting and damn near terrifying at times but they finally managed to reach the edge of the forest. Taking his first step out of the forest, Asmond looked around at the scene before him. There weren't many Pokemon visible, on the nearly one thousand meters of flat grassland in between them and the ocean. Of course, he didn't expect there to be. Many Pokemon preferred the forest environment due to it giving them plenty of places to hide and some minor protection from the elements.

     Calling out to his Trekkers, Asmond gave them each a different direction to search and told them to retreat immediately, if they came upon any danger at all. Now that they were here, he needed to learn as much as possible about their surroundings, in order to find the perfect base place.

     Walking about two hundred meters away from the forest, he sat down facing the direction he had come from and waited for his team to return. It's not like this area was devoid of danger but it was much safer for him and his team than in that claustrophobic forest. Here in the open, they could at least see their enemies coming from far enough away that they could respond appropriately.

     The most concerning thing about being in the open like this is obviously the flying Pokemon that had been following them ever since they woke up on the second morning. He suspected that these were either his Father's Pokemon, one of the elder's Pokemon, or both. He suspected that at least one of them was meant to track him so that he could be killed the moment he let his guard down. 'Well, I have no intention of letting my guard down. I'm a goddamn survivor and I ain't about to just lay down and die because those assholes want me to.'

     As he thought this, he turned his head to see Eevee returning from her scouting, nearly two hours after he had left. Asmond decided he would have to wake Espiria up early again, because he needed her for this. *Huh? What is it? Are we under attack?*

     *No, silly, we're not under attack. We just exited the forest a couple of hours ago. I need you to receive Eevee's report.*

     After hearing this, Espiria calmed down and looked at Eevee. Eevee then gave her report to Espiria, who then translated for Asmond. *He says that the entire stretch of land that he searched was clear of any major dangers and was mostly populated by Electric, Grass, and Water type Pokemon.*

     *Alright, that's good to know. It looks like Torchic is coming back as well and if I'm not mistaken I think I can even see Seedot rolling towards us in the distance there.*

     After receiving all  their reports, Asmond decided on a likely location for them to set up tomorrow. Today, though they would have to sleep near the woods again. He might not be too concerned with larger flying Pokemon, because just the fact that those Dragon Types were still stalking him meant most of them wouldn't bother with this airspace. At the same time, the fact that at least one or two of them were probably working for his would be killers, meant that they were probably an even greater threat that couldn't be ignored. 

     After waking up Happiny and walking to the beach to take a quick dip in the ocean, they decided to test the figurative waters a bit and made camp just on the outside edge of the forest. The Trekkers all went through their evening training and then left the Night Guards to watch over them as they slept.

     After their training in the morning, Espiria and Happiny went to sleep on Asmond and the Trekkers prepared themselves for their transition to Builders.