In an outdoor courtyard of the Pokémon Center in Verdanturf Town, Cynthia stood watching her Eevee basking in the sunlight.
"Eevee! Are you sure you want to evolve now? You really don't need an Evolution Stone?" she asked.
"Eevee!" (Of course! You already looked it up, right? I want to evolve into Espeon!)
Eevee nodded seriously.
At this point in time, the only well-documented Eeveelutions were Jolteon, Flareon, and Vaporeon. Other evolutions like Espeon, Umbreon, Glaceon, Leafeon, and Sylveon were either incredibly rare or had only been achieved by accident, with no officially recognized method of evolution.
When Cynthia had previously asked Eevee about its preferred evolution, it had explained its choice to her. And when sounds failed, it simply used Cynthia's computer to pull up information about Espeon.
Cynthia had been quite surprised by Eevee's ability to operate a computer so skillfully.
Though, at this point, nothing really surprised her anymore. In the past month, Eevee had shown her countless extraordinary abilities—far stronger than a typical Eevee, strange ocular powers, unconventional moves using mysterious energy, and even the ability to run on water.
From that moment on, Cynthia knew she had something special.
She had truly hit the jackpot!
Even in terms of intelligence, her Eevee far surpassed the standard.
Now, as Eevee met her gaze, sensing her emotions, it instinctively began its evolution. A pure white light enveloped its body.
"Oh? Is it really evolving?"
Not far away, Professor Carolina was capturing the moment on camera.
She had flown in from Celestic Town at Cynthia's invitation just to witness this event.
When Cynthia had first mentioned Eevee knowing exactly how to evolve into the elusive Espeon, she had found it hard to believe.
An Eevee that instinctively knew its evolution process? That sounded like a fairy tale.
But given all the unusual things Cynthia had told her about this Eevee, she had decided to see it for herself.
Of course, for Cynthia's safety—and to protect Eevee's secret—Professor Carolina had no intention of sharing these details with anyone.
It was precisely because of her reputation and trustworthiness that Eevee had agreed to reveal so much to her and Cynthia.
Eevee understood that as long as it remained with Cynthia, its uniqueness couldn't be hidden forever. Rather than waiting to be analyzed, it was better to control how much it revealed.
The glow intensified, completely obscuring Eevee's form. Even Cynthia couldn't see what was happening anymore.
After several minutes, the light finally faded, revealing a sleek, lilac-colored Pokémon standing at about one meter tall.
"Eevee...?" Cynthia hesitantly called out to the unfamiliar figure.
Then, a soft but serious voice echoed in her mind: "It's me, Cynthia! I can finally talk to you directly!"
Cynthia was startled by the sudden voice in her head. "This is... telepathy? So you really evolved into Espeon, a Psychic-type!"
Professor Carolina had been watching Cynthia talk to herself and hurried over.
"Grandma, Eevee evolved into Espeon! And it can use telepathy! It was just speaking to me in my mind! How amazing is that?!"
Cynthia excitedly hugged her grandmother's arm, unable to contain her joy.
"Professor Carolina, hello!"
Just then, Espeon's voice echoed in Carolina's mind as well.
"Oh? It really can communicate!"
Professor Carolina was astonished. She knelt down and reached out to pat Espeon's head, only for it to gracefully leap back.
"Don't touch my head! It'll stunt my growth!" Espeon complained through telepathy.
Carolina couldn't help but chuckle. "Where on earth did you hear that?"
"Humans say it all the time on the internet!" Espeon huffed proudly.
It couldn't exactly tell them the truth—that in a past life, it had been human.
"Wait… you browse the internet? Cynthia mentioned that, but I thought she was exaggerating! Looks like you really are incredibly smart! Almost as intelligent as a human!"
Carolina was genuinely amazed.
Then again, Psychic-type Pokémon were naturally intelligent. Some were even smarter than humans—like Slowking, known as the great sage.
Cynthia beamed proudly as her grandmother praised Espeon. "I told you, Grandma! My Eevee—uh, I mean Espeon—is super smart!"
Carolina ruffled Cynthia's hair before turning back to Espeon. "Your mental strength must have been exceptional even before evolving. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been this intelligent before evolution!"
"It makes sense that you were so determined to evolve into Espeon. It was probably your genetic instincts guiding you."
With that, many things finally clicked into place.
Of course, Espeon's ability to walk on water remained a mystery.
But Carolina wasn't the type to pry too much.
Besides, this Pokémon belonged to her granddaughter, and that was all that mattered!
As for whether Pokémon could be untrustworthy or rebellious?
Professor Carolina, as an expert, was confident that they couldn't.
Pokémon were loyal creatures. As long as their trainer didn't betray or abandon them, they would never turn their backs on their human partners.
That trust was Espeon's greatest asset.
Being a Pokémon really was amazing! 😊
"Your guess is probably right!" Espeon admitted. "Before evolving, I kept feeling this strong instinct telling me it was the right path, so I just followed it!"
"Haha! That explains it!"
Carolina smiled warmly before holding up her camera. "Little one, you've given me quite a surprise today! Between your evolution and everything you shared with Cynthia, we might have just cracked the mystery behind Espeon's evolution!"
"Once I conduct further studies with other Eevee to verify the process, we may be able to officially announce this discovery to the Pokémon League!"
PS: Don't forget to drop your stones
+80 Advanced chapters: /_Coreal