ghostytrainer | prank #18 | video/action for route 34

[So it's what...2 in the morning? Yeah, some retarded time like that. Very, very late at night when people (especially growing thirteen year old boys) should be asleep and dreaming and definitely not in the middle of patches of grass right outside of Goldenrod City.]

[Unfortunately, that's where John is tonight. Why? Because his Eevee somehow just knew that tonight was the night for evolution. So that meant that they had to go outside and train RIGHT. NOW.]

[And so they did. Or well...Lestat did. John just tried his hardest not to fall back asleep.]

[At some point all of Lestat's hard work paid off, because when the feed clicks on it's to a very excited John sitting in the middle of the grass hugging an extremely wriggly and irritable-looking Umbreon.]

I knew you liked me! I knew it! Haha, you can't hide it from me anymore, Lestat. You couldn't have evolved unless I made you hap--EEOOOWW!!!

[Seems Lestat decided that that was enough gushing out of the boy for one night and that the perfect way to get him to shut up was to sink his teeth into the boy's left shoulder. Hard.]

[The feed clicks off as Casey abandons the 'gear in favor of pulling the two apart.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

So you wanted this one, then? Not the one that evolves during the daytime? What's the difference?

Uh well, actually this is the one he wanted to be. I didn't get a choice in the matter. I was going to evolve him into a Jolteon or a Flareon. But aside from appearances the main difference is the typing. Umbreon, the night one, is a dark type and Espeon, the day one, is a psychic type.

What do you mean, you didn't have a choice? You're his trainer. Maybe you can get another Eevee or something.

I don't have any dark or psychic types. Are they good?

Yeah but...this is what he had his heart set on becoming so I wasn't going to stop him. Though I didn't know exactly what it was that he wanted...just that he wouldn't let me anywhere near him with an evolutionary stone. [He lets his pokémon walk aaaaaall over him.] And I could get another one, I guess. But I am not too bothered by it. I have a Vulpix and Luxio so I don't really need another fire or electric type.

I don't have any psychic types myself, but they were pretty powerful in the games. Word of warning though, they can talk to you. Like...in your head. My friend has an Espeon and it really threw me for a loop the first time hers did it. And I don't really know anything about dark types. They didn't exist in the video games and the only other one that I have besides Lestat here is my Spiritomb. And she's part ghost, so...she doesn't really count. But I know that psychic types are weak to them, so it's probably safe to say that they're a decent type to have as well.

I have a couple of Pokémon that refused to evolve. They don't even need stones. My Cubone and Charmander are past their evolution levels and they aren't budging. I've never heard of a Pokémon avoiding a stone, though.

I guess I should start working on my team sometime. I'm never too concerned with types.

Talk in your head? What the hell... that's crazy! Not Pokémon-talk crap or anything, but stuff you can actually understand?

You don't really have to. Pokemon can always learn moves from different types, so you can cover your advantages that way. Personally, I just catch things that I like. [Don't feel bad Kyo, all the ones that he's caught or bought himself have been normal or ghost types. Everything else was given to him or a memento of someone who left.]

But yes, they speak actual human language. Not just the usual stuff that we can't understand. I don't know if they can all do it, but her Espeon and another friend of mine's Alakazam do. It's crazy but it's useful too. I wish I could understand mine. [Not that it...stops him from talking to them.]

Yeah, but Pokémon are still a certain type and have advantages and weaknesses according to them.

How many Pokémon have you caught? I've only caught two...

I don't think I want to understand most of mine.

Oh yeah...there's that. [Herp. Derp.] But I have only actually caught two as well. Just my Pidgeot and my Haunter...well. When they were a Pidgey and Ghastly. Everything else I bought as an egg or was given as a gift. Or...belonged to someone else who, you know, left.

Why don't you want to understand them?

That happens to you a lot, doesn't it? People you know leaving.

It'd be annoying. And they'd probably say some really stupid stuff.

...yeah. It...kinda does. But it's okay. It's not the end of the world or anything. And most of the time they come back. So...yeah. [It's not okay. It hurts him every single time someone he knows leaves.]

Hmm, maybe. But I'm sure they would also say useful things too!

I guess you're lucky, then.

Like what?

If I were luckier, they wouldn't leave in the first place. But the luck I have is better than nothing, I guess.

Like...battle strategies? It would be a lot easier to formulate those. And how they're feeling. Like, I could actually find out what it is that Lestat doesn't like and work on fixing it. But mostly, it would be nice for them to actually be able to say something understandable back when you talk to them.

[Yes, he regularly has conversations with his pokémon.]

Do they remember? This place, I mean.

I guess you're right. I'd like to know what the hell's wrong with some of my Pokémon, like why some of them won't evolve.

[There's a bit of a delay before he answers.] ...no. Well...there was one exception. A girl named Claire Bennet left for a few days once. And when she came back she remembered everything. But I don't know if the circumstances were the same. When she left and came back, she didn't reappear in New Bark Town either.

Maybe they just aren't ready to yet for some reason. Or maybe they like staying the way they are? I don't really know.

Claire... She was the one that told me about you.

Maybe. Who knows. My Meowth did the same thing, but he evolved eventually. When Pokémon evolve, they get more powerful. Why wouldn't some of them want that?

Oh, you were a friend of hers too?

Maybe it's because not all of them like fighting? If there's something they enjoy more than that, then being the most powerful pokémon doesn't really matter to them.

Hmph. We talked sometimes.

That's not a problem for my Pokémon. The Cubone, maybe, but not the Charmander. I guess they just need more time.

Heh, small world. [John, on the other hand, considered her a friend when she only considered him an acquaintance. Luckily, he never actually found that out.] She was really nice. I still miss her sometimes.

It will work out eventually. Maybe they're stubborn. Or! Maybe it has something to do with the fact that unevolved pokémon learn their moves faster. Maybe that's just something they innately know the way Lestat knew it was time for him to evolve. Seems like a stretch, but you never know.

..Whatever.

Maybe... Or maybe after something big happens that they feel proud of...