— — — — — —
"I've figured out how to transform into a human! I just need to run the final test!" Eevee looked nervous but determined.
Cynthia's eyes lit up. "Wait—seriously?!"
Eevee nodded. "Seriously!"
"That's amazing! Really, Eevee, that's incredible!" Cynthia spun around on the spot while holding Eevee up, her face glowing with excitement.
"Um… Cynthia, you're not weirded out by this at all? I mean, I'd be turning into a human! And… I like you!" Eevee's voice was small, and its face turned red under its fur.
Cynthia just smiled like it was the most normal thing in the world.
"If it's something you truly want, I'll support you no matter what! And hey, if you do become human, that just means I'll have a friend who can always be by my side, right?"
"Oh, and of course I like you too!"
…Yeah. Cynthia was still totally clueless. She didn't understand that the "like" Eevee meant was very different from what she thought. After all, she was only twelve.
"Just a friend?" Eevee sounded a little disappointed.
"Huh? What else would we be if not friends?" Cynthia tilted her head, confused.
What was up with Eevee today? Was something wrong?
She reached out and felt its forehead. "No fever… Eevee, are you sick?"
Eevee: "..."
"No, I'm fine," it quickly said, shaking its head.
Then it squirmed a little in her arms, and Cynthia took the hint, gently placing it back down on the ground.
With a light hop, Eevee returned to her shoulder. "Cynthia, I'm ready to test the transformation! I'm gonna take us back to my base in Sinnoh for it!"
"Wait, what?" Cynthia turned to look at Eevee, eyes wide.
"You mean from here? With teleportation? Can you really do that? We're in Kanto right now!"
Sure, she knew Eevee was strong, but this was on another level!
"No problem! With my current strength, I can do it. Just don't panic, okay? It might make you a little dizzy," Eevee said confidently.
"Well… alright," Cynthia nodded, concern in her eyes. "But be careful, Eevee. Don't push yourself too hard! Worst case, we can just fly back. It's not like we're in a hurry."
"There's still over two months before the Indigo Plateau Conference starts. We've already got seven badges—just one more to go!"
She wasn't wrong. Their pace had been fast.
Mostly because Cynthia was really strong—and the Pokémon she trained with Eevee's guidance were even stronger.
Gym challenges weren't exactly a problem.
Honestly, if they hadn't been spending so much time exploring or hanging out with Sabrina's family, they would've had all eight badges already.
Eevee nodded.
With a thought, it activated Sage Mode and then locked onto the coordinates of the base that Red Queen had sent flying drones to months ago.
In just a second—whoosh—the two vanished from where they stood.
In a flash, they crossed thousands of kilometers and reappeared at the underground training field in Eevee's base in Sinnoh's Sandgem Town.
~~~
Meanwhile, deep within a dimensional space somewhere in Sinnoh...
Palkia suddenly opened its eyes.
Its gaze pierced through countless layers of space until it found Eevee mid-teleportation with Cynthia.
"Huh… an Eevee? And a human?" Palkia narrowed its eyes.
"That's… odd. It looks like that Eevee is the one performing the teleportation?"
"It actually has this level of spatial control? And… I can't sense its power or what's inside it at all… weird."
"Guess I'll take a closer look."
With interest piqued, Palkia tore open space and appeared just a few meters away from Eevee and Cynthia.
Zzzz~
Eevee: "!!!"
Cynthia: "!!!"
Still dizzy from the long-distance jump, the two had barely recovered before seeing a giant, majestic Pokémon emerge from a rift in space, right in front of them.
"Wait… is that the God of Space—Palkia?"
Eevee looked at the newcomer with uncertainty.
It wasn't that it didn't recognize Palkia's appearance, but it was confused—why now? Why did Palkia show up at this moment?
"Was it because of the long-range teleportation we just did?"
"But I've teleported before too, and nothing happened! Sure, it was long-distance this time... but still."
Eevee was completely puzzled.
Could it be that they happened to land in Sinnoh—Palkia and Dialga's turf—and that triggered something?
"Eevee, is that really Palkia, the God of Space?" Cynthia was stunned too. The way this Pokémon looked… it was way too similar to the statue of Palkia in Sinnoh's ancient temple, almighty Sinnoh.
"Oh?"
Palkia looked them over and, to its mild surprise, said, "You actually recognize me? That's quite interesting."
Then its eyes landed on Eevee, clearly intrigued. "Especially you… fascinating creature."
"You're different. Even standing right in front of you, I can't see through your essence. That's extremely rare. You may very well have the potential to become one of us someday."
"And your control over space… even I, the God of Space, am impressed. That kind of long-distance teleportation—especially while bringing someone else along—is something not even many legendary Pokémon can pull off."
Eevee gave a humble smile and shook its head. "Compared to you, the God of Space, what I've done isn't worth mentioning."
"I still have a long way to go."
It wasn't being overly modest—just honest. When dealing with Pokémon, there was no need to play word games.
"You're remarkable," Palkia nodded in approval. "Seeing a once-ordinary Pokémon set foot on the path to godhood… I find that rather exciting."
"As a little gift—and perhaps an investment—I'll give both you and your human friend a present."
With a thought, a glowing orb emerged from the center of Palkia's forehead. Then it split into two—one large and one small.
The smaller orb flew into Cynthia's forehead, while the larger one merged into Eevee's.
A moment later, both of them felt a rush of pure space-element energy flood into their consciousness. It was quickly absorbed.
Eevee's perception of space sharpened immediately.
It felt like it could now teleport both itself and Cynthia back to Kanto at a fraction of the energy cost—maybe just one-tenth of what it needed before.
Even comprehending space-related laws and abilities now seemed a lot easier.
In short, its talent and affinity for spatial power had taken a serious leap forward.
Cynthia felt something similar—though not as strong.
Her spatial abilities had always been way behind Eevee's, but now even she felt teleporting would be much easier. She might even finally grasp fixed-point teleportation, which had always been beyond her.
"Thank you, God of Space!" x2
Eevee and Cynthia bowed gratefully to Palkia.
Palkia really was generous.
That energy earlier? That had to be a part of Palkia's own space origin power. To Palkia, it might not even matter—but to them, it was priceless.
"No need to thank me," Palkia smiled faintly. "Just a little gift… and a small investment. I look forward to the day you become a Legendary Pokémon."
"Well then, until next time."
And with that, Palkia sliced open space and disappeared just as suddenly as he arrived.
So clean. So casual.
"Thanks again!" Eevee shouted into the air, not even sure if Palkia could still hear. Didn't matter.
"Yup, Pokémon really are easier to get along with. None of that scheming or backstabbing you see with humans. I like it this way," Eevee thought, feeling great.
This unexpected encounter turned into a massive win for both it and Cynthia.
And who knows—maybe one day, when Eevee surpasses even Palkia, it'll return the favor in full.
.
.
.