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Eddie pulled out several TMs from his backpack. He hadn't used them on Ralts earlier because it couldn't learn many moves in its basic form. Now that it had evolved into Gardevoir, it was time to teach it everything at once.
Later, Eddie would have Gardevoir battle wild Pokemon to gain practical experience. This was his standard training method for every newly evolved Pokemon.
Without real battle experience, Pokemon might have raw power but wouldn't know how to use it effectively in combat. That would be truly embarrassing in a serious battle.
Of course, Venusaur and Blastoise would receive similar training in the future, but for now, they needed to stay in their Poke Balls. When he reached a more secluded area with fewer people around, he would release them for proper training sessions.
"Ding! Gardevoir has learned Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, Hyper Beam, Protect, Work Up, Thunderbolt, and Focus Blast!"
Most Pokemon with hands that could form fists were capable of learning the elemental punch moves, and Gardevoir was no exception, even though its specialty lay in special attacks rather than physical ones.
"It's unfortunate that I don't have TMs for Magical Leaf, Icy Wind, or Mystical Fire. Gardevoir would be even more formidable if it could learn those moves."
"But that's alright. Since it's a Psychic and Fairy-type Pokemon, I'll focus on developing those two move types to handle the opponents it's most suited to face."
Eddie considered his options thoughtfully. While it was somewhat disappointing that he couldn't make Gardevoir as versatile as Snorlax or Eevee—Pokemon that could handle virtually any type matchup—it wasn't a serious problem. He already had plenty of well-rounded Pokemon on his team.
Despite the minor regret, Gardevoir should concentrate on battling Poison, Fighting, and Dragon-type opponents. Other matchups could be handled by his other Pokemon partners.
"Gardevoir~" (There's a Pokemon over there.)
While Eddie was planning Gardevoir's future battle strategies, his newly evolved Pokemon tugged at his sleeve and pointed toward a small grove of trees, indicating it had sensed another Pokemon's presence.
"This is the wilderness—of course there are wild Pokemon around. Are you that eager to start battling already?"
Eddie knew that Gardevoir possessed the natural ability to sense the emotions of both Pokemon and humans. Combined with its Psychic typing, detecting nearby Pokemon was perfectly normal.
But since they were in wild territory, encountering Pokemon was expected. Why was Gardevoir making such a point of it?
"Gardevoir~ Gardevoir~" (It's feeling very sad. Let's go check on it.)
Gardevoir explained its concern. The species was known for being naturally caring toward young Pokemon. Now that it sensed a Pokemon in distress, it was naturally curious about what might be wrong.
Eddie nodded when he heard the explanation. They had time to spare anyway, and if Gardevoir wanted to investigate, that was fine with him. If they encountered a hostile Pokemon, it would provide a good opportunity for Gardevoir's first real battle.
With that decision made, Eddie followed Gardevoir and Eevee to the location his Psychic-type had indicated. There, they discovered a Pokemon tied beneath a large tree, looking pitiful and radiating sadness as it gazed up at Eddie and his companions.
"Eevee~ Eevee~"
The cry wasn't coming from Eddie's Eevee, but from the Pokemon bound to the tree.
Indeed, the distressed Pokemon that had caught Gardevoir's empathetic attention was another Eevee.
"Eevee! Eevee!!" (Who dared to treat one of my kind like this?!)
Eddie's Eevee spotted its fellow Evolution Pokemon tied beneath the tree and immediately became furious. It leaped forward to stand protectively in front of the bound Eevee, instantly transforming into Flareon and using its fire abilities to burn through the rope restraining its counterpart.
"This Eevee has a name tag around its neck... 'Stone Town.' I think I understand what's happening here."
Eddie examined the address engraved on the name tag and looked at the recently freed Eevee, immediately recognizing the situation from his knowledge of Pokemon lore.
It was a somewhat predictable plot development, but it would still be interesting to visit the town and see how things played out.
"Come to think of it, I remember there were numerous evolution stones in that area. Everyone in that town is quite wealthy."
Eddie recalled that Stone Town was indeed a prosperous community built around extensive mining operations that produced valuable evolution stones. The townspeople there weren't just wealthy—they were also remarkably generous with their riches.
In the stories he'd heard, the townspeople would meet traveling trainers and, upon seeing Pokemon like Pikachu or Vulpix that required evolution stones to evolve, would immediately offer Thunder Stones and Fire Stones as gifts without hesitation.
Their generosity toward complete strangers demonstrated just how prosperous the town truly was.
"While I don't desperately need evolution stones, if they're willing to offer me a few, I'll certainly accept them graciously."
With these somewhat self-serving thoughts, Eddie gently picked up the sad Eevee and began walking in the direction of Stone Town.
Eddie walked alongside Gardevoir with one Eevee perched on his head and another cradled in his arms, making quite the unusual sight.
Anyone with an active imagination seeing this scene might draw certain conclusions that would be better left unspoken.
"Meowth, why did we have to venture out today? I was perfectly content just resting these past few days..."
"Yeah, I feel like we've been cursed with terrible luck lately. Maybe we should stay inside for a while longer..."
"Jessie, James! You two got defeated by some trainer, left hanging from a tree, and now you've become this pathetic? Do you still have the nerve to call yourselves members of Team Rocket? You're both incredibly disappointing, meow!"
High above in the sky, aboard a cat-shaped hot air balloon, Meowth was lecturing Jessie and James, who were both in states of existential crisis following their recent humiliating defeat.
While the other two had nearly succumbed to despair, Meowth had quickly recovered its composure as the team's strategist and was now trying to motivate its partners back into action.
"Listen carefully, meow! If our next operation succeeds, not only will we be able to live comfortably, but we might even earn recognition from the Boss himself!"
To prove the validity of his claims and inspire his teammates to work harder, Meowth produced a tablet computer and showed the screen to Jessie and James.
On the display, Jessie and James could see images of a prosperous town filled with luxurious mansions. Every resident appeared wealthy, and the largest villa seemed to be hosting an elaborate celebration.
The centerpiece of the gathering was a table covered with evolution stones—so many different varieties that Jessie and James' eyes immediately lit up with greed.
These were evolution stones worth 25,000 Pokédollars each on the open market, and that was just for common varieties like Water, Fire, and Thunder Stones. Rare stones like Sun Stones and Shiny Stones commanded even higher prices.
"Hehe! This location took us all night to research, meow! It's Stone Town, a place famous for its evolution stone mines. If we can steal all those evolution stones and present them to the Boss, meow..."
Meowth deliberately left his sentence unfinished, knowing he didn't need to spell out the implications. Jessie and James were already becoming energized by the possibilities.
"Let's move out immediately! Meowth, what are we waiting for? Time to execute our plan!"
"Absolutely right! We can't waste another moment. GOGOGO!"
Both Jessie and James grabbed their Poke Balls, and despite not having any opponents in sight yet, they were already speaking aggressively and preparing for action.