The more Ash listened, the more something felt off.
The two people searching were definitely looking for the Eevee in Chloe's arms.
After all, Ash hadn't seen any other Eevee around here!
Right—what did that Eevee say earlier?
It clearly said it didn't have a Trainer and was willing to go with Chloe.
But judging by the current situation, it obviously had some kind of connection with these two!
That Eevee had lied!
Ash's gaze immediately sharpened.
Although he didn't yet know what kind of relationship Eevee had with the two men, its current panicked expression was enough to prove that their connection was far from simple.
[Professor Oak: Judging by their appearance, they should be researchers from this area. I checked—near the Trainer School in Vermilion City there's an Eevee Research Institute. Looks like this Eevee escaped from there.]
[Professor Cerise: It seems this Eevee is quite important—probably tied to their graduation thesis.]
[Professor Birch: Don't remind me… I just remembered the time my graduation paper got eaten by a Treecko.]
[Professor Juniper: That's truly a tragic story.]
[Steven: Have you noticed the three students over there staring at Ash? They look awfully familiar.]
[Wallace: Of course they do—that's Team Rocket.]
[Lance: Come to think of it, I haven't seen Team Rocket in a long time. I thought they'd quit.]
[Diantha: I have to say, Musashi and the others have really improved their acting. The only problem is their age—they shouldn't be playing students, they should be teachers. Don't give up, you'll definitely become big stars one day!]
[Jessie: Thank you for the guidance, Ms. Diantha! I'll work hard!]
[Flint: Somehow, whenever Team Rocket shows up, it feels like they're about to give Ash another assist. I bet this Eevee has something special about it.]
"Assist king" was basically Team Rocket's permanent title.
Looks like, just as Flint predicted, Team Rocket was here to deliver another assist!
...
On screen—
"Come out already! Our most important Eevee!"
The two young men in white lab coats searched frantically around the school park, muttering to themselves.
Clearly, the missing Eevee was extremely important to them.
They had even chased it all the way into the neighboring Trainer School.
After searching unsuccessfully for a while, the two finally noticed Ash and the others having a picnic on campus.
The moment they saw them, it was as if they'd found saviors.
They hurried straight over.
As the two drew closer, Ash immediately sensed movement beside him.
Chloe poked Ash's arm with her finger.
He turned his head and saw Chloe looking at him with pitiful eyes.
Obviously, Chloe had already decided these people were bad guys.
She wanted to protect the Eevee in her arms.
Even though Eevee had lied, its feelings toward Chloe were genuine.
That spark when their eyes first met—there was no mistaking it.
It was the same feeling Ash had when he first saw Pikachu.
The moment he knew—
This Pokémon was destined to be his partner.
"Chloe, you go first. I'll hold them off."
As he spoke, Ash stepped forward, placing himself in front of Chloe.
Chloe seized the opportunity and quickly hugged Eevee, hiding in the nearby bushes.
At that moment—
In the bushes not far from Ash—
Besides Chloe, there was another group hiding there.
Naturally, it was Team Rocket, already spotted by the comments.
Team Rocket had long disguised themselves as students and infiltrated the Trainer School.
Their goal this time was simple—
They'd discovered several rare Pokémon at the school.
Team Rocket and Chloe were separated by a single line of bushes, perfectly dividing the two sides.
At that moment, Team Rocket sprang into action.
Taking advantage of the lack of people around, they deployed their special Pokémon-capturing device.
A massive suction force instantly activated, capturing all the Pokémon in the park.
Coincidentally, Ash's attention was focused on the two men in lab coats—
Which prevented Team Rocket from being exposed too early.
Facing the two men approaching him, Ash was about to ask what their relationship with Eevee was.
They didn't look like bad people—
But sneaking around the school like this didn't exactly inspire trust either.
The feeling was oddly familiar.
A bit like Team Rocket.
But the number of people didn't match!
"Hey, who exactly are you people?!"
Ash's loud voice echoed through the entire park.
"I think I heard someone asking who you are?"
A female voice suddenly replied.
The sound didn't come from the two men in front of Ash—
It came from behind him.
And it was a voice Ash knew all too well.
He immediately turned around.
Sure enough—
The familiar trio.
The familiar Pokémon being captured.
"Ugh, this is all your fault, Jessie! Meowth!"
"Hehe~ I just couldn't help myself!"
Although the situation was unexpected, Team Rocket didn't panic.
After years of fighting Ash, they'd learned one truth—
Panicking was useless.
Seeing their disguise exposed, Team Rocket ripped off their costumes, revealing their usual outfits.
The world now focuses on you!
"Since you've asked so sincerely—"
"We'll answer with equal sincerity!"
"..."
Only after Team Rocket finished their introduction did Ash clap his left fist into his right palm.
"Oh! So you two aren't Team Rocket."
He then turned to the two men beside him.
Jessie and James stared at each other.
"…We kind of exposed ourselves for nothing."
"That doesn't matter! Meowth!"
"Right! The capture plan was a huge success—now all we have to do is send these Pokémon back to headquarters!"
"Then we'll get promoted and earn big money!"
"What a wonderful feeling! Meowth!"
To end the battle quickly, Team Rocket immediately summoned their special gacha machine.
Unfortunately, something went wrong—
The machine didn't spit out any Poké Balls.
Left with no choice, Team Rocket sent out Pelipper, which had been transporting the machine.
But Pelipper's combat strength was… honestly terrible.
In just one round, it was taken out by Pikachu's Thunderbolt.
All the Pokémon Team Rocket had captured were successfully freed.
After dealing with that little interruption, Ash finally turned his attention back to the two men in lab coats.
According to them, they were researchers from the nearby Eevee Research Institute.
The Eevee they were searching for was an extremely important reference subject.
They'd only looked away for a moment—and it escaped.
That was why they'd come out to search for it.
"I see…"
On the way to school, Ash had indeed noticed an Eevee Research Institute next door.
These two weren't lying.
And Eevee's earlier reactions matched up too.
After thinking it over, Ash called Chloe out from hiding.
When the two researchers saw the Eevee in her arms, they were ecstatic.
But to be safe, Ash didn't immediately hand Eevee over.
Instead, he agreed to meet them later that evening at Professor Cerise's lab.
After all, Cerise's laboratory was well-known throughout Vermilion City.
Then Ash said goodbye to them.
Chloe also left the school with Eevee.
"…This is bad. We're going to trouble the director again."
"At least be grateful—we found Eevee."
The two researchers sighed and reported the situation to their institute head.
At Professor Cerise's lab—
After Chloe brought Eevee back, Professor Cerise learned the whole story.
After hearing everything, he praised Ash's caution.
After all, Eevee was an extremely rare Pokémon.
If it were tricked by someone with bad intentions and taken for evil experiments, that would be disastrous!
Eevee's genes were highly unstable—making it a perfect experimental subject.
After returning to the lab, Chloe stayed with Eevee the entire time.
During this period, Ash noticed something unusual.
This Eevee seemed to be the same one the researchers had mentioned yesterday—
The Eevee that could imitate other Eevee.
But now it seemed even more impressive.
It could imitate anything it found interesting.
For example—
It was currently copying Yamper and releasing Spark.
Chloe couldn't stop laughing.
However, as time went on, Ash noticed something even stranger.
This Eevee's genes were far too unstable.
When it passed by Bayleef, it actively absorbed the Grass-type energy radiating from Bayleef.
When it passed Cinderace, it unconsciously absorbed Fire-type energy from it.
In other words—
This Eevee could absorb the power of other attributes.
After thinking for a moment, Ash took a Thunder Stone out of his backpack.
It was a gift from a female Pikachu he'd met back at Pikachu Valley.
Ash walked over and placed the Thunder Stone in front of Eevee.
"Eevee, do you want to evolve?"
Seeing Ash suddenly appear and the Thunder Stone before it, Eevee tilted its head cutely.
Then it looked at Chloe beside Ash—
As if asking: Do you want me to evolve?
Chloe's eyes filled with conflict.
She knew Eevee's genes were extremely unstable.
If it didn't evolve, it could be influenced by countless factors and turn into many different forms.
Although Jolteon's fur wasn't the softest—
This Thunder Stone came from Ash.
"Eevee, if you want to evolve, that's okay," Chloe said seriously.
"Vee~"
After getting Chloe's response, Eevee smiled sweetly.
Then it lifted its paw and gently placed it on the Thunder Stone.
Brilliant electricity flashed—
But the expected white evolution light never appeared.
Instead, all the electric energy within the Thunder Stone was absorbed by Eevee.
Not far behind them—
Professor Cerise pushed up his glasses and said to another researcher:
"So this is the Eevee you mentioned—the one that can't evolve."
"That's not quite right. It's not that it can't evolve—its genes are simply too complex to evolve into a specific form."
"Isn't that basically the same thing?"
"No. An Eevee that truly can't evolve has extremely stable genes. This one is the exact opposite—its genes are far too unstable!"
What they'd just witnessed perfectly supported that conclusion.
Even after absorbing the Thunder Stone's power—
Eevee still couldn't evolve.
[Professor Oak: An Eevee that can't evolve… that really is an incredibly rare specimen.]
[Bede: Amazing! An Eevee like this—if I could convince it, I could complete my Eevee army! My dream is to own every Eeveelution!]
[Volkner: Sigh… my Eevee used to be a small, adorable thing that loved being held.]
[Flint: Isn't it still like that now? It's always jumping into your arms.]
[Volkner: No, it's different! Ever since it evolved into Jolteon, every hug comes with sparks! I'm not Ash—I don't have that kind of Electric resistance!]
[Flint: When you put it that way, my Flareon really is better! It's a bit warm, but still super fluffy!]
[Gary: Umbreon's fur is obviously the softest!]
[Lucian: Nonsense—it's Espeon!]
[Cynthia: Let me interrupt—my Glaceon is the cutest Eevee of all!]
Just one scene had summoned countless Eevee fans!
No matter the form, Eevee was synonymous with cute.
That's why every Eeveelution had massive fan support.
Thus creating the eternal debate:
My Eevee is cuter than yours!
No, mine is!
And now—
An Eevee that couldn't evolve at all!
How unbelievably adorable would that be?
After evolving, Eeveelutions all grew larger.
Most Trainers eventually let their Eevee evolve due to its traits.
But an Eevee free from that worry—
That was every Eevee lover's dream.
They practically wished they were Chloe themselves, just to own such an Eevee.
...
On screen—
When the sparks finally faded, Chloe stared in shock.
The Eevee before her was still the same small, adorable Eevee—
Only the Thunder Stone had lost its glow.
"Ash… what just happened?" Chloe's voice trembled.
As a Professor's daughter, she'd seen many things.
But this?
This was new.
An Eevee that couldn't evolve was far beyond her understanding.
Ash, however, was much calmer.
After all, he'd once seen an Eevee that could freely evolve into Flareon, Jolteon, and Vaporeon.
Compared to that, this was nothing.
"It's probably because this Eevee is special. I observed it earlier—whenever it comes into contact with Pokémon of different attributes, it unconsciously absorbs the scattered energy from their bodies and stores it inside itself."
"But what does that have to do with Eevee not evolving?"
"Of course it does."
Ash crouched down and gently patted Eevee's head.
Then he spoke softly:
"Eevee, use Spark."
"Vee?"
Clearly, Eevee—untrained in battles—didn't understand.
With no choice, Ash had Pikachu demonstrate Spark first.
A lightbulb instantly lit up above Eevee's head.
Next—
Eevee mimicked Pikachu's movement and released Spark forward.
Eevee was a Normal-type Pokémon.
It shouldn't have been able to learn Spark.
Yet now, a bolt of electricity shot from Eevee's body.
Only when it hit the water ahead did it finally dissipate.
"Th-this… Eevee? What's going on?"
Chloe was completely stunned.
"Eevee is incredible. Its imitation isn't just copying—it's learning. As long as it has enough energy, theoretically, this Eevee can learn any move."
"It's an extraordinary existence."
Ash stared at Eevee with burning eyes.
[Cynthia: Arceus! Isn't this basically Arceus?!]
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