"Nurse Joy, help!" Ange shouted anxiously after entering the Pokémon Center.
Nurse Joy had been hunched over her desk writing, and Ange's sudden shout gave her quite a fright.
However, once she saw the unconscious Bunnelby and the lethargic Pancham, her expression immediately turned serious.
A Chansey nearby immediately pushed a small cart over.
"Nurse Joy, please, take a look and see what's wrong with my Pancham and Bunnelby. Their body temperatures are very high, and Bunnelby has already fainted."
As Ange placed the two Pokémon onto the cart, he explained their conditions to Nurse Joy.
It was Pancham's first time at a Pokémon Center, so it felt somewhat scared while sitting on the cart. It opened its arms, wanting Ange to pick it back up.
Ange quickly hugged it and patted its back, saying, "Be good, let's get you checked out first. You won't feel so uncomfortable once you're treated."
Pan pan~ Pancham nodded lightly, its emotions seemingly soothed.
Nurse Joy said, "I understand the situation. Your Highness, please wait outside while I first examine Pancham and Bunnelby."
Ange nodded, "I'll leave it to you, Nurse Joy."
Watching Nurse Joy and Chansey take Pancham and Bunnelby into the examination room, Ange found a place to sit down and waited anxiously.
At that moment, Staraptor came to his side and gently rubbed its head against Ange's cheek.
Star~ Star~ Don't worry, with Nurse Joy here, they will be fine.
Having experienced Gardevoir's difficult birth, Staraptor had a lot of faith in Nurse Joy.
"Yeah, I know," Ange said, patting Staraptor's neck.
About an hour later, Nurse Joy emerged from the examination room with Chansey. Ange rushed up to ask:
"Nurse Joy, how are things? Are my Bunnelby and Pancham alright?"
Nurse Joy smiled and said, "Rest assured, Your Highness, Bunnelby and Pancham are both fine."
Hearing this, Ange and Staraptor both breathed a sigh of relief.
He then asked suspiciously, "How could my Pancham and Bunnelby have a fever out of nowhere? And such a high one at that."
Nurse Joy explained, "Both of these Pokémon have reached the stage where they are ready to evolve, but for some reason, they have been holding it back, which caused their bodies to have a stress response."
Evolution is a Pokémon's instinct. Except for those requiring specific conditions, if a Pokémon reaches the evolutionary stage but resists it, their bodies naturally experience various disorders; fever and fainting are common phenomena.
After Nurse Joy's explanation, Ange suddenly understood.
"Your Highness, you can ask them why they don't want to evolve and then treat the underlying cause. If they truly do not wish to evolve, then provide them with an Everstone.
An Everstone can suppress the evolutionary factors within a Pokémon's body, so they don't have to worry about their health."
Nurse Joy offered this suggestion to Ange.
In such a situation, Nurse Joy would not force a Pokémon to evolve; whether or not to evolve is the Pokémon's own choice.
Evolution is not everything for a Pokémon, especially since neither Pancham nor Bunnelby are battlers.
Furthermore, even Pokémon used for battling do not necessarily pursue their final evolved forms; for example, Chansey or Porygon2 can achieve brilliant records without evolving, just by holding an Eviolite.
"I understand," Ange nodded.
Nurse Joy added, "After taking the medicine, the two Pokémon's conditions have stabilized and you can leave at any time.
However, please have them evolve or provide them with an Everstone as soon as possible to avoid another stress response. Such reactions only become more intense each time, which is very bad for the Pokémon."
"I understand, thank you, Nurse Joy." Ange thanked her again.
Nurse Joy smiled and left with Chansey.
As soon as Nurse Joy left, Ange entered the examination room with Staraptor.
Seeing Ange enter, Bunnelby and Pancham happily jumped off the bed and rushed into his arms one after another.
After catching them, Ange feigned anger and said, "Full of energy now, are we? Why were you both so listless earlier?"
Both Pokémon knew Ange wasn't truly angry, but his words still made them feel embarrassed, and they buried their heads in his chest.
Ange continued, "Even if you two didn't want to evolve, you could have just told me. I would have bought you Everstones. Why keep it hidden and make yourselves sick!
Am I not worthy of your trust?"
Both Pokémon lowered their heads in greater shame.
"Do you know you were wrong?" Ange asked with a straight face.
Pan pan~ Yes.
Bunne bunne~ Yes.
Both Pokémon nodded quickly, answering with voices quieter than a mosquito.
"That's good." Ange's expression gradually softened, "Can you tell me the reason you don't want to evolve now? What's so bad about evolving?"
Ange had always believed that evolution was a natural law in the process of Pokémon life, so he supported every Pokémon in evolving.
Seeing them both with their heads down, Ange pointed at Pancham and said, "You go first, you're usually the cockiest one."
Although Pancham stammered, it eventually voiced its reason for not wanting to evolve.
It turned out that Pancham's parents were also native Pokémon of the Nebel Plateau; its mother was a Pangoro, and its father was an Ursaring.
After Pancham was born, the family of three spent a happy time together.
Pancham had thought those peaceful and happy days would continue, but one day, its father, Ursaring, suddenly suggested leaving to explore the world.
Pancham and Pangoro didn't know where that idea came from, but Ursaring's attitude was very firm; no one could persuade it otherwise.
On the day Ursaring left, Pangoro suddenly made a decision: it would follow its husband to explore the world.
Pancham was shocked; if Mom and Dad were both gone, what would happen to it?
It proposed going with them, but Ursaring and Pangoro both refused.
The outside world was unknown, and Pancham was still so small; how could it go out on adventures?
Staying on the Nebel Plateau, with everyone's care, they believed Pancham would grow up safe and healthy.
However, in young Pancham's eyes, its parents had heartlessly and irresponsibly abandoned it.
Ever since then, a seed was planted in Pancham's heart: it did not want to evolve into a Pangoro like its mother.
After hearing this, Ange sighed; this was indeed a pair of irresponsible parents.
He thought for a moment and said to Pancham, "Your mother is your mother, and you are you. How can you be the same? Pangoro are all different too!
For example, the Pangoro we met in the western mountains was very dutiful in raising its Pancham, and those Pancham weren't even its own children."
Pan pan~ Pan pan~
However, Pancham still shook its head firmly; it didn't want to evolve, and it felt that things were fine just the way they were.
Ange said helplessly, "Fine then. When we leave the Pokémon Center, I'll take you to buy an Everstone. Whenever you feel like evolving, you can take the Everstone off."
Having said that, he looked at Bunnelby: "And you?"
Hearing this, Bunnelby lowered its head and refused to say a word.
Just then, Ange noticed Staraptor pecking at him with its beak; he looked at Staraptor in confusion.
Star~ Star~
Staraptor hopped out of the examination room, signaling Ange to follow it outside.
Confused, Ange placed Bunnelby and Pancham back on the bed and followed Staraptor out.
After Ange left, Pancham sighed, gently patted Bunnelby on the shoulder, and gave it a hug.
Ange walked to the door of the examination room, puzzled, "What's wrong, Staraptor?"
Star~ Star~
Staraptor explained the reason for Bunnelby's refusal to evolve to Ange.
Staraptor hadn't recalled this earlier, but after hearing from Nurse Joy that Bunnelby had become sick because it didn't want to evolve, it had a moment of realization.
It turned out that Bunnelby hadn't lived on the Nebel Plateau since birth.
Long ago, it had lived in the northern mountains with its troop.
However, compared to the other Bunnelby in the troop, Ange's Bunnelby was the skinniest and smallest.
The troop leader at the time particularly disliked it, feeling that it was slow at everything and seriously dragged the troop's pace down.
Due to the leader's neglect and indulgence, the Bunnelby of its own age in the troop treated it like an errand boy, ordering it around every day, whether it was kneading their backs or helping them find food.
Sometimes they even went as far as to snatch the food that belonged to Bunnelby.
Bunnelby hadn't seen its parents since birth, so it had no one else to protect it, and it was bullied like that all the time.
Later, the other Bunnelby of its age evolved into Diggersby, but Bunnelby was the only one that didn't.
It couldn't even eat enough every day, so how could it evolve?
This caused the others to bully it even more intensely. They often forced Bunnelby to practice battling with them.
But Bunnelby was no match for them; the so-called battle practice was nothing more than one-sided abuse.
As a result, Bunnelby was often covered in wounds.
Over time, Bunnelby grew to detest its evolved form, Diggersby.
Later, it was only when the Victreebel family passed through the area and saw Bunnelby being bullied that they intervened and saved it.
Afterward, under the persuasion of the Victreebel family, Bunnelby left the troop and moved to the Nebel Plateau with them.
As for that past, many Pokémon on the plateau knew about it, so everyone took great care of Bunnelby.
After being nurtured by everyone on the Nebel Plateau for a long time, Bunnelby gradually became strong.
In fact, the reason the original Bunnelby was skinny was, in the end, because it received too little food in its troop. Otherwise, how could it have become strong after arriving at the Nebel Plateau?
After hearing about Bunnelby's experience, Ange couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache, and he sighed deeply.
It seems everyone on the Nebel Plateau had their own past!
Having understood what happened, Ange pushed the door open and walked back into the examination room, picked up Bunnelby again, and gently patted it:
"If you don't want to evolve, then don't. Even without evolving, we can still live a life more brilliant than anyone else."
Bunne bunne~ Bunnelby nodded, its eyes warming up, and its hands silently clenched Ange's lapel.
"Alright, let's go. I'll go buy you the Everstones." Ange said in a light tone, dispersing the heavy atmosphere.
Pan pan~
Pancham gracefully jumped off the bed, opened the examination room door, and walked in front.
Ange laughed, "Do you know where to buy Everstones, running off so fast?"
Pan pan~ Pan pan~
Pancham turned back and grinned at Ange.
After paying the medical fees, Ange left the Pokémon Center with Bunnelby, Pancham, and Staraptor.
Once Pancham regained its vitality, it became cheerful again, holding Bunnelby's hand as it hopped along the path.
Bunnelby, who had been feeling a bit sad, felt its smiles returning under Pancham's influence.
Ange brought them to the same Pokémon shop where he had previously bought evolutionary stones for Bellossom and Vileplume, and he expertly found where the Everstones were sold.
Everstones were the cheapest of all held items; they cost less than 10,000 Pokédollar each, so Ange bought five or six at once to prevent anyone else from not wanting to evolve later.
As he brought the Everstones to the counter, he passed by the evolutionary stone section and caught sight of a jet-black Dusk Stone.
Usually, Dusk Stones were deep purple; if it were purple to the point of turning black, it meant its quality was quite high.
Ange couldn't help but walk over to look. As expected, that Dusk Stone was priced at 150,000 Pokédollar, exactly half as much again as a standard Dusk Stone.
Thinking about how Lampent needed a Dusk Stone to evolve into Chandelure, Ange picked it up after all.
Anyway, he wasn't short on money, and since evolutionary stones were something that could affect a Pokémon's entire life, he might as well use the best ones available.
Although there was no research indicating that using higher-quality evolutionary stones would benefit a Pokémon, using the best one certainly wouldn't hurt.
After leaving the Pokémon shop, Ange put two pendants decorated with Everstones around the necks of Bunnelby and Pancham.
The Everstones in the Pokémon shop were already processed and polished, and matching chains were available to choose from, with all sorts of styles and lengths.
After wearing the pendants, the two Pokémon played with the Everstones in novelty.
Ange asked with a smile, "How is it? Do you like them?"
The Everstone pendant could be used both as a held item and as an accessory.
Pan pan~ Pancham grinned and nodded, looking quite vain.
Bunne bunne~ Bunnelby also looked delighted.
"Alright, in that case, let's go home."
Immediately, Ange returned home with the few Pokémon.
As soon as he arrived home, Ange saw Diancie's anxious face. Even though she saw Bunnelby and Pancham jumping around, she asked worriedly:
"Are Pancham and Bunnelby alright? How did they get sick out of nowhere?"
So, Ange told Diancie about how these two had made themselves sick just to avoid evolution.
After hearing this, Diancie said helplessly, "You two, you can't do this next time. If you have any issues, just come to me and Ange, alright?"
Pan pan~
Bunne bunne~
The two Pokémon nodded obediently.
For some reason, even though Diancie was very gentle, when facing her, Pancham and Bunnelby always felt a kind of invisible pressure, lacking the relaxed feeling they had when facing Ange.
"Alright, go play," Diancie laughed.
Pan pan~
Bunne bunne~
The two Pokémon cheered and ran off.
Once outside, Pancham began to show off the Everstone Ange had bought for it. Although everyone didn't quite understand why an Everstone was worth showing off, they still played along.
Pancham was thrilled by the praise.
During dinner, Ange learned his lesson and took advantage of the fact that everyone was there to specifically address today's event, telling everyone that if anyone didn't want to evolve in the future, they could come and tell him; he would respect everyone's opinion.
Pokémon that didn't want to evolve were in the minority; besides Pancham and Bunnelby, no third Pokémon came to tell Ange it didn't want to evolve.
After dinner, Ange called out to Lampent, who was about to leave.
Lampent flew to Ange's side and looked at him in confusion.
"Look what this is?" Ange took out the Dusk Stone to show Lampent.
Lamp lamp~
Seeing the Dusk Stone, Lampent made a happy sound and kept circling the Dusk Stone in Ange's palm.
Ange handed the Dusk Stone to Lampent and said, "Go ahead and take it."
Lampent happily reached out to take the Dusk Stone. The moment it touched it, a bright evolutionary light shone from the stone.
The light spread from Lampent's hands throughout its entire body. Within the light, Lampent's form began to change rapidly.
Soon, the light of evolution faded, and a brand-new Pokémon appeared before Ange.
This Pokémon had a chandelier-like shape, a white body with black stripes, and a pair of golden eyes that could capture a soul. Four lamp-stand-shaped arms burned with blue-purple flames, and a cluster of flames of the same color burned on top of its head.
This was the luring Pokémon, Chandelure, Ghost and Fire type.
Chandelure~ Chandelure~
After the successful evolution, Chandelure flew happily around Ange's head while emitting streaks of flames from its head and four arms, celebrating and expressing its joy like fireworks.
"Congratulations, Chandelure, you've finally reached your final evolutionary form."
Chandelure~
Chandelure kept expressing its thanks to Ange; it knew that an evolutionary stone cost quite a lot of money.
Ange laughed, "Are you going to be polite with me? Alright, go tell the others the news of your evolution!"
Chandelure~ Chandelure nodded, then happily floated away.
That morning, just after Ange got off work at Munchlax Home, his phone rang with a dring-dring. He took out his phone and saw that it was Aria.
After the call was connected, Aria's voice came through.
"Mr. Ange, do you still remember our previous agreement?"
Ange replied, "Of course."
Aria said apologetically, "I was delayed by something earlier. I wonder if you are still willing to fulfill the agreement?"