Though their trainer always claimed to treat all his Pokémon equally, everyone knew they could mess with anyone on the team except Mawile. Even their trainer barely dared to cross her. That said plenty about how formidable she was.
In the household pecking order,
Mawile held the top spot, with their trainer coming after her.
A "newcomer" like Porygon naturally sat at the very bottom. Feebas used to keep it company there, but Feebas had since evolved into Shiny Milotic. Even Porygon couldn't help admiring her, and her standing had risen accordingly.
Thinking about how it still hadn't evolved made Porygon a little gloomy.
It had suggested evolving at five hearts before, but its trainer had turned it down.
"I'm worried Unit Zero will lure you away. I'm also worried that once you grow up, you'll look down on me."
Its trainer's pitiful expression was still vivid in its mind.
Hearing that, Porygon could tell it mattered to its trainer, so it had given up on evolving at five hearts.
But...
Why was getting to six hearts so hard?!
Porygon was on the verge of wailing aloud when its trainer's voice suddenly broke into its thoughts.
"Porygon?"
"Pali!"
Porygon snapped back to its senses. Mawile had come out of her Poké Ball at some point and was holding a brand-new smartphone. She and their trainer were both looking at it curiously.
Baimu waved a hand in front of its eyes. "Sleepy? Why don't you go back into your Poké Ball and rest?"
"Pali!"
Porygon shook its head and looked at the smartphone.
They had called it over to help decide which model suited Mawile best. She had her own ideas, of course, but like a wife asking her husband which outfit looked better on her, she wanted feedback from her