The three chatted casually for a while. Seeing that Chloe seemed rather fond of Eevee, their conversation drifted from all sorts of topics back to Erika's Eevee.
"Given your Gym's type, I assume you're planning to evolve it into Leafeon?" Xia You asked.
Erika nodded. "Of course, but it needs a Leaf Stone to evolve. A few days ago, our Gym held a Trainer appreciation event at the Pokémon League's request, and we used up all our Leaf Stones. So this Eevee will have to wait a while before it can evolve."
A Leaf Stone?
"What a coincidence!" Xia You rummaged through his backpack and found the Evolution stone he had obtained from the Eevee Brothers in Stone Town. Without the slightest hesitation, he handed it straight to Erika. "Here, you can have this Leaf Stone."
Looking at the Leaf Stone, Erika was puzzled. "Huh? How come you have something like this?"
Xia You shrugged. "It's just a prize I won during my travels. I don't have any use for it anyway, so your Eevee might as well use it."
"Oh my, thank you so much." Erika accepted the Leaf Stone without any fuss. "Eevee is still a little lacking in strength, though. I'd like to let it gain some experience first, then find a suitable opportunity to use this Leaf Stone on it."
Xia You waved a hand and said casually, "Hey, I've already given it to you. You can decide when to evolve it!"
As he spoke, he checked the time. Without realizing it, they had already rested for over an hour. Most of his strength had returned, and it was time to leave.
"Well, it's getting late, and we still need to reach Viridian City before dark. Thanks for your hospitality. See you next time!"
He and