Haunter and Gyarados

"What do you mean?" Xia You asked, stunned.

"I mean, if I want to evolve, of course I can do it anytime, anywhere!"

As Gastly spoke, a glow suddenly enveloped its body. When the light faded, a Pokémon with an entirely new form appeared before Xia You.

Xia You was utterly astonished.

It had evolved into Haunter without the slightest warning!

Compared to its previous form, Haunter's round body had changed shape. Not only had the purple mist surrounding it vanished, but three pointed protrusions had appeared on either side. It had even gained a pair of claws floating in midair, unattached to its body!

Xia You took out his Pokédex.

Pokédex: "Beep. Haunter, the Gas Pokémon. Ghost and Poison-type. The evolved form of Gastly. It usually inhabits haunted houses and graveyards. Stronger than Gastly, Haunter lurks in the dark in search of prey. If its gaseous tongue licks you, even your soul will be stolen away."

"Hey, you really evolved just like that? How did you do it?"

The question slipped out before Xia You could think, but on closer consideration, Gastly's evolution was unexpected yet perfectly reasonable.

After all, Gastly had already lived for who knew how many years before meeting him. By all rights, it should have been able to evolve into Haunter long ago. The only reason it had gone so long without evolving was probably that it simply hadn't wanted to.

"What's so surprising about that?" Haunter kept opening and clenching its claws, familiarizing itself with this new feature as it spoke casually. "I could even evolve into my third form right now!"

"Stop, stop, stop!" Xia You hurriedly stopped it. "Evolving too quickly isn't necessarily a good thing. Spend some more time getting used to your new body first."

Then Xia You turned his gaze back to Magikarp.

"But getting back to the point, as happy as I am that you can evolve, we still haven't solved our earlier problem, have we? Hey, Haunter, hurry up and see if you can communicate with Magikarp!"

"You want me to communicate with it?"

Haunter looked dumbfounded at first, then flew over Magikarp and stared into its eyes, its mouth moving slightly. After a long while, it silently flew back.

"No luck. This fellow's head seems completely empty. I can't tell what it's thinking at all!"

Seeing Xia You frown without a word, it offered its own analysis. "But since you said it's close to evolving yet stuck right on the threshold, it must be lacking some experience or stimulation! I think a battle should get it to evolve pretty quickly."

Experience? Stimulation?

Xia You's eyes suddenly lit up, as though something had given him an idea.

Seeing what Xia You intended, Haunter asked incredulously, "Seriously? You really want it to battle? This fellow only knows Splash, which does no damage at all. Against other Pokémon, it'll just get beaten up!"

"That's no obstacle for me!" Xia You clearly had an idea. He looked at his Pokémon and instructed them, "Everyone, spread out and see if there are any wild Pokémon nearby!"

They were currently at a bend in the river beside the road, with a small forest not far away.

The Pokémon searched in all directions, and soon Kirlia found a Bug-type Pokémon-a Weedle-sleeping on a tree trunk in the forest.

It gave a soft cry. When Xia You arrived and saw the Pokémon, he nodded in satisfaction.

"A Weedle? Perfect. Everyone, keep an eye on it. Whatever you do, don't let it get away!"

Though thoroughly puzzled, the Pokémon obediently moved into position around Weedle, cutting off every escape route.

Once everything was ready, Xia You told Charmander, "Use Ember!"

Charmander tiptoed closer, took a deep breath, and breathed a burst of embers at the sleeping Weedle, engulfing it in an instant.

Fire beat Bug. It was super effective!

"Hehe, Magikarp, now let me give you a hand!"

Seeing that Weedle was nearly unable to battle, Xia You picked up Magikarp, walked over to Weedle, and raised Magikarp high above his head.

"Go, Magikarp! Show it our combination move! Silly Fish Slam!"

Xia You swung down hard, and a moment later, Magikarp's body, all bones and scales, slammed into Weedle.

The two Pokémon collided with a dull thud.

Seeing that Weedle still hadn't lost consciousness, Xia You raised his eyebrows.

"Huh? Still not down? You're pretty tough! But that's all right. Magikarp, let's do it again!"

With that, he raised Magikarp high once more and slammed it down hard!

This time, Weedle could take no more and passed out completely. Just as Xia You had hoped, Magikarp's body suddenly became enveloped in white light!

Great! The operation was a complete success!

With a draconic roar that pierced the heavens, a massive Gyarados appeared before Xia You.

It was roughly six to seven meters long, with a blue back and a pale yellow belly. Besides a three-pointed horn, it had two long whiskers, a gaping maw, and eyes that seemed forever filled with anger.

Pokédex: "Beep. Gyarados, the Atrocious Pokémon. Water and Flying type. It evolves from Magikarp. Extremely ill-tempered, it has scales like steel and teeth capable of crushing rocks. Once it goes on a rampage, it will burn everything to ashes, even in violent storms. It is an exceptionally ferocious Pokémon."

Although Gyarados still looked a little dim after evolving, it had nevertheless undergone a tremendous transformation.

But perhaps because of its nature, the first thing it did after evolving wasn't familiarize itself with its body. Instead, it launched indiscriminate attacks on everything around it!

"Hey, hey, is there something wrong with this fellow's head?" Haunter flew into the sky, dodging Gyarados's wild lunges, and clicked its tongue at Xia You. "Did you damage it by slamming it down like that?"

"Idiot, what nonsense are you talking about?" Xia You also hurried backward, moving out of Gyarados's attack range. "Didn't you hear what the Pokédex just said? It's naturally that vicious!"

"So what do we do now?" Haunter asked. "Wait for it to stop on its own?"

"Of course not! We went to all that trouble to evolve it. How can we just leave it alone now?" Xia You swept his hand forward and gave the order. "All right, everyone, stop standing around! Show this disobedient fellow what you're made of! It dared to attack its own Trainer and companions. It's time to teach it a lesson and make it understand who's really in charge here!"