"A-Arthur's Pikachu is unable to continue battling... R-Reden wins," announced Rosaria in a stammering voice, trying to sound official as she played the role of referee.
"Eevee, you fluffy whirlwind of wonder!" Reden cheered, catching her Eevee as it leapt into her arms. "You hit Pikachu so hard, the stars blinked and the moon fell off its chair! You're a legend wrapped in fur!"
Arthur stared at his Pikachu, eyes spiraling in a daze as it lay fainted on the battle arena. His face twitched in disbelief.
Who am I? What am I? Where even is this?
The questions raced through Arthur's mind as his wide-eyed gaze locked onto Reden's Eevee—no longer a cute Pokémon, but a terrifying enigma.
This whole situation had started with his own curiosity. He'd heard from Rosaria about Reden's Eevee—how strange, how 'crazy' it was. He had wanted to see it with his own eyes.
He had expected something unusual, sure.
But this?
This was beyond anything he could've imagined!
In his ears, Reden's Eevee's maniacal laughter still echoed, as if haunting him.
"Ee~ vee~ vee~ vee~... Ee~ vee~ vee~ vee~..."
He remembered the battle clearly—at least, the beginning. He had ordered his Pikachu to attack, confident in its strength. But Reden's Eevee just laughed. It didn't dodge, didn't even flinch, even as Pikachu's attacks landed again and again. Reden herself stood calmly by, speaking nonsense instead of giving real commands.
Arthur had watched Eevee's injuries pile up. Pikachu had hesitated, clearly disturbed by attacking something that didn't fight back. Arthur, feeling the same unease, had been moments away from calling off the fight, from telling Pikachu to stand down.
Then, suddenly—the atmosphere changed.
Reden's Eevee suddenly stopped laughing. Its eyes narrowed, sharp and unblinking.
And then...
There was no "then".
Arthur's memory simply... cut out.
It was a blank space in his mind, like reality itself had glitched.
Now, on autopilot, he gently used Potions on his unconscious Pikachu, then returned it silently to its Poké Ball.
Arthur turned to Rosaria and asked in a flat, bewildered tone, "What just happened?"
Rosaria quickly looked away, clearly unsure how to answer.
Next, Arthur turned toward Wentia—the only other person present in the Pokémon Battle Dome.
But even Wentia, who was usually unshakable, averted her eyes, offering the same silent response as Rosaria.
Left with no one else to turn to, Arthur reluctantly faced the source of his current psychological unraveling: Reden.
"Reden... what even is your Eevee?" he asked, voice blank, as if his brain had stopped processing logic.
Hearing her name, Reden turned toward him with a cheerful grin and adjusted her round glasses before replying, "Arthur, Arthur, Arthur… you don't ask what she is. You ask what reality became after she sneezed in it!"
"???"
"A teacup of terror stirred with moonlight, kissed by chaos, and trained on a steady diet of compliments and thunder!"
"?"
"She is the silence before the storm! The tick before the trap! The fluff before the fall!"
"..."
"She is what happens when LOVE, CHORES, and the VOID—"
"O-Okay! Okay! I get it!" Arthur quickly cut her off, slapping his forehead as if trying to knock the madness out of his own brain. He felt both emotionally and mentally bruised.
What did I expect?
Why would I even think asking Reden for a normal answer was a good idea?
This... this must be what self-inflicted damage feels like...
Fortunately, Rosaria burst into laughter, and Wentia let out a soft giggle. The sound helped ground Arthur—just barely—back to reality. He managed a weak, forced chuckle, which only made Wentia blush and quickly stifle her giggling with a hand over her mouth in embarassment.
In the end, there was only one way to get a straight answer.
Arthur pulled out his Pokédex, and pointed the device toward Reden's Eevee.
It was strange enough that Reden's Eevee hadn't evolved into either Espeon, Umbreon, or Sylveon—especially considering how high its friendship with Reden must be, as evidenced by its sheer craziness.
The Pokédex began scanning, the screen flickering to life as it processed the data.
Arthur's eyes narrowed as he watched the information appear—then widened in disbelief as his gaze landed on Eevee's move list.
---
[Eevee]
[Types: Normal]
[Ability: Anticipation (Hidden Ability)]
[Level: 21]
[Eevee is generally known for being cautious yet friendly towards humans, often fleeing when it senses danger. Eevee are adaptive Pokémon with unstable genetic codes, which allows them to evolve into various forms. Their evolution can be triggered by several factors, including the environment, time of day, levels of friendship, or the use of elemental stones.]
[Base stats: -Redacted- (Total: 325)]
[Moves: Covet, Trailbraze, Helping Hand, Curse, Mud-Slap, Detect, Weather Ball, Baby-Doll Eyes, Swift, Shadow Ball]
---
What the f*ck am I looking at?! Arthur's mouth hung open, his voice caught in his throat as no sound escaped.
Trailblaze, Curse, Mud-Slap, Weather Ball, Shadow Ball... these were all TMs! How the hell did Reden teach Eevee all of these in such a short time?! He was completely dumbfounded.
What he had just seen in the Pokédex was beyond anything he had witnessed in the earlier battle.
Arthur's mind briefly drifted back to the earlier fight as he finally recalled what had happened—his Pikachu had been taken out in an instant by a bootleg Tri Attack, formed from Weather Ball (Normal), Weather Ball (Fire), and Shadow Ball.
A triangle of white, reddish-orange, and dark purple spheres had shot out, overwhelming his Pikachu in a single blast.
Forget the fact that Eevee was somehow able to use three moves at the same time—was it even possible to launch two different types of Weather Ball simultaneously? Yet, with the sunlight streaming through the Battle Dome's roof, he couldn't help but think… maybe?
Wait… one, two, three, four... ten? Why the heck does this Eevee have 10 move slots?!
Where's the hidden String Shot?!
Is that why it hasn't evolved—because it can't anymore?
Arthur felt his mind snap. The more he realized, the more absurd Reden's Eevee became.
What kind of godly Eevee is this? It'd be more believable if someone told him this was actually Mew in disguise!
Aside from Eevee somehow freeing up a move slot by discarding String Shot, everything else still fit within Eevee's possible limitations. But even so, using three moves at once and learning five TMs in just over a month was downright ridiculous!
Arthur couldn't process it anymore.
He didn't remember much after that…
---
Arthur soon saw Rosaria's group off after finalizing the details of their partnership.
Regarding the Sky Sovereign's Dratini, Rosaria had informed him that she'd yet to receive any word from her friend. However, she had promised that she would inquire on his behalf.
Next month, a new batch of a hundred Bloodthorn or other close associates of Rosaria would arrive to collect their own Pokémon. This had always been their agreement.
Now that the first batch had received their Pokémon, it was time for Arthur to focus on Rastor's villagers, including Village Chief Joey, who would also be receiving their Pokémon. And, of course, preparations had to be made for the King and Queen of Krosia Kingdom, Gadeon Roseflame Krosia and Lavinia Moonstone Krosia.
While Arthur had some ideas for which Pokémon to give the King, he needed to jump to Gen 6 to create the template for that specific Pokémon. There's no better choice than that one.
As for the Queen, however, he was still at a loss.
Although the King and Queen of Krosia remained surprisingly silent on the matter, Arthur refused to believe they weren't interested in Pokémon. He simply couldn't understand why they hadn't reached out for some Pokémon Eggs yet.
As for Rastor Village, Chief Joey would personally receive a Rattata Egg from Arthur. For the rest of the villagers, Arthur planned to let them become real rookie Trainers, venturing into the Safari Zone with Safari Balls—repainted Poké Balls—to capture their own Pokémon. However, that would have to wait until the Pokémon inside Rastor's Safari Zone had hatched, grown, and adapted naturally.
He intended to do the same for Rosaria's next batch of a hundred people. Only the first group would enjoy VIP treatment, receiving all 100 Pokémon in the form of eggs.
Returning to the matter of what he needed from Rosaria in exchange for gifting Reden and Wentia new Pokémon Eggs, Arthur spent some time thinking deeply about what he still required beyond his current research funds. Then, watching his Pikachu practice its Electric-type moves, he was reminded of the frantic panic he'd felt over Pikachu's Hidden Ability, Lightning Rod, and how he had scrambled to install multiple magic circles to protect his old house from being randomly struck by lightning.
That's when it hit him. Although the advanced magic circles surrounding Rastor's Safari Zone would form a protective shield for the Pokémon inside, they couldn't defend against natural disasters or Pokémon-induced catastrophes.
For instance, his dome-like barrier wouldn't stop lightning from striking down.
He could directly prevent it by upgrading the Safari Dome—let's call it that for convenience—but would that be a wise choice? Such specific prevention was difficult to implement. It would be far easier to ensure the Safari Dome prevented anything outside from interacting with the inside. However, doing so could block rain—or even sunlight!
That would ruin the entire ecosystem, and the Pokémon in Rastor's Safari Zone would slowly perish.
Definitely not the outcome Arthur wanted to see.
Sometimes, it's better to let nature take its course... But that wasn't an option—not when a number of Pokémon with Lightning Rod would be hatched and roaming around inside, attracting a hundred times more lightning strikes.
There was also the internal risk: a Fire-type Pokémon could accidentally ignite a tree, triggering a chain reaction. If that happened, the forest could be devastated—or worse, turned into a lifeless, forbidden zone.
The main issue was that his first batch of would-be-wild Pokémon had no parents or Trainers to teach them control. It would take a few generations of natural breeding before they could be left unsupervised—by then, their parents could step in to guide them in managing their abilities.
As for supervising the first batch himself?
That was impossible.
Even with ten clones of himself, Arthur still wouldn't be able to handle it.
He needed a better solution.
And that was exactly where Rosaria came in.
Arthur could easily program the Safari Dome to target specific disasters in moderation—allowing nature to still influence the interior rather than blocking everything out. The real problem, however, was the materials. Most of what was available on the market ranged from low- to medium-grade, barely sufficient to power the massive dome's barrier and protect vital aspects inside, like the trees, with fire prevention, lightning resistance, and other disaster-prevention enchantments.
Without high-grade materials, it was impossible to make those enchantments last.
He could, of course, rely on quantity—but with low-quality materials, even a large supply would deplete its energy quickly, forcing him to recharge them daily, if not more often.
And that was far too inconvenient for several reasons.
That's why the better solution was to use high-grade materials—rare and difficult to find in the public market.
But for Rosaria?
Easy-peasy.
So, after downing a dose of Memora Potion, Arthur spent a few minutes pre-programming every disaster-prevention protocol he could think of into the central control pedestal. This main hub was connected to twelve smaller pedestals arranged in a wide circle around the forest, each one etched with advanced magic circles that together formed the foundation of the Safari Dome.
The only thing left now was to wait for Rosaria to return with the various high-grade materials—each aligned with a different Element—needed to fully activate the system.
With some time to spare before dinner—and before his Misdreavus and Lena's Lapras were due to hatch—Arthur returned to his work.
He spent the remaining time replicating Pokémon templates, burning through a considerable amount of resources to prepare a new batch of eggs stored securely in his hidden storage space.
For the first wave of wild Pokémon to populate Rastor's Safari Zone, he planned to place one thousand eggs inside.
It sounded simple enough—at first.
But the more he thought about it, the more complicated it became.
Take Munchlax, for example. If he released 500 Munchlax eggs into the zone?
Before any natural disasters could strike, the forest itself would be devoured down to bare dirt.
Balancing the species was absolutely critical.
He also had to consider Pokémon like Zubat and Paras, which preferred cave environments. That meant blasting open more caves—after meticulous calculations to ensure structural stability and prevent future collapses.
Habitat for Ice-types... Habitat for Fire-types... Habitat for Water-types...
Simply put, there were countless variables to consider, and the risk of the entire ecosystem collapsing was dangerously high if he acted carelessly.
After Misdreavus hatched tonight, Arthur had already decided: he would halt all ongoing research and stop creating Gen 2 templates entirely. From that point forward, his sole focus would be on perfecting the Safari Zone's ecosystem.
He would carefully calculate which Pokémon species should dominate in quantity and which should be limited to just one or two eggs.
For example, high-population species would include Pokémon like Caterpie, Oddish, Pidgey, and Magikarp. On the other hand, Pokémon like Munchlax would be restricted to a single egg. One Munchlax was already enough to starve an entire area—he wouldn't dare place more than one, even alongside 999 other eggs.
Of course, aiming for a "perfect" ecosystem was unrealistic—practically impossible.
As long as the Safari Zone's ecosystem could function with only minor setbacks, he would consider it a success.
Any needed adjustments could be made gradually after that.
---
"La~pras~" Lena's newest partner hatched from the egg with a soft cry.
"So cute! And it has a shell!" Lena's eyes sparkled as she and Wartortle eagerly welcomed the Lapras into their growing team.
Her heart ached as she resisted the urge to hug it right away, worried she might accidentally harm the delicate, newly-hatched Pokémon.
It had taken nearly a month for the Lapras egg to finally hatch—a long time, but that was to be expected, considering Lapras had a base stat total of 535.
The Lapras that emerged from the egg was a blue, plesiosaur-like Pokémon with a gentle expression. It had a long neck and a gray, knobby shell resting on its back. Still small and cuddly, it resembled a plushie in the most adorable way. But just like Hector's Scyther, it would likely enter a rapid growth phase soon.
Arthur checked over the Lapras, confirming that it was perfectly healthy before giving Lena a reassuring smile. "Go ahead, scan it with your Pokédex."
Lena eagerly pulled out her Pokédex, her excitement practically bubbling over as she scanned her new partner.
---
[Lapras]
[Types: Water, Ice]
[Ability: Hydration (Hidden Ability)]
[Level: 1]
[Lapras is a gentle, helpful Pokémon that enjoys ferrying people across bodies of water. In the past, its docility made it an easy target for hunters, and it was driven to near-extinction. Lapras has been known to travel in large pods across the seas, spanning both polar and tropical areas. To keep in touch with other of its kind, it sings enchanting melodies.]
[Base stats: -Redacted- (Total: 535)]
[Moves: Growl, Water Gun, -empty-, -empty-, -empty-, -empty-, -empty-, -empty-, -empty-]
---
Hydration, huh? Arthur mused to himself, nodding as he observed Lena. She's really made for a rain team...
Unfortunately, the Lapras didn't have any Egg moves, but just having its Hidden Ability was rare enough. It was still a lucky pull.
"Total base stats of 535!? No wonder it took this long to hatch!" Lena gasped, her eyes wide with surprise. But the shock quickly gave way to pure happiness. She was so smitten with Lapras that Wartortle, standing nearby, shot a jealous look at the new arrival.
Lena noticed and chuckled, realizing she'd have to balance her attention between them.
She didn't quite grasp the full meaning of "535 base stats"—but considering that number was the highest she'd ever seen, she didn't need to. Even her dad's Scyther only had 500, while most of the other Pokémon she'd seen ranged from 200-300. So, 535 had to be something special!
She daydreamed about the moment Lapras evolved and its stats grew even higher, unaware that Lapras didn't actually have an evolution... at least not in the original Pokémon world. Who could say about this world, though?
Arthur smiled as he watched his sister bonding with her Pokémon, her joy infectious.
Then, his attention shifted back to his own Pokémon Egg, nestled gently in a Royal Ash Incubator—an extravagant gift from Rosaria.
The egg trembled ever so slightly, and a small crack began to appear on its surface.
Misdreavus was finally about to be born!