Seeing their leader standing in front of them, the fallen Glooms felt a sense of déjà vu.
Memories of their time in the Black Forest flooded back—the same leader had once stood before them, shielding them from danger.
Back then, they were just Oddish, constantly under threat from wild Pokémon in the forest.
Their leader had stood in front of them then, just like now.
"Gloom~"
The fallen Glooms slowly began to rise and gathered behind their leader.
Just like in the forest, they stood together, no longer fighting alone.
"Glooom!"
The leader glanced back at its comrades, and a familiar feeling swelled in its heart. A brilliant green light began to glow from its body.
The same glow emerged from the others as well, their green energy slowly merging into a radiant light.
The Yanma began to sense something was wrong. They circled once in the air before diving again.
Suddenly, the Gloom leader unleashed all the energy it had gathered. Countless leaves formed around it—dense and sharp.
Seeing the Yanma swoop down, the Gloom leader's eyes narrowed as it unleashed another Razor Leaf.
But this time, powered by the strength of its allies, the attack turned into a storm of flying leaves, sweeping across the sky.
The Yanma's pupils shrank. It flapped its wings rapidly and unleashed a Sonic Boom.
The sonic wave and the Razor Leaf storm collided mid-air.
There was no contest—the shockwave was shattered, and the flying leaves engulfed the Yanma in an overwhelming barrage!
"Glooom!"
The Gloom leader stared at the sky in shock, while the Glooms behind it erupted in cheers.
"As expected of our Gloom leader. Only it can unite all the Glooms' strength," a patrol team member praised, making the flower on the Gloom leader's head twitch slightly.
Zzzzzz—
Just then, a familiar vibrating sound echoed from above.
The Gloom leader's expression changed. Looking up, it saw the Yanma again, reappearing in the sky.
Although they looked battered, the Yanma had not yet fallen.
"So… it's not over yet."
From afar, Aven, who had been observing the battle the whole time, sighed quietly.
Yanma are Bug/Flying-type Pokémon, which gives them a quadruple resistance to Grass-type moves.
That Razor Leaf attack had indeed been spectacular—but defeating a Yanma in one shot through four-times type resistance was still too difficult.
In the grass, upon seeing that Yanma had not yet fallen, the Gloom leader still stood firmly in front of its companions.
Just like before—so long as it hadn't fallen, it would not let its comrades get hurt!
Whoosh, whoosh!
Energy flickered around Gloom's body, and the surging power stirred the air into gusts. Then, faint pink glows began to appear around Gloom, gradually condensing into floating pink petals.
"This is... Petal Blizzard!"
Even Aven's eyes narrowed with surprise. A high-level Grass-type move—he hadn't expected Gloom to suddenly comprehend such a powerful technique at this moment. But… the timing couldn't be more perfect.
The pink petals swirled around Gloom's body, spinning with the air currents. Then, in an instant, the petals froze in mid-air—before launching like a volley of knives, shooting straight toward the airborne Yanma!
At that moment, Yanma still hadn't recovered from the previous attack. Its vision filled with the oncoming rain of pink petals!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The petals slashed across Yanma's body, leaving gashes in their wake.
Everyone on the field—every single Gloom—watched this scene in silent awe. The drifting pink petals were just too beautiful.
As the petals struck, Yanma fell from the sky like a kite with its string cut, crashing into the grass below.
For a moment, the entire field went silent. Then, the Glooms all erupted into a chorus of joyous cheers.
The Gloom leader also gazed at the floating pink petals in the air, its eyes sparkling.
"Congratulations, Gloom."
At that moment, Gloom suddenly heard a familiar voice. It quickly turned around—to see Aven standing behind it, a pleased smile on his face.
"Glooom!"Gloom happily nodded.
Then, it looked back at its companions and suddenly seemed to understand something.
Wasn't its purpose… to protect its comrades? To protect its home? To protect Aven—and all that it wished to protect?
With that realization, Gloom raised its head. The dark clouds that had long hung over its heart seemed to disperse. It had made up its mind—it wanted to grow even stronger!
…
On the farm's grassy field.
"Gloom, are you ready?"
Aven held a Leaf Stone in his hand and smiled at the Gloom in front of him.
Upon hearing this, Gloom looked at Aven.
In its mind, it recalled everything it had been through with him—from their first encounter in the Black Forest, to protecting the village, to all the words of encouragement Aven had given it.
Finally, it remembered the decision it had just made. It wanted to become stronger—so it could protect those it wished to protect!
A smile formed on its face, and Gloom nodded seriously.
It was ready—not only to evolve, but also to shoulder the responsibility of protecting its tribe, its village, and of course… Aven.
"Then let's begin."
Aven's gaze softened. He gently patted Gloom's head and placed the Leaf Stone in front of it.
Boom!
The moment Gloom touched the Leaf Stone, a blinding white light burst forth.
The light continued to spread until it completely engulfed Gloom.
Within the glow of evolution, Gloom's body began to change—growing taller, and the flower on its head became larger and thicker.
It was clear that as Gloom began to evolve, energy from the surrounding field was rapidly drawn in.
Soon, the ground beneath Gloom began to wither, while the energy fluctuations around its body grew stronger and more intense, pushing it toward a higher level of existence.
Seeing Gloom evolving in the field, the other Pokémon who had not yet evolved all looked on with envy.
Petilil observed the evolution closely. Suddenly, it felt a familiar energy from Gloom's body.
Life energy… this was life energy!
Petilil's eyes sparkled, and the leaves atop its head also began to gather life energy.
Although the two types of energy were fundamentally similar, there seemed to be subtle differences between them. Petilil's gaze grew thoughtful.
With that, Petilil lowered its head and let the life energy it had gathered flow into the grass-covered ground.
Gloom's evolution continued. The energy from the earth was being rapidly absorbed—naturally including the life energy from Petilil.
As that energy flowed into Gloom's body, the glow of evolution became even more radiant, and its form continued to transform.
Petilil silently sensed the changes in Gloom's energy.
Aven, of course, noticed all this—but he didn't interfere. Life energy was an incredibly inclusive form of energy.
Absorbing it during evolution would only benefit Gloom.
However, the fact that Gloom could absorb Petilil's life energy during evolution… that was a topic worth researching.
Gradually, the radiant light of evolution faded.
And in its place stood a powerful new Pokémon—with a massive flower atop its head, and a much more robust body than before.
"Congratulations, Vileplume."
Aven looked at the Pokémon before him with a smile full of pride.
Vileplume examined its new body carefully, then broke into a wide, joyful grin.
It could clearly feel the difference—this new form was strong!
(End of Chapter)