The road down from Route 4 was quiet.
Gravel crunched beneath Nathan's boots as he made his way through the winding trail. Below, the gleaming rooftops of Cerulean City shimmered beneath a clear blue sky, but the path there wasn't just a slope, it was a final stretch of preparation.
Today wasn't about arrival.
It was about earning the next step.
"Formation, move out," Nathan said softly.
Squirtle took point on the right, scanning the slopes.
Zorua shimmered left, barely visible against the edge of the grass.
Mankey paced restlessly behind them, fists twitching.
And Nidoran walked quietly beside Nathan, ears flicking at every rustle.
𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐜 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 – 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧: 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 | 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐲𝐩𝐞: 𝐌𝐢𝐱𝐞𝐝 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬/𝐑𝐨𝐜𝐤
𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐄𝐗𝐏 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝
𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞: +𝟏𝟎% 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐔𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞/𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬
They reached a small clearing half-ringed by wind-worn stones, flat ground, good visibility.
Nathan halted the team.
"Set up for training," he said. "Solo drills first. Pair tactics next."
Each Pokémon took position instinctively now.
Zorua vanished, blinking into soft shadow illusions among the stone pillars.
Squirtle practiced movement bursts, rolling from Rapid Spin into sudden Water Gun feints.
Mankey performed short bursts of attack motions, controlled, timed, followed by defensive stances.
And Nidoran waited, quietly poised.
Nathan crouched beside him.
"You're close," he said, offering a slow nod. "But I want you to cross that threshold your way."
He tapped the System.
𝐍𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧♂ – 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝟏𝟎 → 𝟏𝟏
𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝: 𝟖𝟒/𝟏𝟎𝟎 → 𝟖𝟔/𝟏𝟎𝟎 (𝐋𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥)
𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞: 𝐄𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝟏𝟔 𝐢𝐟 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞
𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐡: 𝐀𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 (𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬: 𝟖𝟐%)
Nathan turned toward the field. "Let's push the scenario."
They began with paired mock battles.
Squirtle vs. Mankey was first.
Speed versus technique.
Nathan stood between them, counting out moves.
"Squirtle, duck-roll into Water Gun. Mankey, bait with Feint Step, Low Kick if the angle opens."
Mankey growled, dashed forward then stopped short. Squirtle launched his Water Gun early.
Too early.
Nathan snapped, "No, observe, don't assume. Again."
This time, Mankey feinted left, drew out the shot, and slipped under it.
Low Kick struck, Squirtle grunted and slid back, but stayed upright.
"Better," Nathan said. "Mankey, back off. Squirtle, reset."
They swapped out, and Nathan turned to Zorua and Nidoran.
"Team stealth and strike. Zorua, set a decoy path. Nidoran, predict exit and intercept."
Zorua blinked, creating a flickering illusion that darted between two pillars.
Nidoran sniffed the air, lowered his body and dashed right.
Zorua reappeared in that exact spot, genuine, and Nidoran's Horn Attack met her full side.
"Good!" Nathan called. "Again, different angle."
They did it four more times.
Each time, the prediction got sharper. The bond, stronger.
And the System chimed.
𝐍𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧♂ 𝐄𝐗𝐏: +𝟑𝟖 | 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝟏𝟐 → 𝟏𝟑
𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝: 𝟖𝟔 → 𝟖𝟗/𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 – 𝐍𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝
Nathan narrowed his eyes. He's not just reacting now. He's anticipating.
The final test was a team formation skirmish.
Nathan marked targets on three tall rocks. "Each mark is a theoretical threat. Work together. Eliminate all three as fast as possible."
They moved.
Zorua used Leer on the centre pillar, illusions split off.
Squirtle water-tagged the left target, ricocheting the blast off a stone curve for speed.
Mankey launched from the rear, rebounding off Squirtle's shell mid-spin, landed hard and karate chopped the right mark.
And Nidoran dashed forward, horn glowing but stopped.
Nathan blinked.
Then realised: He was holding back.
Zorua reappeared beside Nidoran, low growl in her throat.
Not in warning.
In support.
Nathan watched, quiet.
Then Nidoran lowered his head.
A glow began to rise from his paws upward, coating his form in white-blue energy.
𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐭: 𝐄𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐭 – 𝐍𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧♂
𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐡: 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬: 𝐄𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭 – 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠…
Nidoran's form shimmered, his ears elongated, horns sharpening, limbs growing firmer and more muscular. His back spikes spread wider.
When the light faded, he stood taller. Stronger. His eyes glowed with stable confidence.
𝐍𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐨 – 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝟏𝟑 | 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥: 𝐁
𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐝: 𝟗𝟎/𝟏𝟎𝟎 (𝐋𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥) | 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐆𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝: 𝐆𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭
𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞: 𝐏𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 (𝐔𝐩𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝)
𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐄𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝: 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐆𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧
𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐄𝐗𝐏: 𝟏𝟓𝟒 / 𝟕𝟎𝟎
The team gathered around. Even Mankey seemed to pause, quietly watching.
Nathan walked up and knelt in front of his newly evolved partner.
"You earned that without a single order," he said.
Nidorino bowed his head.
No growl. No roar.
Just quiet pride.
That night, they camped beneath a ridge overlooking the river leading into Cerulean. Nathan took first watch while the others rested.
He watched the moonlight dance on the water and quietly flipped through his notes.
Nidorino's evolution had shifted something. Not just in power, but team rhythm. There was a balance now. A shape to their growth.
Squirtle, the stabiliser.
Zorua, the thinker.
Mankey, the wild card.
And now Nidorino, the shield.
He opened the System and marked one final note.
𝐎𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞: 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐲'𝐬 𝐆𝐲𝐦 – 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐙𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐓𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬
𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐩: 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐥. 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐮𝐩 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬 (𝐍𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐨 / 𝐙𝐨𝐫𝐮𝐚). 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫.
Nathan shut the interface and looked up at the stars.
Tomorrow, they'd enter Cerulean.
But tonight, his team had evolved, in more ways than one.