Kanto : Going My Way

Pokemon Tech - Part 3

Ash sat in the cafeteria of the Pokemon High School with a cup of coffee in front of him. It was 8:00 pm and it was time to meet Aunt Tulip. Some other students in the cafeteria gave him strange looks of astonishment and wonder...And he was hating it...

Ash Ketchum hated extra attention if he could avoid it. But since he had defeated 4 of the most heinous bullies in the whole school everyone's attention seemed to be on him now...He calmly ignored the stares that he got and took a small sip from the cup of coffee in front of him. He looked at his watch to see that it was 8:03 now...That's when he heard the tapping of footsteps...He looked towards the other end of the café to see the familiar figure of Tulip approaching him with a smile...

"Greetings Aunt Tulip" Ash said in his usual monotone with a small smile. Tulip smiled back and waved at him, "Hi Ashy!" She proceeded to take the seat in front of Ash. A cup of warm coffee was laid in front of her.

Ash nodded and ignored his hated nickname as he spoke, "Well...Since you are here, I will get straight to the topic then...I want to know more about Pokemon Evolution. And not that stuff that is on the pages of the books...Like REAL evolution stuff. What triggers it? What are the causes? The requirements? Everything...I have 3 Pokemon on the cusp on evolving after all..."

Tulip smiled wryly...It could have been mistaken for a smirk that says 'I-know-something-that-you-don't'. She said, "Fine then...You need to do just as I say. First step, take a deep breath in..." Ash followed her order and waited for the next, "...And then release it to forget ALL you have ever learnt from books" Ash looked reluctant for a moment before he did as she said.

"Forget about everything and answer my question...What is Pokemon Evolution and Why do Pokemon Evolve?" Tulip asked with a quirked eyebrow. Ash opened his mouth to speak but seemed reluctant. He didn't know what to say except for the theory part that he got from the books...Finally he sighed and started to speak...

"Evolution...Evolution is growth...It is change...Evolution is nature..." Ash replied after taking another sip of coffee, "Whenever Mother Nature presented with a difficulty...We had to change to cope up...To survive. We had to grow and change...I think Evolution is not because of nature...Evolution is Nature. The desire to grow and change, the desire to overcome and survive, that is evolution...A Bagon can't survive for much long in the wilderness, because of its surroundings...There are wild hunters around ready to devour it in a minute. The Bagon has to eat, gather food...A Bagon can't do much in that case...But a Shelgon? Yes, it can. It has increased defense against predators, more strength to earn its bread and butter. It can survive much better in the wilderness compared to a Bagon...And yet, when the Shelgon looks up...At the top of mountain where the forbidden fruit grows, it can't help but hope...Hope to get a taste of the forbidden fruit that grows high above the mountain..." Ash chuckled at his poetic words and took another sip of coffee,

"...It can't climb the mountain...But it can change itself...And thus, from the inner refines of its contained self...The dragon of the skies arises. It changes. It grows. Into a Salamence...Now it fly to the top of the mountain for the delicious fruit that grows there..." A smile came over his face which made him look a lot older than his 13 years, "...It has grown. It has changed. THAT is evolution"

Tulip looked at Ash for many long moments...The faraway look in his eyes made him look a lot older than he actually was...They were the eyes of an experienced old man telling stories...Not the ones of an adventurous teenager on his Pokemon Journey...

"...You have grown Ash Ketchum...You have changed..." Tulip said finally with a smile. It wasn't very occasional that Tulip called Ash something so formal...