Psychic Evolution at the Geyser

“How are you feeling now, Ran?”

For the past few days Ran had begun to concern Sundae. Though she hadn’t done anything to cause it, to his knowledge, she suddenly started to seem unwell and like a headache was bothering her. Thankfully whatever it was it wasn’t crippling, as she seemed to be able to function as normal, but the problem made her much more irritable. Seemingly minor things would cause her to get upset and accidentally destroy things with her power. So Sundae knew he had to get this under control soon whatever it was or they’d probably get themselves into a lot of trouble before long.

His intention, originally, was just to stop by Lostlorn Ruins. It was the place where Ran first hatched and though he didn’t really know why he thought maybe the place would hold some kind of clue. But as they wandered around the ruins (feeling eyes on their back the entire time...) nothing jumped out at him, nor did Ran seem to be feeling any better. In fact, as time passed, it only seemed to be getting worse. Even more worried than before he thought about turning around until remembering something about a place near Lostlorn Ruins; Sub-Zero Geyser. Though he’d yet to visit he knew it was, apparently, full of hot springs... and it sounded like it might be just the thing Ran needed.

The walk wasn’t long and Sundae could easily tell the direction by the steam that began to form the closer they got. It wasn’t long before the temperature began to marginally increase and the various pockets of hot springs came into view. Many of the fusions who were relaxing in the area didn’t seem very hostile nor did they appear to be fearful of the strangers who just arrived. Likely due to the hot springs they appeared to be completely relaxed and unconcerned. A good thing for them, at least.

Not all the hot springs were the same temperature though. Carrying Ran in his arms, Sundae carefully tested each pocket they came across to gauge its temperature. He didn’t want to burn Ran on accident and make her issue worse, but at the same time if the hot spring was too cold it probably wouldn’t do much to help her either... Thankfully, though, finding the right temperature pool didn’t take long. He found a shallow part of the pool and sat Ran in it making sure it covered just enough of her. 

“Ral...” Ran’s cry didn’t sound full of energy confirming to Sundae that her headache, at least, hadn’t gone away. Though by her posture sinking into the hot spring she was enjoying it at least.

“I see... hmm...” Sundae sighed and folded his arms. What could it be that was bothering her so much? He was basically certain it couldn’t be anything of her own doing. Did something, or someone, else do something?”

“Tal.” 

Sundae looked at Ran when she started pulling on an open part of his jacket. She wasn’t very strong, but she was clearing trying to pull him into the pool with her.

“I don’t think this pocket of water is big enough for me.” Sundae pointed out. At most he imagined it would reach his thigh, but the outside air was still quite a bit cooler compared to the hot spring. He didn’t really want to freeze. “You should focus on trying to relax.”

From the look on her face Ran didn’t like his answer, but before she could offer any complaints a shooting pain seemed to stop her and the small fusion reached her hands up to her head with a whine. Her sudden movement startled Sundae and he knelt down.

“It’ll be okay Ran, what’s wrong?”

She didn’t respond. Instead Sundae noticed her small body tense and began to visibly shake. The ripples in the hot spring pool, however, looked larger than he would expect from such a tiny pokemon moving. On top of which he could feel some type of energy beginning to compound and concentrate around them. He couldn’t tell if it was coming from or being drawn towards Ran, all he knew was it wasn’t going to release in a calm manner. 

“Ran hey-!” Sundae tried to talk to her to try and relax but she clearly wasn’t paying attention to him. 

“Raltal!” A split second after her sudden cry the invisible energy that was collecting suddenly unleashed with a bright and blinding light following it. Sundae felt himself get thrown back onto the ground and the water from the pool Ran sat in, as well as the water from pools surrounding it, exploded out of their little ponds just as violently. Just as suddenly as the energy released it was gone and the water began raining down in a very short downpour. Sundae naturally got soaked by the warm rain, though a decent amount of water still returned to the pockets it came from. 

“Ugh...” Sundae hit the ground hard enough he could tell it would leave bruises later, but other than that and some disorientation he felt fine. He sat up slowly to try and not rattle his head any further and rubbed at right arm. It  hit the ground first, and the hardest, to break his fall. He just felt lucky it wasn’t broken.

“Ran?”

When his brain finally caught up with the situation he got up quicker, ignoring the sudden vertigo from his quick movement, and looked around for his Ralts and Yveltal fusion. The light that came after the huge burst of energy was just beginning to fade but, as it did, it wasn’t the fusion he remembered standing there. The fusion was bigger, almost twice as big, and yet he couldn’t deny the familiarity he felt when looking at it.

“Ran...?” Sundae repeated his question and slowly moved toward her. The fusion looked around, seeming to be just as confused, and brushed off the water that had fallen along her skirt. She proceeded to examine herself and her new form before giving a bit of a twirl. Elation seemed to follow.

“Yvelia!” The newly evolved Kirlia/Yveltal fusion hopped gracefully out of the water and skipped over to Sundae. She looked good as new and the pain that was bothering her before had clearly disappeared... but that burst of energy still bothered him. Evolutions weren’t usually that violent, he thought.

“Are you... okay?” Sundae asked with a little uncertainty. Ran’s response was clear as she ran around the area clearly excited by her new ability to move much faster and much more easily. “That’s... great. But what was that before?”

Ran stopped and tilted her head at his question. When she realized what he meant, though, she walked back over to the pool where she previously sat. She stared at the pool until her eyes began to glow with psychic energy with the water, just a moment later, being moved by an invisible force. She stopped before it got too much stronger and looked at him proudly.

“Oh! Oh, yes, I get it.” Sundae pinched the bridge of his nose. He should’ve recalled the stories he’d heard about Psyduck when he lived in Sinnoh. They often got headaches because of a collection of psychic energy and it was no different this time. If he had to guess the amount of energy building was just too much for Ran.

“So you evolved and, at the same time, learned Psychic but unleashing all that energy. Is that about right?”

“Yvel~” Ran seemed pleased at his understanding.

“Maybe it should’ve been obvious.” Sundae admitted. “Regardless, though, the important thing is that you’re doing okay.”

Ran took one of Sundae’s hands and tried pulling him towards the hot springs again. Though she was clearly feeling much better and the crisis was now gone, it seemed that she wasn’t quite done with the hot springs juuuust yet. Sundae didn’t really have the heart to refuse her at the moment. Besides, the sudden downpour already soaked him and made him feel a bit chilled... What was the harm in enjoying the warm water while his clothes dried? Well, if they could dry in this environment.