After seeing off Mayor Thomas, Naoki returo his room to make another video call. He leased to see that the Hero Expedition Team had successfully pleted their mission.

  Through the Rotom Phone’s s, Naoki observed a group of wild Treecko hosting a ba uhe newly grown giant tree, celebrating and expressing their gratitude to the three Pokémon from the expedition team.

  What surprised Naoki, however, was when three young Treecko suddenly stepped forward and approached Mew and Teddiursa.

  Just as Naoki began to wonder what was happening, Teddiursa happily expined:

  “Ursa! Ursa!” (These Treecko want to accept our invitation and live on the World Tree!)

  Naoki blinked in surprise. Was it really this easy to ihree of the starter Pokémon from the Hoenn region?

  Was this how the Hero Expedition Team usually recruited Pokémon to live on the World Tree?

  Naoki found the process amusing and couldn’t help but ask, “What did you say to them?”

  Teddiursa eagerly replied, “Ursa! Ursa!” (I told them all about the World Tree and the Expedition Guild. They got really curious about the Pokémoaurant and café being built there and wao check it out!)

  Hearing this, Naoki nodded in uanding.

  These must be Treecko with curious and adventurous spirits.

  Treecko are known for their calm and posed nature, which makes them ideal for roles requiring patiend precision. Naoki gdly weled their decision to join the World Tree unity.

  After the ba cluded, the three Treecko said heartfelt goodbyes to their tribe. Mew and Teddiursa pced them into Poké Balls, and Zapdos transported them back to the ranch.

  Naoki watched the entire process via video.

  He gazed at Zapdos s high into the sky and thought that, at its speed, it would likely arrive in the Paldea region by noon the day.

  Iernoon, Naoki focused on evolving the Eevee on his ranch.

  At present, the ranch already had G, Umbreon, Vaporeon, Freon, and Jolteon.

  The missing evolutions were Leafeon, Espeon, and Sylveon to plete the “Eevee Army.”

  Uhe bright afternoon sun, Naoki asked the unevolved Eevee—excluding his partner Eevee—to line up on the grass.

  The three Eevee obediently sat in a row, their adorable faces glowing with anticipation.

  Other Pokémon, including Pawmot, Alcremie, Ogerpon, and Cyclizar, gathered nearby, curious to watch the evolution process.

  “So, who wants to go first?” Naoki asked, looking at the three Eevee.

  “Bu-yi!”

  The Eevee on the far left immediately raised its little paw.

  Naoki smiled and asked, “You want to evolve into Leafeht?”

  The Eevee eagerly nodded, its soft voice calling out, “Bu-yee! Bu-yee!”

  Evolving into Leafeon was simple—it only required a Leaf Stone.

  Naoki had prepared the Leaf Stone in advance for this very moment.

  He reached into a small box arieved a green stoched with a leaf pattern, its surface glowing faintly.

  The other Eevee turheir wide eyes toward the Leaf Stone, instinctively sensing its power. Their geistincts told them that tact with the stone would transform them into something new.

  “First, let’s remove the Everstone neckce,” Naoki said, croug down. He carefully uhe neckce from the Eevee’s neck before pg the Leaf Stone in front of it.

  “Bu-yi…”

  The Eevee gazed at the stone, hesitated for a moment, thees tiny paw to touch the Leaf Stone.

  As soon as Eevee touched the Leaf Stone, a dazzling light burst forth from its body.

  In the radiant glow, Eevee’s form began to ge rapidly. When the light faded, a brand-new Pokémon with a green body and the fresh st of grass stood proudly.

  Leafeon was born!

  Naoki nodded in satisfa. The evolution had gone smoothly, and now it was time for the Eevee to step forward.

  “ is Espeht?” Naoki asked, turning to the sed Eevee in line.

  The Eevee nodded softly, its voice a gentle, “Eevee~”

  “Alright, let’s see what we do to help you evolve.” Naoki tapped his in thought.

  Unlike Leafeon, evolving into Espeon required more specifiditions. Not only did the friendship level with the trainer o be high, but the evolution also had to occur during the daytime.

  Naoki g the Eevee. Was the friendship level high enough? He was fairly fident it was. After all, he had raised these Eevee sihey hatched and had spent nearly every moment with them at the ranch.

  Deg to test it, Naoki removed the Everstone neckce from the Eevee. Warm sunlight bathed the Pokémon, but nothing happened.

  “It looks like the ditions for evolutio quite met yet...” Naoki muttered with a hint of disappoi.

  If only Rare dies existed in this world—he could simply feed oo Eevee and speed up the process. But sihat wasn’t an option, Naoki decided to go with the traditional approach.

  “Cyclizar!” Naoki called out.

  “Raa!” Cyclizar immediately trotted over.

  Naoki patted Cyclizar’s head and expined, “I need you to do something for me. Train with this Eevee as its sparring partner, help it improve its skills, and gain experience. you do that?”

  Cyclizar puffed out its chest and replied fidently, “Raaah!”

  Cyclizar and Eevee moved to a nearby area to begiraining while Naoki turned his attention to the third Eevee.

  This Eevee, hoping to evolve into Sylveon, gazed up at Naoki with its big, round eyes full of anticipation.

  Naoki asked, “Have you learned Baby-Doll Eyes yet?”

  The Eevee hesitated before responding guiltily, “Bu-yi…”

  Naoki sighed. Long ago, he had tasked Alcremie with teag Baby-Doll Eyes to the Eevee, but it seemed the little Pokémon had been sg off.

  “You…” Naoki shook his head with a smile and lightly poked the Eevee’s forehead. Then, raising his voice, he called out, “Alcremie!”

  “Mree!” Alcremie appeared promptly.

  “ you demonstrate Baby-Doll Eyes for Eevee again? Eevee, make sure you’re paying attention this time!” Naoki said firmly.

  “Bu-yi!” The Eevee nodded quickly, eager to learn.

  Alcremie stepped forward and took on the demeanor of a patient teacher. Despite its smaller size pared to some of the other Pokémon on the ranch, Alcremie exuded a sense of authority, much like a big sister.

  “Mree!” Alcremie began to demonstrate, fog its gaze ily.

  Naoki noticed the faint pink glow that shimmered in Alcremie’s eyes—a sign of its Fairy-type energy activating during the move. The effect was immediate; Eevee, caught in the soft gaze of Baby-Doll Eyes, appeared momentarily dazed, its small body swaying slightly.

  After a few moments, Eevee shook its head vigorously, snapping out of its trance.

  “Did you catch that?” Naoki asked.

  “Bu-yi!” The Eevee nodded enthusiastically.

  Huh, that was quibsp;

  Naoki couldn’t help but feel a little surprised. “Why don’t you give it a try?”

  Eevee nodded eagerly, mimig Alcremie by holding its breath and fog all its energy on widening its eyes. However, instead of successfully using Baby-Doll Eyes, Eevee actally went cross-eyed.

  Naoki: “…"

  The other Eevee, who had been , thought its panion looked ridiculous. It couldn’t help but sigh internally—this was supposed to be easy.

  The partner Eevee, who had already mastered Baby-Doll Eyes, decided to step forward to demonstrate. With a fident shout of “Buee Buee!” it executed the move perfectly, causing a faint pink glow to shimmer in its eyes as it locked its gaze oruggling Eevee.

  The partner Eevee then turned and sighed dramatically. "Bu Yi…" The sigh seemed to say, "You're so hopeless! I already mastered it!"

  This show of petence made the struggling Eevee feel even more embarrassed. Tears welled up in its eyes as it let out a distressed cry and bolted away from the group.

  Naoki: “…"

  The partner Eevee tilted its head in fusion, its i eyes silently asking, "What just happened?"

  The other evolved Eevees exged gheir expressions a mix of curiosity and amusement.

  Nearby, G y ft on the grass, sighing melodramatically. "Bu-yi…" Its expression clearly said, "These Eevee just ’t get it together."

  Naoki watched all this unfold, trying to suppress a ugh. He realized that the embarrassed Eevee needed some encement.

  Leaving the rest of the Pokémon to py, Naoki followed the trail of the upset Eevee. He eventually found it sulking iility room behind the Pokémon Tarven.

  “Alright, don’t be sad,” Naoki said gently as he squatted down in front of the Eevee. He patted its little head in a f gesture.

  “Buee…” Eevee whimpered, feeling even more dejected. It truly felt like a failure for not being able to learn Baby-Doll Eyes.

  “You know,” Naoki began, “not every Pokémon is a natural genius. Everyone learns at their own pace.” He paused, then added, “Do you knonite?”

  “Buee?” Eevee looked up, its watery eyes filled with curiosity.

  “Dragonite wasn’t very good at learning moves when it first came to the ranch,” Naoki expined. “It struggled a lot, but through hard work and practice, it mastered some of the toughest teiques.”

  Naoki tinued, “There’s a saying: ‘Hard work make up for a ck of talent.’ It means that even if you’re not naturally gifted, effort aermination help you succeed.”

  Eevee blinked, its ears twitg as it absorbed Naoki’s words.

  “You’re not a stupid Eevee,” Naoki reassured it. “You just didn’t put in the effort during practice before.”

  Eevee’s ears perked up. “Buee?” It seemed to ask, "If I work hard, I learn it?"

  Naoki nodded with a smile. “That’s right! I believe in you. And even if you ’t, that’s okay too. You stay as an Eevee forever. I’ll always take care of you.”

  “Buee…” Tears welled up in Eevee’s eyes again, but this time, they were tears of gratitude.

  After a moment, the determined sparkle returo its eyes. “Bu Yi!” it excimed resolutely. Eevee didn’t want to stay as it was forever—it wao evolve into a powerful Sylveon and be by Naoki’s side in its evolved form!

  Eevee’s resolve solidified. It decided then and there to practice Baby-Doll Eyes diligently and leave behind its days of ziness.

  With newfound focus, Eevee began to trate. It recalled Alcremie’s earlier demonstration, closed its eyes, and started eling the Fairy energy within itself.

  Naoki instantly noticed what Eevee was trying to do. He observed its movements carefully and gave a bit of guidance:

  "Rex your expression, don’t be too teare at your oppo with your cutest, most endearing look!"

  The cutest look?

  Eevee blirying to uand. It rexed its body, opes big round eyes wide, and gazed up at Naoki with the sweetest, most i expression it could muster.

  A faint pink glow shimmered through Eevee’s eyes—Baby-Doll Eyes was successfully used!

  Naoki couldn’t help but marvel. “You’re so adorable,” he muttered, his hands instinctively reag out to pick up the fluffy Eevee.

  But before he could scoop it up, Eevee’s body began to emit a radiant white light.

  In the brilliance of evolution, Eevee’s appearance ged rapidly. Delicate, ribbon-like feelers sprouted from its body, and its fur became pure white, ated with soft pink tones on its ears, tail, and legs.

  When the light subsided, standing before Naoki was a beautiful new form of Eevee—Sylveon had been born!

  For a moment, Naoki eechless. Then Sylveon, its ribbon feelers movily, grasped his hand, tilting its head and looking at him with bright, sapphire eyes.

  "Bu-yi!" it cried cheerfully.

  Naoki gently pihe soft ribbon feelers, a smile spreading across his face. “See? I told you you could do it. gratutions, Sylveon.”

  "Buee~" Sylveon responded, radiating happiness.

  With Sylveon’s evolution plete, Naoki decided it was time to rejoihers. Carrying Sylveoepped outside.

  The other Eevees were stunned upon seeing Sylveon’s transformation. They crowded around, marveling at their newly evolved friend. Sylveon, ever gentle, greeted them warmly and joihem in py.

  Naoki approached his partner Eevee, who stood at a distance, Sylveon. He crouched down and spoke softly, “Sylveon isn’t stupid. It just wao have a little fun. Your earlier behavior hurt its feelings—it was really upset.”

  “Buee…” Partner Eevee looked over at Sylveon, its expression thoughtful. It hadn’t meant to be hurtful; it was just a little impatient earlier.

  Naoki patted its head gently. “So, do you know what to do?”

  Partner Eevee hesitated, then nodded firmly. “Bu-yi!”

  Without wasting a moment, it trotted over to Sylveon. Naoki watched as the two exged a few words. Though he couldn’t hear what was said, the smiles that followed made it clear Sylveon had accepted its partner’s apology. Reciliation was swift afelt.

  Meanwhile, not far away, the Eevee training with the Cyclizar began to glow with the bright light of evolution. Sunlight poured down on its body, infusing it with warmth and energy. Within moments, a ruby-red gem sparkled on its forehead, and its fur took on a sleek vender sheen.

  When the light faded, Espeon stood proudly in pce of the Eevee, its eyes shimmering with a soft, velvety brilliance.

  With Espeon’s evolution plete, the ranow boasted the full range of Eeveelutions.

  Naoki called out to the group, his voice filled with excitement, “Everyone, e here!”

  In an instant, the colorful array of Eeveelutions, from G to Sylveon, dashed over, surrounding him in a joyful mob. Even the unevolved Eevee eagerly joined in.

  Naoki ughed as he petted one Eevee, then hugged another, enjoying their warm fur and affeate nuzzles. The Eeveelutions squatted patiently, their eyes shining with love and trust.

  For these Eeveelutions, Naoki was the most important person in their world. He had been there for them sihey hatched, feeding them, pying with them, telling them stories, and soothing them to sleep. He was their caregiver, their protector, and their family.

  Even the and Umbreon, who had arrived at the ranch before evolving, watched the se with quiet fondness. Though they didn’t see Naoki as a parental figure, they respected him deeply.

  Looking at the sea of fluffy Eeveelutions around him, Naoki felt a wave of pure happiness wash over him.