A shocking evolution

"So we won't get to see Balto evolve yet?" Ash asked with a small pout.

"Sorry, Ash," Vali sat down with Pikachu in her lap, "You'll get to see Pikachu evolve today though,"

Ash and Gary both regained their excitement at those words. Pikachu backed into her stomach as the boys looked at him with eager eyes. Daisy shook her head with a small laugh as Steven chuckled a bit at their antics. Vali scratched behind Pikachu's ears as Gary asked, "Do you have a Thunder stone?"

"In my bag," Vali patted the small messenger bag that Delia didn't mind lending her for the day.

It contained the case with Vali's evolutionary items which would stay in the bag and out of the two children's hands for as long as she could help it. The incubator with her Vulpix egg was currently settled in the seat beside her. The tiny twitches and small jumps of the egg left the fire-type master-in-training overjoyed. Eevee was currently settled beside it and giving anyone that walked near it a dark look. She reached out to scratch behind his ears as Daisy asked, "Vali, what are you going to evolve Eevee into?"

Eevee, Vali, and Pikachu all stiffened at the question before the two pokemon began throwing dark looks at the eldest Oak grandchild. Calming the two down while inwardly struggling with the burst of irrational anger that surged through her at that question, she bit out, "I am not going to take that choice from Eevee. After everything he's been through, he deserves to decide. If he doesn't wish to evolve, I will find an Ever Stone for him."

Daisy seemed to understand that she had asked a bad question. Nodding, the eldest Oak grandchild fell silent. Delia walked into the small lounge room they were waiting in for Professor Oak to get done fixing up Balto, "I've got hot chocolate, brownies, and Christmas cookies!"

Tension dissipated though neither of her pokemon stopped glaring at Daisy, Vali took her mug of hot-chocolate and grabbed two Christmas cookies. She also took two brownies. Breaking a cookie and a brownie in half, she gave them to her pokemon. Pikachu immediately cheered up and began eating them while Eevee eyed the offered sweets with some confusion. She ate her Christmas cookie and held up Eevee's piece. Eevee eyed it for a moment before taking a small bite. Immediatly his eyes widened before he gently snatched the cookie from her to eat it, she smiled warmly down at him. The sound of a camera going off causing her to look up and she found Steven holding her camera, "I thought you might like a picture."

"Thank you," Vali told him before turning back to Eevee who'd finished his cookie, "Try this, it's a brownie,"

Eevee sniffed the bit of chocolate heaven and took a tentative bite. Vali watched as his eyes closed with a blissful expression and his tail wagged a bit. She heard another snap from her camera, but ignored it as she gently rubbed behind Eevee's ears. Eevee finished off his piece of brownie before giving her brownie a look. With a soft laugh, she pulled off half of it and handed it over before she ate her half. Delia made a cooing sound, "Oh, so cute."

"Taste good huh?" Vali asked Eevee earning a tentative nod, "I'm glad you like them, Eevee,"

When Professor Oak finished healing up Balto, they left the lounge to go outside again. While evolutions could happen inside, it was advised for them to occur outside especially when it was an electric-type evolving as they tended to short out any nearby electronics via a power surge. All electronics were left inside save for the pokedex's which were specifically shielded against such things. Vali took out her case of evolutionary items as her pokemon were released to watch the coming evolution of Pikachu. Taking out the Thunder stone after making sure her gloves were in place, she closed the case and put it back into the bag. Picking up the energy filled stone, she approached Pikachu and set the stone down in front of him, "Pikachu, I'm proud of you. While I will miss you being a Pikachu, I am happy to help you become a Raichu and reach whatever new goal you have after that point."

Pikachu looked at Vali with a warm expression before touching the stone with coo. Light erupted through the area as Pikachu began to evolve, the scent of electricity burned through the air as the hair on the back of her neck rose up. She covered her eyes as Ash and Gary shouted in excitement. When the light died down, she waited a second before uncovering her eyes. When she did, a gasp left left her as Ash shouted, "That isn't a Raichu."

Vali looked at the pokemon Pikachu had turned into with a sense of shock and awe running through her. He looked like kind of like a regular Raichu only a lot diffrent. The dark orange fur had been replaced with a lighter browner fur and the features more rounded. The eyes were a deep sky blue with yellow circles at the bottom. The large ears were almost completely yellow with a spire more towards the base of the ear and brown on the inside. The ears were thicker than a regular Raichu and less pointed. The paws were white just like his belly only with bright yellow near the edge. The stripes on his back have also turned white, and there is a small, white circular marking on each heel. The lightning bolt-shaped tip of his tail has rounded edges. Moving towards the newly evolved pokemon, she murmured, "P-Pikachu?"

The newly evolved pokemon nodded lightly before looking at his body in shock. Vali looked at Professor Oak as he almost shouted, "An Alolan Raichu!"

"Alolan Raichu, Professor?" Vali asked him in confusion, "I've heard of an Alolan Vulpix and Ninetales, but not a Raichu,"

"I'm not surprised since you were more focused on learning about fire-types than anything else," Professor Oak said causing Vali to blush, "Let's head inside and I'll explain,"

Vali nodded as she returned her pokemon again save for Eevee, Balto, and her apparent Alolan Raichu. She wasn't the only one to look at Alolan Raichu in shock when he started to levitate and use his tail as a surf board. Ash shouted, "Awesome!"

They quickly got settled in the lounge and Professor Oak started to explain what an Alolan Raichu was, "Alolan Raichu are a duel-type pokemon. They're both electric and psychic-types though no one is quite sure why they evolved like that. We do have a theory that it's due to a change in its diet, but we can't really prove that."

"So how is it possible for Pikachu to have become an Alolan Raichu?" Vali asked as she hugged the newly evolved pokemon, "Not that it isn't cool and I'd love him no matter what, but how is it possible?"

"I had my theory that Pikachu came from Alola due to his Electric Terrain which is rarely seen in a member of the Pichu-line outside of Alola," Professor Oak replied as he looked at her newly evolved Raichu with a sad expression, "I believe that Pikachu was once a pokemon that belonged to one of those trainers that came from Alola and was abandoned,"

"Abandoned?" Vali looked at Raichu, "W-were you abandoned?" Raichu nodded with a sad expression, "Oh, Raichu, no wonder you didn't want a trainer in the beginning," She hugged him being careful not to press to hard on his newly evolved body, "I'm so sorry you had to go through that, but I'm glad it meant we'd get to meet,"

Raichu nuzzled her with a soft coo. Professor Oak spoke up after a few moments, "Vali, I will have Alakazam take him under her wing so to speak. It'll cut out a lot of problems he'll have with his new powers."

"Alright," Vali looked at Raichu with a small smile, "Now, I do believe a certain pokemon said he wanted a nickname after evolving. Shall we find one?"

Raichu nodded and they began going through various names for him before settling on Elrond. Vali looked at Professor Oak when Gary asked, "Gramps, does this mean he'll be able to talk to people telepathically?"

Professor Oak shrugged, "I'm not quite sure. I'll have to talk to Cousin Samson, but it should be possible with at least Vali."

Vali perked up at that and looked at Elrond with a grin, "I hope it's possible. It'd be nice to be able to get a better understanding of my pokemon," Elrond grinned at her and nodded, "Professor, would you have your cousin send all the information he has on Alolan Raichu and can you import it into my pokedex?"

"Of course, I'll speak to him as soon as possible," Professor Oak agreed earning a sigh of relief from Vali, "Now, I think it's time that Elrond is checked over,"

Other than the usual problems with control and balance that were normal for newly evolved pokemon, Elrond was prone to headaches due to his new psychic-typing. With Alakazam's help, the problem should be solved once he got more control. He also needed more fruits and berries added to his diet which meant stocking up on dried fruits whenever Vali went shopping for supplies. Other than all that, Elrond was healthier than most newly evolved pokemon which wasn't surprising considering the events leading up to his evolution.