Stuff in between with the Eevee Bros

**"Stuff in between with the Eevee Bros"**is the twenty-eighth (twenty-ninth in Archive of Our Own and Royal Road) chapter of *Pokémon Reset Bloodlines.*After leaving Fuchsia, Iris makes good on her word of beginning to train Ash on the physical department, as well as Misty and Anabel. The group arrives to Stone Town, where Ash meets the Eevee Bros, a few trainers who look up to him and are to begin their journeys, and an Elite Four member who's passing by the town.

## Plot

Ash is having another strange dream, this time seeing an older (twenty-something) version of himself conversing with a shadowy figure. The shadowy figure berates the older Ash for his perceived excessive altruism, which seems to deviate him from his personal goals, thinking it a waste of time to stop to help random people when it brings him no benefit. The older Ash counters that the shadowy figure doesn't understand altruism, and then turns towards present Ash, who seems confused and asks if he's seeing his future self. The older Ash replies that he's merely "an incarnation of [Ash's] inner thoughts and concerns talking to [him] as [he] sleeps." When asked about the other figure, the older Ash replies that if he (present Ash) represents the light, then the shadowy figure represents the shadow said light projects, and the question of whether he's doing the right thing, a question that often comes up. The older Ash then adds that whenever the question bothers him, he needs to recall that people who are irredeemably evil are very rare, such as Hunter J or Grings Kodai, and even people who are general jerkasses such as Paul can be capable of goodness, citing one time in The Old Timeline that Paul saved him and his friends as an example, that the Team Rocket trio care for one another and have lines they won't cross, and even with his disagreements about Belladonna and Red's morals, they've shown to care for their loved ones. If there's any shred of good in people, he should work to bring it out.

Ash then wakes up from his dream, wishing that he could have more normal ones. The Pokédex jokingly suggests Ash should try to watch porn to have more normal dreams, only to add that he has a child lock anyway and won't remove it, although he does have some soundtracks that can help induce sleep in humans, which Ash accepts.

Later that day, Jessie and James once more keep an eye on Ash and his friends from atop a tree. James wonders what kind of training they're supposed to be doing, seeing Ash running in front of a charging Tauros. Jessie, who was once part of a track team, suggests that he's probably doing some kind of speed/endurance training, with James wondering if he should add that to the report to Giovanni. Meanwhile, they're waiting for Meowth, whom they sent to get some berries for them, and unknown to them is currently stuck in a tree, surrounded by a large group of angry Pikachu as he vocally curses James' ancestors, descendants, and the concept of collecting bottle caps.

Ash finishes his run and drops himself on the ground, panting heavily in exhaustion. Both the Tauros and Iris express their approval, and the Pokédex mentions he could break a world record if he's able to keep over twenty minutes more running in front of a Tauros. He also takes notice of his jacket hanging from a tree, noticing how much damage it's taken since he began the journey. Meanwhile, his Pokémon mention that they're near a mountain where they almost froze to death once. When Roggenrola asks if they're going to pass through it, Pikachu and the others promptly laugh, not wanting to do that again. After Ash regains his breath, he goes back to training, while Pidgeot spars with Charizard in aerial combat, and Roggenrola fires a Rock Blast at the Tauros, who deflects the attack using Iron Head. The Pokédex informs Ash of the move set this Tauros has, which also includes Double Team, Horn Attack and Scary Face, while also having registered the moves of all of his other brethren. Ash orders the Tauros to attack, noticing how he seems to like using Horn Attack, and Roggenrola protects herself with Iron Defense. The Pokédex suggests that Ash should go to Iris for a move suggestion he has.

The following day, Ash in once more training with Iris, albeit this time on something different. Namely, using his feet to feel vibrations on the ground, helped by Excadrill, and he's taken his shoes off to do so for the time being, though Iris notes that he needs to learn to do it while wearing them. The Chansey he caught back at the Safari Zone helps him heal the exhaustion, and it seems to give Iris some idea, and Ash begins dreading that perhaps she can push him harder, non stop, and with less risk with Chansey around to heal any damage. Right after, an explosion nearby clues him that Charizard has finished his sparring with Goodra, so Ash asks Chansey to help them out, followed by Pikachu and Ambipom.

During the night, the Pokédex informs Ash that he's updated with an app developed by one of Professor Elm's interns that will alert Ash of any egg that his Pokémon might have, and will also tell him when it hatches and what it hatches into, with any additional relevant data. Ash wonders about the odds that his Pokémon will find themselves having eggs at random, but then sees Pikachu and realizes they might be higher than he thinks. The Pokédex explains that, with this application, he can take the load of some of the eggs Professor Oak might find himself with, plus it will add new Pokémon to his arsenal easily. As for Gardevoir and the rest of John Archer's Pokémon, there's nothing new, but they've been busy lately since Flygon and Altaria got lost after being chased by a Fearow flock all the way to Mt. Silver. When the Pokédex suggests giving a report about Red, Ash promptly goes to sleep.

Another day of training, this time Ash is jogging along with Pikachu and Anabel, the girl having been dragged into the training by Iris as well and clearly tired. Ash suggests to bring Chansey to heal her, but Anabel assures him that she's alright, only to trip into a branch and force Ash to catch her before she hits the ground. Ash apologizes to Anabel since this was her idea and he had no clue she was planning on doing the same with her and Misty too. In doing so, however, he recalls their little shower under the waterfall and Anabel reads his mind, causing them both to blush in embarrassment. Anabel replies that she's also partly to blame for not noticing Janine's concealed weapons, and understands that Iris is just concerned about their well-being, while admitting that the training does feel like it's having effects and making her stronger, and she never expected to be doing this kind of stuff with them. Ash agrees that sometimes journeys are like that: he thought he'd only be earning badges, but he's done a lot more and found other stuff on the way, like Sir Aaron's staff. However, the conversation gets interrupted when they overhear Team Rocket nearby, and they run in their direction. They find them about to mug an old man who has two shiny Wingull, but upon noticing Ash, they tell him to scram off so they can stalk him later. James sends his Yamask to attack them, much to Ash's surprise, and then Pikachu engages, sending them all blasting off with a Zap Cannon. The old man thanks them for helping him, and asks if they're going to stay around the following day. Since they're not in a hurry, the old man, named Masuda, tells them there's gonna be an open house party in Stone Town, at an address that Ash recognizes as the house of Mikey and his older brothers, and if they mention his name they could gain access to the better stuff. As Masuda walks away, the Pokédex informs that Stone Town is a place to find evolutionary stones and he probably means that, so they should accept the invite. Ash agrees once they tell Misty and Iris about it.

Once they arrive, and after Pikachu checks that Mikey's Eevee is not hidden in a hollow tree, Ash takes a look around the 3-14 estate as the party is going on. He spots Masuda talking to a woman Ash is certain is James' fiancée Jessiebelle, a shiny Noivern behind him, and a strange motorbike that looks themed after Dark-type Pokémon. As they enter the garden, Ash sees some familiar faces, such as a coordinator named Yuma and a girl named Mollie, and others he doesn't recognize, such as a young woman with long silver-blue hair who keeps drawing his eye for some reason. Iris takes notice of her as well and calls her "the most dangerous person here". The woman then turns around and upon glancing at Ash, seems to smirk at him and gives him a thumbs up, much to his surprise.

Not long after, Ash finds himself approached by a group of people, a boy and four girls who look slightly younger than himself. Ash quickly takes notice that the boy has a passing resemblance to himself, wondering if he's another half-sibling. They seem to know of him after seeing his battles in the Battle Dome and Fuchsia and clearly are fans of him, and they ask him for advice before they depart in their own Pokémon journeys. Despite the awkwardness, Ash happily complies, telling him a bit of his own experiences, which they seem delighted to hear. The boy introduces himself as Midori, and the girls quickly follow suit: Hoshi, Monet, Rana and Kusa. The conversation then deflects to them having different goals, like Pokémon Gyms and Contests, but Ash tells them there's always a chance to take a detour and do everything, which makes them happy as they'll be able to travel together. Ash quickly takes notice that the five of them seem rather close, and wonders if they're another group of lovers in the making like Belladonna.

Meanwhile, Misty goes off on her own, overhearing some gossip from the guests around, who seem to talk about Midori and his friends, who apparently have been together since kindergarten and don't have any other friends, and many others around their age are about to begin their journeys. The guests remark they don't seem to have hopes that any of them will make it very far. Misty thinks they're being pessimistic, thinking that she herself never gave up on her dreams and now feels even closer to achieve them. While she's a tad annoyed at Iris forcing them to train, she admits to enjoy seeing Ash working out and toning his physique even more. Shortly after, she notices a boy with brown hair and holding an Eevee has taken the spot next to her, which the rest of the people identifies as the honor guest, who seems rather uncomfortable to be there. Misty recalls feeling similar the few times her parents and sisters couldn't pretend that she didn't exist and brought her to parties. She approaches the boy and asks him if he's alright, introducing herself, and the boy reveals his name as Mikey. Mikey reveals that he only came because his older brothers pressured him to come before he departed in his journey, making Misty assume he probably has a similar relationship like she did with her sisters. However, as they continue to talk, that doesn't seem to be the case, with Mikey stating that "family needs to stick together in times like this", leaving Misty confused.

Ash has a brief talk with Masuda, who's noticed he seems rather popular with how he was bombarded by Midori and his friends before. After the old man leaves, Ash notices there seems to be an argument nearby about evolution, and not long after, that one of the older Eevee brothers, Rainer, takes notice of him and approaches with his Vaporeon, not looking very friendly. He asks Ash what he's doing there, and he reveals Masuda invited him for saving him. This seems to soften him somewhat, but then Rainer still warns him to stay away from their youngest brother, and to not to give him "bad ideas". Ash is confused, but the brother explains that Mikey's soon going to begin his Pokémon journey and the last thing he needs is that someone makes him think he won't need to evolve his Eevee, citing that he might be able to win battles using unevolved Pokémon, but that doesn't mean Mikey should imitate him. Ash tries to defend himself saying that what Mikey does isn't his concern, plus he also has evolved Pokémon. Rainer however insists that it doesn't matter, and Mikey will still try to imitate him and risk failure.

Elsewhere, Misty watches how the third Eevee brother, Pyro, and his Flareon, make a performance with their fire attacks, Pyro is telling his youngest brother of the advantages of evolving an Eevee with a stone and how it can give him an edge over other rookie trainers, regardless of whether he chooses challenging the League, Grand Festival, or the Pokéathlon. Psyduck comes out to comment that Pyro seems like a Pokémon Coordinator, revealing that he stayed up the other night watching a documentary about it when Misty left the TV on.

As Ash continues to argue with Rainer, the second brother, Sparky, approaches with his Jolteon looking for Mikey. Like Rainer, he doesn't seem pleased to see Ash in their party, and the two brothers start arguing over not having sorted out the invitations well, as well as something else that seems to be going on in the family. Ash and Pikachu try to get away, but then the two brothers seem to agree about something: if they beat Ash, Mikey won't imitate him and he'll choose a stone for his Eevee, solving the entire issue. The guests take notice of the challenge and quickly gather around to see it. Ash manages to catch Anabel telepathically, who explains that she managed to pick up a few things among the people: apparently the brothers' mother died recently and they've been watching over their kid brother until he's ready to go off on his own. They're fine with watching over Mikey, but the reason they're a bit moody is because one of them will have to leave his trainer career and take over the family business, and none of them is particularly enthusiastic about it. As he wonders how to get out of this, the woman Ash saw before approaches, offering to team up with him to make it two-on-two. As the argument seems to be about evolutions, she pulls out a Luxury Ball and brings out a Murkrow. As Rainer tries to point out the obvious weakness to Jolteon and to Vaporeon's Ice-type attack, the woman reveals that she knows Rainer's experiences in the Indigo League Conference, listing Vaporeon's move set and the rest of Rainer's Pokémon. Rainer is surprised, but admits that he works better with Pokémon that evolve through stones. The woman declares that Ash will use Pikachu, which the trainer agrees, and the battle gets underway.

Sparky begins ordering his Jolteon to use Thunderbolt, which the woman's Murkrow stops with Whirlwhind, then uses Icy Wind, which Rainer's Vaporeon counters with his own, but Murkrow's wins out in the end. Jolteon tries to shield himself with Protect, leaving only Vaporeon to get blasted by the Icy Wind. Ash then orders Pikachu to use Quick Attack on Jolteon. Rainer tries to have Vaporeon cover Jolteon, but Pikachu's attack knocks them both away, which the woman comments it's a strong attack for a Pokémon trainer who doesn't have a full badge set. Rainer replies that a Raichu would still have been stronger before ordering another attack. The woman counters that a Pikachu is able to jump using his tail in a way Raichu can't, with Ash adding that his Sliggoo was blind after evolving and until he evolved again. Sparky states that Caterpie becomes unable to move as Metapod, yet a Butterfree is still worth it, before ordering a Charge Beam, which Murkrow easily dodges. The woman notes that, as a Honchkrow, he wouldn't have been able to dodge that blast as easily. Rainer once more points out that the Icy Wind attack would have been stronger for a Honchkrow, before ordering Scald. Murkrow counters with Dark Pulse, pushing through and sending Vaporeon away. Both Ash and Sparky order their respective Pokémon to use Quick Attack, and Pikachu wins knocking Jolteon away too, before finishing him with an Iron Tail, and ending the battle.

The woman points out that while everything they said about evolution is true: evolved Pokémon become stronger, hit harder, take more damage and can learn more moves, it isn't everything. Rainer confirms he knows that, but insists that only because it works out for her and Ash, it doesn't mean it'll work for Mikey and he needs to choose a stone, whatever it is. The woman brings out another Luxury Ball, this one containing an Umbreon, which Ash's Pokédex reveals is an Eeveelution that comes not from an evolutionary stone, much to the brothers' surprise. The woman explains that evolutionary stones are less common in Johto, where she hails from, and that Eevee doesn't have to forcibly use one to evolve. Ash then adds that he understands they're trying to help Mikey, but they need to let him make his choices and see for himself what's good for him. Mikey himself steps in, agreeing with Ash, and tells his brothers that, while he has yet to choose his path, he wants to find it on his own, and have his first battle right then and there with Ash. The Pallet trainer uses his H.O.P.E. Glove to teleport Goodra's ball away, and offers to battle Mikey with one or two Pokémon that might be good matches for Eevee: Spearow or Vivillon. Mikey asks which one is stronger, and after Ash replies that Vivillon is, Mikey chooses that one, prompting Ash to retrieve the same Scatterbug he used with the boy in Crimson City, now having reached the final form, while the rest has already become Spewpa. The onlookers make some comments at Ash's choice in Pokémon.

The battle goes underway, and Mikey's Eevee proves much stronger than expected, despite being unevolved. Ash himself takes notice of it, especially after they use Refresh to heal from a spore attack from Vivillon. The older brothers recall that they did let Mikey watch their partners for them, and Ash can see they've done some training themselves. Eevee manages to pull off a win against Vivillon, and the result seems to alleviate the older brothers' concerns altogether.

As the group leaves Stone Town, they review what their day ended up with. Ash comments that you never know what will happen during a journey. As they walk, they come across the woman from before, who's now riding the motorcycle with her Umbreon, and upon seeing them, approaches to greet them. Iris asks her who she is, and she seems happy that somebody finally did so. She introduces herself as Karen, Elite Four member of Johto. Iris recalls Janine having mentioned that about her father Koga, and Karen confirms that Koga already filed the paperwork for it, explaining that Kanto and Johto share a single champion while having rotating members of the Elite Four each, mentioning that Bruno has switched positions at least three times. After a moment of silence, she ponders about whether she should give them a speech about strong and weak Pokémon, but she sees they don't need it, and wishes she could give them some advice or something that can help him on the way. Iris points out at the Key Stones they got in the Battle Dome, but Karen doesn't have one of her own, or Z-Crystals for Ash's Z-Ring, finding unusual that Ash has one of those. She finally settles for giving Ash a Moon Ball, which Ash recognizes, and hopes it can be useful to him. She wishes him luck at Indigo before speeding off in her motorcycle, albeit making Iris plug her nose at the smoke.

## Continuity

* First appearance of the Eevee Bros, Karen, Midori, Monet, Hoshi, Rana and Kusa.
* Ash receives a Moon Ball from Karen.
* Iris begins training Ash and the others on their physical abilities.

## Trivia

* This chapter has been released under two slightly different titles on different platforms.
	+ "Stuff in between with the Eevee Bros" on FanFiction.net.
	+ "Stuff inbetween with the Eevee Bros" on archivesofourown.org and royalroad.com.