Peaked Interest

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Finally the duo had emerged from the tunnels that formed the Black Spiral Staircase again, the sunlight shining on them once more. Or rather it would have, would they not be standing on the Dark Void Peak now, the sky completely black for no discernible reason.
At least there weren't any feral Pokémon to be expected anymore, as William wasn't sure for how long Sova would be able to hold on. He certainly didn't look all that well. And still the Ghost type had no idea what it may be that was causing this in the Normal type.
But now that they were here maybe he would quickly realize that nothing of interest was to be found here and finally get on the way back home again. This had been quite the boring and disconcerting intermission thus far.

"Very well then. I think we have descended enough for you to stop hallucinating.", the Gengar spoke as he decreased his altitude again.
"Hopefully you won't run away from me and...something else again. If you do I might have to use force to get you back, so be warned."
The Gengar could only hope that Sova was telling the truth. He really did not want to have to live through another episode like that again. But the Eevee did seem to be of sound mind now, and to be honest he also wasn't the lightest Pokémon. And so slowly but surely the Ghost type put the Eevee down onto the solid, rocky ground again.

Sova sighed with relief as he was lowered to the ground. Upon being released, he stumbled for a moment, a bit worn out from the prior....situation. But he quickly found his footing and began walking. At last, the hallucinations had stopped and his mind was finally starting to clear up. For a moment, he still expected to hear the voice that had been haunting him, but to his relief, it had finally faded away.

He was a bit curious why William hadn't asked about what happened. If the gengar wasn't going to ask, then he would, since he himself was very confused. "So....what happened?" He only remembered his point of view which he knew was very warped, and even that was a bit fuzzy.

"Well, not much. You ran over half the mountain, away from me and whatever else you might have seen. You looked pained for some reason, but obviously I don't know why. Oh, and you tried to attack me a few times."
While the Gengar would have been interested in getting to know what exactly it had been that had been tormenting the Eevee's mind like that, it wasn't even remotely close to being his business, so he decided not to ask about it.
If the Eevee wanted to tell him, it would be his choice to do so. Knowing the nature of those hallucinations wouldn't get them any further after all.

"Oh....so that was you. Sorry...." Sova mumbled just loud enough for the gengar to hear. That explained one of the hallucinations. "You looked like....something else. I didn't....sorry, I didn't know it was you." He said, considering telling William the reason why he attacked. But he decided upon not talking about it and instead just trying to forget it happened.

He was still having trouble focusing from his headache, but at least it was just a headache now instead of a drug trip. "I only saw one other hallucination. Or I think it was....I hope it was." He felt his eyes begin to tear up and quickly wiped them with a paw before he could be seen crying. "There was nothing there but us, right?"

The Gengar shrugged.
"Well, it wasn't as if you hurt me. And even if you did you'd hardly be to blame. As for your other question - unless you are referring to rocks, stones or other pieces of the lithosphere we were the only beings up there I could percieve."
Apparently the hallucinations Sova had had had not been pleasant ones.
Well, obviously they hadn't been since he ran away from them.
But it seemed that these had been of the emotionally scarring kind.
Just what kind of doubts, insecurities and other things was Sova hiding under that brown fur of his?

Sova didn't know whether to be relieved or saddened that his hallucination wasn't real. He knew it wasn't, but just had to make sure. "So she wasn't there...." He muttered, mostly to himself. He had decided to be relieved and disappointed at the same time. What ever that hallucination was, he didn't want to ever see it again, but at the same time, it was reminiscent of his mother, so he couldn't help but partly miss it.

He began thinking of ways to change the topic as he didn't really want to talk about the current subject any more. It was very evident now that he was upset, but he was still stopping himself from crying. If he worried the gengar, that wouldn't be good.

"I think we should get you away from here.", the Gengar commented.
Obviously the Eevee was still pretty caught up in that hallucination of his, so maybe a change of place would help clear both their heads. They had seen enough rocks for today.
For today the Gengar didn't really want to do much other than sit around, sip apple juice and maybe read a book anymore. And the Eevee was probably having similar feelings.
Even if that was not the case, he definitely needed to rest.

"I-I'm fine....besides, we're already getting away. We need to get the scraggy too." Sova insisted, though it was clear he was not fine. He didn't want to be carried again, but he didn't want to have to pick up his pace either. Besides, they DID plan to get the scraggy on their way back down the mountain. Either way, he had at least thought of something else to talk about. "What's it like evolving? Does it hurt? Do you change....mentally?" He asked, trying not to give the gengar time to argue against staying at their current pace.

He had been wanting to evolve for a long time to he could be stronger, but didn't know what to expect when the time came and was a bit nervous because of that. Though the fight with William made him realize just how weak he was. He couldn't hope to beat this gengar even if he was at full strength. Worse yet, his one good trait, his intelligence, was also clearly outshined by the gengar's. He had to at least be able to keep up....he'd have to evolve.

"Heh, if you say so.", the Gengar chuckled.
"But don't blame me in case you're not fully back in reality yet."
Now the Eevee was asking about evolution. An interesting question for certain and yet the Gengar had never heard it asked thus far. Was Sova close to evolving maybe?
"No, evolution doesn't hurt. It didn't hurt for me at least. Obviously I can't say anything about yours. However it does feel...weird. I can't really think of another word for it. You suddenly have new body parts you haven't had before and your body restructures itself. I've lived most of my life not knowing what having legs was like. Oh, as for the mental thing...I don't know whether my personality has changed because of my evolutions, but they did give me some clarity. I think it is best compared to lying in bed half asleep and getting a bucket of cold water dumped on you. Whether your mental acuity will increase I do not know of course. It probably depends on the species you'll evolve into as well."

Sova was relieved to know there was at least some evidence that evolution wouldn't be unpleasant for him. After all, even the body restructuring wouldn't be that bad for him since all of his evolution options had the same general body shape. "Alright. You get stronger no matter what, right?" He asked. This time his question was a bit more ambitious in nature. He needed a goal, some way to prove that hallucination wrong. What better goal than beating William? Of course, the gengar would have to agree to a rematch at some point....just attacking would be wrong, very wrong.

The Gengar shrugged.
"Well, I don't know all the species of Pokémon in the world, so I can't speak the absolute truth on that matter. And obviously there are many ways to define strength. But I think evolution generally is a positive thing. I have heard of one species though, whose evolution is extremely fragile and usually is defeated after being hit a single time. I don't know much about them though."
What was going on in that Eevee's head? Why was he suddenly this interested in Evolution?
Maybe it was something caused by those hallucinations he had been having.
Anyways, they better keep going before the sun sets.

Sova stayed silent for a moment, working up the courage to challenge the gengar. What if his challenge was declined? What if he lost miserably again? Regardless, he felt that he had to. So he stopped and turned to William, with an oddly serious look on his face given how sad he just looked moments ago. "When I evolve, rematch." He seemed more demanding than he intended to be, but there was no taking it back now. He just had to hope the gengar accepted. The only other option was to force a fight when he was ready, which he didn't want or plan to do.

Involuntarily the Gengar chuckled.
"You really think that's a good idea? A word of advice - try learning a few other moves instead of focussing on evolution this much. But very well, if you really want to do this, then I will be waiting for you."
What was Sova trying to prove? And to whom? To William? To himself?
The Eevee's behaviour certainly had changed. Hopefully that wasn't a sign of any serious damage.
But maybe being defeated in battle would teach the Eevee a thing or two about humility.
Right now he seemed to think that all that mattered would be fighting prowess and evolution when there was so much more to true strength.

Sova couldn't help but smile at the gengar's response. Actually, it was more of a smirk. The fight was on, when ever he actually managed to evolve. "I'll win." He said as he turned away and began walking again. Even if he wasn't already planning on learning Bite and Shadow Ball, he would be able to learn some ice type moves after evolving into a glaceon. Surely by then his move set would have something to fight the gengar. His main concern would be getting more skilled at simply fighting, and somehow getting better at making tactical decisions, as clearly the gengar had him beat there too.

So he was really going to try and challenge him.
This Eevee was a strange Pokémon for sure.
The Gengar found himself wondering how strong exactly the Eevee would become.
Ambitious enough he certainly was, but he needed to learn moderation and humility.
But how was Sova so sure that he would be evolving soon? Hopefully he knew what he was doing and wouldn't get himself into a situation too big for him. Then again this was Sova, so he would most definitely get himself into a situation exactly like that one. And that meant William would probably have to travel with him again...