Sasha stared at Lt. Surge's raichu curiously.

"What? You never seen an Alolan raichu before?" the mouse asked. Sasha shook her head and the electric-type grinned.

"Well then, you're in for a treat."

"Alright raichu, let's start things off with Electric Terrain!" Lt. Surge called.

Electricity poured from the raichu's cheeks, coating the entire field in a yellow glow. Sasha's paws tingled and her fur prickled uncomfortably.

"Mega kick, and mega punch," Lt. Surge commanded.

The raichu blurred from Sasha's vision and she was then launched into the air by a vicious kick to her chest. Her world went black as her back exploded with pain and she was out cold before she slammed into the ground.

Mewtwo winced in sympathy as the field went back to normal. Walking forward, he knelt by the eevee and gently touched her body. Nothing was broken, but she'd have some nasty bruises.

"Oh dear, did I overdo it?" the raichu asked, peering close. Mewtwo sighed and shook his head.

"No, it's not your fault. She wasn't ready for this."

Lt. Surge handed Mewtwo a revive and Mewtwo waved it under Sasha's nose and she woke up coughing. She met Mewtwo's eyes and her ears twitched.

"You should see the other guy," she murmured dazedly. Raichu snorted softly and Sasha blinked, eyes focusing. Mewtwo picked her up and she let out a hiss of pain.

"We'll see you around," Mewtwo said politely before teleporting to the pokémon center.

Handing Sasha over to the care of the nurses, Mewtwo then teleported to their apartment and picked up his knitting before teleporting back and took a seat.

A few days later saw Sasha recovering nicely, safely ensconced back in the Saffron apartment.

"I've been doing some thinking and have come to an interesting conclusion," Mewtwo said. Sasha flicked her ears and stretched her limbs carefully, pleased that it no longer actively pained her to do so.

"And what would that be?" Sasha asked warily.

"Your pseudo-evolution is the result of your body manipulating evolution energy for a temporary boost in power. So in theory, items that regulate such energy should allow you some more control over it, such as eviolite or an everstone."

"Okay..." Sasha said slowly. "Interesting theory, but seems hard to test. Where would we get those kinds of items?"

One quick teleport later had the duo standing in the foyer of...

"Celadon Department Store," Mewtwo replied. "Items imported from all over the world. Odds are we'll find what we need here."

"And how would we pay for it?" Sasha asked.

Mewtwo rolled his eyes. "You'd be surprised at how lucrative saving the world is."

"So your state of poverty is a farce." Sasha snorted.

Mewtwo shrugged. "I don't really have to follow human laws as long as I'm not actively breaking them."

"You scare me sometimes."

"Thank you. Now then, let's see if we can't get you some bling."

Four floors and two hundred thousand grand later, Sasha was the proud owner of a new collar and an eviolite.

"Give it a try," Mewtwo said, stepping back. Sasha was surrounded by a brief flash of light and shook herself.

"It's definitely faster," she said, pleased, tail wagging happily. She stretched a few times and purred. "And I'm fully healed. Time for round two against Lt. Surge?"

"If you think you're ready," Mewtwo replied.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"You're most welcome."

Sasha scowled and took a swipe at him. To her surprise, dark shadowy claws scythed through the air. Mewtwo blocked them with a telekinetic barrier and frowned.

"What were you thinking about when you did that?" Mewtwo asked curiously.

"I was thinking Shadow Claw," Sasha replied. "Why?"

"And your ability to use Metronome came into play and allowed you to pull it off."

"No more random chance? No more setting myself on fire? No more explosions?" Sasha asked with glee.

"You will be the envy of RNG manipulators everywhere."

"What?"

"Nothing you need to worry about."

-

“Alright Raichu, let’s show ‘em how it’s done!” Lt. Surge called, tossing his pokéball into the air.

Sasha took her place on the oddly smooth field, stretching her limbs as she gazed around, taking note of the small group of spectators sitting to each side of the field. Putting them out of her mind, she returned her gaze to her opponent.

“Begin!” the ref called.

“Electric Terrain!” Surge called. Electricity flowed from the mouse’s cheeks like a waterfall, coating the entire field in a yellow glow. Sasha’s paws tingled as she watched her opponent carefully. 

“Well, no sense in waiting around,” she muttered, lunging towards the raichu. She swung her body around, stars shooting out of her tail. The raichu hopped onto its tail, tilting the flat side to block the projectiles.

“One of these days that’s going to work,” Sasha sighed, landing on her paws.

“Tail Slap!” Surge barked.

The raichu angled its body towards Sasha. In the blink of an eye, it had closed the distance between then and Sasha leapt backwards, avoiding the first strike. Raichu tugged on its cord-like tail before sending it scything back towards the eevee, striking the smaller ‘mon. Sasha yelped as the tail discharged electricity.

Sasha grabbed the tail as a purple and black orb of energy swiftly formed in front of Sasha and she fired off the shadow ball at the startled raichu, sending it sprawling.

“Double-edged sword, that tail of yours is,” Sasha noted, shaking herself free of excess electricity. The raichu hovered on its tail, watching her warily. 

“Thunder!” Surge commanded. Sasha tried to use Dig, but she couldn’t get past the electricity covering the ground.

“Son of a-“ Sasha hissed, glancing up before she leaped backwards to avoid the massive thunderbolt. She watched as it disrupted the electric field and took a chunk of out the ground. She took note of the ruined ground and grinned.

Looking around, she caught sight of her opponent standing on the field. 

“Apparently Thunder takes a lot of energy,” Mewtwo mused. “That, and it has to keep Electric Terrain active. That’s quite impressive, if you think about it.”

“Great, now’s my chance,” Sasha purred. With a flash of light, the eevee transformed. She slammed her paws on the electric-coated field and there was an ominous rumble. 

Shards of rock suddenly tore through the weak electricity and slammed into the raichu.

Closing the gap between them, Sasha leaped into the air and fired off a swift, hammering the mouse with projectiles.

When the smoke cleared, Sasha was pleased to see the raichu was out cold.

“Hunh…didn’t think what everyone said was true,” Surge remarked, striding over to Mewtwo. Sasha joined them and Mewtwo tied her scarf around her neck, covering her collar and eviolite.

“Thanks for the battle. Uh…sorry about the field,” Sasha said sheepishly, glancing at the wrecked field. Surge waved a hand dismissively. 

“Don’t worry about it. You’re not the first to use ground type moves against me. Nor will you be the last,” Surge said with a sigh. “Congratulations.”

Sasha jumped into Mewtwo’s arms and the two teleported away.

-

"Not gonna lie, I'm actually impressed you managed to get yourself banned from the Celadon Gym," Mewtwo said to his sulking companion.

"How was I supposed to know a fire move would ignite all the pollen in the air?" Sasha grumbled. "Not my fault they hadn't aired it out in a few months. How am I gonna get my required gym badges now?"

"Relax, Sasha. There's more than eight gyms in Kanto and technically speaking, you don't really need eight badges to enter the League."

Sasha tilted her head. "What?"

"You could challenge some of the lesser known gyms throughout the countryside. I think there's at least Bug and Dark type gyms to challenge. Or if you're truly desperate, you could take one of the grueling League tests for entry, which is a test that goes on for several hours with hundreds of questions. I think it's more to test your endurance and patience than an actual test of your battling prowess. I've know some of those trainers who take it to be scary powerful."

Sasha shook her head. "I'll stick with gyms, if you don't mind. I've not been around long enough to answer most of the questions they'd throw at me."

Mewtwo chuckled and rubbed her ears. "Fair enough. I'll do some research and pull up some alternatives, alright?"

"Thank you."