Chapter 10 - Freeze web

📓 Evan's Training Journal 📓

Day 27

It's been almost a month since I got Thorn, and today, something incredible happened.

After weeks of effort, he finally mastered Freeze Web. It's still rough in combat, but the foundation is there. He's refining it now, learning to deploy it more fluidly in motion. I knew it was close—I could feel it.

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Training Field – Late Afternoon

The sun dipped low behind the treetops, casting long golden shadows across the training ground. Wind stirred the leaves overhead, but the field itself was still—until movement snapped it to life.

Thorn stood at the center of a dusty triangle, his segmented body gleaming with tension. Across from him, Rattata crouched, tail twitching, eyes sharp. Above, Pidgey circled in slow spirals, waiting for her moment.

"Full simulation," I said, notebook ready in my hand. "Watch all angles."

The instant I gave the signal, Pidgey dove.

"Now!"

Thorn darted backward, just missing her talons. At the same time, Rattata shot forward in a Quick Attack blur. Thorn twisted mid-air, firing String Shot—fwip!—binding Rattata's legs and sending him tumbling into the dirt.

But Pidgey was already wheeling around.

"Electro Web—wide!"

A crackle of sparks danced from Thorn's spinnerets as he launched a glowing net upward. It exploded mid-air, sizzling. Pidgey veered sharply to avoid a direct hit, but some of the charge kissed her wing, sending her into a wobbly spiral.

On the ground, Rattata had chewed through the web. He lunged again.

"Bug Bite! Counter-roll!"

Thorn flipped, body coiling like a whip as he collided with Rattata mid-charge. His mandibles clamped down with a solid click, and Rattata yelped as he was knocked back.

He recovered fast and struck low—

"Poison Web—ground burst!"

Thorn slammed his legs down, releasing a wide splash of venom-laced silk in a radius around him. Rattata skidded right into it, snarling, then stiffened. The toxin didn't knock him out, but it slowed him—his limbs trembling from the paralytic effect.

That gave Pidgey her chance. She shrieked and dived again, whipping up a small Gust.

"Quick Attack! Redirect!"

Thorn blurred, weaving right through the wind stream. He launched up—springing off a twist in his own thread—and slammed into Pidgey midair, knocking her askew. She screeched, flapped frantically, but managed a rough landing on a low branch.

Below, Rattata was on his last legs, panting, twitching. Pidgey glared from her perch, chest heaving. Thorn crouched low, braced and steady—but I saw it in the shudder of his legs. He was nearing his limit too.

I stepped forward. "Enough!"

All three Pokémon stopped. Thorn exhaled, finally unwinding his coil. Rattata flopped over, tail flicking weakly. Pidgey fluffed her wings but didn't protest.

I knelt beside Thorn, brushing the dust from his carapace. "You did amazing. That redirect? Absolutely genius."

Thorn buzzed, mandibles clicking in pride.

Then—just as I reached to give him a head pat—he straightened, stiffening with an instinct I recognized instantly.

Without warning, web began to spill from his spinnerets, wrapping around his body in layers. He raised his head, mandibles flickering, as his whole form began to glow with a bright white light.

My heart skipped a beat. "No way—this is it!"

I opened the flow of Bugforce—that green energy only Bug-types respond to—and channeled it all into Thorn. It streamed toward him, spiraling into the cocoon as the glow intensified.

When the light finally faded…

Before me stood a Kakuna—but not just any Kakuna. He was massive, nearly three times the size of a normal one. His golden shell glistened with ridges and subtle lines of green threading through it.

"Kakunaaa~" he hummed, voice lower and more resonant than I expected.

Still kneeling, I opened my inner sight, letting the Bugforce flow into my eyes. A pulse of green energy passed through his aura—and in that moment, I saw it:

Thorn's potential had risen to Blue.