The tower became stranger the higher they climbed. It seemed older, quieter, the street noise disappeared first, then the voices from the entrance and by the third level, the sounds were mostly bare feet on polished timber, distant bells, Pokémon calls and the constant low conversation of wood moving against wood.

Ravina fought twice more.

The second teacher used a single Bellsprout and barely issued commands, to which Ravina and Cinder lost, not catastrophically, but decisively.

She'd become too focused on matching the tower's rhythm and ignored the trainer, so she failed to notice when the Bellsprout deliberately broke its pattern. Cinder moved where Ravina expected it to be and a Vine Whip swept his legs out from beneath him and with that the battle was over.

The teacher's lesson was equally irritating.

“A rhythm is useful until you become dependent upon it.”

Ravina stared. “So the lesson from downstairs was…”

“Not the lesson from here.”

“Of course it wasn't.”

The teacher smiled serenely and Ravina briefly considered whether enlightenment made people smug or whether Violet simply selected for it.

Later, she reviewed that battle on the VS Recorder while Cinder drank some water from a bowl. At quarter speed, the mistake was painfully obvious, the Bellsprout had changed its movement three exchanges earlier and Ravina simply hadn't noticed because she'd been watching the tower.

Cinder leaned against her leg, watching the small screen. “There.”

She paused. “You see that?”

Cinder stared. “You look left.”

She rewound. “Then again.”

Cinder grumbled. “Hey. I'm not saying you screwed up.”

He looked at her. “I told you left.”

His expression softened slightly. “I was watching the wrong thing.”

She played it again as Owlbert leaned so far over her shoulder that his face entered the edge of her vision.

“Yes, you noticed.”

Hoot.

“You may be the only competent member of this team.”

Cinder grumbled again as Ravina scratched his head. “Second most competent.”

The grumbling continued. “Fine. Tied.”

Owlbert gave a slow blink. 

“Neither of you are humble.”

- - - - -

The next flight of stairs swayed noticeably beneath them, that Ravina had to grip the railing and noticed that Cinder had stopped.

“What's wrong?”

He stared upward, then toward his own body as he stretched one rear leg, then the other.

Ravina crouched immediately. “Sore?”

Cinder shook himself as she checked his paws but found nothing. Legs? She found no obvious swelling but he was warm again. Very warm. Not fever-warm, she thought, but enough that she could feel it before touching him.

“Cinder?”

He nudged her hand, then started climbing as Ravina stayed close behind.

“Tell me if something hurts.”

He gave a dismissive chirp

“I mean it.”

Another chirp.

- - - - -

The fourth teacher was waiting in a larger chamber, where the tower opened around the pillar almost completely. 

Tall windows let white daylight pour across the floor, incense curled lazily near a small altar, three Bellsprout were tending pots of herbs along one wall. And an elderly sage sat cross-legged near the battle space.

He opened his eyes as Ravina approached. “You have two wins, one loss so far…”

Ravina stopped. “Do you people have radios?”

“No.”

“Then how…”

“One of the students came upstairs.”

“Oh.”

The sage stood and Ravina sighed. “There goes the mystique.”

“Would you prefer mystique?”

“Sometimes.”

“Very well.”

He closed his eyes again and Ravina waited for a few moments, but nothing happened.

“...What are you doing?”

“Mystique.”

She snorted before she could stop herself and the old man smiled.

“All right. I like you.”

“I am Elder Hosen.”

“Ravina.”

“A pleasure.”

Hosen's eyes moved to Cinder and the humor faded into something more attentive. “Your partner is warm.”

“You can tell?”

“I can see the air above him.”

Ravina looked. In the sunlight, there was a faint shimmer. Cinder noticed everyone looking at him and glanced between them as Ravina crouched again. “Still okay?”

He nodded. 

“Do you want to stop?” Cinder's head snapped toward her.

“That was a real question!” The fire mouse ignored her and stepped toward the battle space.

Ravina smiled faintly. “Okay.”

Hosen nodded and released a Bellsprout. This one was larger than the others, its leaves were scarred at the edges and its thin body bent with the tower so naturally it seemed attached to the building.

Ravina tentatively took her place, and while watching the opposing pokemon asked. “What's this lesson?”

Hosen folded his hands. “If I tell you first, you will attempt to perform the answer.”

“Oh, you're definitely a teacher.”

“Begin.”

Cinder lowered himself as Ravina watched him carefully. Too warm, but alert and eager.

“Don't force it,” she said.

Cinder gave a slight turn of the head. “Like before. Watch first.”

The tower creaked, bellsprout swayed and Cinder tried to move, not with the tower exactly, but with Bellsprout. Good, Ravina thought, we might have a chance.

“Vine Whip.”

The first vine snapped outward as Cinder slipped aside. The second…

“Back!”

He retreated. Too far as his hind paw hit the stone border and his body lurched strangely.

Ravina frowned as Cinder recovered. But continued to trust in her partner. “Ember!”

Flame sprayed forward, stronger than Ravina expected, much stronger. And Hosen's eyes sharpened.

“Bellsprout, turn.” The Grass-type wrapped one vine around the central battle marker and swung itself sideways as the Ember washed past.

A few sparks struck the stone and Cinder stared at the flame. Ravina stared too.

“That was…”

“Continue,” Hosen said.

“Right, Cinder, forward!”

He charged as Bellsprout's vine swept low.

“Jump!”

Cinder jumped, too high, or perhaps simply harder than usual. He cleared the vine and landed almost a full body-length beyond where Ravina expected as his forelegs struck first and his rear end slewed sideways.

“Cinder!”

He caught himself, barely and the Bellsprout hesitated. So did Hosen as Cinder shook his head. Then his flames erupted. Not an attack, the patches along his back flared suddenly, brilliant and high.

Ravina's stomach dropped. “Stop!”

The battle stopped instantly, Hosen's hand was already raised and Bellsprout withdrew as Ravina ran into the ring. “Cinder?”

He was trembling, not in pain, his entire body was vibrating with some force she could feel in the air as the heat rolled from him.

“Cinder.” He looked up.

His eyes were wide and confused. Then light broke across his body, forcing Ravina to stumble backward. For one wild second she thought something was wrong, some attack, some reaction to Ember, some illness she had missed.

Then Cinder's shape began to change. “Oh?!”

The word escaped her almost soundlessly. She had seen evolution before, on screens, in training materials, Her mother's Pokémon were all fully evolved, and she'd grown up hearing stories about what they had been like when younger. None of that prepared her for watching it happen three feet away.

The light thickened until Cinder became a bright silhouette. His back rose, his body stretched, forelegs lengthened, Hindquarters shifted. The small, rounded shape Ravina knew so well pulled forward into something leaner, longer, built for motion.

His nose sharpened, his ears changed, the proportions of him altered second by second and Ravina forgot to breathe as the glow broke. not all at once, it peeled away in fragments of white-gold light.

Where Cinder had been stood a Quilava.

Cream fur ran along his underside and throat, softening into a slightly fuller ruff at the chest. Dark teal-blue covered his back and the long line of his body. His ears were larger, sharper, with vivid red-orange inside them, and his eyes seemed brighter now against a face that had lost almost all of the baby-roundness Ravina was used to.

More than anything, he was simply… Big, not enormous, not compared with some of her mother's Pokémon. But compared with the Cyndaquil she'd carried in her arms a few days ago? He looked enormous.

Long-bodied and broad through the chest, with powerful hindquarters and enough height that, sitting upright, his head would come somewhere around Ravina's hip.

Flame roared from the vents along his head, another brilliant flare burst from the lower part of his back and heat washed across the room.

Nobody spoke as Cinder looked down at himself. He lifted one forepaw. Put it down, then turned to inspect the rest of him.

His front half moved first and his back half followed a fraction too late as his hip swung wide.

One rear foot skidded as he caught himself before falling, then went very still. And Ravina made a tiny sound. That Cinder's head snapped toward her.

“Sorry.”

She covered her mouth, that look was still Cinder. Suspicious, embarrassed, deeply offended by the possibility that she might laugh at him.

“Cinder?”

He made a sound, deeper than before but still unmistakably his. That did it and Ravina crossed the space between them, stopping just short as his flames were still burning.

Cinder noticed her hesitation, glanced toward the fire above his head, and concentrated, the flames disappeared and Ravina immediately threw her arms around his neck.

Or tried to. her arms no longer fit around him the way they used to, his shoulders were too broad, his neck too substantial, his body too long. She adjusted awkwardly, one arm around the front of his chest and the other across his shoulders.

“There. My little Fireball” Cinder froze for half a second, Then leaned into her. Hard, enough that Ravina rocked backward under the weight.

“Oh!”

Cinder immediately tried to pull away. “No, no—you're fine.”

She laughed shakily. “You're just…”

She looked at him over again. “…a lot more Pokémon than you were five minutes ago.”

A low trill vibrated through his chest as Ravina pressed her forehead briefly against the side of his neck. “Hi.”

Cinder nudged her shoulder. “Still you?”

Another nudge, stronger this time. “Okay. Definitely still you.”

Behind them:

Hoot.

Ravina looked up to see Owlbert standing on the battle marker, staring, and Cinder stared back.

Owlbert tilted his head once, then the other way.

Hoot.

Ravina wiped under one eye. “I think that's congratulations.”

Owlbert blinked. “Probably.”

Hosen had remained silent through all of it, but now he smiled. “The tower asks young trainers to grow.”

Ravina looked at him as Hosen glanced toward Cinder. “Sometimes their partners take the instructions literally.”

Ravina laughed. “Was that prepared?”

“No.”

“It sounded prepared.”

“I have been teaching here for a long time.” he replied with a smile.

Cinder tried walking again. This time the problem was obvious, his forequarters moved with confidence but his rear half was still negotiating with reality. He took three steps, tried to turn, and his hindquarters swung wide enough that Ravina had to hop aside.

“Okay.” Cinder stopped.

“We're going to have to relearn corners.” He looked offended.

“You've got almost twice as much body now.” More offense.

“I'm not insulting you.”

Hoot.

“Owlbert is.” Owlbert was not.

Cinder tried walking again, three steps, a turn, and his rear legs crossed awkwardly.

He corrected and the fire on his lower back flickered into existence that Ravina jumped sideways. “Okay! New rule. Warn me before the second fire.”

Cinder spun to look at it, which caused him to nearly lose his balance again.

Hosen cleared his throat, and Ravina looked at him. “Yes?”

“The battle is not finished.”

Ravina stared, then looked at Cinder. Who immediately stepped back into position.

“You cannot be serious.” He pawed the floor.

“You've had that body for, what, thirty seconds?” Cinder huffed.

“You don't even know where all of it is yet.” He huffed harder.

Ravina recognized the look. “Oh, that's how this is going to be.”

Cinder crouched, or attempted to. His back end lowered further than he expected and he looked briefly surprised.

Ravina rubbed her face. “Fine.” She sighed as she stood. “But no showing off.”

Cinder looked offended. “That means exactly what you think it means.”

Hosen's Bellsprout returned to the ring. The Grass-type looked at Cinder with what Ravina suspected was sympathy.

“Also,” Ravina added, “if you fall over, I reserve the right to laugh.”

Cinder's head flame flared. “Threatening me does not improve your case.”

Hosen raised one hand. “Continue.”

Bellsprout moved first. “Vine Whip.”

Cinder tried to dodge as he had before. His longer stride carried him too far and he stumbled, but the vine missed anyway.

“Stop!” Cinder froze and Ravina pointed. “No fancy stuff.”

He looked back. “One step!”

Cinder's ears lowered. “I'm serious. You don't know this body.”

Bellsprout swayed, The tower moved and Ravina took a breath. “You don't need to.”

Cinder watched her. “We know how to learn.” Something in his posture changed, not relaxed exactly, just less determined to prove that evolution had somehow made him instantly competent.

“Small movements,” Ravina said. “Follow me.”

The tower leaned ane Cinder adjusted one paw. Good, then Bellsprout's vine came.

“Right.” One step and the vine passed.

“Forward.” One longer step as Cinder nearly overdid it, but he caught himself.

“Good.” His ear twitched.

Again, Bellsprout attacked.

“Left.” Step.

“Wait.” Cinder waited. That was harder, Ravina could see it. He wanted to use the speed hidden in those new legs. Wanted to test the fire he could feel burning beneath new vents. Wanted to know what he could do.

But he waited as the tower creaked and Bellsprout shifted its roots.

“Now. Ember!”

Cinder inhaled. Ravina saw the change before the attack came, the breath was deeper and the heat stronger.

“Easy!” Cinder checked himself, but the Ember that emerged was still far larger than his old one. but controlled, a tight stream rather than the wild burst from moments earlier.

Bellsprout twisted but not far enough as the flame grazed its leaves and Hosen raised his hand.

“Enough.”

Cinder stopped immediately as the fire vanished from his mouth and Bellsprout relaxed.

Ravina exhaled as Hosen recalled it. “You may proceed.”

Ravina blinked. “That counts?”

“What do you believe I was testing?”

“Whether we could win?”

“No.”

“Whether he could fight?”

“No.”

“Whether I could adapt?”

“Partly.”

Hosen walked to them. “Your partner changed during a battle. You were excited. He was excited. He wished to continue.”

Cinder lifted his head.

“You allowed him to try,” Hosen said, “and then reduced your expectations when his new body made the old ones unreasonable.”

Ravina glanced down. “That feels like a very complicated way of saying he nearly tripped over himself.”

“It is easier to teach control before strength than after.”

Hosen crouched beside Cinder. “Especially after a Pokémon discovers that it suddenly has much more strength.”

Cinder's eyes shifted toward his own paws.

Ravina saw it. “Great,” she muttered. “He's going to test all of it, isn't he?”

Hosen stood. “Yes.”

Cinder immediately looked away.

Ravina pointed. “Please don't get me in trouble...”

He remained very interested in the wall.