A Study in Mega Evolution

Chapter Four

Corina arrived in Laverre City and breathed in the fresh air. She'd been on the road for about a week since she left the Professor's lab. She'd already gotten stronger with Eda, considering that many trainers were eager to battle her since she had a key stone now. Corina was here to visit the gym leader, Valerie, on behalf of Professor Sycamore to check out her mega-evolvable Mawile. The city was heavily forested and had old, historic buildings and a sweet smell that seemed to cling to the gentle breeze coming off the river. It was more different from Lumiose City than she could have imagined.

She walked through the doors of the old wooden building constructed around the trunk of the largest tree she'd ever seen. The lobby was decorated with cute furniture in shades of pink, purple, and white, and it was bustling with finely dressed people, all eager to see the fashion designer, Valerie, in person. Corina shifted through the crowd until she reached the front desk. "Hi there, I'm Corina. I have an appointment with Valerie on behalf of Professor Sycamore." She smiled as Eda looked around, admiring the fancy clothes.

"Oh, yes! Of course, she's been expecting you. Her office is just beyond those doors, there, go on in, and she'll be with you shortly." The secretary smiled, pointing to a pair of antique-looking wooden doors behind her. Corina smiled, nodded, and stepped through.

The office was much quieter than the busy lobby. The walls were adorned with sheets of fabric and patterns and sketches of lovely dresses. Mannequins with accessories and ribbons thrown on them haphazardly were shoved along the walls to make space for the desk covered in sketch paper, colored pencils, and a full-looking day planner.

The door on the opposite wall opened and out stepped a pale woman with long black hair, gray eyes, and wearing an elaborate dress of purple, pink, yellow, and black. "Valerie?"

"Yes, you must be Corina?" Her voice was soft and gentle and gave Corina a calm feeling.

"I am! It's a pleasure to meet you." Corina smiled as Valerie walked over to her. "You asked us to check and see if the Mawilite you found is genuine?"

"Yes, I found it out in the woods with my own Mawile and wanted to be sure." Valerie opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out a purple stone with a black and yellow design in the middle, and handed it to Corina.

Corina rifled through her bag before pulling out a tiny handheld machine, connecting some cables to the mega stone, and another line to her own key stone.

"This is a smaller version of a machine the Professor has in his lab that we use to test the validity of mega stones and key stones. He gave this to me so I can test stones on his behalf while I'm on the road." Corina explained.

"You have a key stone?" Valerie noticed, looking at Corina's necklace.

"Oh yes! It was a going-away gift from the Professor when I started my journey about a week ago."

"You've only just now started your journey? It's a bit late, isn't it? How old are you?"

"Oh, I'm sixteen. And yeah, I am a bit late, I suppose. My father was never really on board with the idea of me leaving. It wasn't until a week ago that I actually left Lumiose City." Valerie gave her a look of surprise before the machine beeped, and Corina smiled, then disconnected the stones. "Yup! It's a genuine Mawilite." She handed Valerie back her mega stone.

"While you're here, how about a mega battle." Valerie proposed, smiling softly.

Corina's eyebrows raised in surprise. "With me?"