A Study in Mega Evolution

Chapter Seventeen

The battles raged on with burning intensity. The next couple of days were filled with non-stop tension, and Corina was sorry to see some of the friends she'd made at Professor Sycamore's summer camp get eliminated from the competition. Finally, it was time for the semifinal matches. Alain was up against a powerful trainer named Remo. Alain had just defeated Remo's rhyperior, and Remo just released his Garchomp.

"It's really impressive how much Alain has grown." Leon began as Remo mega evolved his Garchomp. "This whole competition, he's only used Charizard and Metagross. With only two pokemon, he's made it all the way to the semifinals."

"And Remo certainly isn't going easy on Alain. It looks like they've battled before, so he must know what kind of trainer Alain is." Corina almost chuckled. "I never knew Alain had any other pokemon than Charizard. He never seems to use them unless he has to."

"But it's no doubt that they're all strong." Leon nodded as Alain mega evolved Charizard. "Even though it seems he hardly uses them in serious battles, he's still trained them well. At least from what we can tell with his Metagross."

Alain made short work of the rest of the battle, with one last dragon claw, Charizard was the victor.

"Well, he's off to the final."

"He'll be up against Ash or Sawyer. Both very tough, but different matches."

Corina's eyes fell on Alain's face, and she frowned. He was most certainly different than he used to be. Even as he made it to the final round, he didn't smile.

Ash and Sawyer made their way to the arena next for the other semifinal match. "Ash and Sawyer are both opposites in their battling styles. Sawyer fights with analysis and strategy, and Ash fights with instinct."

"This'll definitely be an interesting fight."

Ash and Sawyer engaged in a heated battle. One after the other, their pokemon fainted after giving each fight their all. Sawyer eventually revealed he had a mega sceptile to combat Ash's greninja. Corina felt her heart pounding in excitement as she watched the battle rage on. She had no idea what was going on with Ash and Greninja, but she found it absolutely fascinating.

With one last incredible water shuriken attack, Sceptile was knocked out, and Ash was declared the winner. The crowd roared for Ash's victory, and Corina couldn't be happier that her friend was moving on to the final round.

That evening Corina, Professor, Sycamore, and Leon were scavenging through the library at the lab looking for any information on what sort of transformation Ash and Greninja were going through in battle. There were piles of papers and books on the tables and floor that they'd already gone through. "I've spoken with other professors as well, but none of them know what's going on either." Professor Sycamore told them, flipping through a thick book.

"It's crazy to me. How could a pokemon fuse with the trainer like that? And a power boost as well. Do you think their bond could really be that strong?" Corina asked, climbing the step ladder to get to a higher shelf.

"Hold up..." They looked over to Leon sitting on the floor.

"Did you find something?" The Professor looked over at his son.

"I think so..." The other two crowded behind him to see Leon looking at an ancient manuscript. "This talks about something called a "bond phenomenon." Something special happens when the trust between a trainer and pokemon is so strong. Take a look." He held up the paper to his father, who examined it more closely.

"Interesting. Marvelous work, Leon. We should go find Ash right away and tell him what we've found." He scanned the pages into his tablet, and the three of them left the lab with haste.