Mega Love

Chapter Twenty

    After arriving in Shalour City, Serena and I meet up with Shauna, Trevor, and Tierno in order to speak to the Mega Evolution Guru like Professor Sycamore suggested. We make our way to the Tower of Mastery, a gigantic structure that looms over the entire city.
    "Oh?" says an older white gentlemen with eyebrows almost as long as Korrina's ponytail as we walk in. Korrina stands by the man's side.
    "Here they are," says Korrina.
    "Hello!" says Shauna.
    "Korrina? What are you doing here?" asks Serena.
    "It seems some of you have met my granddaughter Korrina, the Gym Leader of Shalour City," says the old man. "I'm called the Mega Evolution Guru. Professor Sycamore told me you would be coming. I guess you could say I'm an acquaintance of his."
    "It's nice to meet you. I'm Calem, and this is Serena, Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor," I say, pointing out our group's respective members.
    "Pleased to meet you, Sycamore's pupils!" replies the Guru. "Since you're all here... I suppose I should explain Mega Evolution to you. I assume you all know about Pokémon Evolution?"
    "I know! I know!" says Shauna full of enthusiasm. "Um... You have your Pokémon battle a lot, and then they grow stronger and evolve! Oh, and there are Pokémon that evolve with certain items."
    "Some Pokémon evolve through friendship, and others only evolve in certain places," adds Serena.
    "Exactly!" says Korrina. "And it's likely that Pokémon evolve in a lot of other ways as well! But Mega Evolution is an Evolution that transcends all other Evolution!"
    "Indeed," says the Guru. "Mega Evolution is a transformation of Pokémon that were thought to be unable to evolve any further! It's a whole new level of power!"
    "So in an Evolutionary line like Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard... " asks Trevor. "Does that mean that Charizard would be able to evolve even further?"
    "Yep! Exactly right!" says Korrina. "But not all Pokémon have a Mega Evolution."
    "There's a reason why I used the word 'transformation' a moment ago. Mega Evolution differs from Evolution because it ends after a certain amount of time. In other words, it's a temporary Evolution," says the Guru.
    "What?! It evolves, but then goes back to what it was before?" asks Shauna.
    "Yes... Mega Evolution is a special kind of Evolution," says Korrina. "That said, we still know very little about it. What we know now is that it requires special items. And the most important element is the trust between the Pokémon and Trainer."
    "Trust... in other words, the bond between Trainer and Pokémon!" says Serena.
    "To make Mega Evolution work, you need two items: a Mega Stone for the Pokémon and the Mega Ring, which has a mysterious stone set in it, for the Trainer. Since Professor Sycamore entrusted each one of you with a Pokédex, I would like to give these items to all of you... I'd like to share them with you, but..." says the Guru.
    "But?" asks Shauna. "But what? Just come out and say it already!"
    "Sorry, but presently, I have only two Mega Rings... It's a very precious item. That's why my research isn't getting anywhere... So, I want all of you to decide among yourselves which two of you will be the ones who challenge the Mega Evolution successor," says the Guru.
    "I'll pass," says Tierno almost immediately. "Pokémon battling isn't really my scene. So, Mega Evolution would be way out of my league."
    "Me, too!" says Shauna. "It really would be a cool memory, and it does look interesting, but..."
    "I want to complete the Pokédex first. If you try to do too much at once, you won't accomplish anything," says Trevor.
    Serena and I look at each other. "I guess that just leaves us then," I say.
    "Well then, Calem! Serena!" says the Guru. "First, you should challenge Korrina, the Gym Leader."
    "Calem, my Lucario may have taken a shine to you, but now things are different. I must test you both to see if you're ready to challenge the Mega Evolution successor! I'll be waiting at the Gym for you both," says Korrina before skating out of the building.
    With a nod, the Guru leaves us to our own devices and walks off. Trevor and Tierno head back out to continue on their journeys, leaving just Serena, Shauna, and I. Shauna decides that she is going to tag along with us and see how this all plays out. The three of us then stroll over to the Shalour City Gym.
    As we step into the Gym, I ask, "Are you sure this is the Gym?"
    Inside the building is a giant roller rink.
    "This is the Gym alright," says Korrina. We turn to see her approaching us from the right. "It's also my personal skating rink!"
    "That seems convenient," I reply. She chuckles.
    "Do we get to skate on this?!" asks Serena excitedly.
    "Well of course," says Korrina. "It's where we'll be having our battle!"
    Korrina leads Serena and I down onto the center of the rink, and we start our battles. Oddly, Korrina doesn't use either of her Lucarios, and Serena and I are able to win without much troubles.
    "Oh! I have been defeated! Alack, alay! Lady Korrina gave a terrible display! This is it. I must give up my title and admit that your strength far exceeds—Just teasing! But here's your Badge. Boy, you two will be rolling in 'em soon!" says Korrina, handing us our badges.
    "I don't get it Korrina. Why didn't you use your Lucarios?" I ask.
    "Look... I do have to apologize. You'll have to make it up to the top of the Tower of Mastery if you want the Mega Ring. I'm sorry for sending you this way and that. I swear, I'm not giving you the runaround! You've done great rolling with the punches. So great that I'd like to ask you a favor... Battle me again, won't you? But this time, it won't be just another Gym Battle... I want a battle between equals! As two Trainers who can use Mega Evolution! I'll be waiting for you both with Lucario at the top of the Tower of Mastery!" replies Korrina.
    "You're on!" says Serena. There's a fire in her eyes that only an intense battle can satisfy. She looks so cute!
    Korrina exits the Gym, and Shauna joins us on the rink. "Wow! You guys were awesome!" says Shauna.
    "Thanks," I reply.
    "But now we have to battle her again, for reals this time," says Serena. "We should probably head over there." Serena begins to walk towards the exit, but I grab her hand. "Calem!" she exclaims, her face reddening.
    "Before we do that... " I say. "We have a whole skating rink to just the three of us."
    "But won't Korrina be waiting?" says Serena.
    "And I don't have skates! We should just leave now! No need to hang around!" says Shauna.
    I grin devilishly. "Oh I'm sure there are skates somewhere in here that you can use," I say.
    "We can't just use things without permission C-Meister!" says Shauna.
    "Shauna... You're not acting like your usual self. Don't tell me... You don't how to skate, do you?" I ask.
    A silence falls between us. "Really? Of all people, I thought that Shauna would love to skate," says Serena.
    "Well... It's not that I don't want to skate... I'm just not very good at it..." says Shauna.
    "I can teach you!" says Serena, her hands on her hips. "I'll teach you everything that Calem taught me!" Serena then runs off to find a pair of skates. Shauna slowly grows a goofy grin. Serena soon returns with a pair of skates.
    I watch as Serena and Shauna begin the lessons. Serena teaches Shauna as much as she can remember from when I taught her. I chime in every once in awhile to help smoothen things, but for the most part, Serena does all the work this time. The empty building fills with the girls' laughter, and eventually Shauna and Serena are skating side by side. Serena skates over to me and holds out her hand.
    "Come on!" says Serena. I laugh as I take her hand. For the next hour, we all skate and have a great time. Shauna then heads to the Pokémon Center to wait for our return.
    When Serena and I do finally arrive at the top of the Tower of Mastery, we're greeted by Korrina with, "What took you two so long?!" She stands with her Lucarios on either side of her.
    I rub the back of my head. "Sorry! Something came up. We're ready now though!" I say.
    "Good," says Korrina. "I really love this place! When I'm here with my Pokémon, looking at the wide-open sky above, all worries disappear, and I feel like I can do anything!"
    "It really is beautiful," says Serena.
    "Thanks for coming all the way up here. It was decided that this must be the place where the Mega Ring is handed over. Something about making sure we never forget to set our sights as high as the sky." Korrina then walks over to us with two black bracelets in hand. "And here they are--your guys' very own Mega Rings! They're in the shape of a bracelet, so they're super easy to wear!"
    Serena and I each take a bracelet and put them on. The mysterious rainbow stone on the bracelet contains the same symbol on the stones the Professor gave us.
    "Give your Pokémon the right Mega Stone, and try battling with it! Your Pokémon will surely answer the call of the Mega Ring! So who's first?!" asks Korrina.
    "I nominate Serena," I say. Serena turns to me in confusion, and I give her a wink. I step off to the side to give them some space.
    Serena smiles and pulls out a Pokéball. She releases her newly evolved Venusaur onto the battlefield.
    "Allow me to demonstrate the power of Mega Evolution!" says Korrina, raising her fist into the air. Embedded into her glove is a stone exactly like the ones in our bracelets. She touches the stone, and in an instant, the Lucario to her left is enveloped in a bright light. As the light fades, a new form of Lucario reveals itself. So this... This is Mega Evolution.
    "My turn!" yells Serena. She raises her bracelet into the air and touches the stone. A bright light now envelopes Venusaur. Venusaur evolves into an even more menacing Mega Venusaur.
    "Lucario! Go, Power-Up Punch!" yells Korrina, wasting no time. Lucario dashes towards Venusaur with lightning speed! Dozens of vines spring out of the sides of Venusaur and shoot towards Lucario. Lucario dodges whipping vines and jumps into the air.
    "Solar Beam!" yells Serena. A huge beam of pure light launches out of Venusaur's flower at Lucario.
    Lucario materializes a bone out of aura and crashes it into the incoming beam, creating an enormous explosion. The smoke clears, and both Pokémon took the hit pretty hard. Lucario goes to close the gap again immediately and strikes Venusaur with a powerful punch. Venusaur is knocked back.
    "Solar Beam again!" yells Serena. Venusaur begins to charge up another powerful blast.
    "Lucario! Get ready to dodge!" yells Korrina. Lucario attempts to move, but seeds on the ground entangle its feet with roots, keeping it from moving. The beam blasts into Lucario, and it falls.
    "Alright! We did it!" yells Serena, running up and hugging her Venusaur. Korrina tends to her injured Lucario.
    I then notice that Korrina's other Lucario has been watching beside me the whole time.
    "It was a good battle, wasn't it?" I say, turning to it and smiling. The Lucario nods.
    We head over to Serena so I can congratulate her. "Nicely done, Serena."
    "Thanks," she replies. I help her back to her feet.
    Korrina and Serena's Pokémon return to their original states and are returned to their Pokéballs. "What an incredible bond you have! What amazing power!" says Korrina.
    "You and Lucario were just as amazing!" says Serena.
    Suddenly, Korrina seems to be staring at me very intensely. "Calem," she says.
    "Yes?" I respond.
    "I think it would be best if you took that Lucario along with you on your journey. It's quite apparent that you two would make a truly incredible team!" says Korrina.
    "But Korrina! Lucario is your Pokémon! What are you saying?!" I say.
    Korrina walks up to Lucario. "I don't know what to say... I'm a bit shocked myself that some traveling Trainer seems to have a stronger bond with you than I do... Haha! Well, he must be something special! So, whaddya say, Calem? He's even got a Lucarionite in hand. I had planned on battling you with him, but I don't think that's going to be necessary."
    I look to Serena. She's just as shocked as I am. I turn to Lucario. He seems to approve of the decision himself. "Why not?" I say with a smile.
    Lucario lets out a triumphant cry, and we all laugh. " As long as Pokémon and Trainers have the kindness to care for each other and give each other courage, the world will be full of smiles!" says Korrina.