The Bond

Chapter Fifteen: Mega Evolution!

Ash quickly changed into his regular clothes and rejoined the group.

The group of five along with their Pokémon headed towards the cave system. When they reached the caves, Lucario perked his head up and looked in one direction. Upon reaching an intersection, the group was unsure of where to go until Korrina spotted Lucario walking down one of the tunnels. The gym leader said, "Lucario must sense the Lucarionite!" and raced after her partner. The rest of them followed and eventually they all reached a wide open tunnel, with the Lucarionite sitting on a pedestal. Korrina and Lucario started walking towards it until Ash, Riolu, and Froakie all heard something.

"Korrina wait! There's something else here..." Ash said, closing his eyes and focusing with Riolu and Froakie. The three once again managed to achieve the strange vision, and easily spotted a Blaziken waiting in the shadows. However, while they were doing this, Korrina and Lucario had continued on, convinced nothing could go wrong. That is, until Ash called out, "Froakie! Water Pulse!" The whole group turned to see Ash pointing at a section of wall, his eyes still closed, and watched as Froakie launched a Water Pulse at the spot. They were all surprised to see something leap from that location to land in front of Lucario and Korrina, avoiding damage from Froakie while blocking their path to the Mega Stone.

"Ahh!" Bonnie and Serena screamed, clinging to each other for dear life. Korrina stumbled backward, before saying, "Looks like we have one more battle, Lucario. Let's prove we're worth the Mega Stone!"

Lucario looked back and nodded. He turned back to see Blaziken racing towards him. Korrina saw as well and shouted, "Power-up Punch!" Lucario drew back his fist, then slammed it forwards into Blaziken's flaming Blaze kick. The two moves pushed against one another, finally canceling out and sending both Pokémon flying backward. The seemingly wild Blaziken raced forwards, swinging his foot around in a Low Kick. Lucario jumped and Korrina said, "Alright, Power-up punch, once more!" The fighting type moved slammed into Blaziken, sending it flying backward. Korrina and Lucario were about to follow up with more attack, but they were interrupted by a voice shouting, "Enough!"

Gurkinn stepped out of the shadows. "Korrina and Lucario, you have proven yourselves worthy of this Lucarionite. Use it wisely, and don't forget to investigate your surroundings more thoroughly. If Ash wasn't able to sense my Blaziken, you and Lucario would have been surprised and down a hit. Remember this lesson well." The wise man then stepped aside and said, "Now claim your prize."

Korrina and Lucario walked forwards, and Lucario grabbed the Lucarionite. The group then headed out of the cave, until Riolu and Froakie picked up on another energy source. They pointed Ash in its direction, and the trio, Riolu and Froakie on Ash's shoulders, slipped off into the cave unnoticed. The three approached to feel a wave of energy, the same energy they felt when together, flowing from farther down the cave. When they reached the end, Ash said, "Woah."

Sitting on a pedestal, in the center of the room-like cave, sat a set of ninja stars made out of a blue crystal material. Froakie and Riolu leaped off of Ash's shoulders, as something told them their role was merely to guide their trainer to these mysterious objects. Ash walked closer and picked up the shurikens. They faintly glowed, which he failed to notice. Ash then put them in his backpack, and said, "We'll take a closer look at these later. For now, we better get back before someone notices we're gone. Alright, guys?" Froakie and Riolu said, "Fro, Froakie Fro!" and "Riou." They nodded their heads and resumed their positions on Ash's shoulders. The ninja-in-training trio then walked back into the main cave, and swiftly and silently caught up to the others that were walking ahead. No one even noticed they were gone. They all walked out of the cave and down to the square of Geosenge. Ash said, "Hey Korrina, do you wanna try your mega evolution? I'd like to see a Mega Lucario, myself. Then we know what we can do, right, buddy?" Ash turned and looked at Riolu, who peeked with interest. Korrina said, "Yeah, let's do it! Are you ready, Lucario?" Lucario looked at his trainer and nodded, ready for another level of power.

"Alright, Lucario! Mega Evolve!" Korrina said. Lucario Mega Evolved, transforming slightly. Its legs grew longer, as well as its arms, and the fronds on the back of its head grew longer. Additional spikes appeared on Lucario's hands, completing the Mega Evolution. Korrina said, "Alright! Now we're talking!"

Ash whispered, "Whoa. Alright, Froakie, let's be careful. We don't know how fast Lucario is now." Froakie looked back at his trainer and said, "Fro Fro!" while clenching a fist. "Alright, use quick attack!" Ash said, and Froakie darted off quickly.

"Mega Lucario, dodge it!" Korrina shouted. Lucario did as she asked while panting heavily. Korrina looked at Lucario confused, not knowing why he would be panting this badly. She then said, "Bone Rush!" Prompting Mega Lucario to run forwards and use Bone Rush on Froakie. The small Pokémon was launched backward. Ash looked on as he saw Lucario's pupils shrink, and a glare that contained wild, primitive desires. Ash yelled "Froakie, Water Pulse!" His Pokémon launched the pale blue ball of water at Lucario, who knocked it off course with a bone rush. He was about to strike Froakie again when Gurkinn released his Lucario and said, "Bone Rush!" In a commanding tone. Lucario took off, forming a bone rush in its hands, and blocked Korrina's Lucario from striking at Froakie in its frenzied state. Korrina looked at her grandfather and said, "Grandpa, why did you do that? Lucario and I were about to win!" As she spoke, her Lucario's eyes rolled back into its head and he collapsed, reverting from his Mega Evolution. Korrina gasped and said, "What happened?"

Gurkinn said, "If a trainer is not there for their Pokémon, especially Lucario, Mega Evolution can be too powerful. The power overwhelms the Pokémon's senses, causing it to lose control. That is what happened, Korrina. That is why I stepped in. You and Lucario lost control. We will be immediately returning to the gym so I may properly train you in Mega Evolution, understand?"

Korrina nodded and said, "Well, I guess this means we're going. I look forward to your challenge, Ash. Bye, Bonnie, Clemont, Serena! See you guys in a couple days!"

Serena said, "Bye, Korrina! Although it might be more than a couple, as I have my debut Pokémon Performance in two days. We're going to go there next, right Ash?"

Ash fist pumped and said, "Definitely!... Right after we get Froakie checked out." He walked over to his tired Pokémon and, scooping Froakie up, started walking to the Pokémon Center, calling over his shoulder, "Hope you'll be ready for our battle, Korrina! Because I will be!" Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena, all caught by surprise, said, "Bye Korrina! See you later!" And raced off after Ash.