Trust Me

by storm-aurora

Green and X have a training battle, but Green's not expecting what happens next.

A/N: This is the longest single chapter I've ever posted, and it took me about two and a half weeks to write. It's a bit of a mess. I've been wanting to write more SpikedShipping for ages, and I wanted this to be a new SpikedShipping fic, but...well, it's not quite as SpikedShipping-focused as I thought it would be. I hope you enjoy it anyways.

"Scizor, Metal Claw!"

"Rute, Storm Throw!"

The two Pokémon charged at each other. Scizor held its claws up by its head, the eye-like markings on them leering at its opponent. Rute was unfazed and flew directly into Scizor, clamping its pincers tightly around Scizor's body.

As Scizor started to bring its pincers down on Rute's head, Rute picked its opponent up off the ground and did a somersault in midair, releasing Scizor to send it flying at the ground. As it lay dazed, Rute picked it up again and swung it around violently, flinging it into a nearby boulder. The boulder cracked upon impact and Scizor fell to the ground.

When Rute glowed white and returned to its regular form, they knew the battle was over.

"Good work, Scizor," Green Oak said, returning his Pokémon to its Poké Ball. "You fought well."

"So did you," X Oak said, patting his Pinsir's head. "All that training we've been doing to help you master movement in your Mega-Evolved form finally paid off."

"I'm impressed, kiddo," Green said, approaching his adopted son. "You're pulling off some pretty complicated moves even with a Mega-Evolved Pokémon. That flipping move to counter Metal Claw really caught me off guard."

X stood up and nodded. "I wanted to keep Metal Claw from connecting so that Scizor couldn't get that Attack boost. That would make the Defense drop from Rute's Superpower hurt even more."

"I was surprised when you used Superpower that early in the battle. With the negative effects that it causes, it's best saved for a finishing move," Green commented. "It's a risky strategy, but you pulled it off. Although," he added, tapping his Key Stone, "if I'd Mega Evolved Scizor, you wouldn't have stood a chance."

"True," X hummed, "but don't you need a Scizorite to Mega Evolve Scizor?"

Green rolled his eyes. "You know we're looking for one. Come on, let's head back to the Pokémon Center and heal up our Pokémon."

The Santalune City Pokémon Center wasn't far from where they were training on Route 22, so it didn't take long for them to have their Pokémon restored to full health. When they emerged, Green glanced up and noticed that the sun was well past its peak.

"We should head back to Vaniville," he decided. "We've been out here for a while, and Diantha will be wondering where we are."

"Are you sure?" X asked. "She knows we're out training, and we've stayed out a while training before."

Green raised an eyebrow. "How does she know that? She wasn't around when you asked me to come do some practice battles with you."

X shrugged and pulled his cap down lower on his head, hiding his eyes behind the brim. "I asked for her permission before I asked you."

Green tugged X's hat back up, so he could see the kid's eyes. "There's no need for that," Green said. X had a habit of trying to hide himself when he did something he thought Green and Diantha wouldn't approve of. "There's nothing wrong with letting her know what we're doing. But like I said, we've been out here a while, and a Trainer needs to rest just as much as his Pokémon do. There's a difference between pushing yourself to strengthen your capabilities and overworking yourself."

"But…I want to keep training," X pouted.

"You don't want to push yourself until you pass out, kiddo. Trust me."

X started to protest further, but he stopped and focused on something beyond Green.

"What is it?" Green asked, glancing over his shoulder. An orange bird Pokémon was rocketing towards him. He spun around to face it, readying a Poké Ball. "A wild Fletchinder? Why is one of those in the city?"

"Wait," X said, covering Green's Poké Ball. "I don't think it's wild. Look, it's carrying something."

Fletchinder was starting to slow down now, and Green finally realized what X had noticed before him – it was carrying a rolled-up scrap of paper in its talons. It stopped in front of X and offered the paper to him. X took it and read it aloud. "Come back now. Y."

"That's it?" Green said disbelievingly. He took the note from X and flipped it over, but it contained only those four words. "What does this even mean?"

"It means we should follow Fletchy," X declared.

He slipped the note into his pocket and sent out his Charizard. Green followed suit, sending out his own Charizard and climbing onto its back. Fletchy the Fletchinder took off and headed south, and the two Charizard flew after it. Since it wasn't weighed down by a passenger, Fletchy pulled ahead of the Charizard easily and descended into Vaniville Town before they arrived. Fletchy was nowhere to be seen by the time they landed on the front lawn of the Oak house.

X recalled his Charizard and headed for the front door. "Hold on," Green hissed as X put his hand on the doorknob. The younger boy stopped and looked back at him. "Doesn't this whole thing seem strange to you?"

"What do you mean?" X asked cautiously.

"First, Y sends her Fletchinder with a note instead of coming to get us herself. Then, the note she writes is short and vague, giving us no idea why we need to come back here so urgently. And now, Fletchy's gone, but it couldn't have gotten inside on its own," Green summarized. "If Y knew it was bringing us here, why would she let Fletchy in and not come outside to meet us? I'm worried this could be a trap."

X blinked at him a couple of times. "Dad, Team Flare died with Lysandre. Who would be targeting us?"

"I've made more than my fair share of enemies over the years. You'd be surprised at how resilient some of them can be," Green said ominously.

X sighed and stared at the ground. "Dad. I know when my friends and family are in danger. I can feel it. And I don't feel any danger now. I don't think this is a trap."

"What is it, then?" Green challenged him.

The boy faltered. "I-I don't know. But…" He finally looked up and met Green's eyes. "I need you to trust me on this."

Green was surprised by the determined look on his son's face. This ability of his…he'd heard about it from X's friends, but he'd never witnessed it before. Trevor, the boy who was working as Professor Sycamore's assistant, had told Green about his theory – that X's self-imposed isolation had made him hyperaware of external stimuli, giving him effectively a sixth sense – but Green never believed it was real. It was simply too unscientific for Green to accept a gut feeling as fact.

"Do you trust me?" X asked firmly.

Faced with it in reality, though, Green came to a conclusion. He didn't believe in the sixth sense, but he did believe in his son.

"I trust you."

X nodded gratefully and opened the door.

Inside, Fletchy was sitting on the kitchen counter beside Diantha's open laptop. But aside from Fletchy, the house appeared completely empty – no one in the kitchen, no one in the living room, no one on the staircase. "Fletchy, where are Y and Diantha?"

Fletchy merely chirped in response.

Green took a step towards Fletchy, and it chirped again.

"Stupid bird," Green muttered under his breath. Fletchy chirped a third time and hopped onto the laptop's keyboard. Then it hopped off and–

"SURPRISE!"

Green jumped. All around the kitchen and living room, people and Pokémon leapt out from behind furniture. Diantha and her Gardevoir, Y and her Greninja, Grace and her Rhyhorn, Trevor and his Floette, Tierno and his Crawdaunt, Shauna and her Skitty and Furfrou – even his old master, Gurkinn, and Gurkinn's granddaughter Korrina were there. But the most surprising face of all was–

"Red!?"

"The one and only," Red said, grinning. He walked up to Green and patted his longtime friend and rival on the back. "Happy birthday, Green!"

"Hey! Did you miss us, little bro?" the laptop called.

Green dashed over to the laptop, where a video call had been opened up with his sister and grandfather onscreen. "Daisy! Gramps!" he exclaimed. "Why…?"

"I couldn't miss my grandson's 30th birthday, now, could I?" Professor Oak chuckled. "But my old bones are hardly fit for traveling anymore. So, when Diantha called me and told me about this surprise party, she came up with the perfect way for me to be there without having to go there!"

"Diantha did, huh?" Green murmured, glancing over at his wife. She gave him a soft smile. But before he could go over and talk to her, he was ambushed by an enthusiastic Yvonne Gabena.

"What do you think, Mr. Green? Do you like it?" she asked. "Shauna and I put a lot of effort into planning it. Oh, and Mrs. Diantha helped too, of course! She was the one who invited Professor Oak and Ms. Daisy and Mr. Red. I wanted to invite more of the senior Pokédex holders, but Mrs. Diantha told me to take care of planning the surprise instead. It was hard to coordinate everyone to arrive while you were out training with X, but we made it work!"

"You mean…that training session was just an excuse to get me out of the house?"

"Well, no. I mean, knowing X, he probably treated it like any other training session. Isn't that right, X?" Y called to him.

"Huh?" X said, pulling his attention away from the conversation he was having with Red.

"You were serious about your training session this morning with Mr. Green, right?"

X nodded. "Does he think I wasn't?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at Green.

"I never said anything like that, kiddo." Green rolled his eyes. "You wanted to train with me, and that didn't have anything to do with the party. You only tried extending the session because you were waiting for a signal from Y that they were done setting up."

"Right," X said. "That's also how I was certain that Fletchy wasn't leading us into a trap."

"You thought it was a trap?" Red exclaimed, bursting into laughter. "Oh, Green, you never change."

"In my defense, it wouldn't be the first time that someone tried using my family against me," Green snapped.

"Aww, Y-ey's your family now?" Shauna teased.

"When did you join this conversation?" Green grumbled.

"I've been here the whole time," she replied with her usual snark. "You really are getting old. Your eyesight's already starting to fail."

Green restrained himself from punching her in the face and settled for a sharp side-elbow instead.

"I just wanted to hear your opinion on the decorations. I was in charge of them," Shauna griped, rubbing her side.

"What decorations?" Green asked blankly.

"You really didn't notice them?" Y said incredulously, gesturing to the house around them.

Green looked at his surroundings properly for the first time since everyone jumped out to surprise him. To his shock, they were now filled with party decorations. There were balloons and confetti on the floor, and streamers hanging from the ceiling and balcony. Someone had even hung a green banner in the foyer with the words "Happy Birthday Green!" written on it in big black letters. They had to have been put up while he was distracted by Red, Daisy, and Professor Oak – the Pokémon probably helped with that.

"What did I tell you? Blind as a Zubat," Shauna smirked.

"Excuse me. Shut up," Green said as he pushed his way out of the small circle of people that had gathered around him.

In the living room, Korrina was talking animatedly to Trevor and Tierno by the window while Diantha was speaking to Grace on the far side of the room. Green headed towards his wife and his neighbor, but he stopped when someone closer to him called his name.

"Quite a nice place you've got here, Green," his old master commented. Gurkinn was sitting back on the couch, holding a ceramic bowl full of green grapes in his lap. He popped a few of the grapes into his mouth.

"Thank you, master," Green replied with a respectful nod.

"Oh, there's no need for that formality now," Gurkinn said, waving a hand. "The Tower of Mastery is gone, and I don't even have my own Key Stone anymore. I'm hardly a master of anything. Besides, your training ended a long time ago." He popped in another grape. "Just call me Gurkinn. Or Gurkey, if you like. Shauna gave me that nickname, and I'm rather fond of it," he grinned.

"I would rather die than use one of Shauna's nicknames," Green deadpanned.

Gurkinn chuckled and leaned back on the couch. "Good to see that not everything about you has changed, Green. You've grown up so much since you were my student. Imagine my surprise when I got the news that the two of you were getting married! And adopting another of my successors, no less! I've passed on my knowledge to generations of promising young Trainers, but I never thought I'd live to see the day that that would happen. And now that I have…"

"I'm sorry to remind you of your own mortality, but you're not dying on me yet," Green said firmly. "That would be a terrible birthday present."

"Ah, that's not what I meant at all," Gurkinn assured him with a cheeky smile. "I merely meant that I never thought you would tie the knot with Diantha, of all people. I remember the days when you first started training at the Tower, and the two of you seemed to be battling in some way or another every day."

Green smiled. "Yes, well, she mellowed out with time."

Gurkinn burst into laughter, knocking the bowl of grapes off his lap and onto the floor. Green flinched when it hit the ground, but fortunately, it didn't shatter. Gurkinn was doubled over with laughter, but he managed to contain himself enough to ask, "Are you sure that she's the one who mellowed out, Mr. Kanto League Champion?"

Green's face turned red. "I-I didn't expect her to tell anyone else," he mumbled. People were starting to take notice of Gurkinn's outburst, and Green decided to remove himself from the situation. He turned around and injected himself to the nearest conversation, which happened to be Korrina's conversation with Trevor and Tierno.

"So, he comes in and is all like 'alright, who was messing with my stuff?' and Riolu and I are just sitting in the corner all innocent, so he doesn't suspect a thing," Korrina said, grinning widely.

Trevor and Tierno had big grins on their faces as well. "What happened next?" Tierno chortled. "Who did he blame?"

"Who do you think? Diantha, obviously," Korrina laughed. "He goes up to her and is all like…" Korrina paused for a moment to straighten up her posture and lift her arm up dramatically, but in doing so, her gaze shifted a few inches to the left and she finally noticed Green standing there, listening to her story. Her eyes widened, and she dropped her arm to her side. "G-Green! Hey!"

"Hello," Green said icily. "You wouldn't happen to be telling the story of the time you stole my Pokédex, would you?"

Korrina smiled innocently and rubbed the back of her head. "N-no! That's just silly! Why would I ever steal your Pokédex? You found it in Diantha's room after you beat her in a battle and she still wouldn't tell you where it was, remember?"

"She invited me to search her room to prove her innocence. There was no battle involved," Green replied, glaring at Korrina. "Later, she found that someone had planted it in her room, and she gave it back to me. I knew it was you all along."

He spun around and stormed away from them. It wasn't entirely true – he'd never known who the true Pokédex thief was until now – but it didn't matter that he stretched the truth a little. It was all stupid, pointless gossip anyways. "See, this is why I never knew Green very well," he heard Korrina hiss to the others when she thought he was out of earshot. "He was too scary to talk to up close…"

Green passed by Grace and Diantha, who were still talking by themselves, on his way to the bedroom. He'd been intending to talk to Diantha, but he didn't want to talk to her in such a foul mood. Fortunately, as he noticed when he entered the bedroom, Shauna's decorations hadn't infiltrated this far into the house.

He exhaled forcefully as he sat down on the bed. He knew it was his party and he ought to be out there mingling with the guests still, but he'd had enough of mockery and embarrassment for one day. Green was perfectly capable of learning from his mistakes, so he hated it when other people pointed them out to him – especially when said mistakes were from over ten years ago. If they wanted to share funny, embarrassing stories about him to celebrate his birthday, fine. That didn't mean that he had to be around to hear them.

A knock on the doorframe jolted Green out of his thoughts. "Green? What are you doing hiding back here?"

Green glanced up. Diantha had entered the room, and she was now approaching him with the barest of frowns on her face. His grimace turned into a slight smile as he realized that she had come looking for him because she was concerned about him, but that alone wasn't enough to dispel his gloomy mood.

"It's just…that…" Green waved a hand in the air, trying to come up with the right words to express how he was feeling, "…there are…too many people here, and they're getting on my nerves," he finally settled on.

Diantha lowered her head and took a seat on the bed next to Green. "I'm sorry. I told the girls that you wouldn't want a huge party, but they wanted to invite their friends and as many of your friends as they could, too. This was the smallest guest list we could agree on."

He sighed and slid his hand over Diantha's as it rested on her leg. Green wasn't a very physically affectionate person, so it was pretty special for him to initiate contact. "Thank you for trying," he murmured. "You go back in, now. You and the girls put a lot of effort into this, so I want you to have the chance to enjoy it."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "We put all that effort into this party for you. If there's anyone who needs to be out there enjoying it, it's you."

He clenched his other hand into a fist. "Diantha, I can't enjoy myself out there. Not when all those people are mocking me while they reminisce about me."

She laughed. "Really? Is that all that's bothering you?" Diantha stood up, pulling her hand out from underneath Green's. Then she extended it to him. "Come with me and I'll fix that. Trust me on this."

Green blinked. Surely it was just coincidental that Diantha used the exact same words that X did outside the house. If it wasn't a coincidence, then – what surprise would be lying in wait for him now?

However, this time he answered the question with less hesitation, taking Diantha's hand and giving it a little squeeze – their silent code for "I love you." As Green stood up, he felt Diantha squeezing his hand even harder in return. Then, he followed her out of the room to see what surprise was now in store for him.

The surprise, as it turned out, was more of a mystery than a surprise – and not just to him. "Everyone!" Diantha called loudly. "Can I have your attention, please?" Conversation died down as the guests turned their attention to Diantha.

"Thank you," she said. "Let's all get in a circle in the living room, so we can hear each other better."

A low murmur started back up as people made a circle in the living room. A handful of people and Pokémon sat down on the couches; others brought barstools from the kitchen to sit on, while still others opted to stand. Red thought to bring the laptop with Daisy and Professor Oak on it with him, which he set on the coffee table. Diantha stood at the end of the coffee table, opposite the laptop, and she gestured for Green to stand next to her.

Shauna finally voiced the question that was on everyone's mind. "What's all this about, Mrs. Diantha?"

"Friends and family, thank you all for coming out here today," Diantha announced. "We're here to celebrate a great man, a wise man, a thoughtful man…my husband, Green Oak."

This was followed by a polite spattering of applause.

"But I'm sure I don't need to tell you all that," Diantha continued. "You've all met him before, and you've seen at least some of that firsthand. We all have memories of Green. Some of them are fond, some of them are not. I want all of you to think back on those fond memories, pick the fondest one you have, and share it with all of us." Diantha glanced at Green with a soft smile. "I think the best way to remember someone is through the ways they've impacted our lives."

Green smiled back at her. She was quite a talented actress, and sometimes those performance skills translated well to real life – she had quite a way with words. It was one of the numerous things he loved about her.

"I'll begin," she said. "My best memory of Green was the first time I met him again, two years ago. I had just suffered a debilitating loss to Malva, and I had been lying there for – I didn't even know how long. I was too weak to move, and I was beginning to think that I'd never see the light of day again.

"But suddenly, I saw a light, and I heard footsteps! I cried out for help, hoping my weak voice would carry far enough for the person to hear me. Hoping, also, that this person would be a friend, not a foe. And who shows up then but Green, the overseas student that I hadn't seen in almost nine years. Green saved my life that day, and I will forever be grateful for it," Diantha finished.

Green shook his head, though the corners of his mouth were turned upwards. "There's no need to be so dramatic about it, Diantha," he said.

Diantha laughed. "Oh, believe me, Green, that's the least dramatic I can get." She turned to Gurkinn, who was sitting at the closest end of the couch to her left. "Gurkinn, would you care to go next?"

"Ah, certainly," Gurkinn said. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Green was one of my most talented students. No Successor of mine was ever ready to receive a Key Stone on their first day, but Green was the closest I'd ever seen to a student being ready to wield Mega Evolution before learning anything from me. However, once he had reached the point that I approved of his ability to wield a Key Stone, he still had to pass the final test – finding a Mega Stone to Mega Evolve his Pokémon."

"Scizor and I searched for his Mega Stone for days," Green recalled. "At one point I considered just calling someone at home and asking them to send me my Alakazam, hoping that Alakazam's Mega Stone would be easier to find."

"But you didn't," Gurkinn said, smiling fondly. "About a week after I gave you the task, you finally returned. Up until that point, I had been planning on making you wait a bit longer to have the succession ceremony, since you had taken so long to get the stone. But I clearly remember the look of joy on your face as you showed me the Mega Stone your Charizard had found, and I wanted to preserve that feeling for you by having your succession ceremony right away." He laughed. "I suppose that was more of a story than a memory, wasn't it? In short, my best memory of Green was that succession ceremony. You were so happy, and I couldn't have been prouder."

"Did you ever find Scizor's Mega Stone, Mr. Green?" Y asked.

Green shook his head. "No, but I'm not done looking."

They continued around the circle, each person sharing a memory or story of Green. Green was surprised that everyone had some fond memory or story to share, even the people he didn't know that well, like Grace and Tierno. All the fond memories that people had of him touched him more deeply than he knew how to properly express. Some people's memories were of events that he only vaguely remembered; for example, Korrina talked about a time during his training at the Tower of Mastery that he lent her his Machamp for a week so that it could help her Riolu learn Power-Up Punch. He had no idea that such a small action had made such an impact on Korrina, but the move had apparently become one of the best in Lucario's arsenal.

Finally, they reached the last two people in the circle, Y and X. Y squirmed in her seat. "Um…do I have to share my best memory?" she asked. "It's a little embarrassing to say out loud…"

"Good. Now you'll know how I feel, kiddo."

"Green!"

"Fine, I'll do it!" Y sighed forcefully. "Okay, it was back when we first met you, and you were having a battle with X and Rute. Remember?"

"Yes, I remember that battle. It was only the first of many."

"Well, during that battle, I couldn't help watching you," she admitted. "And the way you delivered your commands so gracefully, with the cape on and everything…you looked like a superhero to me, and it was just…really cool. That's all."

Green snorted. "Me? A superhero? That's Red's thing. I'm just the grumpy old man who teaches the superhero how to hone his weaker skills."

"Every hero learns from someone, and I think that makes that someone a hero, too," Diantha declared.

"Well, X?" Y said, eager to drop the subject. "What's your best memory of Mr. Green?"

"Right here in this living room, eleven months ago," X murmured.

"Speak up! We can't hear you," Shauna called.

"Eleven months ago," X repeated, "when we had our first hug as a family. That's my best memory of Dad."

Diantha nodded in agreement. "A simple moment, but a powerful one. That's the best kind of memory we can have."

"Thank you all for sharing those stories with me…with us," Green said. His words weren't enough to truly show just how much their stories moved him, but they would have to do. He wasn't sure what else to say, but Diantha saved him from awkward silence.

"And now," Diantha announced, "it's time for the gifts!"

She nodded to her Gardevoir, who teleported away and reappeared next to Green with a table buried in presents. How did they even fit all those gifts onto that table? Giftwrapped boxes, gift bags overflowing with tissue paper, even tiny decorative pouches were crammed onto the table's relatively small surface area. Many of the presents were wrapped in green packaging, but there were some reds and yellows and whites mixed in there as well.

X began to hand presents to Green for him to open. The gifts varied from clothes to books to items for use in Pokémon training, but Green could usually guess how generic the gift would be based on how well each gift-giver knew him. For example, Red gave him a sun visor so that he could keep sunlight off his face while he trained without having to cram a cap onto his unruly spiked hair, while Tierno just gave him a pair of green and white sneakers. Green wasn't really a sneaker person, but he pretended to appreciate the gift even as he was making plans to throw it into the back of his closet at the first chance he got.

Finally, X handed him the final box on the table. It was relatively small, about half the size of a shoebox, covered in forest green wrapping paper – his favorite shade of green. "That's from us," Diantha said. Green figured as much, since instead of a bow and ribbon, the box had a slightly crushed pink carnation taped to the top. Plus, his wife and son were the only ones who he hadn't opened a present from yet.

Green carefully removed the carnation and put it to the side. Then, he tore the wrapping paper off the box. The box underneath was solid black, offering no hints to what its contents were. So, Green removed the lid of the box and found white tissue paper, with what appeared to be a hint of something red underneath. Green folded back the tissue paper and gasped. It was a pale blue stone, perfectly round, with two wavy patterns in the center: one red and one dark gray.

He took it out of the box and held it up so everyone could see. To the average person, it just looked like a giant marble, but the people in this room were not average people. They had all seen stones like this before. Gurkinn was the first one to identify it: "Well, Green, I always knew you'd find that Scizorite someday!"

"How on earth did you two manage to find it?" Green asked, looking from X to Diantha.

"Remember that evening when I took you out to dinner and insisted that we leave all our Pokémon at home?" Diantha asked.

"Yes, you were adamant that it would be an evening for just the two of us," Green said, raising an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with finding the Scizorite?"

"It gave me the opportunity to borrow Scizor without you knowing," X said. "We–"

"Hold on, you did what?" Green spluttered.

"I borrowed your Scizor–"

"Without my permission!?"

"Green, it's fine," Diantha chimed in, placing a hand on Green's shoulder. "He had my permission. And my permission is just as good as yours."

"Fine," Green conceded. "So, why exactly did you borrow Scizor?"

"To help me find the Scizorite," X said. "Pokémon that can Mega Evolve are naturally drawn to their Mega Stones."

"I know that. But Scizor and I had been searching for it for years and never found it. You must have done something else to help you locate it."

"Well, yes. Two years ago, when Y, Trevor, Shauna, Tierno and I visited Professor Sycamore in Anistar City, we discovered that in the presence of Anistar Sundial, Key Stones start to glow with the light of Mega Evolution at eight o'clock. Mega Stones react to this light by glowing as well. Tierno and Shauna used this property to find the Mega Stones for Pinsir and Absol, so I figured that I could utilize it to look for Scizorite as well," X explained.

Green nodded slowly. "Professor Sycamore has told me about the connection between the sundial and Key Stones, though I've never witnessed it myself. But if Tierno and Shauna could find the Mega Stones they were looking for without the Pokémon who could use them, why exactly did you need Scizor?"

"Tierno and Shauna were just lucky," X said darkly, prompting an indignant cry from Shauna. "If you and Scizor couldn't find the Scizorite, it had to be well-hidden – and rare. I only had an hour each day, so if I got unlucky and Scizorite could only be found on the other side of the region, it would have taken weeks for me to find it."

"Ah. I suppose that makes sense," Green admitted. "So, where did you end up finding it?"

"Deep in Frost Cavern," X replied. "It was buried under a wall of ice."

"So it was in Frost Cavern after all," Green sighed. Then he shook his head and smiled. "Thank you very much, both of you. I never would have found the Scizorite without you."

Diantha and X both smiled back.

"You're welcome. Happy birthday, dear."

"Happy birthday, Dad."

"Hey, Green!" Red exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. "How about you try out your new Mega Evolution in a battle with me?"

Green smirked. "If you don't mind losing."

As Green and Red headed outside to find a suitable battlefield, Green thought back to his earlier battle with his son. Scizor had lost that battle because of Rute's Mega Evolution, but now Scizor could Mega Evolve, too. Soon, he'd battle X again, Mega on Mega. As long as X kept on improving – and Green knew he would – they would be battling on an even playing field. He trusted X to be a great opponent when the time came.

A/N: Favorites and reviews validate my suffering.