Lysandre hadn't gotten nearly as much sleep as he'd wanted to, and it wasn't just because all of Frita's furniture was too small to accommodate his size. He had been contemplating his conversation with Frita, and it had kept him up. He had been very confident when he had spoken with her, but the more he thought about it, the more he came to realize he was likely underestimating her. 'It's unlikely she is here solely for Steven Stone. It may be possible the League is on to my plans. It's too soon for me to deal with them, I'm not close enough to finding the Ancient Weapon yet. I doubt my "Energy for peaceful means" reason will work on this woman. Especially with my statements earlier. Perhaps I said those things out of a guilty conscience?'
Lysandre shook his head. He had gotten up early due to his inability to fall asleep and had entered the main room. Keith was asleep on the futon. Lysandre was well aware of who he was, as the man was an international rock and pop music sensation. With his Pokémon Band he traveled all over the place and performed, though he had yet to perform in Kalos. 'Strange, he and Frita seem quite close. I wonder, how on Earth did those two meet?'
He was still contemplating this when something caught his attention. There was a figure standing on the beach in the milky, pre-dawn light. It looked like Frita. 'What is she doing…?' He watched Frita as the sun began to peek over the ocean horizon. She had spread her arms wide, and was it just the sunrise, or did she have a slight glow? She stood there until the sun had fully risen, basking in it's light. When she returned, she looked straight at Lysandre, eyeing him warily.
He was suddenly caught by her gaze, he could feel it. It was almost as if she was looking into his very soul. Her bright green eyes appeared to be glowing, and a shiver ran down his spine. Finally, he was able to suck in a breath and blinked at her rapidly. She was still staring at him, but her eyes appeared normal. Was it his imagination? She was giving him a bit of a pitied look though. 'What in Arceus' name just happened? What did she just do? Or did she do anything at all?' His mind raced with a thousand questions.
"What...?" He mumbled, unable to latch onto one of the many questions he had. Frita blinked at him. She looked completely average, and was staring at him with her head tilted to the side in confusion. Her eyes were narrowed in suspicion as well. "Are you ok?" She waved a hand in front of his face when he didn't answer. Lysandre shook his head to clear it. "Yes I'm…fine. I fear I may have been…sleepwalking, of sorts." Frita looked skeptical, but shrugged.
Despite their conversation the night before, Frita still treated him in a civil manner, and even made him a cup of coffee. She also made an entire carton's worth of scrambled eggs, a mountain of bacon, and a large amount of toast. The smell woke Keith, and Steven as well, both of them diving right in as Frita brought Lysandre a plate. As he finished it, Keith plopped back down on the bed and Steven yawned and went back into his room. He failed to close the door so Lysandre could see he had chosen to go back to sleep as well.
Just as he was wondering what the point of getting up just to eat was, Frita asked if he wanted more food. He declined, and his eyes widened as she tucked into the food. The plates were clear in a matter of minutes. 'How…?! Is it even possible for the average human to eat that much?!' It then occurred to him that she wasn't exactly average.
He spent the rest of the early morning sipping his coffee before informing Frita that he was going to the city council to ask permission to chip a piece off the Sundial. It took less time than he expected, and the only stipulation was that he give them a shard so they could examine it to find what the Sundial was made of.
Before long, he was handing the Sundial fragment to one of his most trusted Lab workers. Her name was Lainey and she had short, blonde curly hair and glasses. "You know what we plan to do, Lainey. Here is the fragment from the Sundial. I expect you to take exceptional care of it." Lainey nodded. "Yes sir, of course." She took the Sundial fragment and fitted it into a complicated machine as Lysandre walked away.
What he didn't see, was that she also stuck a small pink dot to the surface of the crystal. She looked down at a tablet after Lysandre had left. It was showing a radar pinging a signal close by. "Perfect. Here's hoping this goes as planned." She pushed her glasses up her nose as she walked away.
Lysandre felt awkward about simply letting himself into Frita's home, but that was replaced by surprise and confusion when he entered. Steven was flailing wildly as Frita had him in a headlock. "Let…go!" Frita shook her head. "Oh no, you brought this on yourself, Stevie." Alain was sitting in a chair, shaking his head. Clearly he had better things to spend his time on. Marin was trying to hold back a giggle and Keith was snickering. Lysandre cleared his throat loudly. Frita turned to look at him then released Steven, who sucked in a breath and coughed a few times, and gave him her full attention
"I'm not going to ask what I just missed, but we managed to obtain a fragment of the Sundial. It's currently at Lysandre Labs, undergoing testing." Steven looked a little flustered. "My apologies for not being more involved. I didn't want to intrude too much, and I was certain you could handle getting the shard on your own." Lysandre shook his head. "No need to apologize. You were right, obtaining the fragment was more than easy enough on my own." Lysandre's attention flickered to Marin as something near her moved. It was then that he noticed she was sitting on an Arcanine that was lounging on the floor. It was a little above average for it's size, and appeared to be in very good condition
"That's your Pokémon, I take it?" Frita nodded at his question. "Yup. That's Archaic. She's especially friendly," Frita put a hand up to cover one side of her face, "honestly she would let anyone do anything so long as she gets petted." The last part was a whisper. Lysandre couldn't help but chuckle as Marin petted the Pokémon and her tail thumped loudly against the floor. "Are Fire Types perhaps your favorite Pokémon?" He ventured, turning his attention back to Frita
"That's an understatement." Steven was straightening his shirt. He was now wearing a white t-shirt with jeans and a brown leather jacket. His Mega Stickpin was stuck in the collar. Frita glared at him, "Don't make me put you back in a headlock." Frita turned on him and stomped toward him with one foot. Steven rapidly jumped back, wary. Frita laughed and pointed a finger at him. "Gotcha!" He glared at her and turned away. "And yes," Frita turned back to Lysandre, "I love Fire Type Pokémon.
"As I thought. Were you maybe aware that Alain has a Charizard? Or that it Mega Evolves?" He had expected Frita to be excited, or maybe pleased, but the look she gave was completely different. 'Is that…disdain? She said she loved Fire Type Pokémon though. I was hoping something like this might put me on better terms with her. Perhaps I was mistaken.' Frita's voice cut into his thoughts. "Oh does he now? I wasn't aware of that." Frita looked over her shoulder at Alain. He walked straight up to her and looked her in the eye. "Do you have any Pokémon that Mega Evolve?" Frita narrowed her eyes. "Oh I have several. Why do you ask?" Alain searched her gaze. "I want to beat every Mega Evolved Pokémon and stand at the summit.
Frita looked him over carefully. "That's a lofty goal. You'll have to beat me to do that." Alain nodded. "Then I will," he stated flatly. Frita let out a condescending snort. "Easier said than done. Even Stevie can't beat me, and that's when I'm NOT using Mega Evolved Pokémon...and he IS." Lysandre started in surprise. 'I knew she was Grand Champion, but to be able to best Steven Stone without Mega Evolution is certainly a hefty feat. Alain is quite far out of his league with this challenge.' But Alain hadn't backed down. "It doesn't matter. I'll never beat you if I don't battle you first." Frita gave a devilish grin. "Fair enough, fair enough. I accept your challenge. I have a Stadium here in Anistar City I use for my Junior Trainer Battle Training. We can use that.
In a matter of minutes, they were standing in the Stadium. Lysandre, Steven, and Marin had taken up resedence in the Stadium's seating while Alain and Frita stood at opposite ends of the battlefield. "You ready, Dexter?" Frita had plugged her Pokédex into the Stadium's mainframe. A young man in red clothes with read hair, bright blue eyes, and glasses appeared on the Stadium's jumbotron screens. "As I'll ever be, let's get started." Dexter suddenly became tiny, and his full body was visible. He turned and extended an arm, bringing up a battle roster. "This will be a one on one battle between Grand Champion Frita Warmhart and the challenger, Alain. If either side can't continue, the battle is over. Battle, begin!
'Her Pokédex has an AI program this sophisticated? I'm impressed.' Lysandre watched as Alain let Charizard out of it's Pokéball and Mega Evolved it. A Mega Charizard X icon appeared on his side of the roster. Frita whistled and Lysandre noticed Steven grab the bottom of his seat. Seconds later, a massive black figure shot past the arena. The force from it's passing nearly blew Lysandre out of his seat. Marin let out a squeak as she became airborne, clutching her Chespin tightly. Steven grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. He held his seat with one arm and Marin with the other. The figure shot back over the arena several times before it landed with a massive crash that shook the ground. Well, landed wasn't quite accurate. It more just dropped out of the sky.
Lysandre jumped to his feet. "Is that…?!" The figure was hunched over, most of it hidden, but as he spoke it unfurled it's massive wings and a large head on a long neck uncurled toward the sky. A massive tail tipped with a blue flame swung wide across the Stadium arena, and a pair of red eyes fixed Alain's Charizard maliciously. Standing before them was a shiny Charizard, except…
"It must be three, no four times the size of an average Charizard!" Lysandre exclaimed, barely able to contain his amazement. "It's HUGE!" Marin exclaimed. "There's no way Alain can win against that!" The Charizard let out a roar and blasted a jet of blue flame from it's jaws at the sky. When he brought his head back down, he snorted and smoke poured from his nose like steam. Frita was swinging a pocket-watch in circles with one hand. "Alright Charlie!" She wound the watch chain around her arm until the watch landed in her hand and popped open. She closed it rapidly, her fingers curling over the Keystone set in the front of it. "It's time…to Mega Evolve!" Charlie roared, and glowed brightly. When the Mega Evolution was complete, he stood proudly. He was even bigger than before, and had Mega Evolved into Mega Charizard Y. "That one's different than Alain's Charizard!"
It was Marin's excited voice. "Charizard has two forms of Mega Evolution," Steven explained. A Mega Charizard Y icon appeared on Frita's side of the screen. It was accompanied by the word 'Charlie' underneath. 'If she has this kind of power,' Lysandre thought, amazed. 'It's no wonder she's Grand Champion.' Frita stood with her arms crossed as Alain recovered and sent Charizard forward with a Dragon Claw. Frita never moved, or gave a single verbal command…