Episode 6: Testing a theory
"Where we going next?" Warren asked as he put his palms down on the table in front of him. Charlotte and Niko, both sitting on the opposite end, shrugged in response. "Okay…that doesn't help."
"The nearest gym would probably be Lumiose City," Charlotte finally replied. "But Professor Sycamore said we should wait until we have four gym badges first," she pulled out her guide book and flipped to the map. "So…we're here. Lumiose City is there…where would be the gym to go to…"
"It looks like most towns and cities are connected to Lumiose anyways, we could just go back there and ask Professor Sycamore for suggestions," Niko suggested.
"That works for me. Warren?"
"I like that idea. And it won't take too long to get back there if we hurry. Even if we don't, it's only a couple of days, right?"
Warren was right—the trip to Lumiose City didn't take as long as they had originally thought. Although, it was more enjoyable on the trip back. During that time, Charlotte continued her training, using Smeargle's new quick attack move to help her other Pokémon with their speed training. Deerling—now an orange-colored Pokémon to match the season at the time—excelled at this speed training the most, with Fennekin closely behind. It was Larvitar, understandably enough, that had the most difficulty with any sort of training. However, Charlotte saw in the Rock Skin Pokémon a unique determination to make something of himself. It was likely, she surmised, that this ambition came from the discovery of the supposed mega stone.
Niko, on the other hand, had difficulty with his own training. For starters, he was confident in Fletchling's ability to fight at this point. It was Chespin, as usual, that seemed to cause him problems. Although less so, since it was during their battle with Viola that Chespin lost—and lost badly—to a Surskit. The Spiny Nut Pokémon, over the following couple of days, didn't seem to take the loss well, and would lash out in anger against some of the other Pokémon around him, specifically Charlotte's Fennekin (whom he had known for some time prior to joining Niko). Nevertheless, Niko tried to work with Chespin, knowing that the loss to Surskit seemed to light a fire under his grass type to try and get stronger through training.
Warren would occasionally help out with his friend's training, as he had made clear on their first venture through route 4. It allowed his Poliwhirl, Leavanny, and Pidove to get some training in as well. Poliwhirl was beginning to learn a move called ice punch, which seemed like a spontaneous move to learn, since there were no ice types on the team. These battles also further developed Leavanny's role as a nurse, since she would help patch up the Pokémon if they suffered from injuries, albeit usually small ones.
When he wasn't training with his friends, Warren got back into the habit of writing, now chronicling their adventures in Kalos. He began from the start and worked his way through the short timeline of events since. On most of their nights on the way to Lumiose City, Niko found him up late by the campfire, writing carefully and gracefully in the booklet he bought in Vertress City.
It made Niko wonder if there was something missing in Warren's life. But surely being a writer and travelling couldn't be all that he wanted to do. Niko didn't act on these thoughts, and preferred to let them percolate in his mind alongside the other things he thought about—mega evolution, Chespin, and his gym challenge.
The day before reaching Lumiose City, Niko and his friends arrived upon a small town on the edge of the forest. It was clear that the town was small, since it was enough to surround a rather large, ovular track. Curious, the three walked into the town and towards the track.
"Welcome to the annual Odyssey Village Rhyhorn Race!" a young man announced on the microphone.
While he was explaining the rules of the race, Niko and his friends watched with curiosity. There were people riding the rhyhorn—something Niko didn't think was possible. However, he seemed to thoroughly enjoy it—the riders came off as very skilled in their sport, and it ended up being a close race regardless. After watching it with gusto, the trio continued on their journey.
"Do you think you'd ever ride a rhyhorn like that?" Warren asked as they left Odyssey Village.
"Absolutely not. I don't think I'd even fit on one," Charlotte replied.
"I think it'd probably upset my stomach, actually," Niko commented. "I'd probably give it a try once, but not sure if it's something I'd ever want to do professionally."
"We should give it a go next time we see one," Warren said, nudging Niko in the shoulder. "Could be fun!"
"I suppose so," Niko said, giving Charlotte an expression that mixed amusement and nervousness.
The trio finally arrived in Lumiose City three days after leaving Santalune, and got into the city at nighttime, just as the lights flooded the circular-shaped Kalos metropolis. The three trainers eventually found the Pokémon Center once again, electing to get to sleep as soon as they could. The following morning, they planned to visit Professor Sycamore and further inquire about mega evolution.
After spending some time training with their Pokémon Niko, Charlotte, and Warren took a taxi across town to Professor Sycamore's laboratory. Once more, they were regaled in conversation by the driver, this time about a famous Kalos actor named Diantha.
"Oh, she is absolutely beautiful. And smart, too! Very talented," the driver said.
"Never heard of her," Niko said. "We're not exactly from here."
"You must check out her work sometime, then! If you're interested in battling, she's also very good at that!"
"Really now? Is she a gym leader?" Niko asked.
"No, former Kalos Champion!"
"Champion?" Niko said, appalled.
"Yeah! Powerful trainer, Diantha is. She was Champion for a long time, nearly a decade, before she was defeated by some blonde trainer. I forget her name…" the driver said, clearly trying to recall a memory. "Anyway, if you ever get a chance to watch her battle, I highly recommend it!"
"Thanks, sir," Niko said as they exited the taxi. "And thanks for the ride!"
"Anytime kids, have a good day!"
Niko, Warren, and Charlotte turned to see the familiar-looking lab sitting in front of them. As they were walking up, Charlotte fingered the small marble sitting in her jacket pocket, hoping that it was the mega stone that they believed it to be. If so, then she needed to up the ante with regards to training her Larvitar.
Warren opened the door to lead the way in. As they did, they noticed Professor Sycamore talking at the bottom of the main staircase with a woman just a few inches shorter than him—just barely shorter than Niko. She had short, brown hair and wore entirely white clothing—white shirt, shorts, and a thin coat—with gold bands around her waist and wrists. A handbag was in her right hand, and she wore a necklace with a small pale pink-colored marble.
A mega stone…Niko thought to himself, recognizing the necklace.
"Oh, Niko! Charlotte! And…Warren?" Sycamore said as he interrupted his conversation with the woman to greet his other visitors. "What brings you here today?"
"We have a few questions, actually. But if we're interrupting—" Charlotte said, turning to the woman in white.
"No! Not at all! Diantha here was on her way out, actually," Sycamore said, turning to the woman and smiling. She nodded curtly.
"Diantha!?" Niko said with as much surprise as he did in the taxi. "The Champion of the Kalos League?"
"Former Champion, actually," Diantha said. "Hi, I'm Diantha. And you are…?"
"Niko, from Pallet Town," Niko replied, shaking the former Champion's hand.
"Ah, Pallet Town. I knew a trainer from there. Skilled one, too," Diantha remarked, as if also recalling a memory.
"I see you have a mega stone," Niko said, pointing to her necklace.
"Ah, yes! This is my Gardevoirite."
"Niko and his friends came to Kalos to learn more about mega evolution," Professor Sycamore explained. "Have you learned anything more since our last meeting?"
"Well, sort of," Charlotte said, reaching into her jacket pocket to pull out the pale green marble. "My egg hatched into a Larvitar, you see, and that same day we found this in a cave."
Sycamore took the marble from Charlotte and, with Diantha looking as well, examined it. "This is definitely a mega stone. I may have seen this one before, but I can't remember which one."
"It's a Tyranitarite," Diantha replied. "It can mega evolve a tyranitar. You should consider yourself lucky—these aren't common finds."
"What's weird about it is that my Larvitar sensed it," Charlotte added.
"What do you mean by that?" Sycamore asked, motioning the four of them into his study off to the right of the front room.
"Well, the evening after Larvitar hatched, we were walking to Santalune City and he just started running off in a completely different direction. We wound up at a cave entrance, and inside the cave—which was completely empty otherwise—he found this mega stone."
"So, we believe that Larvitar knew it was there somehow," Niko concluded. "Do you know anything about Pokémon being able to sense the presence of mega stones?"
"Only rumors, but no concrete evidence," Sycamore said, turning to Diantha for confirmation of this. She nodded. "I'd be interested to see something like this in action, if you don't mind."
"No problem. What would you like us to do?" Charlotte asked, already assuming she'd be a part of this experiment.
"I'm going to hide this Tyranitarite, and I want your Larvitar to seek it out," Sycamore said plainly. "Are you up for that?"
"Of course."
Sycamore then left the room with the mega stone in hand, only to come back several minutes later. "Alright, now send out Larvitar, and if our theory is correct, he should automatically sense its presence somewhere."
"Larvitar, come on out!" Charlotte shouted, summoning the Rock Skin Pokémon, who had clearly just woken up from a nap. "Larvitar, I want you to meet Professor Sycamore, and Diantha, who was the former Champion of the Kalos League."
Larvitar looked up at the two authority figures before shying away behind Charlotte's leg.
"It's okay, they won't hurt you. They're really nice people," Charlotte said softly, moving behind Larvitar this time.
"Hi there, Larvitar," Sycamore said, reaching into a nearby drawer and pulling out a cookie from a bag. "Here, from me."
Larvitar took the cookie, looking up at Sycamore with skepticism before biting into it, suddenly feeling pleased.
"Figured he'd like it. It's made specifically for rock type Pokémon. A specialty one of my friends gave me," Sycamore said. "Now, we wait."
As he said that, Larvitar perked his head up and, still holding his cookie, turned and walked out of the room, curiously looking around the main area while eating.
Moments later, the Rock Skin Pokémon returned, cookie finished, and with a mega stone in his stubby arms. Instinctively, he walked to Charlotte and handed it to her.
"Thanks, Larvitar," Charlotte said, patting the dull spike on her Pokémon's head. "So…guess it does work."
"Think so. Obviously, I'd have to conduct more tests to see, but that can be done with other Pokémon. We want to make sure it's true across all species of Pokémon capable of mega evolution, and not just for Larvitar's evolution line."
"We could test it on my Gardevoir," Diantha suggested. Sycamore, clearly liking this plan, asked for the mega stone. Once he left the room, hid the stone, and returned, Diantha summoned her Gardevoir—a tall, green-haired humanoid Pokémon with a long, white dress. Unfamiliar with the Pokémon, Charlotte pulled out her pokédex:
"Gardevoir, the Embrace Pokémon. Psychic and fairy type. To protect its trainer, it will expend all its psychic power to create a small black hole."
"So, it's a fairy type, too?" Niko wondered, as he has battled Gardevoirs before.
"Indeed. I forgot, you must not be aware of the fairy type," Sycamore said, just as Gardevoir seemed to sense something and gracefully walked out of the room in search of the mega stone.
"No, I'm not. I fought one in the Unova League, actually. It was called…klefki, I think."
"Ah, klefki. An odd fairy type, since it's naturally immune to one of the fairy type's weaknesses. The fairy type—discovered here in Kalos—is strong against fighting, dark, and dragon types. It's also immune to dragon types. However, it's vulnerable to steel and poison."
"That must be why your Druddigon was defeated so quickly," Warren proposed.
"Yeah, learned that one the hard way," Niko said with a chuckle. "But that helps to know. Thanks, professor."
"No problem, Niko," Sycamore said as Gardevoir returned, confusedly holding Diantha's necklace.
"Thank you, Gardevoir. We were conducting an experiment. Turns out, it works on you as well," Diantha explained. Her Pokémon nodded, seeming to understand this. "Anyways, Augustine, I must get going. We have a shoot in Snowbelle City that I have to get ready for."
"Thanks for the chat, as always," Sycamore said, embracing the former Champion. "Please stop by anytime."
"Will do. Niko, Charlotte, Warren, it was a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise," Niko said watching Diantha leave the study and proceed out of the front door.
"Is there anything else that I can do for you three, now that we've figured out what your discovery was?" Sycamore asked, placing his hands in his pockets.
"Actually, one question," Warren said, turning to the professor. "We don't really know where to go for their next gym battle. You suggested we wait on this city's gym, so where would be a logical place to continue?"
"Hmm…" Sycamore said, placing a finger on his chin. "Laverre and Coumarine City are the closest to here, but I generally recommend trainers travel to Cyllage City next. The gym leader there—Grant—is generally on the same skill level as Viola. It's pretty far away, I'll admit, but there are several towns between here and there that will allow you to stock up on supplies."
"Cyllage City…got it!" Niko said, turning to Charlotte for confirmation.
"Oh! Also, since you're heading to the western part of Kalos, I recommend going to Shalour City as well. Not only is there a gym there, but it's also the home to an expert on mega evolution. You might find it worth your time to take a trip there, too."
"Shalour City, alright," Niko said, reaching his hand out to shake Sycamore's. "Thank you, professor. For everything."
"Always a pleasure to help a trainer out, Niko," Sycamore said. "Hopefully you can stop by when you make your way back here for your eventual gym battle in Lumiose City."
"Charlotte and I will be ready, that's for sure!" Niko said, a fire lighting up in his eyes. His brunette friend nodded, feeling confident as well. As they left the lab, Niko turned to his friends and threw an arm around both of them. "To Cyllage City we go!"