Chapter 10: The Bond between Pokemon and Trainers, Part 1
Serena had given Ash his keystone, and the special Charizardite stone. The next day early in the morning, they walked an hour outside of the city to test out the megastone. To test out the strength of this mega evolution Ash and his Charizard would face off against Serena's Sylveon and Clemont's Luxray at the same time. Once they found a good open area, they got set. Ash prepped his Charizard by giving him a makeshift collar to hold his megastone. Serena had made it that morning. Later they would get a better, more durable harness like the one Alain had on his Charizard
"Alright, you ready pal?" Ash asked his Charizard. It replied with a roar, ready to test the limits of this power it will soon recieve. Serena and Clemont were ready on the other side of the arena. "Remember Charizard, this new power...I've seen firsthand that it can be overwhelming at first. Promise me you won't try to hurt anyone. It's a friendly match between us three." Ash asked his partner. Charizard nodded his head with a serious glare. If any pokemon could handle the power of mega evolution it was Charizard. Ash got ready and walked back to his position.
"Alright, everyone ready?" Serena and Clemont gave thumbs up while Sylveon and Luxray gave out their own roars. Bonnie, sat on the edge of the battlefield with the other pokemon. Upon Ash and Clemont's request, Bonnie made sure she and the other pokemon were well clear. Pikachu decided to stay by Ash's side as he always has during battles.
"Alright, Charizard, respond to my heart...MEGA EVOLVE!" He shouted as he grabbed onto his keystone in his pocket. A light shined from it, and soon Charizard's megastone reacted and started burning bright. Tendrils of light came from Ash's keystone. The same was happening to Charizard's megastone. The tendrils started to move toward each other.
This is it buddy...
But then the tendrils stopped short of each other. They were still 10 yards away at aleast. Ash didn't understand. Soon the tendrils retreated back, and both stones dimmed back to normal. "What happened?" Ash shouted across the battlefield. Clemont shouted back, "Maybe we need to battle a little bit, like what happened between you and Alain. He didn't mega evolve his Charizard until the battle had already gone for a bit."
Ash gave him the thumbs up. "Ok Charizard, looks like we need a little warm up first. Start off with a flamethrower at Luxray!" Charizard flew up and breathed a large torrent of flame toward Luxray. Clemont commanded his pokemon dodge and then use Swift. Charizard used another Flamethrower and destroyed the tracking stars from hitting it. Sylveon joined the battle and used Fairy Wind on Charizard. "Quick Charizard, push through it with Steel Wing!" Ash said, and Charizard's wings glowed white as he pushed through the Fairy type move.
As he got closer, Serena told Sylveon to use Moonblast, Ash responded by telling his Charizard to use Fireblast. The two moves collided, with Fireblast winning the encounter, but Sylveon was able to dodge using it's unique dancing style it had known since it was an Eevee. After that, Charizard returned to Ash's side of the field. "Alright Ash, now try it!" Clemont said.
Ash once again reached into his pocket. "Now Charizard, let's break through...MEGA EVOLVE!" He shouted as he grabbed the keystone again. The same glow happened, but grew larger. The tendrils of light started to come from both of the stones. They were now closer before, but right when they were about to touch, they retreated again.
Ash was puzzled, while Charizard was getting annoyed. "What are we doing wrong? Is one of the stones broken?" He asked himself. Serena and Clemont came over to his side of the arena. "That was so close Ash, but I think we're doing something wrong." Serena said as she walked up to Ash. Clemont put his hand on his chin, thinking about what could be the problem.
"Hmm...It's obviously not because Charizard is too weak, or you Ash. We've seen you and Greninja fight together in Greninja's new form." Clemont started, "Wait...that might be it." Ash and Serena looked at Clemont, "What is?" Ash asked. Clemont looked up at Ash, "How long has it been since you battled with Charizard? I mean, when was the last time you had Charizard before you got him yesterday?" Clemont asked.
"Oh wow...it must have been...what? It must have been a year since we were reunited in Unova." Ash said looking at his Charizard. Clemont nodded his head, "Reunited? So how long was it that you two were seperated before Unova?" Ash thought about it, then he knew what Clemont was getting at. "It was almost two years since then. Last I used him then was a battle against Articuno." Ash said. Clemont fell off his feet, "What?! Your Charizard fought the Legendary Pokemon Articuno?" He said from the ground. Charizard smirked, and then roared, remembering that epic battle with the Legendary Ice pokemon. "Not only that Clemont, Charizard won." Ash said, mirroring his pokemon's smirk.
"Well as impressive as that may be," Clemont said as he picked himself up. "I believe the problem is that you and Charizard aren't connected like you used to. You see, if you had the megastone when you fought Articuno he may have mega evolved, but since you two have been so far apart for almost three years with only a quick reunion inbetween..." Clemont explained, but Ash interupted, "You think Charizard and I aren't bonded enough?" He said, with a slight tone to it.
Clemont put his hands up to signal he meant no offense. "Maybe in the past, and you two may still share a great bond due to your past experiences, but Mega Evolution is something that goes beyond just simple friendship Ash. Look at Diantha and her Gardevoir, or even Korrina and her Lucario, I'm willling to bet that they've been together ever since they first became partners." He explained.
Ash understood, he looked over at Charizard who met his gaze. "You and I have been seperated from quite some time now haven't we." Charizard nodded his head, his snout puffing out a small flame. "I guess we'll just have to train together and get stronger together again." Ash said, Charizard spread its wings and roared. It was happy to train together with its old friend and partner. "But you only have one week until the Pokemon League." Serena said, unsure if Ash and Charizard could mega Evolve in time.
Ash nodded, knowing that they had very little time to harness the new power of mega evolution. "There's something else" Ash had said. Clemont looked at Ash, wondering what he meant.
"Hey Greninja, Hawlucha, Noivern, Talonflame, come over here." Ash said to his pokemon that were next to Bonnie about to eat their lunch. They all lined up next to Charizard awaiting Ash who had put his hand on his chin, thinking. "What's up Ash?" Clemont asked. "Clemont, you notice anything wrong with my current team?" Ash responded.
At first Clemont and Serena were astonished that Ash would think there was something wrong with his team. They were all very powerful, and other than Pikachu and Hawlucha, were fully evolved Pokemon. "What do you mean Ash?" Clemont said. Ash shook his head. "Just look at them. What do you see?" Ash said while still in thought.
Clemont examined Ash's Pokemon. There was Pikachu, Ash's most faithful and trusted Pokemon. Ash would never think that something was wrong with Pikachu. Then there was Greninja, probably the most determined and powerful Pokemon Clemont has ever seen. Even as a Froakie, it would never back down, and now with its new and mysterious form Ash wouldn't think there was anything wrong with it.
Clemont looked over at the other four Pokemon, then it hit him. He looked back at Greninja and Pikachu. There was one very significant weakness to Ash's team. "4 Flying types, a Water type, and an Electric type. Ash your team has no counter to a powerful electric Pokemon." Clemont at last said. Ash nodded his head, "At the Pokemon League, there will be the best trainers and if I have to face against one with a powerful electric pokemon, it's going to rough." Serena was relieved, she knew that Ash didn't think ill of his own Pokemon. "So what are you going to do?" She asked.
"Well as I was thinking about what Pokemon I needed to be my 6th the other day, I was also thinking about what other Pokemon I could use." Ash said. "But you can only have 6 Pokemon at a time." Serena said. "Yeah, but in between rounds I can switch my team up." Ash told Serena, "Back at Professor Oak's Lab, I could get my Sceptile though it's only resistant to Eletric, not effective against it. There's also my Donphan, it could prove very helpful." Ash said, "Ugh...I have so many good options, my Snorlax or my Torterra would be great as well. I might have to think more about this."
Serena almost flinched at the last sentence, but Ash noticed. "Hmm? What's wrong Serena?" He asked. Serena looked down with a slight pink blush, "Oh nothing...but would you mind if we helped you decide this time?" She asked. Ash was about to say that he needed to do it alone, but remembering how Serena had responded last time and that she only wanted to help made him reconsider.
"Yeah, I would like that." He answered, Serena gave a sigh of relief followed quickly by a small cheer. "Yeah!" Serena exclaimed.
They went back to Luminose after lunch, and stayed over at the Pokemon Center to heal their pokemon. As they waited Ash along with Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie, called Professor Oak. Ash told him of his possible replacements and asked the Professor about his opinions on Sceptile, Donphan, Snorlax, and Torterra. "Hmm, I see. Well I know Sceptile is a good choice. He is one of your strongest pokemon. I'm sorry but, Donphan hasn't seen a battle in years. He wouldn't be ready in time for the Pokemon League." He exclaimed, Ash nodded.
"What about my Torterra?" He asked the Professor. "Ah yes, though not as powerful as Sceptile or as strong as Snorlax, he would be very effective against any possible Electric types being a Grass and Ground Pokemon." He told Ash.
Ash couldn't decide which one he would choose, so he turned to his friends. "What do you guys think?" Clemont responded first, "A Torterra would round out your team very well on types." Serena was second, "I remember Sycamore telling me you were thinking about bringing Sceptile in the first place, why not now?" Bonnie responded last, "But a Snorlax would be so much fun. And from what you told us about your Snorlax, it sounds really really strong!" She said.
Ash sighed and lowered his head. His friends all brought up really good points but left him at a worse spot on deciding what Pokemon to use. "I wish I had more time for this..." Ash said. Professor Oak picked up a small brochure, "Well from what the Kalos League tournament goes, the first four rounds are three on three battles, but the kicker is that you can't use a pokemon for more than two rounds. You'll have to switch out your team inbetween rounds. So if you haven't decided by then, you could use them in those starting rounds." Ash smiled at that. "Ok Professor thanks!"
Over the course of the next couple of days, Ash traded in his Pokemon and trained with his Sceptile, Snorlax, and Torterra. They also moved to stay at the Pokemon Center as their stay at the hotel was over. Ash kept his Charizard the whole time, and at the end of each day would try to mega evolve. Each day ended in the same results, unsuccessful.
On the last day before they would have to leave Luminose and head toward Victory Road, Ash was visibly frustrated. Sure his training had made his Pokemon as ready as they can be for the tournament, but he couldn't push through the mega evolution barrier with his Charizard. He told Sycamore of his predicament, but the Professor swore that the megastone was Charizardite and nothing was wrong with its energy output.
Clemont was out of ideas, they had even pushed Charizard through a series of extrenous exercises, made him battle all of Ash's Pokemon in a row, but even after that Charizard just couldn't mega evolve.
Serena; however, had noticed a certain air around Ash. While he was actively training he was focused but any time he wasn't battling he seemed...distance, distracted. She remembered how he said he was nervous, being his 6th time in a Pokemon League tournament, he needed to win. But she felt there was something else occupying his thoughts. She had caught him looking at her during breaks as he was talking with his Pokemon. Every time he had adverted his gaze.
I should talk with him tonight.