Andres, Calem, and George had finished their battle, leaving Daniel to find his pokemon. George and Calem expressed concern but Andres dismissed it by saying it was a matter that needed to be sorted out by the two of them. They then noticed that the sun was beginning to set and there was no sign of the duo yet. They decided they should search for the trainer and his pokemon before it gets too late. They decided to split up but before they could get the chance to start heading in separate directions, someone emerged from within the forest and into the clearing.

Daniel walked toward the guys, beside him was his best friend Bisharp, with an upgraded look. All three of them raised their eyes, equally surprised by Bisharp's appearance. They looked the pokemon up and down and made a "hm" sound indicating they were impressed and somewhat approved the change.

Calem, who was still confused out of all of them asked, "D-did Bisharp evolve? I didn't know they had another evolution… or a mega evolution for that matter."

"It's neither." Daniel responded, smirking for the fact he patched up his relationship with his best bud.

"What? Then what is it?"

"Beats me." Daniel shrugged his shoulders, chuckling about the fact that him and Bisharp just learned about something they have no idea about.

"I have a theory." Andres butted in, everyone turned to him to hear him out, "Oh, you wanna hear it now?"

"Yeah." George answered.

"Alright, well, first, quick question for the two of you." Andres indicated towards Daniel and Bisharp by looking at them. "How do you two feel at the moment?"

The question confused Daniel and Bisharp, the partners looking at each other and back at Andres. "Content I suppose?" they answered.

"Hm, this might be a wild shot but I propose that Bisharp's 'power up' if you will is due to the bond you two have."

"Huh?" Everyone questioned, their heads dropping to the side instantly in confusion.

Andres sighed, everyone reacting without letting him finish his sentence. "Let me elaborate, I was going to say that this triggers because of the close relationship they have. The two are practically brothers in their own right so it would only make sense. And this usually tends to happen when they feel the same thing… I think." Andres finished, everyone still giving him puzzled stares.

"Cool, then how do you explain their bond changing his appearance?" Calem asked, whipping around to the duo partners who returned to him a confused look.

"How the hell should I know?"

"Wait! I know we talked about it before but what if it's the thingy the one gym leader talked about?" George presented the question, Calem turning to him wanting to know.

"The whole representative thing? Come on man, that's gotta be bullshit." Daniel replied, Calem turning to him.

"Actually, the more this goes on, the more I'm somewhat inclined to believe it's true." Andres argued, Calem turning back to him. This escalated into a debate between the Holy GAD with the older trainer turning around, becoming more and more puzzled with each thing said. This eventually drove him crazy and he got a headache trying to put everything together.

"GUYS!" Calem yelled to catch their attention, "What the hell are you guys talking about?!"

"Oh… umm… prophecies.. And shit.." Daniel explained, not sure how else to put it.

"What prophecy?!"

"At this point, I don't know anymore."

At that moment, they all realized something crucial and important. "Where's Zach?" They all asked, looking around and noticed Zach in the same exact spot as before, napping.

"Boi." Daniel mocked, the guys deciding to postpone the conversation until they get back. They woke up Zach who was grumpy about being woken up and even more grumpy because he had to move. The sun was almost out of sight by the time they got the pokemon center, they let their pokemon rest up while the guys chilled at the couches they sat at last time.

A question arose in Daniel's head about Calem, he asked how Daniel knew Serena but he never asked back. "So.. Calem, how DO you know Serena anyways?" Daniel quired, sinking into the couch to relax.

"Oh? I never did say anything did I? Well, we're neighbours simply put. She got hear here about… six years ago.. Yeah, six years ago when I was around 12. She moved to Kalos and got a home near mine in Vaniville Town. My family and I saw how her and her mom struggled to settle in so we decided to help out. And like that, that's how we met, we became friends and she told me all about Kanto. She even mentioned you a couple times but like I said before, she didn't really have much nice things to say and the only times she did say something considered 'nice', was when she explained how she missed her old friendship when you weren't so selfish."

"Oh."

"Yeah, nothing really complex, I brought her into my group of friends which consisted of me and three others. I had nearly finished my pokemon journey around that time so when I did finish, we caught up. And that leads up to now, coming back from my 18th birthday to see her gone."

"Wow… thanks…"

"Why?

"Thanks for helping Serena, I mean it."

Calem was silent, from the tone and expression Daniel showed, he could tell he meant it and responded with, "Yeah, no problem."

After chatting for quite a bit, the guys decided to hit the hay to challenge Korrina to another gym battle tomorrow. They went to the bedroom in the pokemon center where the guys slept in their own individual beds. The moonlight lit up the room in a blue-ish color and the setup was the same as every other pokemon center.

Daniel lay in bed, resting his head on his hands which were behind him. He stared up into the ceiling, his thoughts drifting over to his crush, Serena. An image of her popped up in his mind, Serena smiling at him. The image faded into a new one of his hug with her which formed a smile on his face. Finally, the pleasant scene faded to black in his head as he silently let out his breath.

"You know… the guys are probably right… when will I ever tell her? What am I supposed to say to her? 'Oh jee, I love you, durr,'... fuck no, ahh, this is so annoying!" The teen groaned internally, closing his eyes to rest them and try to slowly fall asleep. "Dammit Ash… why'd you have to go and take her heart? Ugh, now I'm stuck here contemplating all this… no- no! Don't think like that! Focus on the task at hand, you got a battle to win tomorrow and a brother to beat! Good night." And like so, Daniel went under, succumbing to his exhaustion.

The guys had all woken up, eating breakfast and all the usual necessary things required in the morning. After finishing up, they set off towards the gym, waiting for the water to pass like last time. After they made it across, they came across Gurkinn once more who didn't say much and immediately assumed they were here for a rematch. The man took them through the island and through the central tower into the arena where the guys split off.

Daniel released Bisharp from his pokeball, the pokemon back to his original state, looked around and noticed his trainer behind him with a confident smile.

"You got this buddy." Daniel cheered, bringing up his fist.

"Yeah, I got this." Bisharp agreed, bringing his fist up as well to connect with Daniel's.

"Give em' hell."

"That's the plan."

Gurkinn announced the battle as last time. Korrina coming out and skating around the room before landing on the opposite end of Daniel.

Korrina looked Daniel and his pokemon up and down, smiling. It was very visible, their confidence, especially the Bisharp who appeared much more calm than before and focused.

"So, I see you've come back. I suppose you've improved since yesterday?" Korrina said out loud, Zach in the sidelines admiring her "features."

"Definitely." Daniel responded.

She let out her Mienfoo from last time who got into a battle stance, Bisharp doing the same and preparing for an attack.

"Well, look at that, I'm getting a little excited now, let's see what you got." Korrina challenge, waiting for Gurkinn to star the battle.

"Now then, begin!" Gurkinn stated, Korrina started off by having Mienfoo do a High Jump Kick like last time. Mienfoo jumped in the air and dived knee-first towards Bisharp.

"Child's play." Bisharp muttered, hopping to the side as the pokemon made impact with the ground. The attack created a small dent in the ground and lifted some dust up. Mienfoo got up, recovering from the pain of diving knee-first into the ground. The small pokemon looked around to notice a shadow very close to it as he was suddenly kicked away to the center of the arena.

"Nice." Daniel complimented, anticipating what his partner would do next.

"Mienfoo, Swift!" Korrina ordered, her pokemon firing a barrage of small star-shaped projectiles towards the opposing pokemon. Bisharp ran towards the attack, spinning to the side to get out of the way and continue to charge towards the the Mienfoo. "Intercept with Drain Punch!" Mienfoo's arm was covered in this green aura of sorts as it closed into intercept. Bisharp ran faster, sliding while sticking his arm out to trip the pokemon over who was staggered. Daniel's pokemon quickly got up, jumping up slightly in the air to slam it's elbow onto the tripped over Mienfoo.

The small pokemon gasped from the pain before falling unconscious. Gurkinn declared Bisharp the winner of the round, Korrina returning her pokemon to bring out the Machoke who manhandled Bisharp last time.

"Now that Machoke's out, what are you going to do this time?" Korrina questioned, wanting to see her challenger's strategy. She's impressed by Bisharp's moves thus far and is excited to see how well it does against her pokemon. "Machoke! Charge at Bisharp!"

The Machoke readied up, speeding towards the Dark Steel pokemon at incredible speeds. Bisharp charged at its opponent, ready to face it head on.

Daniel felt a massive urge to mimic Bisharp's movements, pretend he too, was a part of the fight. Bisharp stopped dead in his tracks bringing his arm back for an attack. Daniel did the same, mimicking his partners moves.

Andres raised his eyebrows, he was paying attention to Daniel and his Bisharp noticing they were moving in tandem. Machoke was almost a meter away from Bisharp as he started swinging his arm towards Machoke. Bisharp's arm exploded in a dark purple aura as he swung his arm, slamming his fist into the Machoke's stomach. The sound generated from the impact of the punch could be heard by everyone, the punch created a shockwave that went through Machoke and blew against Korrina, blowing against her hair. The leader's pokemon spat out as its eyes rolled back while it trembled immensely. The fighting pokemon staggered back, barely able to maintain its balance and shortly after, collapsed to the floor.

Everyone's eyes suddenly expanded to the size of baseballs and their jaws dropped to the floor upon seeing this. Bisharp lifted his head to look at the gym leader to reveal his eyes glowing red. The gym leader twitched and slowly returned her pokemon, regaining her composure and smirking nervously.

"Well, well! You've definitely improved, I think it's about time you fought my ace, Lucario!" Korrina threw out her pokeball to release her final pokemon. "I don't think we need to hold back, let's do this Lucario!" Korrina proceeded to switch into different poses as she yelled out "Explode… with… life! Mega evolve!" Korrina finished, touching her Keystone on her left glove. A bright white light shone from the stone itself as the mega stone attached to a gauntlet on Lucario's left arm shone just the same. Lucario was covered in a wavy bright colored red shell, the figure of the Lucario morphed and changed as it mega-evolved. The shell of light faded to reveal the mega-evolved lucario, the presence of it blowing away the air around it gently.

"WHOA! Is that a Mega Lucario?!" George stated the obvious, Andres intrigued by the sight of mega-evolution.

"Now this here is my ace, I've only lost once with this, so you think you'll be able to get past me?"

Daniel smirked, looking towards Korrina who returned to him a confident smirk, "My first time fighting Mega-evolution! This should be interesting."

"Alright, Lucario, start off with Power-up Punch!" Lucario dashed forward directly towards Bisharp while charging up his attack by covering his arm in a orange shell. Bisharp ran towards Lucario at the same pace. Once the two pokemon were near each other Bisharp slid past the mega evolved pokemon, recovering and spinning around to hit Lucario. The fighting pokemon responded to this by whipping around to attack Bisharp, their punches collided; however, Lucario overpowered Bisharp. Bisharp arm was shot back as he staggered back. Korrina's pokemon seized the opportunity to get an attack in by forming a bone staff. Bisharp was knocked to the side by the staff, skidding across the ground but stopped himself.

"Oh boy, Bone Rush, my 'favorite' move." Bisharp mocked, getting back up on its feet.

"Lucario, Metal sound!" Lucario slammed it's wrist spikes together to generate an ear-piercing sound that gave everyone a headache. Everyone except Lucario covered their ears, while doing so, the fighting pokemon jumped up into the air and charged another power-up punch and plunged towards Bisharp. After the Dark steel pokemon recovered from the headache, he looked up to notice Lucario almost close to hitting him, he rolled forward as far as he can to get out of the way. Lucario punched the the floor, generating a ground-shattering sound with dust rising up.

Bisharp turned around to keep his eyes on his opponent but upon turning around, saw a Aura Sphere headed his way giving him no time to dodge, the attack explode upon impact.

Bisharp was sent into the ground, the smoke clearing to reveal a seriously injured Bisharp. Daniel's pokemon slowly got up, feeling the pain as Daniel's body just felt like he got slapped all over the place. The bruises on Bisharp were visible, Korrina's Mega Lucario was powerful, no doubt.

"Don't let up! Go in for another hit!" Lucario charged at Bisharp, the dark steel pokemon gasping rolling to the side to get out of the way. His heart was racing, he began to panic and tried to compose himself. Lucario chased after Bisharp, throwing punch after punch which the opponent barely dodging by a hair.

Daniel too, began to panic, trying to think of any possible solution to defeat Lucario. "Dammit! Lucario's too fast! They're giving us no time to even counterattack. Bisharp's durable and all but there's no way he's going to win like this. Come on… THINK! THINK!" Daniel yelled to himself internally, Bisharp rolling back but it backfired with Lucario doing a power-up gut punch. Bisharp rocked back, falling on his back but he continued trying to get up even with the injuries. Lucario used Bone Rush and slammed the stick towards Bisharp, the pokemon, through sheer effort and will rolled out of the way of the hit, groaning in pain.

Daniel watched, his partner smacked away by Lucario's bone rush to the center of the arena, Bisharp getting up, trembling so much that anyone in the room can see. He fell to his knees as he somewhat collapsed, his arms and head hanging over. He can feel his consciousness slowly slipping but he refused to go down. Anything he did at this point hurt him, thinking gave him a headache, his body aches and it hurts more when he moves, he can't bring himself to move but he also can't bring himself to go down either.

Lucario walked up to its weakened opponent, looking it down and feeling bad for it. Korrina watched, letting out a sigh of disbelief at the fight. "Well, looks like you lose. I don't mean to sound cocky but I expect more. What a shame… Lucario, finish it." Lucario brought its arm back, charing up the power-up punch.

"Dammit… is this really it? Are we just never going to get better? Has everything just been a waste?" Daniel's vision changed, everything around him turning dark but the only thing he could see still was his Bisharp, weakened and battered.

"Why…? no matter how many time I try, I just keep losing… I'm outclassed by everyone around me, Typhlosion, Lucario… Deoxys… Is this my fate? Just to be second fiddle?" Bisharp complained to himself, wincing in rage.

"No! That's not how we're going to go out! We're better than this!"

Bisharp opened his eyes, the only thing he can see in the darkness is his best friend, he heard his thoughts. "Daniel…?"

"We're not gonna stop here! Remember the promise we made! We're still in this together. We're not stopping here, we're making to the top, the two of us!"

Bisharp smiled, the two of them taking in deep breathes and letting it out, closing their eyes. They could hear each other's heartbeats synchronize into one.

Lucario threw the punch at Bisharp, swinging his arm but it was stopped. Bisharp had his arm lifted up, catching the punch but his arm still wobbled slightly. Bisharp brought one foot forward, using it to get back up. Everyone in the room had their mouth open in awe as they watched the Dark Steel pokemon stand on his feet. Bisharp lifted his head to stare directly into Lucario's eyes with his glowing red pupils. Lucario gasped, noticing Bisharp pushing back his arm.

"Impossible…" Korrina said in shock, The fighting pokemon brought back its other arm to hit Bisharp and went it swung, Bisharp bobbed to the side, letting go of Lucario's fist and striking him all in one swift movement. The attack bruised Lucario, the pokemon losing balance and falling back but managed to regain its balance. Lucario coughed, looking back to Bisharp to notice his body glowing slightly before suddenly, a wavy purple and crimson aura exploded from within Bisharp's body, surrounding and engulfing him. Within the aura, two red dots beamed with light, the aura parting to reveal Bisharp and his new upgraded look.

Bisharp's head blades were now in a different formation, he now has a golden curved blade with silver trimming protruding forward on his head. Accompanying it is two other curved blades beside it protruding backwards. Bisharp now has a Sharp, golden mask with silver trimming covering up most of his face. Bisharp's eyes were obscured, a shadow being casted

"What the-!" Korrina stumbled on her words, surprised by the sudden change Bisharp went through. Daniel and Bisharp assumed the same fighting position as they both stared down their opponents. Lucario twitching slightly from Bisharps cold stare.

"All right! They're back in the game!" George cheered, Andres smirking, impressed his rival is pulling through still. Zach decided to fully pay attention now and Calem watched the spectacle.

"We're not going to lose, I made a promise to all of my friends I wasn't going to. I already broke it once, I have no intentions of doing so again. We're gonna show you our resolve, our strength when we're united. Get ready, cuz now we're getting serious." Daniel informed, now having a massive sense of immersion within the battle, as if he truly felt one with his best friend.

"Lucario, aura sphere!" Her lucario did as told, firing a lighting fast aura sphere towards Bisharp. Almost as fast, Daniel and Bisharp slid to the side to dodge the blast.

"Whoa…" They both thought to themselves. Lucario formed a bone staff, charging at bisharp and beginning to spin wildly as he advanced. Bisharp ran towards Lucario, ducking last second to do a low sleep and knock Lucario off his feet. As planned, Lucario fell over, but managed to push himself with one arm away before he could get hit with a consecutive kick. Bisharp got back on his feet with one hop. Lucario stuck his bone staff out, rotating it constantly to the point it started to blow wind away. The fighting pokemon ran up, jumping in the air, spinning around, and throwing the spinning staff towards Bisharp. Bisharp slid on his two feet under the attack, watching it zoom by before standing back up. As he stood back up, Lucario came up, uppercutting Bisharp into the air. The Dark Steel pokemon slowly spun backwards so that he landed on his hands, then pushed himself backwards onto his feet.

Daniel and Bisharp both massaged their jaw from the surprise punch. Lucario pursued its opponent, charging another punch. Bisharp narrowly sidestepped the attack, grabbing Lucario by the base of its neck and lifting his knee up. Lucario was forcibly guided another direction and his momentum backfired on him when he ran into Bisharp's knee full speed. Lucario had the wind knocked out of him after the hit, Korrina's pokemon stumbled back in pain. Bisharp took this opportunity to clock Lucario, hitting the pokemon away causing it to slide against the floor. Lucario got back up, yelling a battle cry as it ran towards Bisharp. Daniel and Bisharp did the same, the ladder running towards Lucario just the same as both sides threw a punch at one other. They connected with each others faces, a slight bruise appearing on Daniel's cheek now.

The two opponents pulled back their fists, trading blow for blow as they hit each other. After some bit of trading blows, they had their arms locked and engaged in a pushing competition of strength. Both pokemon pushed against each other aggressively, both growling but not quite angry. They were both having, fun, as seen when they both smirked at each other.

Daniel looked at his partner, entering a small daydream or flashback of sorts of Bisharp when he was a small Pawniard, trying to fight other pokemon his size. Then, the pokemon started to grow, and eventually, evolve into Bisharp. He returned to reality to see himself maintaining the same position as Bisharp as the two were engaged in combat.

Lucario attempted to charge an aura sphere while in the arm lock but not without catching his opponents attention. "Not today." Bisharp said, kicking Lucario's stomach with his knee making the pokemon gasp for pain and air. The dark steel pokemon continued by grabbing the fighting type's shoulders and bringing Lucario in for a headbutt. Lucario staggered back, his ears were ringing and his hearing was muffled as his vision became slightly blurry.

"Lucario! Metal sound!" Korrina yelled, Lucario barely heard it, trying to utilize the attack as fast as it could, getting it to work, stopping Bisharp dead in his tracks. Daniel and Bisharp covered their ears, they did their best to ignore the sound and the headache because of it and run at Lucario. "Bone rush!" Lucario regained its senses for the most part, creating the staff and dual-wielding it as he brought it back, now using power-up punch in conjunction with it. Bisharp continued on, readying for another hit.

Lucario swung the staff, Bisharp trying to block with his left arm but was punished. The hit made Bisharp yell in pain, the pain making Daniel yelp as a bruise was on his left arm as well. The staff pushed Bisharp's arm back, Daniel and his pokemon grunted but shouted together as they pushed against the staff, feeling immense pain. The bone staff shattered in two, Lucario's eyes widened in shock and fear as his opponent prepared one last hit. The Dark Steel pokemon's arm was engulfed in a purple aura as he swung his arm, making contact with Lucario's face as Bisharp dragged him with the punch before slamming the pokemon into the ground with it. The ground beneath them shatter as Lucario was shoved through it and losing consciousness all the same. Lucario reverted back to its original form, Daniel and Bisharp stood there, breathing heavily from the fight and the pain from the fight slowly settling in.

"Lucario is unable to battle. Bisharp wins! Therefore, the winner is the challenger, Daniel!"

The Holy GADZ cheered for their friend, Daniel's face widened as a big smile formed on his face.

"BRO!" Daniel yelled, running towards Bisharp who turned around and started running towards him. Bisharp's aura faded as he, too, returned to his normal state. The two partners shook hands upon reaching each other and pulling each other in for a hug before finishing it off with a fist-bump. "Dude! We did it!"

"Yeah!" Bisharp exclaimed, they both chuckled before looking to Korrina who was speechless. She returned her pokemon to its ball, then made her way to the center of the arena to meet Daniel and Bisharp. Gurkinn did the same, advancing towards the center.

Daniel turned to Korrina and grinned, putting his arm around Bisharp. "Well, what do you think?" Daniel asked, Korrina trying to put it into words but struggled immensely to say anything.

"That was… Like… I don't know how to even describe it, I don't even know where to begin!" Korrina stumbled on her words, slightly embarrassed because she was still in shock.

"That was incredible, it appears your bond with each other has won you the battle." Gurkin told Daniel and Bisharp.

"Y-yeah, It looks like you two fixed your bond and like that, you took my ace down. To say I am impressed is an understatement, I was blown away. Simple as that, and with that, I would like to present to you: the Fight Badge, as a sign that you defeated the Shalour gym. " Korrina presented the badge to Daniel who put it in his case and thanked her. She then put her hands out for both Bisharp and Daniel, indicating a handshake. The three of them shook hands, "Congratulations, you did an outstanding job here! You're definitely gonna make it far in the league like this."

"Thanks, not just for that but for helping me fix my bond with my best friend." Daniel thanked, Korrina scratched the back of her head and giggled.

"Well, it's the least I can do, and it's kinda my job too."

"Hmm, you might come across a great obstacle in the league." Gurkin interrupted, catching everyone's attention. "Word has it that the Unbeatable Champion, Samuel Barsony, is joining the league."

"Whoa, really?"

"That's what I've heard so far, so if that is true. You will have a VERY difficult time handling his infamous Deoxys."

Daniel and Bisharp removed their cheerful faces and got serious. "Yeah, I know about Samuel's Deoxys very well, we're prepared to battle him in the league." Daniel told them.

"Very well, I wish you the best of luck then."

"Thanks."

And like that, the guys all waved goodbye as they returned to the pokemon center to rest. Everyone congratulated and complemented Daniel and his Bisharp for their power.

"Well, if what said is true, then you're going to have a rough time in the league. He's definitely going to make it to the top. Have you seen his Deoxys strength? Your Bisharp's new form is pretty damn strong and all but it doesn't come close to Deoxys." Calem expressed his concern, sitting on the couch with the rest of the guys.

"Well, we'll just have to keep getting stronger and match his strength." Daniel stated, Calem made a "hmph" sound as he got up and stretched.

"Well man, it was nice meeting you but I gotta go. Got a friend to surprise!" Calem informed everyone, putting his hand out to handshake everyone. Everyone shook hands before Calem walked towards the door and turned to Daniel, "Good luck in the League man, you're gonna need it. Don't worry, I'll cheer you on!"

"Thanks again." Daniel said, and like that, Calem left.

"Well, looks like my theory was right, it was based off of your bond." Andres told Daniel, who turned to him and made a "mhm" sound.

"Bro, you pounded her ass if you know what I mean." Zach said, making very strange movements with his eyebrows while smiling uncomfortably. Everyone shook their head in tandem, not approving.

"Well, from the looks of it, you definitely got a chance against Typhlosion now, we'll just have to wait and see in the league. Sure, we're representing the Holy GADZ and we're a team and all. But eventually, we'll have to face down, and find out which of us two is the strongest after all."

"Huh, is that a challenge? You're on." Daniel shared a fist-bump with his rival.

"Don't forget about me, too!" George called, joining the other two.

"Y'all gay." Zach finished.

Time passed and the rest of the Holy GADZ finished their battles as well, George having to outsmart his opponent and utilize Lucario's speed who matched even Mega-Lucario. Typhlosion doesn't need an explanation. Afterwards, they all set off towards the next and final town to face the last gym and make their way to the pokemon league to achieve all of their goals.