"Relax, Korrina," said Brock. "I'm sure everything is going to be just fine."
"You don't know that!" Korrina snapped. "What if she's disappointed by how little progress I've made towards mastering Mega Evolution?! What if she wants me to defeat one of her Pokémon in battle, and I fail?! What if she decides I can't take over the Gym?!"
The rest of the group stared at her in bemusement, before looking towards Lucario, who simply shrugged.
"Hey, Korrina?" said Ash. Even if you and your mom has some weird issues, I'm sure you can work it out. Besides, we'll be here to back you up if things get bad!"
"Pikachu!"
"And maybe everything will go just fine and we won't have to get involved at all," said Serena. "I mean, maybe this is just a misunderstanding that you two have, and she just wants to get it all sorted out."
"Right," Korrina said, doubt evident in her voice. However, she then smiled as she looked back towards her friends. "Well, if nothing else, I'll know that you guys have my back."
"Lucario!"
"Yeah," said Ash. "We're here for you!"
"Pikachu!"
"Not to mention that even if things go horribly wrong, we can just post it on MewTube and get a million views!" said Rotom, which earned him a round of groans from the rest of the group.
The next day, the group was once again on the move, excited to get to their next destination. While Korrina was still concerned about the upcoming meeting with her mother, she had, for the most part, pushed it to the back of her mind.
"Wow," said Ash as he took in the surrounding area, "there are a whole lot of rocks here."
"Pikachu, Pika."
"Yup," said Korrina. "Route 12 is also referred to as Menhir Trail, owing to the large rocks that lie along the road."
"And how exactly did they get there?" Brock asked.
"I'm not sure," said Korrina. "But I think they're connected to the great war that took place about 3000 years ago."
"The great war?" said Serena. "So you think they could be some sort of memorial for the Pokémon who fell in that war?"
"They could be," Korrina said with a shrug. "It's not too important, but they're pretty nice."
"Lucario!"
"Yeah, they are," said Brock. "Still, I'd like to know how they got here someday."
"Me too," said Ash. "It sounds fascinating!"
"Pi-Pikachu!"
After that, the group began to walk for another while, simply admiring the strange beauty of the stones. As they walked, however, they began to hear strange voices coming from behind some of the stones.
"It's still going to take some time to determine if there is any latent infinity energy in the stones, but the scans should be able to show something."
"Well, let's get to it, then. You know how Xerosic would react if we return empty handed."
"Very well. Let's see what we can find."
Surprised, the group slowly moved up to the stones, being careful not to make too much noise. They then pressed themselves against them, still not giving away their presence.
"So, what do you think is going on?" Serena whispered.
"I don't know," said Ash, "but it doesn't sound good."
"Pika Pika."
Cautiously, they peered around the rocks, taking a look at what lay behind them. To their surprise, they caught a glance of people dressed in red business suits.
"Isn't that Team Flare or whatever?" Korrina asked quietly.
"Yeah," Brock whispered back, "It's them."
"Lucar-Cario."
"What are they doing here, though?" asked Serena. "I mean, what could they want with those boulders?"
"I dunno," said Ash. "I think I heard them say something about some energy on them."
"Pikachu, Pika."
"Well, whatever they want, It's probably not good," said Korrina. "Especially after Glittering Cave!"
"Yeah," said Ash. "We'd better make sure they don't cause any trouble!"
"Pikapi!"
"Lucario!"
With their course of action decided, the group gathered their Pokeballs in preparation for battle. They could tell there were about a half dozen Flare grunts, leaving them slightly outnumbered, but they knew that with the element of surprise, they could most likely take them on.
"Everybody ready?" said Ash.
"Pikapi!"
"Cario!"
The rest of the group nodded, so Ash lifted his pokeball in preparation.
"Okay then, let's do this."
He then rushed out from behind his hiding place and tossed his Pokeball, with the rest doing the same after him.
"Larvitar! Rock Throw!"
"Fennekin! Ember!"
"Amaura! Powder Snow!"
"Tyrunt! Bite!"
The grunts barely had any warning before they were hit by a barrage of attacks. They were knocked back onto the ground.
"What?!" One of them groaned as he got back to his feet. "Who do you brats think you are?!"
"We're not going to let you get away with whatever you're doing!" said Ash.
"Pikapika!
"Give up now and we won't have to beat you up!" said Korrina.
"Lucario!"
"I see," the lead grunt said angrily as he grabbed a Pokeball. "Very well, then. Attack, Houndour!"
With a flash of light, six Houndour popped out of their Pokeballs and lunged towards the group, who responded with their own attacks.
"Thunderbolt! Hidden Power!"
"Scratch!"
"Ancient Power! Bone Rush"
"Headbutt!"
The six Houndour blasted out a volley of Ember attacks towards the group's Pokémon . Pikachu jumped out of the way, then delivered a powerful shock to one of the fire type Pokémon . Amaura and Lucario also managed to dodge, and delivered their own attacks. Larvitar, Fennekin, and Tyrunt weren't able to dodge, but the flames did little to damage them, and they were able to hit back with much more power.
"Houndour!" the grunt called. "Don't let them push you back! Snarl!"
The dark Pokémon began to bark out, releasing dark waves of sound. Pikachu and Lucario were once again able to dodge, but the others were less lucky, and were hit by the dark type attack. They cried out in pain as the sound pounded against them.
"Pikachu! Stop them with Quick Attack!"
"Lucario! Help Pikachu out with Power-Up Punch!"
Pikachu rushed forwards at blinding speed and tackled the Houndour, while Lucario followed up with a powerful punch. The two attacks combined caused the dark Pokémon to cancel out their attacks as they fell over.
"Stop fooling around!" the grunts cried. "Use Ember on Lucario!"
"Block it with Iron Tail!"
The six fire types blasted flames towards the aura Pokémon , only for their attacks to be blocked out as Pikachu lifted a solidified tail in front of them. He then brought the tail down, knocking them backwards. Meanwhile, the rest of their team had just finished recovering.
"Larvitar! Use Hidden Power!"
"Fennekin! Ember!"
"Amaura! Ancient Power!"
"Tyrunt! Rock Tomb!"
The four attacks slammed against the Houndour team. Already weakened by the dual attacks from Pikachu and Lucario, the six fire type Pokémon were unable to dodge as they were struck by the four simultaneous attacks. Which lifted a huge cloud of dust into the air.
"Houndour!"
As the dust settles, it revealed that all six Houndour were now unconscious.
"Darn it!" the lead grunt cried out. "How did we get beaten so easily?!"
They then looked up at the group, who were now looking at them expectantly.
"So, now that we've beaten you, would you mind telling us what exactly you're doing?" asked Brock.
"We don't have to tell you anything!" the lead grunt said as he grabbed a Pokeball. "Abra! Get us out of here!"
With a burst of light, an Abra appeared. The Psi Pokémon cried out as it glowed, and before Ash or any of his friends could react, Team Flare had vanished.
"Aw man," said Ash, "now we'll never know what they were doing."
"Pikapi..."
"Yeah," Serena said as she glanced back towards the stones. "Makes you wonder what they could want with these old rocks."
"Well," said Korrina, "Maybe there's more to these old rocks than meets the eye."
The group reflected on Korrina's words for a moment as they stared at the stones in fascination, wondering what sorts of secrets they could hold.
"Well, this is Geosenge town."
"Lucario!"
Much like route 12, the town was surrounded by boulders, though these were smaller and sparser than the preceding route. However, there were also three huge, narrow pillars of stone jutting out of the town's center, pointing towards the sky. Apart from these, however, the town didn't seem to have any significant landmarks.
"So, this is where your mom wants us to meet you, right?" said Brock.
"Yeah," said Korrina, all the worry and concern now returning to her. "I guess you're all eager to meet her?"
"Yeah," said Serena, "I think it'll be fun!"
"And if your mom is as strong as you say she is, I want to see how good she is in a battle!" said Ash.
"Pikapika!"
Korrina sighed, then gave her friends a nervous smile.
"Okay then! This is going to be fun!"
A/N: Sorry for the wait guys. I had writer's block, but then I was inspired by the Detective Pikachu trailer, and I ended up finishing this chappie. Just in time for Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee, too!
Anyway, I didn't have much to work with as far as the Anime goes. After all, this was around the time Ash and his friends met Korrina in the actual anime, and of course she's already a member of the gang in this story. So I mostly followed the game and had them encounter Team Flare again.
Apart from that, there wasn't really much to see in this chapter. That will all change in the next one, of course, as we're about to see Korrina's mom!