"BROCK!"

"Yes Korrina?" Brock whimpered as Korrina grabbed him by the collar.

"Would you mind explaining why you passed out when you met my mom?!" the irate Gym Leader in training yelled out.

"Well, I mean, I wasn't expecting your mother to be Cynthia Shirona, of all people, and it really caught me off guard!" Brock whimpered. "And... maybe she is just a teensie, weensie, tiny little bit more attractive than I expected?"

If looks could kill, the glare that Korrina was now giving Brock would have vaporized him on the spot.

"More attractive than me?"

Brock whimpered, scared of giving the angry girl a bad answer. Fortunately, Ash and Serena decided to step in.

"Hey, Korrina?" said Ash. "Maybe you should let him go. I mean, we were all pretty shocked when we found out who your mom was, so maybe it wasn't so surprising that someone ended up fainting."

"Pikapika!" Pikachu said in agreement.

"Yeah," said Serena. "Besides, you're gonna freak out everyone if you start to beat him up."

Korrina's eyes widened as she remembered that they were still inside the Pokémon Center. To be fair, the lounge was mostly empty, with the exception of the local Nurse Joy and her Wigglytuff, but she realized that it would be bad to make a scene in front of them.

With a sigh, she released Brock.

"Sorry," she said as her cheeks became pink.

"It's okay," said Brock as he regained his composure. "It's not like didn't deserve a little of that."

"Just a little?" Korrina said with a frown, causing Brock to wince. Fortunately for him, however, Korrina then burst into laughter.

"Relax, Brock. I'm just messing with you."

Brock breathed a sigh of relief as the rest of the group laughed.

The next day, the group walked around Geosenge Town, having not had much of a chance to do so while meeting with Cynthia.

"So, what else is there to do in this town?" asked Ash.

"Well," said Korrina, "Geosenge Town is well known for the many rare stones that can be found around here, as well as the huge rocks that surround the town."

"Do you think that some of those rare stones could be Mega Stones?" said Serena.

"Well," Korrina said as she lifted a finger to her chin, "I haven't heard of any place to find Mega Stones here, but I wouldn't be surprised if they had them somewhere around here."

"Wow!" Ash said excitedly. "I want to see if we can find some of those stones!"

"Pikapika!"

"Well, I guess we could look around," said Brock. "I mean, these rocks are certainly intriguing, so it would be nice to give them a look!"

"Awesome!" said Ash. "Let's go, Pikachu!"

"Pikachu!"

"Mega Stones?" the merchant said as he rummaged around his collection. "I'm afraid I haven't seen any of those, young man."

Ash and Pikachu groaned and hung their heads.

"Really?" Ash said in disappointment. "I mean, I thought that since you specialized in rare stones, you'd have at least know something about them."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, young man," the merchant replied. "As much as I would like to say I have any Mega Stones, or that I can tell you where to find them, I'm just as clueless as you are.

"That sucks," said Ash.

"Pikachuu..."

The merchant gave the pair a sympathetic smile.

"Don't you worry, young man. I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for if you keep looking long enough. Especially in a town like this one."

The older man then bent down below the counter. After rummaging around for a moment, he came back up, holding a strange object in his hand.

"In fact, why don't you take this with you?"

Ash and Pikachu looked at the object that the merchant was offering them. It seemed to be some sort of rock, albeit with a strange swirling pattern that was partially cracked and bulging out.

"What is it?"

"It's a Helix fossil," the merchant explained. "It's the fossil of an extinct Pokémon that lived millions of years ago."

"Wow, that is so cool!" said Ash.

"Pika!"

"Indeed," the merchant said with a smile. "I found it over in Glittering Cave a few months ago, and I took it to the fossil restoration center to try and resurrect it. Unfortunately, the scientists told me that the fossil wasn't able to be restored."

"Why is that?" asked Ash.

"Well," the older man said, "The head scientist told me that the fossil was distorted by erosion, and contaminated with foreign mineral, so the genetic structure had been damaged beyond their ability to repair. It's a shame, but I thought it would be a nice to keep it around. Sort of like a good luck charm, or something to that effect. Still, I think it would do you a lot better than me. Who knows? Maybe it will help you find those Mega Stones you're looking for!"

"Really?" said Ash. "And you're just going to give it to me?"

"Of course," said the merchant. "It's the least I could do, since I couldn't help you otherwise."

"Cool!" said Ash. "Thank you so much!"

"Pikapika!"

"So that's why we're looking for Mega Stones," said Brock. "Do you know where we could find them?"

"Sorry," the lady at the counter said. "I know a lot about the sights in this town, but I don't know much about Mega Evolution."

"Oh," Brock said in disappointment. However, he then smiled as another thought popped into his mind.

"Well, is there anything else I can help you with today?"

"Actually there is!"

The lady yelped as Brock grabbed her hands.

"I know it's sudden, but I'm a firm believer in love at first sight! And I think that if you'll just give me a chance, you'll begin to believe toOOOOOOOOOO!"

The lady's eyes widened as Brock's body was assaulted by a massive current of electricity. After a few seconds, his body fell to the floor, revealing a floating device with a cheeky smile on its face.

"Hello! Do you know where the local idiot management facility is?"

Serena hadn't had much luck finding Mega Stones either. However, she had found someone else who seemed to be having the same problem.

"And that's why we came here," the boy said. "I was hoping that it would be easier to find Mega Stones here than in Galar, but it's hard to find anything, really. I suppose they are much more rare than I thought."

"Tell me about it," said Serena. "My friends and I have been looking everywhere, but we haven't found anything yet.

"What a shame," the boy said as he turned to the Pokémon sitting on his shoulder. "Isn't it, Grookey?"

"I am Grookey!"

Serena blinked.

"Did your Pokémon... just talk?"

"Well, I've been trying to teach him," the boy replied with a smile. "Althought to be honest, I haven't had much luck."

"I am Grookey?"

"Really?" Serena said in amazement. "Becuase he sounds like he's doing really well!"

"That's all he can say."

Serena stared at him blankly.

"Yeah," the boy said. "As I said, I haven't had much luck."

"I am Grookey."

Korrina and Lucario stared at the three stones in awe. Even when compared to the other stones in the vicinity, they were unbelievably large. In addition, she could not see the bases of the stones, as they seemed to be jutting out from beneath the ground.

"It's so amazing, isn't it?" she said in awe.

"Luca-lu!" Lucario said in agreement.

"How do you think they got here?" she asked.

"Oh, that's a mystery that nobody quite seems to know."

Korrina blinked, then turned around to look at the speaker.

"So, you seem to have quite an interest in these stones, don't you?" the man said.

"Well, they are pretty interesting," she replied.

"Yes indeed," the man said. "These stones have been in the center of Geosenge town for centuries, and yet no one remembers why. For generations, explorers and scientists have sought the answers, but we are no closer to finding the truth today than we were a thousand years ago."

He smiled as he looked up at the great stones.

"Still, it makes for a great tourist attraction, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Korrina said in agreement as she looked upwards. "It is pretty cool."

As she and Lucario stood looking up at the great stones, the man turned downwards, looking at the gloves the pair were wearing on their wrists.

"I can't help but notice that the two of you have Mega Stones," he commented.

"What?" Korrina said as she was interrupted from her musings. Her eyes then widened as she realized what the man was saying. "Oh, yeah, we have these with us right now."

"Lucario!"

"To tell you the truth, we were actually looking around to see if we could find any other Mega Stones," Korrina explained. "Though we really haven't had much luck."

"I see," the man explained. "You know, there are some who believe that these stones have some connection to Mega Evolution."

Korrina looked back towards the man, her interest piqued.

"They're connected to... Mega Evolution?"

"Well, that's a theory people have," the man said. "The fact that there are so many strange stones in this area has caused some to look at the Key Stones required to trigger Mega Evolution in search of clues. And it appears that there is a sort of energy emanating from these stones that seems very similar to the energy of Mega Evolution."

Korrina scratched her chin. There was something about what the man was saying that felt familiar. It was something she felt she had heard somewhere, but was eluding her at that moment.

"Mega Evolution energy from these stones..." she said.

"Well, not exactly the same," the man said, "but similar enough to make some people think there may be a connection."

I see," Korrina said. "So do you think there's some other place where we could find Mega Stones?"

"Well," the man said, "I've heard that there are many strange stones in Reflection Cave. Perhaps you might find a few such stones in there?"

Korrina grinned at the news. Not only was Reflection Cave relatively close to Geosenge Town, it was also on the route towards Shalour City.

"Awesome!" she said. "I'll be looking forwards to seeing if I can find anything in there!"

"Lucario!"

"I certainly hope you'll find what you're looking for," the man said with a smile.

"So I was able to find a really nice fossil," said Ash, "but I don't think we're going to find any Mega Stones here."

"Pikachu…"

"Yeah," said Serena. "I mean, I found a couple of evolution stones, but that's about it."

"I didn't have any luck either," said Brock. "In more than one ways."

"Well, that's kind of disappointing," said Korrina. "But it's not all bad news! I did hear someone say that there might be some Mega Stones in Reflectin Cave. And since we're going to be passing through there anyway, I though we might as well give it a look. What do you guys think?"

"That's a great Idea, Korrina!" said Brock. "I'm really looking forwards to finding more of those stones."

"Yeah!" said Ash. "I can't wait to have a Mega Evolving Pokémon on my team!"

"Pikachu!"

"Sure," said Serena. "And besides, it sounds like it would be an interesting place to look even if we can't find any Mega Stones there."

"Great!" said Korrina. "Then we're heading for Reflection Cave!"

"Yeah!" The group said in unison. While they may not have found what they were looking for in Geosenge town, they were still determined to find what they were looking for all the same.

At least, that is until a rumbling sound interrupted them.

"Oh," Ash said as he grabbed his belly. "Do you guys mind if we stop for something to eat before we head out?"

The rest of the group laughed as Ash hung his head in embarrassment.

A/N: I'm sorry it's taken so long. I know I'm terrible with updates. But at least this one comes with a healthy dose of foreshadowing!

Also, I can't be the first person who saw the name of the Gen 8 Grass starter and thought of Groot. Personally, though, I'm on Team Scorbunny.

Anyway, have fun until the next chapter!