A/N: So, a guest reviewer asked where Calem is and someone else called Life, was it? I can't remember since I got rid of that. But to answer the question anyway, there is no Calem. Ash is taking his place as the male protagonist. I'm not even sure if he'll be even featured as a minor character of his own. And neither is the second character because I have no idea who that one you're asking about is. Anyway, let's get going.
After a day of travel after Serena and Shauna got her Cliff Badge as well, the group reached a small town that was not only having a sort of exhibition match, but it was featuring Diantha Bellerose as well!"
"Oh my goodness, she's here in this town?!" The excited tomboy asked. "We have to go see her!"
"But what if we can't?" Trevor tried pointing out. "Not only is she the champion but also a movie actress. Weren't we lucky to speak to her that one time?"
"Who cares?! We're going to meet her and that's that!" She shot him down and ran off to where the match is taking place.
"Ugh, I'll never get why she treats me so poorly sometimes." The short redhead sighed.
"Aw don't worry Trevor, even if she's a rough tough girl she considers you a friend deep down." Shauna reassured him, though it didn't seem to do much. Ash remembered about her telling him about her tough love tactics to toughen him up, though he felt conflicted about telling him or not as it would mean a very strained friendship, as odd as it was already, in the dynamic.
"Hey, hurry up you slowpokes!" Serena yelled at them. They promptly followed suite.
"Now hold it!" A young and short black haired woman kept everyone out. "Miss Diantha is very busy! She won't be seeing anyone or having interviews before her match!"
"Aw man." Serena groaned in disappointment, hunching over to show how depressed she was.
"Like I said." Trevor nodded with his eyes closed at being right. "So how about we just watch the match and continue on?"
"Over here." A voice and hand beckoned them. It was Professor Sycamore! "Nice to see you all again."
"Profe-?!" Trevor was about to yell out his name when Serena clamped his trap shut so that no one noticed them.
"Shut it until we're in the room squirt." She quietly hissed. Going into the room and waiting for the Professor to close the door, the blonde tomboy recoiled back in disgust since Trevor licked the hand covering her mouth.
"Ew, gross! Why would you do that?!" She wiped her hand on her shorts.
"Just so I can both be free and get you away." The red head retorted with an annoyed tone.
"Hmph, twerp." She crossed her arms and proceeded to ignore him, though internally she was proud that he stood up to her the way he did, so she could forgive his saliva maneuver...this time.
"So what are you doing here?" Shauna asked the professor.
"Oh please, there's only one reason that can make me leave my lab in Lumiose." He replied as if it were obvious.
"Mega Evolution?" Trevor inquired.
"Bingo! I'm going to try and do research on her ace team. Of them all though, the one I'm most excited is her Gardevoir. A psychic/fairy type that can Mega Evolve, now that's a solid enough reason for me to be here."
"Wow, I want to see." Ash responded with a smile.
"Have you already seen Diantha?!" Serena asked the professor, becoming excited again.
"Oh yeah. In fact, we're quite close associates. She's getting her make up done in that room."
"Oh my goodness! She's just on the other side of that door?!" The blonde practically yelled with sparkles in her eyes.
"Wow!" Shauna agreed.
"How can we be so lucky?!" Trevor questioned the odds.
"I wonder if we'll be having that friendly battle she mentioned?" Ash wondered. As if to answer, the door opened and the champion herself stepped out.
"It's a pleasure meeting you all again, though today's not a good day for that. I could hear everything through the door. Next time, maybe."
"Aw, okay." The raven haired teen grumbled.
"So, have you reconsidered about my offer of your keystone?" The professor asked Diantha. The teens noticed she had one of the stones for Mega Evolution like a pendant around her neck.
"I'm sorry, but I simply can't part with my stone. It's too valuable to me."
"And besides, Miss Diantha is fully booked!" The same attendant woman that kept everyone at bay earlier stepped in, sounding annoyed. "There will be no plans on studying her Pokemon!"
"You know, you look as cute as ever wh-GAH!" The woman slapped her planner against his face hard, shutting down his advances.
"Don't think you'll sway me with your silver fox charms. I could file for sexual harassment."
"Okay, okay I get it." He replied in an attempt to remain calm, but looked a bit soured. "Why don't we schedule for a negotiat-"
"Not going to happen. My champion's time is full with things she needs to attend to and that's that. In fact, she's going to be behind schedule the whole day if I block you anymore. Come on Miss Diantha."
"My apologies. You can stay for the exhibition battle but I think that's going to be about it. Au revoir." She bid farewell as she followed her attendant.
"Hmph, serves you right." Serena darkly chuckled, still sore about how she was cast aside of her original position before Ash showed up. Sycamore grumbled.
"And now for the main event!" The referee spoke loudly to the audience. "Please welcome our trainers! Crowned best of Brackish Town just last year, say hi to Magnus Warren!" This man appeared to be in his 30's, having a matured face of such and brown hair combed back. He wore a black shirt with an orange coat over it with black circles over his shoulders. Brown boots covered some of his blue jeans. "He'll be facing off against the elegant Kalos region champion, Diantha Bellerose!" She wore her signature white shorts and shirt, along with a beautiful white coat that flared out near the bottom and wing like fluff around her shoulders, similar to that of Altaria wings. She smiled and waved to her fans who screamed her name. However, the match would prove to be completely one sided. Even with a team of Talonflame, Gengar, Weavile, Lopunny, Azumarill and even Metagross all fell to her ace Pokemon, Gardevior, whom didn't even have to use her Mega Evolution, simply because of both how powerful and fast she was along with with the well balanced move pool she had, taking all of them down in one or two moves without getting hit once.
"Wow, her Gardevoir is so strong." Serena marveled, having witnessed something so awesome.
"His team was like a six Pokemon counter against her Gardevoir but she handled all them all effortlessly. They walked to the center of the field and shook hands.
"Thank you. Your Gardevoir is something else." Magnus complimented.
"Thank you. You're quite strong. You could fit anywhere in my Elite Four at the level you're at."
"What?!" They all gasped.
"Elite Four level?" Shauna wondered.
"He's on par with some of the best trainers in the world and he still lost without a chance?" Ash commented, stupifyed by the notion.
"I guess we can kiss that friendly match goodbye because we'd lose even worse than he did." Serena sighed. A grumble interrupted them all.
"I sure could go for something to eat." Trevor grumbled.
"I found a place where they sell cakes." The tomboy replied.
"Oh, cakes! I want chocolate!" Shauna cheered. However, when they went to the cake shop, it was crowded as heck there too!
"There's a crowd here too?!" Serena bemoaned.
"But I was really looking forward to that chocolate cake!" Shauna cried out in complaint.
"Well that's a shame. Oh well, we can just look elsew-"
"No way Trevor! No way is a crowd getting between me and cake!" Serena shut him up as she got pumped up and determined.
"Me too! I'll have that chocolate cake if it's the last thing I do!" Shauna agreed as the two females stormed to the cake shop. Trevor sighed in resignation.
"Females and their chocolates."
"Don't let them hear that." Ash chuckled. "Or they'll give you a side of creaming ya."
"With sprinkles of pain." The short red head groaned even more. The two sat at a table for a small while, waiting when the girls finally got back.
"Finally, the smell of sweet goods is making me starving!" The raven haired trainer said as he tried to reach for a bit, but she smacked against his hand, making him recoil. "Ow!"
"Don't get greedy. This was the only cake we could get thanks to a shortage." Serena told him off.
"Huh?! This is all that we could get?!" Trevor gasped. "So, how do we spread this out evenly? I'm not genius engineer or anything."
"What? You're sold out already?" They looked towards the shop to see a woman slouching forward. "What a tragedy. To think I came this way for award winning delicious cake but it is for naught. Oh the tragedy."
"Would you like a slice?" Shauna called out to her. "We only have a single slice so it's not like we have much anyway."
"You will?" The woman asked before clasping her hands. "Oh, a godsend! Thank you so much!" Sitting down with them, she smiled as she lowered her shades. "Nice to meet some familiar faces."
"Dia-?!" Serena had her mouth covered by Shauna, though she had her own mouth closed to prevent from yelling her name as well. It was indeed Diantha Bellerose, wearing a high quality black business suit and a hat.
"It's really you?" Ash asked, just as bewildered but the loudness of his shock was not too much.
"Yes. Thank you so much for sharing. Allow me to make cut the cake equally between us." Taking their cake, she successfully cut the dessert in such everyone can enjoy their 1/5th of a cake as the rest.
"So good!" They all proclaimed.
"Best chocolate cake I've ever had." Ash sighed in content.
"I can taste a hint of bitterness and acidity, but the sweetness counter balances it. How memorable. I adore desserts."
"Us too!" Shauna and Serena agreed simultaneously.
"It's good I guess. Chocolate's not my favorite, but it is quite good regardless. So, how come you're dressed like that?"
"Secretly, when I go to a different town or city I go out to sample their most popular dessert, whether I'm busy or not."
"But aren't you, like, insanely busy with both being a champion and movie star?" Trevor inquired.
"True, but I do it out of love, so it's really not work at all."
"Wow, like a true idol would say." Serena marveled Diantha with sparkles in her eyes.
"Tell me, what are your goals in life, since Trevor asked about my passions." The champion asked. "I already know about yours, Serena, but not the rest."
"I wish to be able to complete the entire Pokedex, all 700 of them!" Trevor answered enthusiastically.
"Oh my, that's nearly as difficult as becoming champion. Keep it up and you'll reach it in no time." She chuckled.
"Thank you ma'am!" He replied. Shauna went next.
"I want to befriend all the Pokemon I can! Although I'm participating in the Pokemon gym challenge as well, it's more to just have fun doing it rather than become the champion.
"Well there's certainly nothing wrong with that." Diantha smiled, hearing such an innocent goal. "And what of you Ash?"
"Well, I actually moved here around a week ago, and I figured becoming champion would be a fun way to pass the time while traveling the region with my friends."
"Hmm, you and Serena have similar goals then. Which means at one point or another you'll battle to see who the better trainer is." The two teens looked at each other, uncertainty in their faces. "Oh don't gain any long faces." The champion tried reassuring them. "Regardless who wins that, you two will have grown stronger together since you now know how powerful the other is and can respect them as a trainer and companion that much more."
"Yeah, you're right." Serena agreed with a nod. "Ash and I are childhood friends, and even though I moved away and hadn't seen him for 10 years, our friendship is still as strong as ever!"
"Yeah, ain't nothing getting in between us!" Ash agreed wholeheartedly. Shauna kept her feelings down. This was a moment that jealousy had no place, and was genuinely happy for them as she smiled for them.
"That's great to hear. You know what, I think I'll cash that non-official battle in early. I'm grateful for the cake, and inspired by how much you care for your goals and friendship. This isn't about trying to beat me, but simply to share the experience of battling for the sake of fun."
"Wow! Yeah, let's do it!" Serena cheered.
It's three on one. In a random section of the nearby woods stood Ash, Serena and Shauna and their Kalos starters going up against Diantha's Gardevoir. Trevor and Professor Sycamore were prepared to take notes and record the whole thing. Like before, Diantha wore a pendent that was similar to the one Gardevoir was also wearing for her Mega Stone, resembling a sun or flower.
"Are you ready?" The champion asked.
"Yeah!" The three trainers responded.
"Great. You may start any time."
"Alright, Frogadier, use Smokescreen!" Ash went first. Frogadier spewed out black smoke which prevented the trainers where anything was.
"And use Light Screen Foxie!" Serena went next. The Fox Pokemon waved her stick from her tail creating a bright yellow force field on their side of the area.
"Pin Missile!" Shauna yelled last. From the smoke, white missiles made of energy started honing in on Gardevoir. With a grin, Gardevoir started moving all over the place, effortlessly evading each incoming attack. In fact, the missed missiles were clearing away the smoke, ruining their stealth. Not that Frogadier needed it for much longer.
"Water Pulse!" Leaping up from behind, the Bubble Frog Pokemon formed an orb of water and threw it at the Embrace Pokemon. Again, a dodge without a verbal command. But you can't dodge what you can't see coming.
"Fire Spin!" Serena ordered. Waving her stick, which lit on fire at the end, the fire starter created a tornado of fire right underneath the psychic/fairy type's feet, enveloping the ace Pokemon. While the attack did jack squat in terms of actual damage, she was nonetheless put in an uncomfortable position as the fire surrounded her.
"Interesting." She knew that even if the Fire Spin lasted the whole 5 turns, Gardevoir would still not be taken down. Touching her keystone, she yelled, "Gardevoir, surpass evolution! Mega Evolve!" Energies began to swap with them as the Embrace Pokemon transformed. The gown around her lower body grew into an even bigger one resembling a bridal gown, her green hair and facial spikes grew slightly larger, and the horn on her chest split into two, resembling a heart if one looked completely straight on.
"Gardevoir!"
"Amazing, so this is what she Mega Evolves into." Professor Sycamore gasped in delight.
"Wow, what a beautiful Pokemon!" Serena complimented, distracted by her even more elegant look now.
"So cool!" Shauna agreed.
"I'll say!" Ash followed.
"Thank you, but it's checkmate for you all now. Gardevoir, use Focus Blast on Braixen!" Forming a blue orb of fighting energy, the Embrace Pokemon fired it with such speed, the Fox Pokemon could barely think to dodge, and was blown back by a powerful explosion, screaming as she was sent flying into Serena. She managed to catch her starter, but she was also knocked back just from the force alone, falling onto her butt.
"Ow. Are you okay Foxie?" Her Braixen barely responded as her shiny fire type was solidly knocked out cold. The fire spin still had its effect active as another, though a much smaller fire tornado spun around the champion Pokemon, inflicting damage.
"Come on Shauna, let's keep going! Frogadier, use Smokescreen!" Expelling more smoke from her mouth, the field was obscured again.
"No! This won't do good for our research!" Trevor and the professor complained.
"Chessie, use Rollout!" The dark toned girl instructed. Even as the red armored grass starter jumped into a ball and rolled like a bowling ball, Diantha was prepared.
"Shield yourself with Psyshock!" A dome of little purple spheres came up from within the Smokescreen, followed by an explosion from one of the directions. The explosion cleared away some of the smoke, which showed Quilladin to have fainted from the impromptu barrier. Another fire spin hurt her again before going away.
"No! My Li'l Chessie!" Shauna cried out. Turning her gaze to Frogadier, the water type gulped, knowing she was finished.
"Come on Frogadier, let's go out with a bang. Use Water Pulse!" Ash encouraged. Shaking her fear away, the Bubble Frog Pokemon leapt up and threw a water orb at Gardevior.
"Moonblast." Gathering energy from the moon even though it was not nighttime yet, she countered with a light pink sphere which she launched at the Water Pulse, utterly obliterating it and defeating Frogadier in one fell swoop with an explosion. As the shiny water starter fell, Ash ran to make sure he was where she was going to fall, falling in the process but managing to catch her safely.
"Hey, are you alright?" He asked his starter, even if she was in no condition to reply.
"Such compassion. You all truly care for your Pokemon." Diantha commented with a smile. Gardevior nodded as she reverted back to normal.
"How do they change back Professor?" Trevor asked the older man.
"I don't know, but I do have a hypothesis that Mega Evolution can only work in high action situations, like battling or emergencies. Sort of like the fight or flight reflex."
"Interesting."
"I must say, it was fun to face off with you three."
"Definitely fun." Ash agreed with a nod.
"I'm sure we'll meet again, even if it's just in the Pokemon League." Serena promised.
"Yeah!" Shauna cheered.
"Thank you for the data. This will definitely help." Professor Sycamore thanked.
"You're welcome. Well, I have a movie shot to do so take care."
A/N: My apologies, I have no new Mega Evolutions this time. I know I wrote Fire Spin in a way that's not done in the anime but I thought it would build some amount of excitement or tension and Braixen is like a budding witch before Delphox so she should combust fire at a distance rather than spew it out. So, what do you think?