Justin stared at the ceiling with such intensity that he began worrying he'd light it on fire. He'd just finished checking his Pokenav messages; congratulating Shawn on catching a Murkrow, reassuring his mom that he was very much alive, and organizing videos for training he had planned once he could be on his feet again, and all in the span of about three hours.. As nice as that all was, it left him with absolutely nothing to do. He decided against taking a walk around the ship again. He'd only suffered one attack from his back wound today, while on a bathroom trip, but it was once too many for his liking.

Azelf, I'm gonna lose it if I'm cooped up in here anymore. Can't you use your Psychic powers to heal my wound or something?

No. While I could heal your back problems, being exposed directly to my power focused entirely on the wound would make the pain you felt equal to several times that of one of your episodes. It would send you into a state of shock almost immediately, or worse, would make you completely brain-dead because you were in so much pain that your body thought you died. Modern human medicine is as close as you're getting to miracles, and you've got to give it time to work.

Alright, I get it. I just can't stand the thought of being cooped up in here for another week or more. I want to help Blitz, and train with my team.

You could ask Red for assistance on that. Not anything major, but basic physical conditioning should be no problem for him to teach. Based on what I've seen of your battles, which, may I remind you, is quite a lot, your team has a lot of raw potential, and plenty of variety. But all the moves in the world won't save you from losing if they're not fast or strong enough to take advantage of them.

That's a really good point. If Blitz had been fast enough to dodge that Beedrill, or if Zeus had been strong enough to take out Nidorina with that Iron Tail, Maybe this whole situation could have been avoided. Still, that's on me, not them. I'll talk to you in a little while, Azelf. Red's here.

Azelf chuckled. Your senses are getting better. Seems I don't take all your effort to talk to anymore. Are you taking me for granted?

That's not what I-

I know, Justin. Talk to Red.

Justin opened his eyes to see Red standing above him, staring intently. Before he could tell him to never do that again, Red spoke. "I owe you an explanation."

Justin gave Red a confused look. "Explanation? For what?"

"For just what the hell happened 3 weeks ago. That transformation you saw is called Mega Evolution. It's a... bizarre process that we don't know much about. What is known about it, however, is when certain fully evolved Pokemon hold a special stone called a Mega Stone, and have a strong emotional bond with a trainer who holds an item called a Key Stone, the trainer can activate the Key Stone to Mega Evolve their Pokemon. It grants them a massive boost in power and speed, usually changes their abilities, and often makes them become greatly more violent."

It seemed almost too good to be true. "There has to be some kind of drawback to this," he said. "Otherwise it'd be a lot more widespread. People would know it existed."

Red nodded. "There are several. First of all, as I mentioned, the Pokemon undergoing Mega Evolution become extremely violent. That's because their body has just been dramatically changed in a short span. They're practically bursting with energy, and that power in combination with how their bodies morph puts them in a state of almost constant, excruciating pain. It can cause them to lose their minds. If a trainer isn't ready to utilize Mega Evolution, their Pokemon, no matter how friendly it may be, can disobey them and run rampant. As you can imagine, A super-powerful Pokemon running around causing destruction isn't very good. The other drawback is the power itself. Plenty of Pokemon have become addicted to the power of Mega Evolution and seek that power outside of the transformation. I've looked into a few cases of Pokemon literally training themselves to death in an attempt to reach those heights."

Justin understood now. "So it's a last resort technique to be used in absolute emergencies, then. Have you ever seen a Mega Evolution? Besides that Beedrill, I mean?"

Red nodded. "I've made use of it before. That's how I beat Mewtwo. Mega Evolution gave Charizard enough of a boost to overcome the massive gap in power. I only ever used it once, however. When I learned of the side effects, I decided to avoid using it again. The massive power boost doesn't offset the pain Charizard was put through. I've kept the stones in case I have need of them again, but there's no way I'm putting Charizard through that." Red sighed. "With that being said, we're heading out soon. I have some questions for an old friend of mine. Get some more rest, and I'll let you know when we arrive. Hopefully you'll be able to spend some time off the ship."

Justin was about to lay back down before he remembered to ask Red his question. "Can you train my team while I'm stuck here in bed? Nothing huge, just physical stuff. Being that bit stronger or faster can make a difference."

"I don't see why not. We should be there by tomorrow. Give me your Pokeballs." As Justin handed his team to Red, he smiled. I haven't seen this friend in quite a while. He helped me in so many ways when I first started traveling. He's honestly the reason I'm alive today. I'm hoping he can help us with Team Hurricane. If their leader can use Mega Evolution, we need to be as prepared as possible."

Justin nodded. "So, this guy's a pretty impressive trainer then? He must be if you think so highly of him."

Justin was surprised when Red shook his head. "He's not a trainer at all, but an old scientist, although he's retired now." Red continued, "He's had an… involved past, to say the least." Red and Justin both stopped for a moment after Mewtwo released an icy yet boisterous laugh into their minds at the understatement. "Anyway, his name is Mr. Fuji. He worked with Mega Evolutions and how they seemed to use energy to create form out of nothing for Pokemon. His research took him to the deepest parts of an unexplored Jungle off the coast of Hoenn where he found a Legend. Mew was there, and actually agreed to be studied by him."

Justin interrupted Red. "Wait, Mew? As in, the ancestor of every normal Pokemon, Mew?"

"Yes, that Mew. Anyway, he noticed throughout his study that Mew could also transform itself similarly to Ditto. So he combined his data on Mew and Ditto with his data on Mega Evolution and began attempting to create a new Pokemon that could innately Mega Evolve. He'd hoped to mitigate or eliminate the pain and violent tendencies caused by the transformation by hard-wiring them into Pokemon DNA. He lost additional funding very quickly, however. Despite how much he argued his research, most scientists saw the experiments as disgusting and inhumane. He desperately used the last of his funding until he got just one successful trial."

"Mewtwo," Justin realized. "Wait, then can Mewtwo Mega Evolve?"

"Yes, but not in the way Mr. Fuji intended. He had intended to make it so Mewtwo could Mega Evolve on a whim. In reality, Mewtwo is under the same Key Stone and trainer bond restrictions as other Pokemon. Mr. Fuji was, however, able to eliminate the pain and violence factors of Mega Evolution for Mewtwo. Mewtwo feels no negative side effects, and acts the same way as it normally does after Mega Evolving, with a little more arrogance due to the power increase." Red laughed as Mewtwo shot him a mental look. "Get some rest now, Justin. Your team's in good hands."

Justin nodded as he closed his eyes, absolutely certain they were.

x*x*x*x*x*x*x

Diana slowly opened her eyes and checked her Pokenav. Good, only 7:30. She stretched her limbs as she stood and began packing her stuff and released Piplup. After waking up Shawn and Anthony, she decided. "We're gonna make it to Granmerge today."

Anthony and Shawn both immediately shot up after that. "Are you nuts?" They said in unison. Anthony let Shawn continue. "It's at least 2 days for most trainers immediately upon resting only a day in Glazeburn to keep their muscles fresh. We stayed for 2 weeks and barely did anything, so there's no way we're making it before nightfall. Not to mention - "

Diana cut him off. "I know it won't be easy. But first of all, we have plenty of shade and water along the path, including Piplup, Chinchou, and Wartortle if we need them. I also never said we'd get there before nightfall. We'd be close if we hurry, and Granmerge is known not to have too many wild Pokemon within the outskirts of the city, so we should be fine."

Anthony stepped in. "While I don't like the idea of rushing the trip, I see where you're coming from. We'll try to speed it up, but if it becomes clear we're not gonna get close enough by sunset, we're setting up camp, okay?"

Diana nodded in agreement. Shawn spoke again. "I almost forgot. Can I scan Murkrow before we leave?" Both of them nodded. It'd be important for any potential situation in which he needed to battle with Murkrow.

Shawn released Murkrow, who looked at him before stealing its Pokeball and bouncing it up and down on its tail. Shawn rolled his eyes before pulling out his Pokedex. "I'm gonna scan you, Murkrow. It'll tell me your abilities, okay?" Murkrow nodded.

Murkrow, the Darkness Pokemon. Female. It enjoys being chased by its predators before outsmarting them and making its escape. This Murkrow knows the moves Peck, Astonish, Pursuit, Haze, Wing Attack, Night Shade,Sucker Punch, and Snarl. Its ability is Prankster. When making use of an ability that doesn't deal direct damage to the opponent, its dark energies will react, drastically increasing this Pokemon's speed. Opponents who can easily manipulate Dark energies can eliminate this effect. Shawn smiled as he grabbed Murkrow's Pokeball and recalled him. He's gonna need some progress, but it's not a bad start.

As they trekked through the woods, the signs of change were clear. The air didn't smell as fresh, and the wind nipped at their faces. She could see Bug pokemon forming into their metamorphic states, multiple rodents stocking their food supplies, and swarms of birds migrating that newer trainers knew better than to disturb, though she swore she saw one maniac flying circles around them. Unlike the conferences of other regions which held their conferences only once per year, Jiman split its conferences into two periods, with the one that they were taking part in began in the Autumn and ended around the beginning of Spring. Unfortunately, with the timing of the school year, this was their best opportunity. She would have preferred the warmer period, stretching through Spring and Summer. Although she remembered her father saying something about braving the elements making their teams tougher, and it made sense, the colder weather made her not really care. She turned to see Anthony and Shawn both shivering, nearly in unison with her. She checked her Pokenav. 9:30? We've been walking almost two hours? It felt so much shorter "When we get to Granmerge, we've got to invest a few bucks into coats."

Anthony nodded. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. It's odd, though. I don't see any trainers at all. I know the Summer conference is more popular, but you'd think there would be at least a few people out here."

Shawn continued. "Yeah. I'd like to get more practice in before we get there. We really should've kept up when we were in Glazeburn. Although, I know how we can remedy that situation." He lifted a Pokeball. Anthony and Diana both smiled.

Diana and Anthony stared each other down. "I can't believe this," Shawn said as he sat down, "It was my idea to battle and I don't even get to go first."

Anthony chuckled. "You should have thought about that before you made rock-paper-scissors the game we played to decide who goes first." He released Dratini. This'll be my first time battling with Dratini. I've got to remain on my toes. He breathed a sigh of relief as Diana sent out Spinarak. It's Spinarak's first battle, too. He saw Diana whisper something to Spinarak before nodding to Anthony that she was ready to start. He crouched down next to Dratini. "Okay, you need to be careful. This thing is probably pretty tricky. Try to use Extreme Speed to dodge, but conserve your energy, and be sure to listen if I have anything to say. Got it?" Dratini nodded in understanding and cried out a challenge to Spinarak, who... hissed in response? Anthony wasn't sure what to call the noise Spinarak made.

"Begin!" Shawn called out. Anthony immediately prepared to have Dratini slip into Extreme Speed, but he was beaten to the punch. "Stealth String!" Diana yelled. Dratini and Anthony had no time to react as Spinarak shrouded itself in otherworldly energy and darted into Dratini before firing a large amount of string from its mouth at the stunned serpent. "Follow it up with Poison Sting!" Spinarak shot some of the hairs on its legs, coated in a thick poison, at Dratini, who was still writhing in the web.

Anthony acted quickly once the poison stings were fired. "Twister!" Dratini responded immediately, releasing a wave of draconic energy that curved and winded itself into a storm. It ripped the webs from around Dratini and redirected the barbs into a nearby tree before the storm made its way towards Spinarak.

"Shadow Sneak!" Diana commanded. Spinarak once again cloaked itself in otherworldly energies and dodged out of the way. Anthony responded. "Release the twister. Go into Extreme Speed, and hit him with Thunder Wave." Dratini acted immediately, speeding in front of where Spinarak came to a stop and hitting its spine with a slight jolt of electricity. Spinarak froze up instantly. Anthony grinned confidently. "Wrap 'em!" Dratini coiled itself around Spinarak and started squeezing.

Diana reacted almost immediately. "Use Leech Life!" Spinarak was slow to react, but dug its fangs into Dratini, and began draining its energy, weakening its grip.

"Back off, Dratini!" Dratini immediately uncoiled itself and avoided Spinarak's fangs before gaining some distance. Both Pokemon stared each other down, and were clearly on their last bits of energy.

"Slam!" Anthony wasn't sure if Dratini had the energy for Dragon Rage. Dratini cloaked its tail in the last of its energy and charged.

"Night Slash!" Spinarak cloaked its foremost legs in Dark energy and crossed them before jumping into the slam legs-first.

The attacks collided and caused a small explosion. When the smoke cleared, Diana and Anthony were surprised to see them both unconscious. "That was fun!" They said in unison before walking over to Shawn, who had just finished his applause. "So who battles you, Shawn?"

Shawn shrugged. "I can wait until we get to Granmerge. It'd probably be better if one of us didn't have multiple team members not at full strength."

Anthony and Diana nodded. That was fair.

x*x*x*x*x*x*x

"See? It's only three in the afternoon, and we're almost there!" Diana turned around and looked down the hill, only to find Anthony and Shawn practically gasping, though she could barely tell through all the decaying trees. Why are they so tired? It's not like we went that fast.

That might be my fault, Mesprit interjected. Being linked with a Legend tends to make humans and other Pokemon superior physically. That's probably the only reason your friend lived.

So I should take it easier on them?

Probably.

Diana laughed nervously. "Sorry about that. Guess I'm just full of energy. You guys wanna stop for a break?" Poke and Anthony each nodded. "Alright, then. According to my map, there's a small clearing to the right. We'll stop there for now."

Anthony looked around. He wasn't a fan of massive urban places. It's jarring to see. Almost everywhere I look, there are trees, clearings, and ponds. Yet I look ahead and see this giant solar power plant and an even larger city behind it. It just doesn't feel like it belongs. At least we won't be staying here too long.

A bit behind schedule, but the next chapter is complete! Came down with a bad case of writer's block about halfway through.

-Justin