Chapter 19: Quest for the Mega Master's Approval

(A/N: I've been pretty busy with the new job as I've mentioned before, but also League of Legends playoffs have been happening across all the major regions so I have been keeping up with them pretty closely which eats up writing time during the day. Currently debating on moving out of my current place so if that does happen, I don't know if it will disrupt the current pace I'm putting out chapters. Anyways, I am planning on adding the other dexholders to the group eventually, I'd like to give them the proper time and development so they will come when it makes the most sense in my story for them to appear.)

General

"SEVEN?" Korrina blanked out briefly when she heard Red ask to bring seven other girls to her bedroom.

"I was barely ready for some private time with him as it is… isn't seven other girls a bit too soon? Wait. No. I mean… isn't seven other girls unreasonable?" Korrina course corrected and used all of the discipline her grandpa had instilled in her to keep a straight face and look in Red's direction where she caught the eye of her grandpa.

All the old man offered was a thumbs up and a big kooky smile.

"Remind me to never expect anything from gramps that doesn't have to do with mega evolution." Korrina resigned herself a bit.

While Korrina was having an internal struggle with her morality and her sense of ethics in the bedroom, Red was utterly lost as to what was paralyzing Korrina. He felt like the ask was fairly clear since he came here with his team before on important business, and it should have been conveyed to her by her gym guide (who definitely did not convey this message due to his saltiness at Red and co.'s existence.)

"Um Korrina, is everything alright? Did I ask for something unreasonable in retrospect?" Red asked with a genuinely concerned expression.

"*Sigh*, how can he look so innocent about something as ridiculous this ridiculous." Korrina thought incredulously.

"Well Red, I was uh… how do I put this I was –"

"I mean all I'm asking for is a private discussion between my team here and you, I hope it isn't too much to ask for." Red cut in briefly as his confusion had reached its apex.

"That's what I mean Red, I don't think I'm emotionally ready for that many other girls with … wait did you say private discussion with your team? Was this what you were looking for the whole time?" Korrina suddenly froze in place and a sneaking suspicion that she had horribly came to a premature conclusion overcame her.

"I thought I had grown out of this bad habit of mine… sigh" Korrina was exasperated with herself as she mumbled her displeasure.

Red on the other hand just nodded to her clarification question, with the only thing he could glean from this interaction as that Korrina had made a big misinterpretation of his ask, but he couldn't fathom what it could have be.

"I told your gym guide the second we entered the gym and started the gym challenge so I assumed you knew about this." Red stated in a matter of fact way.

"I'm totally gonna punish the gym guide after all this…" Korrina groaned in a barely audible manner.

Korrina took another deep breathe and with a perfect smile that changed her previous expression into a ghost of the former blush that had dominated her cheeks a moment before.

"That's totally alright, I can meet with your team right now in the MEETING room" Korrina smiled and made sure to put emphasis on where the meeting would be taking place now.

"Didn't you have something you wanted to clarify – "

"NOPE! Let's go!" Korrina abruptly tried to change the flow of the conversation and motioned for Red and his team to follow her to the meeting room.

On the side, one could hear Grandpa Gurkinn mutter "Darnit, my plan didn't work."

It would seem like muttering to oneself ran in Korrina's family.

The team gathered together in the meeting room after a little distraction that happened as the team was wondering why Korrina looked so suspiciously embarrassed in Red's presence.

Red explained it away as her having misunderstood something and that it wasn't a big deal, but the girls definitely understood it could be a big deal if left unchecked.

Someone on Korrina's level of attractiveness wasn't something you could just wave away as unimportant when it came to assessing threats to winning the RedBowl (like the SuperBowl).

Gurkinn cleared his throat after endured the awkward atmosphere in the room for long enough "So Red, you want to talk to my granddaughter, what was so important that you had to completely devastate Shalour City's Gym in the process?" He said it in a playful manner and Korrina followed up with a "Yeah what Gramps was saying… haha…" as she tried to regain control of the situation.

Red got straight to the point "Well Professor Oak sent us here on a special mission and he said that someone in this city could help us deal with the issues we've been having with battling super strong mega evolved pokemon."

Platina completed Red's thought by adding "We figured that the most important place in the city that could help with our problem was probably the Tower of Mastery. So, we wanted to come to the city's gym so we could find out who we would need to talk to for permission to enter the tower. As you can probably see… we didn't intend to challenge the gym at any point, it just kind of happened with the flow of things." She made sure to end her explanation with an apologetic tone as she did feel kind of bad for the absolute smacking Shalour City's gym was put under for no particular reason.

"I see… well luckily for your group, you came to exactly the right place, Old Samuel told me that a group would come seek Korrina and I out for help on the secrets of mega evolution. At first, I wasn't sure what to expect but it would seem that he sent some worthy trainers to learn about mega evolution." Gurkinn gave an approving look to them and then gently nudged his granddaughter to follow up.

"Exactly, Red you really proved that you're a trainer with strong bonds with his pokemon. I could see in all your pokemon especially Pika and Saur, that you have treated them with love and care. As long as the rest of your team members have similar relationships with their pokemon, I think we can move forward with giving your team access to the Tower of Mastery." Korrina gave a respect-filled look at Red and then noticed that the other girls were giving her a scrutinizing look and she realized what kind of minefield she was wading into.

"T-that being said… even if we approve of your entrance into the tower, it won't be that simple. You will have to overcome a series of trials and there will be other challengers in the tower looking to prove their worth. I will observe your team during the trial and if you are deemed worthy then we can help you unlock the secrets of mega evolution." Korrina felt at ease when explaining something she was familiar with when her flow was suddenly broken by Sapphire who stepped up.

"What should I do if I already have a mega stone and bracelet?" She asked as she showed her mega accessory to the duo.

"It's rare to see someone here in Kalos who has the ability to use mega evolution without having visited the Tower of Mastery." Korrina was surprised to see the bracelet adorning Sapphire's wrist.

"Oh it's because I'm from Hoenn, and I completed our version of the trials back during my adventures there." Sapphire helpfully replied.

"Hmm, in that case, sorry but you won't be able to participate during this trial. We want to confirm that everyone who wants to learn about mega evolution has the proper qualifications, which you already have proven elsewhere. Also, if possible, do not share anything with your team on how to clear the trials as it would be an unfair advantage for the time-honored mega evolution trial" Korrina quickly came to this conclusion after briefly considering what to do about Sapphire.

"Wow Sapphire, I didn't realize that gaining the right to use mega evolution was such a big deal, you're definitely amazing!" Red remarked in admiration as the rest of the team looked at her with a mix of jealousy and admiration at her abilities but also as a result of the attention she was getting from Red.

"Anyway, in the meantime, we will need a few days to gather up the rest of the challengers for the next trial in the tower, so I would suggest you spend some time brushing up your skills preparing in the city, and also just taking some time to relax as the trial can is quite rigorous." Korrina gave a warning from her experiences growing up around the tower and knowing intimately what kind of arduous challenges could face them depending on what Gurkinn had up his sleeves.

"So Red, I, uh, can show you around the city in the meantime if you'd like." Korrina shifted gears and started trying to make up for the emotions she had already prepped herself for when she had thought that this private time with Red was of a less wholesome nature.

Blue immediately cut in though, "Sorry Korrina, actually Red promised me that we would be going on a date so he won't be needing your services this time around."

To which Red could only remark "Huh?"

(A/N: I'm considering making the Tower of Mastery into an acronym like ToM or something but I haven't decided yet. It is a lot of effort to type it out every time it's referenced. If any plot points are confusing or not clear enough yet, please leave a review about it and I'll try to address it either in the writing or in the author notes for next chapter. Appreciate the constant support y'all and hope you enjoyed the more logistics focus on this chap.)