Before we get started I want to say that this chapter combines the two episodes 'The Cave of Trials' and 'The Aura Storm' so this will be longer than what I normally write.
The Trials of Mega Evolution
Edge of Geosenge Town: Alec's POV
The group has just arrived in Geosenge Town and Alec was glad to see the small town again. "So that's Geosenge Town," Ash says.
[I think so,] Pikachu says excitedly.
"We're here Dedenne," Bonnie tells her friend.
[It's about time,] Dedenne comments.
"What a cute town," Serena points out.
"It feels like forever since we were here. Remember that Ethan?" Alec asks.
[I seem to recall you almost thrown out of a store because the owner thought you were crazy to think he had a Mega Stone,] Ethan says smugly.
"How was I supposed to know?" Alec countered.
"And what're we standing around? Let's find that mega stone!" Korrina shouts and sprints into town with everyone, but Alec and Ethan following them.
"Should we tell them?" Alec asked.
[Nah, let them figure it out. Entertainment value,] Ethan answered. The two then heard a ringing and Alec pulled out his Holo-transceiver to see Gurkinn.
"Alec, I've just heard you arrived in Geosenge Town," Gurkinn starts.
"Yeah, and I see why you wanted me here. I meet Korrina on the way here," Alec explained.
"And I'd appreciate it if you could let her find the Lucarionite on her own accord," Gurkinn told him then ended the call.
"As blunt as ever," Alec comments and heads to the Pokémon Center. He gives Harrow's PokéBall to Nurse Joy and heads over to the phone booths. "Hope he doesn't pick up," Alec said as he dialed in a number. He then sees Gordan on the other side.
"Ah, Alec good to see you again," he says. Gordan was an old man and was a very close friend to Alec.
"Hey Gordan, sorry this isn't a social call," Alec starts.
"Is it ever?" Gordan says with amusement.
"Funny. I'm going to need Arco, I'll be sending Light back," Alec explains.
"Sure thing. I'll go get him," Gordan says and returns a few moments later with Arco's Pokéball. Alec then places Light's ball on the transfer pad and with a flash of light, it is replaced with Arco's. "Transfer complete," Gordan says, holding up Light's ball on his end.
"Thanks, Gordan," Alec says then hangs up. He then heads up to the counter to see Nurse Joy come out with Harrow out of his ball.
"The damage was thankfully minimal, Pidgeot is as good as new," she tells him.
"Thank you. Harrow, return," Alec says as a beam of red light comes from Harrow's ball. Alec then heads out and starts looking around for Ash and the gang to find them near the stone pillars at the other end of town.
"Alec, there you are. Where'd you go?" Ash asks.
"I had to take Harrow to the Pokémon Center. He was still a little bruised from that encounter with Team Rocket," Alec explained before asking "Anyone had any luck finding Lucarionite?" already knowing the answer.
"Well we've haven't, every single shop owner said they've never even heard of Lucarionite," Clemont explains.
"Surely you must know something about how to find it?" Korrina asked then she seemed to realize something. "Wait, you knew from the beginning we wouldn't find it in town, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I did," Alec said.
"But, why didn't you say anything?" Serena asked.
"Ethan thought it would be funny," Alec explained.
[Oh, you had to bring me into this,] Ethan complains.
"Yes, yes I did," Alec says. Ethan just glares at Alec in response.
"So, if it's not in town, where is it?" Clemont asked.
"Wait a minute, I remember something grandfather told me. He said something about having to find it ourselves," Korrina says.
"Well, that still doesn't tell us where to find it," Ash says when a man shows up with a camera.
"Well hello there, travelers. My name is McGinty, how about I take a picture of you all, as a souvenir?" he offers and the group accepts. He takes the photo and gives a disk to his assistant.
"While we wait, do you know anything about finding evolution stones?" Clemont asks.
"Yes actually, there's a cave hidden in that mountain that contains a bunch of them. Now if you're looking for something a little rarer, then there is a cave farther along the mountain that should have something, but I'm not sure what," McGinty explains, his assistant then returns and give out copies to everyone. Alec notices that Serena was really close to Ash. As the group headed towards the aforementioned cave, he turned to look at her, only to see her staring at Ash on her photo with a small blush on her face.
"Serena! You coming?" Alec asks her, snapping her out of her trance and the group continued towards the cave. After passing the mining shafts the group hands further up the mountain. As they neared the top Alec started to get suspicious. He then notices two rocks that he didn't recognize when he climbed this mountain. "Hang on. Something isn't right," Alec says.
"What do you mean?" Clemont asks.
"I mean that we should have seen something by now, but we haven't," Alec says, choosing his words carefully. Alec then starts tapping some of the rocks along the cliff, slowly making his way to the ones he was curious about. When he got to them, he heard a different noise than the others. "Hollow?" he says confused. The group comes over and taps on the rocks as well.
"You're right, I think it is hollow behind these rocks," Korrina says.
"Arco, come on out!" Alec says as he throws the Poké Ball to reveal his Lucario with a long, black, metal bracelet on his left wrist. Ash took notice of the bracelet.
"Hang on, isn't that Lucarionite?" Ash says pointing to the orange stone in the center of Arco's bracelet.
"Yep, but that's a story for later. Arco, you see these two rocks?" Alec asks him and he nods. "Then use Flash Cannon!" Alec commanded. Arco fired the move to reveal a passage.
"Why would this be blocked off?" Clemont asked.
"Maybe someone blocked it on purpose?" Bonnie theorized.
"You may be right. I've heard of people sabotaging those in search of Mega Stones before, but haven't seen any proof yet," Alec explains.
"Well, what matters is that we found it," Ash says and the group heads down the pathway.
"Thanks for the help Arco. Return for now," Alec says. His Lucario is returned to his Poké Ball.
"Do you feel that?" Korrina asked as they made their way down the pathway.
"Yeah, I can," Alec says.
"We have to be close then. Right Lucario?" Korrina asks her partner.
[Yeah, I can feel something calling to me. I wish I knew what it was though,] Korrina's Lucario said as they found an opening in the rocks to reveal a cave.
"We've found it! This has to be it!" Korrina says, looking down the cave entrance.
"It's pitch black, how are we going to see?" Serena asks concerned.
"Ethan, can you give us some light?" Alec asks.
[Sure thing,] Ethan responds as he lights the rings on his head and ears, sending a blue light down the cave. They then hear screaming from the cave.
"What was that?" Serena asked, her voice filled with fear. The group is then surprised to see Team Rocket go flying out of the cave and into a blast-off.
"Was that Team Rocket?" Clemont asks confused.
"I think so. They might have been the ones who put those rocks in the way earlier to prevent us from finding Lucarionite," Alec says.
"I think you're right. It does sound like them," Ash says.
"Then the Lucarionite must be down there," Korrina says and the group heads down with Ethan upfront and Clemont was adding some light with a Heliolisk looking device. When they get to the bottom they see an open door. The group cautiously enter and Alec sees an orange stone at the top of a platform in the center of the room.
"Lucarionite! We found it!" Korrina shouts.
"It must have been calling out to Lucario," Clemont theorized.
"But why would Alec and Korrina sense it?" Serena asked.
"Because we have keystones. Mega Stones and keystones are like two halves of a whole. The Lucarionite would seek the keystones since they give it power," Alec explained.
"Let's go get it Lucario!" Korrina says. The two started to run to the Lucarionite when a Blaziken jumps in and attacks Lucario. Lucario blocks it and Blaziken jumps in front of the Lucarionite.
"What's going on? Why would a Blaziken be here?" Ash asked.
"It must be a guardian: meant to defend the Mega Stone from those who aren't worthy," Alec says.
"We have to help," Serena says but Alec stops them.
"No, this is something Korrina has to do alone," Alec explains.
"So that's how it shall be then," Korrina says and she and Lucario get ready for battle. Lucario starts off with a Power-Up Punch, but Blaziken jumps in the air and slams a Blaze Kick into Lucario. Lucario stands back up as Blaziken unleashes an onslaught of Blaze Kicks. Lucario gets some distance and unleashes a Metal Sound before charging in without command to give off a duo of Power-Up Punches, but both miss and Blaziken responds with a Flamethrower in the face. Korrina tries to get to her partner, but Blaziken fires a Flamethrower at her, knocking her down, before grabbing Lucario by his head and throwing him into the wall.
"Oh no, I can't watch. We have to stop this," Serena says.
"No. If we interfere now, then the battle is pointless. Besides Korrina won't give up," Alec pointed out.
"You're right. I won't," Korrina said, standing back up. "We're never giving up, right Lucario?" Lucario then stands up and faces Blaziken.
[I've come too far to let you stop me, so let's end this!] Lucario challenged.
[So be it,] Blaziken replied. Lucario then used an onslaught of Power-Up Punches and Bone Rushes to overwhelm Blaziken. Lucario pinned it down with small energy bones around its hands and feet. Before Lucario can finish it with a Power-Up Punch, a voice calls out.
"Enough! You have won Korrina," says a man as he steps out of the shadows to reveal Gurkinn.
"Grandfather!" Korrina says in shock. "What does this mean?"
"It means you've passed the test," Alec says as he stands next to Gurkinn.
"Wait, this whole thing was a test?" Korrina asks.
"Yes. I knew you would complete your training so I decided to give you this final challenge myself" Gurkinn explains as he returns Blaziken. "Now go, you've earned it." Korrina wastes no time and heads to the platform that had the Lucarionite and took it. The group then headed back down the mountain and they see McGinty by the stone pillars from earlier.
"So, did you find what you were looking for?" he asked when he saw the group.
"Yep, we sure did," Ash answered.
"Sorry Mr. McGinty, but the photo you took of us got burnt up," Korrina explained but McGinty said he would print another one.
"Looks like it went well, didn't it Gurkinn," McGinty says.
"It sure did," Gurkinn replied.
"Wait, so you two were both in on where the Lucarionite was?" Korrina asked McGinty and Alec.
"Well, I was supposed to stop you from entering the cave with one of my Pokémon, but since I ran into you beforehand that kind of ruined the surprise," Alec explained.
"Now, are you ready to achieve Mega Evolution?" Gurkinn asked.
"Ready," Korrina responded and she and Lucario moved into the center of the area. Korrina then gave the Lucarionite to Lucario and touched the keystone on her glove. "Mega Evolve!" she shouted and the stones responded and a familiar light enveloped Lucario as its body began to change. When the light clears, Mega Lucario was standing before them. Lucario then began to test its power as waves of aura flew past the group. Curious about Lucario's new strength, Clemont pulls out a device that would let him measure Lucario's new power compared to its normal power.
"Lucario sure has gotten strong," Alec points out.
"Yes, the future is looking bright for the Shalour City Gym," McGinty replies.
"Hey Alec, my Mega Lucario might be stronger than that Charizard of yours," Korrina boasts.
"The keywords are 'might be,'" Alec counters.
[Ha. Flame could mop the floor with Lucario in his normal form,] Ethan whispers to Alec. Ash then proposes that he and Korrina have a battle and she gratefully accepts. The two moved to opposite ends and Ash was going with Pikachu again.
"Get ready for a taste of Mega Evolution, use Bone Rush!" Korrina commands. Pikachu counters with Iron Tail and knocks one of the bones out of Lucario's paw and it hits a cliff face nearby causing a small explosion.
"Wow! That Bone Rush was almost doubled compared to the reference data," Clemont says.
"Incredible!" Serena says.
"Lucario's so powerful!" Bonnie comments.
"It's powerful alright, but the question is if it can control it," Alec points out.
"Seems weird for Lucario to miss an attack like that," Ash tells Korrina.
"Lucario will be able to control its power, then we'll be unbeatable," Korrina says as Lucario dissipates the bone in its paw in frustration. "Don't worry, you're just not used to your new power yet, but you will be soon," Korrina reassures Lucario. Ash then continues the battle with Quick Attack while Lucario counters with Power-Up Punch and moves so fast that it seemed to teleport in front of Pikachu, but both attempts to land a hit fail, so Lucario resorts to keeping Pikachu from using his speed. Lucario then tries another Power-Up Punch, but the attack misses again, so Lucario kicks Pikachu into one of the stone pillars.
"Is that what I think it is?" Alec asked Gurkinn. He doesn't respond, but the narrowing of his eyes tell what he's thinking. Pikachu then goes for Electro Ball and misses as Lucario closes the distance and slams Pikachu with another Power-Up Punch. As Pikachu slides away from the attack, Lucario grabbed Pikachu's tail in his mouth and spun the small yellow mouse like a helicopter blade.
"Um… Gurkinn?" McGinty says with concern as Lucario slams Pikachu into the ground and kicks him away. Korrina screams for Lucario to stop, but he doesn't listen. Ash rushes to his partner's aid and Lucario hovers over with a deadly look in his eyes.
"Aura Storm," Alec says grimly. Ash puts himself over Pikachu in an attempt to protect his injured friend as Korrina continues to tell Lucario to stop. Instead of listening, Lucario jumps into the air and tries to slam a Power-Up Punch on Pikachu, but Gurkinn releases his own Lucario to block the attack, sending a massive aura shockwave before pushing the out of control Mega away.
"Korrina, Lucario, enough!" Gurkinn shouts. Mega Lucario starts to move forward, but then collapses and reverts to his normal form, the Mega Stone dropping to the ground. Gurkinn then takes the Lucarionite and gives it to McGinty as Korrina rushes over to her Lucario. The group quickly rushes to the Pokémon Center and wait while Pikachu and Lucario are checked on. Pikachu comes back out first and happily jumps onto Ash's arms.
"What about Lucario?" Korrina asks.
"Lucario is completely exhausted, but getting better. Don't worry," Nurse Joy explains.
"Exhaustion is no surprise, the power of Mega Evolution can be too much to handle at first," Gurkinn explains.
"By power, you mean its aura?" Korrina asks and Gurkinn nods grimly. Korrina then turns to Ash. "Ash and Pikachu, I'm so sorry, it got to the point where I didn't know what to do," Korrina apologizes.
"I think that surprised all of us, but that's okay. But it was probably a surprise for Lucario too," Ash says.
"Ash is right. After evolving, this thing happens all the time, so you shouldn't think that what happened to Lucario was any different," Clemont agrees.
"Look on the bright side: Lucario was able to Mega Evolve. I know you two will work all of this out," Ash reassures Korrina.
"Were your Lucario's like that as well?" Korrina asks Gurkinn and Alec.
"Not entirely, but the reaction to Mega Evolution is different for every Pokémon," Alec tells her.
"Right. No one gets everything correct on the first attempt. But still, that battle you had with Ash was hardly worth any praise," Gurkinn tells Korrina.
"But we can control it!" Korrina protests and McGinty enters the Pokémon Center with a small box.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting," he says.
"Is it finished?" Gurkinn asked.
"Ai, and it turned out great," McGinty says opening the box to reveal a red version of the bracelet on Arco. "And this is for you too," he continues holding out another copy of the photo.
"It's just like the one on Alec and grandfather's Lucario's. Did you make those as well?" Korrina asks.
"I did, and I'm proud of my handiwork," McGinty responds with what Alec assumed was a smile, hard to tell with his massive beard.
"So, what do you think happened to Mega Lucario?" Clement asked.
"It just Mega Evolved for the first time, so it probably got carried away," Korrina said.
"I wonder… What do you think Ash?" Serena asked.
"Well, it did feel like we were up against a completely different Pokémon than the last time we had a battle," Ash explained.
"I'm not surprised, but it works both ways. Sometimes, the trainer feels like they're using a new Pokémon," Alec explained before turning to Korrina. "That sound right?" he asked her and she nodded in response.
"It was a little scary, to be honest," Bonnie said. Alec felt a stab of sympathy for her.
"Lucario just ran a little wild, that's all," Korrina tried to reassure Bonnie.
"Oh yeah, the other day we met Diantha and we saw Alec's Ampharos Mega Evolve," Ash told Gurkinn and McGinty.
"I believe Diantha's Gardevoir can Mega Evolve," McGinty said.
"Yeah, and we met Mega Gardevoir too," Serena explained.
"They all do Mega Evolve, but they seemed to react differently," Clemont pointed out.
"Your right. Mega Gardevoir was so calm, elegant, and in control," Serena said.
"Light is calm and kind, but her more, aggressive side, comes out when she Mega Evolves," Alec explains.
"And Mega Lucario became super strong, but totally ignored Korrina's commands," Ash said.
"I wonder what was happening with Lucario?" Clemont questions.
"I need to find out. When Lucario refused to listen to me, it felt so strange," Korrina said grimly.
"It may be that the power of Mega Evolution is too strong for your Lucario to handle," Gurkinn tells her.
"Too strong?" Korrina repeated.
"It's believed that Lucario's aura is heightened to its limit when it Mega Evolves. During a battle, every nerve in its body is concentrating on battling, so it's unable to think about anything else, that's why its heightened aura awakens its battling instinct so strongly," Gurkinn explains.
"You're right that instinct totally took over" Korrina realized.
"It's not unheard of for a Mega Evolved Pokémon to lose control during a battle," McGinty explained. "I recall your Ampharos struggled to contain itself at first as well," McGinty said to Alec.
"Yeah, it took us a lot of work to get it under control," Alec recalled.
"So you're saying that Korrina needs to find a way to control that power," Ash simplifies.
"That's right, and it's something that she must do as the Shalour Gym Leader," Gurkinn confirms as Lucario is brought out. Korrina runs up to meet him and Lucario seemed ready to go.
"Glad you're better Lucario," Ash said. Korrina then gave Lucario the bracelet with the Mega Stone and puts it on Lucario's left arm.
"Don't worry Lucario. We'll master Mega Evolution together," Korrina reassures her partner.
"Well then, a good start would be the two of us having a battle. Mega Lucario against Mega Lucario," Alec suggests.
"I'm in. Lucario?" Korrina asks.
[You bet,] Lucario responds. The group then head out to the battlefield outside the Pokémon center.
"Arco, it's time to battle!" Alec shouts as he throws Arco's Pokéball to release his Lucario. Korrina then touches her keystone and her Lucario Mega Evolves. Alec does the same and the two Mega Lucario's stare each other down. Korrina kicks off the battle with a Power-Up Punch. "Dodge it with your aura," Alec commands calmly and Arco begins dodging Korrina's Lucario's attacks. "Now Ice Punch!" Mega Lucario tries to block Arco's attack with Bone Rush, but Arco's Ice Punch freezes the bones solid. Arco then uses his other paw to hit Mega Lucario with the ice type move. It didn't do much damage, but it did slightly freeze Mega Lucario, which was Alec's plan. Mega Lucario responds by throwing the frozen bones. Arco blocked both when Mega Lucario sweeps the legs of Arco, knocking him to the ground. Mega Lucario goes for a Power-Up Punch, but Arco counters with Earthquake ripping apart the ground and sending Mega Lucario into the air then slamming into the torn-up ground.
"You can do it Lucario! I know we can beat them!" Korrena shouts to her partner and Mega Lucario gets up only for Alec to see that its aura has taken control.
"So, this is how it will be. Get ready Arco," Alec says.
[Don't worry father. I won't lose,] Arco reassures Alec.
"Lucario, Swords Dance!" Korrina commands, but Lucario charges in to use Power-Up Punch.
"Stop it with Earthquake!" Alec commands and Arco slams his foot on the ground tearing it apart again and sending Lucario into the air. "Time to finish this. Aura Sphere!" Arco launches the attack at the exposed Mega Lucario and causes a small explosion. When the smoke clears, Lucario is laying on the ground in its normal form. "Good work," Alec told Arco as he too returned to his normal form.
[Thanks dad,] Arco says.
"Arco, what have I told you about calling me that?" Alec asked rhetorically.
[Well you pretty much are. You've raised me since I was an egg after all,] Arco answered.
"Fair enough," Alec grumbled. He then turns to Korrina to see Gurkinn looking at her.
"It's hard. But why? We Mega Evolved again but we still couldn't control it!" Korrina said.
"I'm afraid the only ones to blame for the lack of change are you two," Gurkinn tells them. "Now Lucario, the reason you're consumed by your aura is because of your overconfidence with regard to your power. Attacking excessively without Korrina's command is nothing short of arrogant. And Korrina, because you allowed Lucario to do just that, it shows you don't understand it. The way things are now, becoming stronger is impossible. You two have spent too much time together, and because you believe you truly understand each other, you have unfortunately neglected the training that would make you stronger. It's this kind of immature behavior that is unfit for the Shalour Gym Leader."
"I don't get this. I don't get this at all. We've battled so much—" Korrina started.
"WHY YOU FOOL!" Gurkinn shouts which startles everyone. "I order you to go on another training journey. There's a trainer who has guided me since I was young who lives on Pomace Mountain. This trainer's partner is also a Mega Evolved Pokémon. I'm certain they will be able to teach you to see beyond the surface of Mega Evolution," he tells Korrina then turns to Alec. "I'd like you to go with them. You've been there yourself so you know the fastest route," Gurkinn tells him. Alec, though uncomfortable with the tense feeling in the air, nods in understanding.
"Korrina, we want to come with you. We can train together," Ash says.
"I don't see a problem with that. But only if you're okay with it Korrina," Alec says.
"Yeah, I'd appreciate that," Korrina answers. As the group then sets off for Pomace Mountain, Alec can't help but think that Korrina and Lucario are going to have a hard time mastering Mega Evolution.