A/N: This story takes place during the X and Y anime.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

[Pokemon Speech]

"What, are you finished already?!"

[A-As if, I'm not losing that easily!]

"Then show me what you got!"

Both Riolu and Azure were currently seen in an open area within what appeared to be a decently dense forest, trees surrounding them, as well as few that seemed to have been uprooted by their attacks. Having been only a couple of days or so since they left Cyllage City as they had decided to stop for some training.

The training that Azure decided on was basic training, which consisted of basic hand to hand combat as Riolu was trying as hard as he could to get a hit in on Azure. Though, it seemed that the small pokemon wasn't making any progress as Azure had yet to draw a single sweat as Riolu was visibly exhausted.

Riolu was practising both In and Gyo at the same time while they were sparring, as well as the other principles as it did take quite a bit out of him. Despite the pain and exhaustion he was feeling right now, he was pushing through as he knew for a fact that this will definitely help him a lot in the long run.

Despite the spar only being hand to hand with no special attacks from either one of them, they moved around quite a lot as a number of trees within the forest had been either uprooted or completely shattered. As they were now in the middle of the spar, a range of different pokemon could be seen observing with surprise present on their faces.

The spectating pokemon were not only shocked about the impressive power produced by the relatively small pokemon, but all the power that could be felt radiating off of Azure. Not ever in their entire lives have they ever come across a human possessing such power! Some that have yet to encounter a human were just as surprised.

Were all humans this powerful?

The spar continued on for only a bit longer before Riolu began quickly slowing down, exhaustion expressing itself more and more. Azure had quickly noticed this as he then decided to finish it off by disappearing from view using his immense speed before appearing behind Riolu and delivering a soft yet powerful kick that sent Riolu skidding across the floor.

"That's enough for now, you worked really hard. You should get a good rest before we continue on." Azure smiled as he relaxed his stance as he watched as Riolu flopped onto his back while activating Zetsu. The pokemon giving deep and heavy pants as his chest rose up and down quickly. "You've gotten better, I'm impressed."

[M-Maybe... but, still... not good... enough] Riolu panted as he opened up his eyes slightly as he stared up towards the sky while still trying to catch his breath. Only after a few seconds was he able to force himself to sit up and look at Azure. [This little spar was enough to show me that I still have a ways to go...]

"Don't worry, just keep training and you'll one day be able to challenge me at my full strength." Azure assured. Riolu frowned slightly as he had doubts in his mind about that, the gap between them right now just seemed so large. Like an ant compared to the strength of a full grown dragon. "Afterall, I have been training in Nen for way long than you."

[Two years isn't much...]

"Details, details." Azure smirked as he waved his hand in front of his face. Riolu just gave a small deadpan before smiling and giving a sigh as he then forced himself onto his feet. Azure watched as Riolu walked over to his bag and took out the glass cup, then filling it with water that he had from a water bottle that Azure had.

Azure just smiled as he saw Riolu getting to work on his Hatsu immediately after resting up a bit and placing a leaf onto the now filled cup of water, Riolu was as determined as always to get stronger it seems. When Azure looked at Riolu's concentrated look, he couldn't help but get a feeling of nostalgia.

Riolu really did remind him of Gon and Killua, and maybe even himself.

'Riolu has great potential hiding beneath him, a potential that just needs a little push to come forth. If I had to put it in Bisky's terms, Riolu's a diamond in the rough.' Azure thought to himself as he sat down and leaned his back against a rock. 'I'll make sure to polish that diamond, I did promise to help him get stronger. Plus, it's not like I'll be here forever...'

As Azure was relaxing, he soon noticed an energy signature enter into the En that he had produced as he felt a familiar aura coming towards him. He turned his head to the right to see a small pokemon rushing over while holding a calm and silent expression, running towards both Riolu and himself.

"Ah, you're back, Eevee." Azure greeted as he waited as Eevee soon arrived next to him and sat down before looking around the area with a raised eyebrow. Then turning to give Azure a deadpanned look as Eevee seemed to get the gist of what had occurred. "Hey, we were just sparring. We may have powered ourselves up a bit by using aura, but still."

Eevee just stared at him for a second before rolling his eyes at his trainer, he had a good gauge at how strong Azure was, and it was honestly monstrous. If Eevee wasn't the calm and composed self that he was, then he certainly would have fainted upon the first time he had witnessed Azure using his powers.

Eevee had requested to go off to go for a small run since he didn't like sitting around doing nothing too much, which Azure had to asked Riolu to translate since he wasn't actually able to understand just what Eevee wanted. Eevee didn't want to disturb their training either, so that was one of the other reasons he went for his run.

Azure just gave a sigh as Eevee walked on next to him and laid down resting beside him as he then smiled before taking out his Pokedex, to which he soon brought up the map function on the device as he began swiping through it before arriving at his current position. Azure nodded his head as he read the information.

"Alright, if we get moving after a thirty-minute break, we should be able to end up in Geosenge Town in approximately three hours or so. Not too bad."

It hadn't been too long now as they had managed to cover the distance all the way to Geosenge town without much difficulty, Riolu still being a bit winded from their spar that they had in the forest, but managed either way. Having both ran to the town non-stop, though began slowing down when they got close.

Speaking of which, they were now just on the outskirts of the town as they began riding their skateboards down the path that lead down from the hill they had found themselves on. The path seemingly leading straight into the town, so there was a very small possibility that they would get lost. Aside from the fact that they could see the town anyway...

They both quickly rode their skateboards down the path as they quickly approached the town, Azure having noticed a number of people were walking around the town. It certainly wasn't a city either as it appeared decently quiet and surrounded by a number of rocky terrains, though the lush greenery was still present.

'Hm? I sense two rather powerful auras coming from the other side of the town, interesting...' Azure thought to himself as they were both now near the front entrance of the town. He didn't have his En too extended outwards right now since it exhausts him rapidly, but he could sense the aura from within the bubble.

One wasn't nearly as powerful as he was, but he could tell that the person producing the aura was stronger than Riolu was currently, definitely stronger. He had a good feeling it belonged to a pokemon of the Riolu evolutionary line, considering the power behind the aura, it was a very high chance of being the case.

The second one of the two that he could sense was weaker than Riolu was, if he were to say, it wouldn't take longer than a minute for Riolu to take them down if he were to activate his Ren. If Riolu were to try to take down the Pokemon without the use of Ren, then he could probably take the pokemon down in a max of possibly ten minutes.

From what he could tell, they seemed to be approaching the town at a slow and calm pace, and he didn't think they were hostile at all due to what he could feel. Due to this, Azure decided to put down his En as it then shrunk down rapidly as his aura was now sticking back close to his body once again.

Though, Azure wasn't stupid enough to underestimate people, the two could potentially be holding back their power.

[Oh, by the way] Riolu suddenly voiced as they both arrived in the town before kicking their boards into their arms as they began walking through. Azure looked down towards Riolu and blinked in confusion. [This town is known for having a rather large collection of different stones, right? There's something that I'm hoping to find here]

"Hm? What are you looking for?"

[I don't know exactly what it's called, but it's apparently a stone that prevents a pokemon from being able to evolve] Riolu explained as Azure could only raise his eyebrow in confusion. Why would Riolu be looking for something like that? "I think they're called Everstones. But, why do you want one?"

[Well, I just don't want to evolve...]

"Eh? Do you have something against evolving or something?" Azure wondered with curiosity as they continued walking through the town. It wasn't like Azure was upset or anything about Riolu not wanting to evolve, just curious as to why. Pokemon got decently stronger when they evolve. "Not that I'm angry or upset. Just curious."

[Well, my reason is kind of strange...] Riolu responded as he scratched the right side of his face with a small embarrassed blush appearing on his features. Riolu looked down a bit as they walked. [I don't have something against evolution as a whole, others can evolve if they want, I'm not stopping them. I just don't want to]

"Doesn't it make you stronger? Isn't that what you want?"

[Yeah, that's true. But, is it really worth the sacrifice for power?] Riolu couldn't help but wonder as Azure just continued to stare down at Riolu with a curious look in his eyes. Riolu gave a small sigh as he then looked up towards the sky. [What I mean is that for that power, I feel like I'm sacrificing something. I guess you could say I'd be sacrificing my identity]

"..."

[I don't know... I just feel like if I were to evolve, I'd be losing who I am. Ever since I was born, I have always been a Riolu up until now. If I were to evolve, I feel like I would be throwing away who I am] Riolu explained as he gave a sigh. Azure couldn't really deny this as pokemon gain another name to themselves when they evolve, unless their trainers nickname them.

Riolu had indeed been the species he was ever since birth, and just suddenly evolving would cause him to become a Lucario, losing the person he once was for the power he would gain in return. Riolu didn't seem to think that was a fair trade, he would prefer to stay in his current form and become stronger through training.

"Hmm... I guess I can definitely see where you're coming from. I have no problems at all if you don't want to evolve, it is your choice after all." Azure nodded with a smile as Riolu smiled in return. Riolu wanted to get stronger without evolving, and he wasn't going to stop him from doing so. "Anyway, I'll see if I can find an Everstone for you."

Both Riolu and Azure continued walking through the town, which did indeed prove to be relatively quiet as there were countless shops stationed throughout the seemed to all be selling a variety of different stones of all kinds. Normal stones that could probably go for a high price, along with a range of evolution stones as well.

They didn't really express too much interest in the different stones, but Azure did make sure to keep an eye out for the rounded grey stone. The walk really wasn't too hectic at all as it just consisted of them looking around, though they had to admit that the atmosphere of the town was certainly nice.

"Oh, my apologies."

"No worries, young man. It was partially my fault for not paying too much attention." The male voice had responded to Azure as he rubbed the back of his head. The man's voice holding a rather strong accent to it as he gave a hearty chuckle as he spoke to Azure. "I hope you aren't hurt at all, young man."

"No, I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about." Azure assured as Riolu silently just watched as the man turned towards them after having gotten up and off of the ground, Azure having not been knocked down at all. Now that the person stood up for them to see, they could tell he was a good deal older than Azure was.

The man did appear to be decently old as he had light grey hair along with a big bushy grey beard to go along with it, though his hair couldn't be seen due to the bucket hat that he was wearing. Having a pair of green and brownish clothing along with a pair of spectacles that went over his eyes, also seemingly holding onto a camera.

"I must say, you must be one strong lad! I felt like I walked into a brick wall." The man gave a hearty chuckle as he had his free hand on his hip. Azure just scratched his right cheek with one finger as he gave a nervous smile, Riolu just snorting in amusement at the sentence. "The name is McGinty, I'm a photographer."

"A pleasure to meet you, sir. My name is Azure, and this here is my partner Riolu." McGinty nodded his head with a smile, though it was hard to see with his rather bushy beard. When McGinty looked down at Riolu, he seemed to be interested as he stared for a little bit, confusing them both. "Is something the matter?"

"No, not at all. It's just that your Riolu seems well trained, especially if that guarded stance is anything to go by." True to McGinty's words, Riolu always seemed to hold a stance that constantly had his guard. Azure was honestly no different as the boy is always on guard, which he learnt was important considering the world he lived in. "You must have trained very well!"

"Thanks for the praise, sir. It's nothing special really..." Azure chuckled nervously as Riolu looked up at Azure and gave him an amused deadpan. The second part of the sentence that Azure said couldn't be any more wrong, it was anything but nothing special. Riolu then gave a sigh before rolling his eyes.

[Nothing special, he says...]

"Shut up, you." Azure frowned slightly as he gave a small roll of his own eyes. Azure then looked up at McGinty before gaining a look of realisation as he decided to ask. "Oh, there is something that I'm hoping you might know, sir. Do you possibly know if any of the shops in this town sell an Everstone?"

"Everstone? Hmm..." McGinty had repeated before holding his chin in thought as he seemed to be thinking. It only took a couple of seconds before McGinty opened his eyes and gave a small 'oh~' as he looked down at Azure and smiling. "If I remember correctly, I think I may actually have one myself! Why do you need it?"

"Well, it's for Riolu here." Azure replied as he gestured down to the small pokemon, who had his eyes closed and was most likely focusing on his Nen. "Riolu doesn't want to evolve, so he asked me to see if I can get him an Everstone."

"Doesn't want to evolve?" McGinty said in surprise as he looked down at the still concentrated form of Riolu. McGinty stared for a second before giving another chuckle as he looked back towards Azure with an amused face. "That's a surprising thing to hear! Riolu are usually drawn towards wanting to evolve since it helps them control their aura, hearing that one doesn't want to evolve is certainly surprising."

"Let's just say... he's unique."

"I see, how interesting indeed. Anyways, I'll be more than happy to lend the stone to you." McGinty smiled as Azure blinked in surprise at the older man. McGinty then pointed towards a nearby wooden building. "I'll get the stone ready for you when I can, I'll make sure to get it you as soon as I possibly can."

"Eh? Are you sure? I really don't mind paying for it..."

"No worries, just think of the stone as a small gift to apologise for running into you." McGinty assured as Azure wasn't really sure how to feel about this. Azure wasn't one who liked to take things from others without paying them back, it just pained him to do so. Though, he could easily tell that McGinty wasn't going to settle for anything else.

"Mr. McGinty!"

"We came back!"

Azure, McGinty, and also Riolu now all turned their heads at the sudden voice that shouted towards the three of them. When they did, they came into view of a rather large group of people and pokemon that were walking over towards them. The group having three males and also three females, not including pokemon.

Azure could easily identify the pokemon that were with them as he saw none other than a Lucario that was walking beside one of the females, a Pikachu that was on one of the males's shoulders, and also a Dedenne that was sitting in a small yellow bag that was being carried by a rather young looking girl probably around eight or so.

The others appeared around the same age as Azure was, aside from one of the males that was walking behind them, appearing significantly far older than the rest of them. Azure, McGinty, and Riolu just watched calmly as the group waved towards McGinty as they had approached them, which didn't take long before they stopped in front of them.

"Well, it's nice to see you all! Did you perhaps find what you were looking for?"

"Yep, we sure did!" The boy in front with the spiky black hair had responded as he then gestured behind himself towards the strange stone that was held in the hands of the blonde-haired girl wearing red and white. Azure could now get a good look at them all as they now stood in front of him, being able to take in their appearances.

The first person was the boy with the spiky black hair and the Pikachu that was riding on top of his shoulder, having worn a blue collared shirt with short sleeves and white trim, a black undershirt, darker blue jeans, a red and white hat, and red high top sneakers. The boy also had on a pair of black fingerless gloves.

The next person was a fair-skinned girl with waist-length honey blonde hair that is tied in a loose ponytail at the end with bangs hanging on the left side and light blue eyes. Her outfit consisting of a dark grey shirt with a white collar and a red skirt, also having on black stockings and a pink hat over her head.

The next person was the small girl that had golden-blonde hair that was tied into a side ponytail with an orange band, having also worn a brown short-sleeved top with a soft black bow on the neckline. She also had on knee-length black compression shorts that were covered by a puffy white skirt.

The next was a male with the same hair colour and a pair of blue eyes, his hair also seemingly having a lightning-bolt shaped tuft on the top. His clothing was rather strange as he wore a yellow-collared skin-tight blue jumpsuit, having on also a pair of large round glasses and also black shoes with white soles. Finally, on his back being a rather unique looking backpack.

The next was the female that was walking alongside the Lucario, being that of a tall and slender girl with very long creamy blonde hair tied in a big, thick, high fluffy ponytail. She had grey eyes and a fair complexion, also wearing clothes of a typical skater. Consisting of a short white and red sleeveless dress over black cycling shorts, and also a pair of skates on her feet.

What caught Azure's attention the most was the stone that she held, and also the very familiar looking object that was attached to the glove that was on her left hand. Being spherical in shape. He easily identified it as a Keystone, an important item required for the use of Mega Evolution. It would be hard to not know if you played through the X and Y games.

He recognised this girl easily though, she was the Shalour City Gym Leader if he remembered correctly and just wasn't going crazy. If he remembered correctly, the gym was that of a fighting-type gym. Though, Azure wasn't sure who would be stronger, the game or the anime version of the gym leaders in the regions.

He leaned more towards the game counterparts.

The final person of the group was someone that he also recognised, though he knew he wasn't the same one from the games, and that was Gurkinn. That being the very same man that was standing behind them all, and also Korrina's, the Shalour City Gym Leader, grandfather. He was the one that hands the Mega Ring to the player in the game.

"I have to apologise to you, Mr. McGinty. The amazing photo that you took of us ended up getting burnt up..." The blonde-haired older female, being Korrina, had explained with a sad smile on her face. McGinty responded with a small chuckle as he waved his hand in front of his face as he smiled at her.

"You don't need to worry about that, I'll just print you out another one."

"Really? Thanks a lot!"

"No problem at all." McGinty assured as he then realised something. McGinty smiled before gesturing towards his left, which he had ended up pointing towards Azure and Riolu, both who were silently watching the exchange from before. "I almost forgot to introduce you all! This here is Azure, I met him a bit before you returned!"

"Nice to meet you all, my name is Azure Brave." Azure introduced himself politely as he gave them all a small bow, catching them a bit off guard due to it. Azure then gesture down towards Riolu, who was just looking up at them all with his arms crossed over his chest. "This here is my partner Riolu."

At the sight of the small pokemon, Korrina's Lucario couldn't help but stare at Riolu in interest. Lucario seemed confused though when he couldn't see or sense the aura around Riolu, which made sense since Riolu had In currently activated. Azure and Riolu also stared at the Lucario curiously as well.

Azure could tell that this Lucario was one of the two signatures that he had detected when his En had been used, this Lucario being the second one that he had detected. The stronger one was nowhere to be found though, so he could only assume that they had either left or was one of the trainers's pokemon and was currently in its Pokeball.

"Hi there, my name's Ash! This is my partner Pikachu." The boy with spiky black hair introduced himself before gesturing to the small yellow mouse pokemon, who had given its own cry to greet Riolu and Azure. The next person was the female with the pink hat. "I'm Serena, it's nice to meet you."

"And my name is Bonnie, and this is Dedenne!" The small blonde-haired girl had introduced herself as she then pointed to the small Fairy-type in her bag, who had given a cry in greeting to them, similar to how Pikachu had done so. Bonnie then gesture to her left, which she had pointed at the male with blonde hair. "This is my brother!"

"Please to meet you, I'm Clemont."

"And my name is Korrina, this Lucario!" The final female of the group had introduced herself as her Lucario had greeted them the same way as the other two pokemon. Korrina then looked down towards Riolu, who held a calm expression as he stood next to Azure. Korrina smiled before crouching down in front of the pokemon. "Oh, wow! It's a Riolu! Nice to meet you!"

[Uh... hi?] Riolu awkwardly responded as he didn't exactly know what to say to this energetic girl. Riolu looked up at Azure for help, though the boy just shrugged his shoulders with a smile on his face. When Korrina stood back up, Lucario had gone over to him and stared down at RIolu with a smile.

[Nice to meet you, young pup] Lucario had greeted as he ended up patting Riolu on the head, making Azure chuckle a bit at the discomfort that Riolu was showing. [Your aura is rather strange, well, more like the lack of. Is something the matter, young pup?]

[N-No, nothing's wrong. I can use my aura just fine...] Riolu responded with a small stutter. Lucario seemed to stare at the younger pokemon for a second before giving a small nod and accepting the response, which brought some relief to Riolu. He knew Azure didn't want him telling others about Nen without his permission.

Azure was just observing silently as he just got more evidence to a theory he had a good while ago, it seemed that he truly could only understand the speech of pokemon who had a great connection to their aura. Considering the fact that he could understand Lucario just now was proof of this.

"It seems that everything went well, didn't it?" McGinty's voice had sounded as they all looked towards Gurkinn, whom McGinty was speaking out towards. Lucario still standing beside Riolu as they listened. "Your granddaughter certainly is indeed something special, isn't she?"

"Well, she is my granddaughter after all. What did you expect?" Gurkinn smiled widely as he walked past the group before stopping beside both Azure and McGinty, Gurkinn giving Azure a friendly and polite smile as he nodded at the boy. Azure nodding back. The group seemed confused as Serena then decided to ask.

"Wait... do you two know each other?"

"Well, the thing is..." McGinty chuckled nervously as he scrapped the side of his head with one finger with his eyes closed. "He had actually requested of me to help him out with your quest on locating the Lucarionite."

"That's right." Gurkinn nodded.

'So, that strange huge ass rock in Korrina's arms is a Lucarionite? Jeez, never would have guessed.' Azure thought with amusement as he looked at said stone. They never showed such a stone in the games, just the orbs for the pokemon to mega evolve. Riolu seemed just as weirded out by the huge stone as he blinked at the sight of it.

"Wait, so you knew from the beginning?" Ash asked with bug-eyes as they all stared at the photographer, who gave a nervous chuckle before nodding his head in response to the question. Clemont seemed confused as he took a step forwards and asked. "Then what about that story? The story about the horrible things that happen to those who aren't worthy?"

"Oh, I made that up..."

"Made it up?!" The entire group that had just returned, aside from Gurkinn, all cried out in surprise before seemingly melting with slumped shoulders as they expressed both relief and also a bit of disappointment, it sounded interesting. Gurkinn gave a big smile as he then added. "The story isn't a complete lie. If someone who isn't worthy had gone in, then Blaziken would have kicked them out. So, it's technically true."

[What the hell are they talking about?]

[Language, young pup] Lucario scolded lightly. Riolu just deadpanned heavily as he looked up at the evolved form of his species. Azure couldn't help but give a small chuckle in response to this since it seemed that Korrina's Lucario already seemed to turn into Riolu's guardian of sorts.

"Oh, you mean like Team Rocket!" Serena realised. Azure blinked at this as it seems that this world also had a Team Rocket, much like how the games all had their own enemy teams in each game. He suspected this anime world probably had all those teams in it as well. But, why was Team Rocket here then? If he remembered correctly, Team Flare was the enemy team in the Kalos region.

Maybe he was mistaken, who knows...

"Now, Korrina." Gurkinn had voiced, catching said female's attention as the blonde turned to look at her grandfather. Gurkinn seemed to remove his previous expression and was now replaced with a serious and slightly narrowed look. "The proof that you overcame the trial, the Lucarionite is now yours. It belongs to you now."

"Thank you, grandfather!"

"Good for the both of you!"

"Wonderful!"

"It sure is!"

"Congratulations!" The group had each given their congratulations to Korrina along with her Lucario, Azure just silently observing and Riolu quietly working on his Nen. Both Azure and Riolu then looked at one another as they both nodded their heads, they had a feeling their lives got a bit more interesting.

[So, they're going to mega evolve?]

"It would seem so..."

The group were now all watching as both Lucario and Korrina were standing in the middle of a cleared out section of the town, Lucario holding onto the Lucarionite as Korrina was smiling. Having been only ten minutes since they had introduced themselves to Azure and Riolu, and now something big was going to happen.

Something mega big.

In a literal sense too as both Korrina and Lucario were about to attempt to perform mega evolution, the group of four trainers that he had met before all watching with anticipation as Azure and Riolu stood next to both Gurkinn and McGinty. Azure and Riolu didn't know why, but they had a bad feeling about this...

"Now, Lucario! Mega Evolve!" Korrina had commanded as she pressed her fingers against the Keystone on her left hand. They all then watched in awe as strands of light began to connect from both the Keystone and also the Lucarionite that Lucario was holding onto, soon connecting with each other before exploding a shine of light.

They all widened their eyes as Lucario's body glowed a deep bright orange colour, all watching as Lucario's body seemingly began to alter. Starting with his legs before going to the tail, and then to the head as the area was soon brightened up by an intense light that was released from Lucario's position.

All having to cover their eyes, aside from Azure, who was just staring without blinking as a small frown was plastered on his face. He then narrowed his eyes slightly as he felt his senses tick a bit, something about the aura that Lucario was releasing right now felt unusual. It felt kind of... unstable.

As soon as the light began to disperse, they all began to lower their arms from their eyes as they all began looking towards where Lucario had stood. When the light had vanished, Azure and the others could now see Lucario in his new glory and form, having a stronger and more intimidating looking appearance compared to before.

The yellow fur that Lucario had previously had become longer and more wild as the appendages on his head had grown in length and two of them gained red tips. The 'mask' becoming more pronounced as his feet and arms had also gained the red colouring, his previous tail also seemingly gone and replaced with a large bushy yellow tail of sorts.

Azure and Riolu could feel the significant difference in the aura in comparison to Lucario's original form, the aura around him had become far greater than before. Azure would have to say that Lucario right now could compare with Riolu when he used a good amount of his Ren, so that was pretty damn impressive.

[You feel it too, right?]

"Yeah..."

Azure and Riolu looked at one another and nodded, they both had the same thoughts running through both of their heads. While Lucario seems to have gained an immense increase in power, grand enough to possibly rival Riolu when using Ren, something about the aura just seemed to unstable.

They would need to keep an eye out.

"Is something wrong, Azure?" McGinty voiced as both he and Gurkinn looked down at the younger male out of them and stared at him curiously. Azure shook his head as he turned his attention to the both of them, though kept his eyes trained on Lucario. "No, nothing much. It's just that... something feels wrong with Lucario's aura."

"You can tell?" Gurkinn asked in surprise.

"Just a guess..." Azure lied as he held his chin in thought.

"Alright, Ash! Get ready for a taste of mega evolution!" Korrina declared as both Ash and Korrina could now be seen on opposite ends of the area that Korrina had just previously mega evolved Lucario, with Lucario facing off against Pikachu as both sides seemed determined to win over the other.

Everyone else was just watching from the sidelines as Riolu and Azure kept their eyes trained on Lucario, they had a bad feeling about something, and they just didn't know why that was. The situation had turned into what it was right now because Ash had challenged Korrina to a match, to see just how strong Lucario was.

[So, who do you think is going to win anyway?] Riolu wondered as he stood next to Azure. Both of them watching the battle beside Gurkinn and McGinty, who were also very focused on what was happening. Azure thought for a moment before replying. "Hard to say. Though, anything can happen in a battle."

[True that]

"Alright, Lucario! Use Bone Rush!" Lucario complied as he formed two bone constructs from his hands before wielding them like twin swords before dashing forwards at impressive speeds. Ash didn't flinch as he gave Pikachu his first command. "Pikachu, counter that Bone Rush with your Iron Tail!"

They watched as Pikachu flipped in the air a few times as his tail had glowed a bright white colour, Pikachu then giving a cry before sending down his tail towards Lucario. Lucario having responded to this by blocking it using the two bone constructs it had made, though seemed unable to hold as the bone was knocked away.

Both pokemon tumbled to the ground as the bone that had been sent flying soon reached towards a mountain cliff area a good bit away, all watching as the bone made impact, causing a powerful explosion to occur. Not entirely destroying the cliff, but damaging it a good deal as they were impressed with the power behind the move.

'Not bad, though seems uncontrolled...' Azure thought as Riolu decided to stay silent as he looked at the cliff with his arms crossed over his chest.

"W-Woah!" Ash gawked as he witnessed the explosion. Korrina being no different as she stared wide-eyed at the scene. Korrina then quietly muttering a few words as she continued to stare towards the destruction that had been delivered. "That is certainly some power..."

'Reminds me a bit of Gon when we were first developing our Nen abilities... he couldn't control the power at first.' Azure thought to himself as he remembered when they each went into separate rooms to work separately on the Nen abilities they were going to use. Killua practising his lightning, Azure with his fire, and Gon with his Ja-Janken.

Azure couldn't help but relate this situation back to Gon, Gon having not been able to deal with the power when he first tried using it, sending him tumbling onto the ground due to the amount of force. Lucario being no different here as it seemed difficult for him to control the newfound power of his.

'Still...' Azure thought back as his eyebrow twitched slightly due to annoyance. Riolu picking up the emotion coming from Azure, the pokemon raising an eyebrow in confusion in response due to the sudden and unknown reason behind such annoyance. 'At least Lucario didn't end up crashing through a wall and into me...!'

"Seems weird for Lucario to miss that, don't you think so?"

"Lucario just needs to learn how to control his power! He'll be able to do it in no time!" Korrina assured as she held a confident look on her face. Lucario seemed annoyed as he stared at his hands. Dispersing the other bone that he had and clicking his tongue. "Don't worry about it, you'll be able to control your power soon. Remember that I believe in you!"

"It's time to show them your speed, Pikachu! It's time for a Quick Attack!" Pikachu's body was enveloped by a thin layer of light before he dashed forwards at impressive speeds, Korrina quickly reacting as she then gave Lucario her next command. "Lucario, let's counter this with your Power-Up-Punch!"

'Hm?' Azure and Riolu narrowed their eyes, also noticing Gurkinn doing the same, as they saw Lucario appearing in front of Pikachu with his fist encased in a powerful deep orange light. Though, they also noticed the rather feral expression that Lucario now held as he began trying to land the attack on Pikachu.

[Azure...]

"Yeah, I noticed." Azure replied as he had his right hand over his mouth and his left crossed over his chest, seemingly in thought as he watched the battle intently. It was just as both he and Riolu thought, it seemed that something about Lucario was unstable. The way he was acting right now was unlike how he acted before. 'Korrina and the others seem oblivious to it...'

They then watched as Lucario then smashed the ground with another Power-Up-Punch before kicking Pikachu into a nearby rock, making the rock gain a dent as Pikachu released a cry of pain due to the force. Azure noticed another issue, it seemed that Lucario was mainly acting on his own volition. Korrina seemed completely fine with this...

"Alright, nice work, Lucario!"

'I think I get what's going on here...'

"Use Electro Ball, Pikachu!" Ash ordered as Pikachu pulled himself out of the rock before shaking his head and jumping into the air. They watched as electricity gathered around Pikachu's body before taking shape of a ball that was stationed on Pikachu's tail, to which the mouse then swung it towards Lucario.

Lucario easily managed to dodge the incoming attack with its highly increased speed, catching Pikachu off guard when he had jumped up and appeared right in front of Pikachu while still mid-air. The feral glare still happening, though Korrina didn't seem to notice as she then gave her next order.

"Power-Up-Punch!" They watched as Lucario then gathered the powerful orange energy into his right fist, Pikachu unable to do anything as Lucario then sent the attack down on the small mouse pokemon. They watched as Pikachu gave a cry of agony before skidding across the floor as Ash had called his name out in concern.

Everything seemed decently fine... though that soon ended.

"Lucario?" Korrina muttered with surprise when Lucario suddenly took hold of Pikachu's tail with his teeth before swinging Pikachu around in circles above his head while still hanging onto the mouse's tail with his sharp teeth. They all now finally seemed to notice the strange behaviour of the Lucario, aside from Azure, Riolu, and Gurkinn.

"Gurkinn..." McGinty muttered with narrowed eyes. They widened their eyes when Lucario finished the swinging with one last big swing as he smashed Pikachu into the ground, causing a good deal of dust to stir as Pikachu laid on the ground with a number of injuries that littered his body.

"Lucario, stop!" Korrina shouted, though it was to no avail as Lucario held the same feral expression as he kicked Pikachu a good bit across the battlefield while he was still on the ground in pain. "Lucario, you need to stop this right now! This is no way to act all when in a battle!"

"Pikachu, are you alright?!" Ash shouted in concern as he ran towards the pokemon that had just stopped rolling across the ground. Ash then kneeling down beside the electric-type to see if he was okay, though soon looked up to see Lucario approaching with the same monstrous look. His four appendages now standing up as a dark aura released from his body.

Ash gritted his teeth in concern as he held onto Pikachu tightly as he held the electric-type under his body to keep him safe, Ash looking up at Lucario to see that he was preparing to launch off another attack towards them. Korrina seemed panicked as she shouted towards the pokemon. "Lucario, you need to listen to me!"

Azure and Riolu noticed a slightly pained expression that appeared on Lucario's face, though it vanished when Lucario soon leapt into the air and began charging up another Power-Up-Punch as his eyes glowed brighter red than ever before. Azure narrowed his eyes as he saw this, Riolu doing the same as they noticed Gurkinn taking out a Pokeball.

"Don't do it, Lucario!"

"Lucario, you need to stop!" Nothing seemed to be working as Lucario ignored the words and began reeling his fist back as his mouth opened up to reveal the sharp canines that were present, a powerful growl releasing from Lucario's mouth as he then threw his right fist towards Ash and Pikachu.

But, just as the attacked was about to hit...

"Riolu!"