When you're in a relationship with someone else, things were bound to change.

Steven was busy with his work at the Devon Corporation, not to mention his duties as a champion and his hobby of collecting unique stones. He was also doing research on Mega Evolution. It was inevitable that she didn't get to see her boyfriend as often as other people could see their significant others.

But Hariel didn't mind. She understood that he was a busy man, and was grateful of the fact that Steven still took the time to see her when he was free.

He had also bought her an Xtransceiver so they could call each other whenever they wanted.

A relationship like this wouldn't work for most people, but it worked for them. Not only was Steven busy, Hariel was busy as well. She had her pokémon to care for and train, not to mention planning travel routes and Gym Battles. There was even a possibility of Contest Battles…if she ever got over her stage fright.

After the events at the Tree of Beginning, Hariel had taken a flight back to Rustboro city and Steven had taken one to Mossdeep City.

Lucario also had to get used to the sights, and used to being commanded in battle. Before, Sir Aaron pretty much gave him free reign, but Lucario now had to place his trust into her battling skills and follow her directions perfectly.

Though…if Lucario could read her mind and connect it with his own, it might allow him to transition better if their minds were linked.

And damn did Lucario know a lot of moves. Of course it was understandable since he had been training and battling in an era of war, but it was going to take quite a while to remember them all.

Gender: Male

Ability: Inner Focus

Hidden Ability: Justified

Inner Focus: Prevents the pokémon with this ability from flinching.

Justified: If a pokémon with this ability is hit by a Dark Type move, it raises its attack power.

Moves: Extreme Speed, Close Combat, Aura Sphere, Dragon Pulse, Metal Claw, Calm Mind, Heal Pulse, Swords Dance, Psychic, Bone Rush, Giga Impact, Stone Edge, Poison Jab, Flash Cannon, Rock Smash, Low Sweep, Quick Guard, Focus Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, Water Pulse, Dark Pulse, Iron Defense, Force Palm, High Jump Kick, Blaze Kick (Egg Move), and Metal Sound.

Yep…it was going to take forever to remember this move set. Hariel looked at the list incredulously before looking at Lucario, who rubbed his head sheepishly.

No wonder he was able to hold back those legendaries with relative ease.

Though Lucario did admit that even though he knew a lot of moves, it didn't quite mean he used them all that often. Obviously there were moves that he used much more than others.

Aura Sphere being an example as his most used move while Rock Smash and Giga Impact were probably his least used ones.

Steven sighed in relaxation as he dressed himself in his flannel pajamas. He had just received a call from Hariel, informing him of her upcoming Gym Battle with Roxanne.

This was going to be his first serious relationship with a woman. Of course he had gone on dates before, but he never found himself compatible with any of the women.

As the heir of the Devon Corporation, a lot had been expected of him and had done his best to meet those expectations.

He was obedient and polite and was at the top of his class in school (even P.E.). He didn't drink, fool around with girls, do drugs, or go to silly house parties (he had gone spelunking instead), and he dutifully helped his father with the Corporation.

He had been a good son; was the perfect son to be precise.

He was also an exceptional trainer, breezing through the Hoenn League, then eventually beating the Elite Four and the Champion, who was his best friend Wallace at the time.

When his father expressed interest in him marrying someday to give him grandchildren to dote on, he had tried to go on dates to appease him. Though he never dated any of his father's business partners' daughters. That was a disaster just waiting to happen and not to mention, his father wanted him to marry for love like he had done.

Something he was eternally grateful for.

And meeting Hariel had been the best thing to happen to him since winning the title of Champion.

At first it was supposed to be a thank you dinner while sating his curiosity about the woman, but it had turned out to be a date.

He found himself relating to Hariel.

He met up with her a few more times after that, and their first true date was when they had gone to the Annual Festival at Cameron Palace together. It was a rather grand setting for a first date, but it worked.

Then the whole adventure with Mew, Lucario, Ash and his friends, and Kidd happened, and he had grown closer to Hariel. There was nothing like going through a life threatening situation to build relationships after all.

When he thought he was a goner in the Tree of Beginning when the red blob captured him, his last thought was that he wished he could have gotten to know Hariel better.

When Hariel was willing to save Lucario and put her own life on the line to save Mew and the Tree of Beginning, he then knew that Hariel was one of a kind and was definitely a keeper.

Now that they were together, he scheduled in more time to be with her, even sacrificing some time he put off to go rock hunting.

Though Hariel had asked him not to put off his hobbies for her, it just made her even more special to him and he decided to put it off anyways, much to her exasperation.

Steven honestly wanted his relationship with Hariel to work. She understood that he was busy with his duties as heir and as a Champion (though he wasn't doing much as Champion at the moment other than bi-weekly meetings with the Pokémon League and the rare challenger now and again).

For the first time since he began dating, he saw a future of a happy marriage, and he'd be damned to let that dream go.

"Kirlia, use Magical Leaf!" Hariel commanded.

"Use Rollout to dodge, Geodude!" Roxanne countered.

Lucario was watching the match sharply. They had practiced with him being commanded on the battlefield and even had mock battles with Luxray, but this was the first time he had every witnessed a Gym Battle.

"Redirect with Psychic!"

Kirlia's eyes glowed blue and she redirected her Magical Leaf with Psychic to chase Geodude around the field before it eventually caught up for a super effective attack.

Geodude skid across the rocky floor and grunted in pain.

"Now then, let's finish this up. Teleport and use Magical Leaf again, point blank!"

"Dodge!" Roxanne called out in panic.

However, it was near impossible for Geodude to dodge in time and it took a Magical Leaf straight to the face, knocking it out cold.

"Geodude is unable to battle, Kirlia is the winner!" the referee announced.

"Good job Geodude, take a nice rest," Roxanne said and returned her pokémon, "You're a strong one. Let's see how you do against my Nosepass!"

The pokémon appeared from its ball and was ready to fight.

"Lucario, are you ready?" Hariel asked.

"Yes," Lucario nodded and stepped out onto the field in front of her.

"My, a Lucario that can use Telepathy? How interesting," Roxanne commented.

"That's not the only thing that's going to get interesting. Lucario, Extreme Speed and Low Sweep!"

Roxanne gasped as in a blink of an eye, Lucario had crossed the field and kicked at Nosepass' legs, tripping and damaging the pokémon.

"Now, High Jump Kick!" Hariel grinned.

Lucario brought his glowing leg up and smashed it into Nosepass' face, throwing the poor pokémon into the wall behind Roxanne and creating a large crater where it had impacted.

"Nosepass!" Roxanne exclaimed in shock.

"Uhh…" Hariel's eyes bulged at how powerful Lucario was.

Okay, she knew that he was holding back during their practice battles but damn!

"N-Nosepass is unable to battle; Lucario is the winner! The challenge goes to Hariel Evans!" the referee called out.

"I assume I did well?" Lucario asked, looking a bit disappointed at the strength of his opponent yet proud of Hariel's amazed look.

"You were incredible. I had no idea that you were that powerful, Lucario," Hariel said, amazed.

She sent out a mental apology to the other pokémon.

"Your Lucario is incredible," Roxanne said, walking towards the two, "Here is proof that you have defeated my Gym. The Stone Badge."

"Thank you," Hariel said and bowed politely, prompting Lucario and Absol to do the same.

Inwardly, Hariel breathed a sigh of relief. Lucario had been able to follow her directions with relative ease and swiftly as well. This was very promising for the pokémon.

Steven smiled indulgently as Hariel went on about how amazing Lucario was in their recent Gym Battle and how he was doing getting used to the modern world.

Pokémon food pellets were a new thing to him as well, and although delicious, eating the same thing every day would get tedious for anyone. This was why Hariel liked to give her pokémon human food on an occasion along with adding different fruits, berries, nuts, and vegetables to their daily meals to keep them interested and eating. Not to mention the healthy Poffins and Pokéblock she fed to them often. PokéPuffs were more of a dessert so she didn't give them to her pokémon as often as they would have liked her to.

"What Gym should I go to next?" Hariel asked.

"I would recommend the Gym in Dewford Town," Steven recommended as he shuffled through his paper work. "You can either fly there, have a Water Type pokémon swim you there, or even just take the ferry there."

"I think I'll take a ferry there. The only pokémon I could possibly fly on is Charizard, but Charmander hasn't even evolved into Charmeleon yet," Hariel said. "I mean, I could fly there myself, but I generally don't want to be seen. As for Milotic taking me there, I don't really want to get all wet so I'm good for now."

"I see. Then I'll meet you at the Port in a week?" Steven asked.

"Alright. According to my PokéNav, it should take about that long to get there from Rustboro City," Hariel said.

"Don't worry. I'll call you when I get there. I don't mind waiting if you're late," Steven teased.

Hariel's laugh could be heard over the Xtransceiver.

"Speak for yourself! Meet you there then, Steven. Until then, take care of yourself!" Hariel said.

"You too, darling," Steven said with another teasing note.

Hariel laughed again before she hung up.

Honestly, Steven sometimes wished that he could travel with Hariel, but that would mean giving up his responsibilities and Hariel would hate him for that. With the Ever Grande Conference coming up, people were training more for the tournament and the possibility of taking on the Elite Four.

It was rare that any trainer got through them, so Steven didn't get many official challenges often.

Of course, on an occasion, people would challenge him if they recognized him to see where they stood, but despite their admirable efforts, Metagross was the only pokémon he used to wipe out their entire team.

Of course he didn't slack off with his other pokémon, one always needed to be prepared after all, but Metagross was his strongest and oldest team member.

Though that wasn't surprising. Every trainer had a pokémon that they used more than the others and thus that pokémon was usually the strongest, though it wasn't always the case.

But he digressed and looked through his paperwork again. He had finished it early so he could have more free time. He was going to stop by Wallace' gym for a brief visit, then make go rock hunting again before spending some quality time with his pokémon. Then there was his research on Mega Evolution and Mega Stones. Thankfully he didn't have any meetings he had to attend as the Pokémon League was busy with the Ever Grande Conference happening just a little over a month away.

He honestly thanked Arceus above that Hariel understood his busy schedule!

"So this is a Mega Stone?" Lucario asked, inspecting the stone with awe.

"Yes," Hariel nodded and with a twirl of her finger, the PokéPuff batter started to mix itself.

Before they had arrived to the small clearing they were in, Hariel had found another Mega Stone. She would have to give it to Steven to see which one it was. Maybe she should take up Mega Stone collecting as a hobby. She certainly had a knack for it.

"Someday, we'll find your Mega Stone as well, Lucario," Hariel said with a smile as she whisked the icing.

"My Mega Stone? I can Mega Evolve as well?" Lucario asked with wide eyes.

"Yes. Steven told me of a Professor in the Kalos Region who is the leading researching on the subject of Mega Stones and Mega Evolution. The man had created a recorded a list of pokémon he found that were able to Mega Evolve. Lucario, you're one of them," Hariel said.

"Amazing. Do you think I'll be able to achieve such a thing?" Lucario asked as he set the Mega Stone back into her bag.

This time the Mega Stone had already been worn down to a spherical shape, having found it buried underneath a riverbed nearby.

"Of course we'll achieve Mega Evolution!" Hariel said confidently.

Absol and Kirlia backed up her claims, both having their own Mega Stone. Though Kirlia wouldn't be able to use hers until she evolved.

"Ready Lucario? We're going to come at you with all we got!" Hariel said.

She was going to attempt Mega Evolution for the first time with Absol. She had felt that they weren't ready before, but now she was ready to give it a shot!

Lucario nodded.

Despite his type advantage, she and Absol were going to do their best.

"Alright then!" Hariel said and touched her keystone pendent, "Our hearts are one, Absol! Let our bond manifest and Mega Evolve!"

She had no idea where she had come up with that line, but she felt as if it was the right thing to say.

And she was right, her Keystone and Absol's Mega Stone glowed before tendrils of light reached out from each stone and connected with each other.

"ABSOL!" Absol roared and glowed brightly as his formed changed.

All of Hariel's pokémon including Hariel herself looked at Absol's changing form with awe until his new evolution stage was revealed.

"Absol!" Absol said proudly as he showed off his new form.

As Mega Absol, his fur was longer overall, and the increased energy coursing through his body made the fur at the back of his mane stand on end, so that he appeared to have wings. The spikes on Absol's heels and elbows grew larger, and the fur in those areas became longer as well. His sickle-shaped horn widened, while an additional, smaller horn appeared on the opposite side of his head. Absol's tail now had a more saw-like shape, and the oval marking on his forehead was now a rounded triangle.

All in all, Mega Absol looked both impressive and incredibly gorgeous.

"Absol! We did it! You Mega Evolved!" Hariel cheered in accomplishment and Mega Absol nodded in both pride and happiness as well. "Now then. Are you ready? Shadow Claw, let's go!"

At speeds barely seen by the naked eye, Absol charged at Lucario with a Shadowy Claw.

Using Aura, Lucario dodged and delivered an Aura Sphere.

"Jump and use Psycho Cut!" Hariel commanded.

Mega Absol jumped over the Aura Sphere and launched a Psycho Cut at Lucario but the other pokémon just flipped out of the way.

"Impressive! You and Absol achieved Mega Evolution!" a very familiar voice cut in.

Everyone turned to see Steven fly into the clearing on Skarmory.

"I just achieved it today, Steven," Hariel said with a sheepish smile at the praise she was given.

"You look beautiful, Mega Absol," Steven complemented.

Mega Absol nodded, "Sol Absol."

Seeing that the mock battle wouldn't be continuing, Mega Absol reverted back to his original form. Hariel gave her first pokémon a hug for the achievement.

Then she remembered that she had found another Mega Stone and gave it to Steven, who looked slightly surprised before he dutifully scanned it.

"Congratulations, you found an Ampharosite. Quite a find," Steven said, giving the stone back. "I've never seen someone so lucky with Mega Stones. You could make a living out of this."

Hariel laughed.