Mega Mystery

For all the time spent in the world of Pokémon, Yugi and his friends lost track of the time they spent on their travels. They couldn't remember what day it was when they left home and therefore, they didn't know what day it was now.

"How long have we been traveling, guys?" Joey asked his friends.

Emily looked back and asked, "You mean since we left Ecruteak City? I'd say about three weeks now."

"We have made a lot of stops meeting interesting Pokémon and battling trainers and stopping through small towns," said Yugi.

"But if you're talking about how long we've been traveling since we got here," Kaiba was saying, "If you ask me, I feel like we've been here for months."

"Four months, to be precise," said Emily, counting the times she saw the full moon in the sky. It was the only time Emily could invoke the true power of the Millennium Star. Actually, it was the only power she could still use. It was a required ritual she could not postpone. As guardian of the Millennium Star, Emily had to invoke its true power on schedule. She had to bathe in the light of the full moon and release the Millennium Star to allow it to grant one wish. After granting one wish, it remains in the sky for the rest on the night as a free star to regain strength. And when the night would be through, the Millennium Star would return to Emily's heart.

Emily knew that releasing the Millennium Star would expose the presence of the Great Goddess, but perhaps doing so would help detect the Cobalt Star shard they were looking for. And considering the fact that all Pokémon have a sixth sense that allows them to sense the supernatural, perhaps the Pokémon holding the Cobalt Star shard would draw its attention to the presence of the Millennium Star. But only time would tell.

Joey broke the silence and said, "I've also been thinking, Emily, you mentioned Articuno said to you that the Cobalt Star shard could be guarded by a Pokémon."

"Yes, but she didn't say what kind," said Emily. "I thought that by exposing the Millennium Star and releasing its power, it would be easily detected by the Cobalt Star shard and the Pokémon holding it would make itself know to us."

"It's a good idea, I guess," said Yugi. "But I guess for now, we're just going to have to be patient and keep traveling."

"How much further to Olivine City," Joey asked impatiently.

Kaiba looked through the map. "We should get there just by crossing this desert."

"But how long is that going to take," Joey whined.

"I don't know," Kaiba answered, sounding irritated. "It could be a few miles, it could be a few days, let's just go." And he began walking through the sand. He really wanted to get to Olivine City as much as his friends did and he didn't want it to have to take any longer either. The journey was long, but everyone agreed to keep going without complaining.

It actually wasn't a very big desert. The heroes crossed through without any trouble. The wild Pokémon didn't give them any trouble and the heat of the sun didn't bother them either. After several hours of walking, at last, the heroes had finally arrived in Olivine City. It seemed like a long and hard journey like getting to Goldenrod City and Ecruteak City, but it was worth it. Now they were standing in front of the Olivine gym.

The doors to the gym quickly opened. "Welcome, trainer," a voice called from the inside. "You may now enter the gym. Walk straight ahead and you'll enter the battlefield." Emily does as told with her friends following her.

The lights came on as the group came to the arena. "Which one of you dares to challenge me to a battle?"

"I do," Emily said and took her place at the arena. Passing through the doors on the other side was a young girl with dark green hair and a bright yellow dress with orange rings. She introduced herself as the Olivine gym leader, but wouldn't give her name. But she declared that the battle would be a three-on-three match.

The young girl tossed her Pokéball and called on Steelix, an iron snake. It was a steel-type, but it was also a ground-type, so Emily called on Undine. Steelix was about to tackle Undine, but she launched her Water Gun attack. But Steelix didn't feel any pain. Kaiba wondered if it had to do with the light reflecting from its body so brightly. Steelix endured the water and knocked Undine out.

Emily called her back and sent Salamando to take her place, but before she could attack, another voice cried out, "Stop the match right now!" Everyone stopped and turned their attention to an older girl with beige hair and a white dress and a Keystone in place of one of her hair barrettes. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but this match is illegitimate. A gym battle must be fought with the leader of the gym. Your opponent is not the gym leader," she said to Emily. "My name is Jasmine. I'm the gym leader. This young girl is my apprentice, Janina."

Everyone was surprised to hear that. Janina tries to sneak away, but Jasmine stops her and asks her to follow her. Janina withdraws her Steelix and follows her teacher. As Emily watched Janina follow Jasmine, she was curious about why Undine's attack wasn't effective against Steelix. It turned out that Janina had coated Steelix with water repellant wax, making it resistant to water-type attacks. Jasmine had scolded Janina about this method many times before when Steelix was still an Onix. It wasn't fair to challengers and it wasn't good for her Pokémon. Although Janina had been told so many times before, she still hadn't stopped. Jasmine sent Janina away from the gym to clean the wax off of Steelix.

Jasmine returned to the arena and apologized to Emily on behalf of her apprentice. "I'd be honored to have a battle with you, but I have to do something first. You see, I'm on a bit of an errand and I asked Janina to take care of things for me while I was gone."

"What kind of errand," Emily asked. "Maybe we can help."

"I'm looking for a Mega Stone that will allow my Sparkle to Mega Evolve," Jasmine answered. Before she can explain who Sparkle is, she gets a phone call. "I have to go. Please excuse me."

"Sure thing," said Emily. "By the way, I love your dress."

"Thank you," Jasmine said and left the gym.

Emily and the boys left the gym and decided to get some lunch. "I wonder what kind of Pokémon Sparkle is," Emily wondered. "Maybe if we find out, we can help Jasmine find the Mega Stone she's looking for and then we can have our gym battle."

"Speaking of Mega Stones, we found some throughout our journey," Kaiba told her. He reached into Emily's bag and took out some of the Mega Stones she had been holding on to. "It be nice if we knew what kinds of Stones they were and which Pokémon would use them to Mega Evolve. Maybe one of these could be the Mega Stones she's looking for."

"I'd also like to discuss the merits of Mega Evolution with an expert or someone who knows a lot about it," said Joey. "A lot of the gym leaders we met were able to tap into its power."

"Well, from what we know so far, a Pokémon has to hold the Mega Stone," Yugi was saying. "A trainer also has to have a Keystone to invoke the power of Mega Evolution. But it will only work if the hearts of the Pokémon and its trainer are truly connected."

"I noticed Jasmine had a Keystone," said Emily. "Let's find her and show her the Mega Stones we've collected. Maybe she'll also tell us which Mega Stones we have."

"Good idea," said Yugi.

After lunch, the group headed out to find Jasmine. While looking for her, they saw Janina in the park cleaning the wax off of her Steelix. They weren't pleased to hear about Janina's trick and told her that she wasn't providing her Pokémon good treatment for it. They reminded Janina that a Pokémon should use its natural strengths to learn to be adaptable in any situation. Janina knew and apologized once again. She had been training under Jasmine for a long time and wanted to be like her. Janina wanted to make Jasmine proud and one day earn her own Keystone so her Steelix could Mega Evolve. When Yugi and his friends asked Janina if she had any idea on where Jasmine could be, she answered that she usually goes to the lighthouse to take care of Sparkle. The heroes headed there right away.

There were two lighthouses on the pier. The smallest one was known as the Shining Lighthouse and it was a part of the city's history like how the Burnt Tower and the Tin Tower were to Ecruteak City. They climbed to the top of the Shining Lighthouse and saw a yellow Pokémon with a red orb on its tail. It was an Ampharos. The Ampharos lived in the Lighthouse and served as a beacon to those who were lost at sea. The light emitted from its tail could be seen from faraway distances.

Jasmine was sitting next to Ampharos while she was making a collar. She noticed the heroes and welcomed them. Her grandfather Myron was helping her. "Hello again."

"Hello, Jasmine," said Emily. "Does this Ampharos belong to you?"

"Yes, this is my little Sparkle," she answered. "I think you already know this, but the light released from the tail of an Ampharos can be seen from miles away. That's why Sparkle lives here. But her light isn't strong enough to be seen through the thickest fogs. But my grandfather told me that if Sparkle could Mega Evolve, she could release a light bright enough to be seen in any storm and guide lost travelers to our city."

"That's why you've been looking for a Mega Stone," said Yugi. "We found some during our travels." He and his friends hold out their hands and show her the Mega Stones they've collected.

Unfortunately, neither of them was what she was looking for. "I'm looking for Ampharosite. The Mega Stones you have are for Pokémon like Houndoom, Steelix, Alakazam, Scizor, Gengar, Heracross, Pinsir, and Gyarados."

The heroes were disappointed that neither of them had the Mega Stone she was looking for. But at least they knew what Mega Stones they had. Kaiba took the Houndoominite and Steelixite and placed them in his bag.

Jasmine appreciated everyone's help, but her grandfather told her that he heard that some trainers have found Ampharosite at Cianwood City. There was also a gym there. Joey wanted to check it out and find the same Mega Stone because it turned out that Ampharos was the evolved form of Flaaffy. The heroes decided to go to Cianwood City to challenge the gym leader and find the Mega Stone Jasmine had been looking for. Janina decided to go along with them to make up for her trouble. They had to hurry because the ferry was leaving tonight.