Chapter 50: Uncharted waters
Mid afternoon
Kalos
Lumiose City
As soon as he stepped on the station's platform, the afternoon's warm air enveloped him and provided a welcome relief from the air-conditioned cabins of the train. Green made his way outside the bustling terminal and shaded his eyes from the sun. Lumiose City leapt up at him and no matter how many times he visited this particular city, it still managed to leave him breathless and in awe. Shouldering his bag, he stepped out to the cobblestoned path and went straight for the information board winking on the inner street. The young professor only had a vague idea of where Sycamore's laboratory was situated. Halting in his tracks, he let a procession of gogoat bypass and glimpsed a young boy sitting proudly with his mom. The child sported black hair parted in the middle, he wore a maroon peak cap with sunglasses perched atop the hat and smiled blindingly. On impulse, the little boy looked at Green, grinned widely and waved as he passed. Feeling awkward, the man reluctantly waved back as the goat vanished from view. Hiking across the road, he reached the electronic board and scrutinized it. Lumiose city was shaped like a spoked wheel and even put Unova's cosmopolitan Castelia city to shame. Castelia functioned as a business capital whilst this city boasted everything. Cafes with colourful brise-soleil, art galleries displaying their pieces behind glass fronts, gaudily decorated plazas came alive with outdoor food and ice-cream stands. The streets and boulevards running through the city were paved in either in black tar, or the more traditional earth coloured cobblestone. People clogged the streets, going to work, sitting in cafes, walking their pokemon or doing whatever they needed to do. In the distance, the prism tower dominated the skyline; the intricate lattice of white metal gleamed proudly and served as a famous landmark.
Sycamore's office stood in the second boulevard and Green narrowed his eyes. There was a fair distance between the station and the lab and suddenly he felt drained of energy. The journey from Unova to Kalos had been tiring. Pushing up his glasses, he opted to rest and eat at the nearby Cafe Bataille. Making up his mind, he set off and entered the building. The scent of rich coffee and milk greeted him and he meandered across the tiled floor over to the wooden counter and sat on a stool. Ordering a cup of cappuccino, he sifted in his bag for a book when a smartly dressed teenager bumped into him.
"Sorry for that sir," the girl curtseyed and turned around to walk, Green's arm shot out and clamped down on her shoulder and she stiffened.
"My wallet please." He calmly intoned in a low voice, the eatery had gone silent as the patrons observed, meekly, the girl handed over his purse and the manger shooed her out of the shop.
"I apologize for that incident good sir." The barista, an elderly man with a well groomed moustache bowed, "it's the city you know and petty crimes such as this happen frequently. Please, you don't have to pay; the treat is on the house." The sound of clinking glasses and muted conversation resumed as people pushed the previous scene out of their minds. Strategy's team leader took his time inhaling the cappuccino and reading. He savoured the experience; at least his team mates and friends would let him off for a while. Ever since joining the Dex-criminals, became difficult for him to find leisure time. Getting up from the bar stool, he thanked the elderly man and stepped out. His eye caught the upper floors of the grossly decorated Hotel Richissime. The inn offered extravagant rooms and a price to go along with it and although Green hated staying in it, he always did. This time, Sycamore informed him that they were welcome to stay at the lab, he eagerly accepted the proposition, more time to spend on research, his mind agreed.
He strolled through streets shaded by trees and boarded with colourful flower beds. Children rushed past him screaming and shouting with glee. Trainers hurried to the battle institute and some of the more adventurous ones stopped him to ask for a battle. He declined, partly because he needed to get to the lab in a hurry and partly due to his reluctance. Passing several office blocks, houses and shops, the jade eyed man eventually spied the huge laboratory and paused. Like every piece of architecture in Lumiose City, the laboratory had French windows, a fashionable looking entrance way and an immaculate garden adorned the front of the establishment. Smoothing his clothes down and making sure he looked his best. Green climbed the worn steps and strode in. The older professor stood in the foyer and on seeing Oak's grandson, his stubbled face split into a smile and he walked over, threw his arms around the brown haired male and hugged him. The Kanto native inwardly shuddered, he'd never get used to the overly friendly nature of Kalosians. Waving an aide away, Sycamore chatted animatedly and ushered Green to the interior of the lab. Once inside, the door closed and he found himself standing on a merlot carpet and surrounded by royal blue walls. Framed pictures of pokemon, famous professors and young trainers lined the walls. An ancient gramophone stood in one corner.
Still talking, Sycamore walked to his desk situated at the back of the room, and extracted a few sheets of paper; it was at this time did Oak register the presence of another person. Tucked into an oversized arm chair, a man with steel grey locks stirred and pushed himself up. A beldum helped the individual to his feet and Steven made his way closer to Green. Angling his head somewhere near the emerald eyed trainer's chest, the Hoenn native greeted and nodded.
"I apologize for being slow" Steven smiled and pointed to his eyes, "as you noted, I'm blind." A scar disfigured the bridge of his nose and the once sharp irises were clouded.
"Stop pitying yourself Steven and help me find those stones. I'm nearing a breakthrough here." Sycamore genially clapped younger man on his back, "besides, being blind did not stop you from securing a position on the elite four."
"That's only because Drake retired, the Pokemon league's association would happily get rid of me. Too many people accused that I look at weird places when I talk to them."
The black haired professor guffawed and scratched his chin, "Hmm...Ex-champion and ex member of the international police. You've built up quite a reputation for yourself Stevie." Green jolted at hearing this piece of news, so Steven Stone retired from the international police. He had to inform his best friends. "How is the new champion of Hoenn coming along?"
"Wallace is a capable individual...Even if he has other dominating interests. Recently, he is trying to hand over the champion's mantle over to his mentor... and Juan is not pleased in the slightest." Steven looked up and his eyes landed on the wall next to Green's face, "How is Red? I haven't heard from him for over two years...People suspect he eloped from the league."
Green pushed up the glasses sliding down on the bridge of his nose and spared a moment cursing Blue, "Eloping from the league? Red doesn't like staying in places where they treat him like property. I don't really support his disappearance but he seems content enough in the frigid weather of Mount Silver...Just like old times." The brunette wondered if he pulled the lie off convincingly...But Steven nodded understandingly and in a few moments the conversation turned to more pressing topics. Dumping his bag on one of the couches, the trio climbed a stairway and entered the second floor of the laboratory. Here, Oak found himself relaxing, in his books, a research centre just wasn't a research centre if it lacked the comforting hum of machines and computers. The second floor substituted the mellow lighting for stark white light spilling from overhead fixtures. There were two rooms in the upper floor and these were separated by a thick glass partition with a door set into the pane. Sycamore entered one of the chambers and spoke to a scientist whilst Green peered at the giant monitor taking up the entire back wall of the room. It displayed a list of pokemon with the word mega evolution next to it. He was mildly surprised to see that all three of Kanto's starter pokemon were capable of mega evolution.
"Here, give me your opinion on this." The Kalos professor came back with a little case in his hand. Steven and Green stood before a metallic desk and observed him opening the miniscule briefcase. Nestled inside black velvet, several large and small glass spheres sparkled. Picking a few of the smaller ones up, Sycamore handed them over to Strategy's leader and told him to take a look.
"They remind me of marbles..." Green held one of them up to the light and studied it closely, "the markings in the middle...Are DNA am I correct? The genetic material comes in different colours and I suspect it has to do with the pokemon typing, the attributes of the pokemon itself and possibly..." he held the crystalline orb closer to his eye, "the new ability the pokemon might get. The more capabilities the pokemon acquires after mega evolution, the thicker the DNA strand and the more colourful it is. Am I correct professor Sycamore?" Green tried to keep his enthusiastic voice even.
The Kalosian's eyes were wide as saucers and he clapped twice, "As expected of Professor Oak's grandson, you truly are remarkable. I'm astounded that you could elicit this much information at a single glance. Correct, the coloured part is the missing genetic material of a pokemon's DNA and as you mentioned the more new characteristics the pokemon gains, the thicker the strand. Give those over to Steven will you, our stone expert can tell us more about them. I'm stumped as to how Mega evolution actually occurs. I know it happens and I've seen it with my own two eyes...But how?" On hearing his name, Hoenn's ex-champion stretched out a hand to Green, his fingertips almost brushing against the younger man's belt buckle. The Kanto native simply stared and furiously fought down a blush.
Awkward.
The polished stones were dumped into Steven's waiting hand and the individual ran his ringed fingers across them. "Well...I can't really see them so my information will be limited. These stones give off energy and the thinner the casing around the material, the more signals they can give off. They function a bit like radioactive or magnetic waves. You said this is missing DNA right? Sycamore nodded, however Steven, unable to see his reaction simply waited for a response.
"Yes..."
"...Then, I suppose the waves activate an old, prehistoric part of their brain and stimulate them into evolving. As for what the triggers to the actual evolution are...I do not know. You told me you found those DNA in an ore...Then you extracted it and fixed it into this glass medium. Bringing a mega stone and their corresponding keystones allows a pokemon to evolve temporarily into another stage but...The evolutions are sporadic and do not occur in a regular manner. Hmm..." the steel haired man scratched his chin, "Kyogre and Groudon are capable of going into a sort of reverse evolution called Primal evolution and they do it without the aid of stones." Green spied a grin slowly inching across Sycamore's face, "I suppose the trigger factors could be for defence, attack or an instinct to survive." The blind member handed the marbles back, "That's all I can tell you."
"Ah...that makes a lot of sense." The Kalos professor handed the case to a passing aide and went to the monitor. He began rapidly typing on a keyboard and several maps flashed across the screen. "I first discovered a piece of DNA embedded in a rock when I a team of archaeologists asked me to accompany them on a trip." He pointed to a place on the digital map. "We found the ore in a route between the towns of Geosenge and Ambrette. As I examined the curious prints, an absol came over and we all know that these creatures of darkness only appear when disaster is about to strike. The excavation team started to pack in a hurry. They collected their digging tools, recalled their pokemon and started salvaging everything from the caravan we travelled in. I on the other hand was fascinated by its presence. Absol are a rare species in Kalos and with the uncut ore in my hand, I gave chase. Instead of fleeing, it attacked me and took the stone out of my hand. Curious, I observed it and for the first time in my life...I saw mega evolution in action. The absol sniffed the stone and morphed into a majestic creature; the fur on its back elongated and formed wings. I tried to capture it...Alas, it head-butted me and threw me off a cliff. I had to be hospitalized for a month after that incident." Sycamore stopped rambling and turned to see Green listening attentively and Steven crashed out on a chair fast asleep. "Sorry for my long ramble...It's getting late, how about dinner than we sit with the research notes Green?" The brunette nodded with vigour. "Right, I know a good place in the North Boulevard, it'll be my treat. Hey Stevie...Wake up, we are going out to eat."
Three days earlier, Morning
Hoenn
Mount Chimney
Strategy's commander paced back and forth in the tiny space and wondered if he should move into another room instead. As tempting as it was to foster good relations with his underlings, they were too loud when he worked and he couldn't march in the room if he got stressed. Green anticipated a call from Red; he was leaving for Kalos today and desperately hoped for his friend to drop by. Usually, the crimson eyed leader would wake him up with his overly cheerful voice but today, a nagging suspicion told him that Red might not call after all. Green would be getting the silent treatment. Prowling behind his desk, he inhaled deeply and looked out the window, instead of seeing rolling valleys, green pastures, a canopy of trees and tiny human settlements, all he saw was grey. Everything dusted with a fine layer of volcanic ash giving the surroundings a rather washed, lifeless appearance. He didn't mind though, the volcanic ash and straits of reddish rock making up the jagged pass provided an unwelcome feeling to visitors and thus kept mountaineers and hikers far, far away.
Ring ring
Ring ri-
His poke-gear blared and he quickly connected it to the laptop and answered it. The person on the other end greeted him with a flirtatious wink and enquired about his health in a saccharine sweet tone. Green glared, his jaw taut with the effort of not exploding.
"Blue...Good to see you too." He sighed.
"I expected you to sound a tiny bit more euphoric." The brown haired woman tossed her hair and intoned, "aren't you leaving for Kalos today? If so you should be bursting with excitement Green!" she leaned closer to the camera and gave him an eye blinding smile, "finally you are in your element...Surrounded by papers, machines and the smell of ink. Speaking of which...I sincerely hope you are not going to Kalos wearing that" she pointed accusingly and he looked down, noting the scrap of paper poking out of the pocket of his lab coat.
"I'll just wear a casual shi-"
"Ruby!" Blue bellowed and from somewhere behind her the flamboyant teenager materialized, he took one look at Green and inclined his head respectfully. "My co-worker here is going to Kalos...And as you can see, he lacks neurons when it comes to the fashion department." Strategy's leader scowled, he didn't like where this was heading, "so...Give him a few tips on dressing up please." The duo high fived each other and sniggered in a disturbing manner and seeing their antics, his head began to pound, both a warning and in irritation.
"I'm not going to Kalos to attend a fashion show. Just say good bye and leave me in peace!"
"Of course not...You look like a walking disaster senior" Ruby sneered.
Green didn't know what possessed him to listen to them. Perhaps Blue brainwashed him, the theory was highly plausible. Forty five minutes later, he shipped the laptop to his immaculate bedroom and flung clothes out of his closet due to Ruby's insistence. The boy pompously clicked his tongue in distaste when he spied the meagre accessories the older man wore and said adult wanted to kick the laptop to smithereens. Patiently, he sifted through his attire, holding them up and waiting for approval. The Hoenn native shook his head at several items, told him to burn a few of his jackets (Green wanted to burn him) and showed a thumb's up when Green held up a slim fitting mid-sleeved shirt. The adult spared the pinstriped shirt a glance. "Wear that, Ruby piped up, "it'll look good on you and as for your pants...Go with slacks, your habit of wearing cargo pants with everything is soo...Unfashionable." The teenager haughtily articulated, "I spied a pair of glasses with an olive frame...Olive isn't really a beautiful colour but you don't have anything else"
"I don't need glasses" Oak hissed and dragged himself to the attached bathroom. It seemed an age before he re-entered the room and in the screen, the blood eyed teen craned his neck in an effort to get a glimpse of Green's possessions. Stepping out of the bathroom, Green smoothed the wrinkles out and tried to make himself comfortable in garments he was not accustomed to wearing. On spying him donning new threads, Blue whistled in appreciation and dished out compliments whilst the professor harshly told her to keep it down. The brown haired commander smiled teasingly at the pink tint threatening to cover his cheeks. Reluctantly, he put on the pair of glasses and Ruby stopped in his fashionable advising to gape at him.
"I think...I just created a model." The teenager smirked and adjusted his hat. "You look absolutely wonderful! I'm actually surprised that you had a shirt like that, black and emerald pinstripes...Suits you rather well senior Green."
"My grandpa gave it to me as a present." Green related and thrust his hands into pockets, "now if you two are done yammering...I can take my leave. And Blue, stop smiling so disturbingly, I'll get nightmares." If possible, the female brunette's face split wider and as it occurred to the spiky haired male that something very wrong was going to take place, she loudly enquired.
"Yellow, doesn't Green look handsome?" Not finding her boss in the common room, the aide searched all over and eventually came across his bedroom. Being modest, she first knocked but failed to get a response. Pushing the door open, she saw her superior deep into a frenzied conversation with Blue and Ruby. Green whipped around and fidgeted with his fake spectacles, a pregnant silence hung in the room before the female replied, turning to her leader, she gave him a wide smile and declared:
"Yes, you look very handsome, those glasses really suit you!" At her words, he angled his head away from the two females, his cheeks warmed up, time to leave...And fast.
"I need to go", he announced and Blue blanked the screen after giving him a genial wave, Yellow handed him the documents she held and softly added:
"Please come back safe Green," her soothing voice washed over him, "I-I'll miss you...Er...And the department is waiting for your guidance...so be back quickly." the younger blonde found herself blushing furiously as she glanced at the grandfather clock hanging on the wall, the golden pendulum swung back and forth hypnotically. Her senses tingled and she was discreetly aware of her leader eyeing her in concern ,however, before he could word his worries, he found himself being pushed out the door by his subordinate who seemingly gained surprising strength. As soon as he evacuated, the door clicked shut and she bid him a muffled farewell. Blinking in slight confusion (and expecting his departure to go much smoothly than this) Strategy's department head rooted on the spot, pushed up those annoying glasses and eventually moved away with his shoes echoing down the corridors. Inside the room, Yellow stood with her back on the door and tried to calm her fluttering heart.
"It's just Green" she furiously admonished herself and pinched her pink cheeks.
It's just Green
She slid down the door and sat on the floor, the thought of her commander leaving for a distant land bought on an uncharacteristic ache in her heart.
"So you practice marital arts, you can train people in pokemon battling...the forerunner to Kanto's pokemon league and you served as Viridian's gym leader for a while before taking up your current profession as a pokemon researcher. Oh...And good friends with the ex-champion! I am most impressed!" The three men sat around a cluttered table in one of the glass rooms, overhead, a fan lazily rotated, providing a semblance of air flow. The medium sized glass chamber was stuffy and Green absent mindedly opened up his shirt till his chest, his eyes never leaving the documents. A stack of papers were set before him and he went through them one by one. Sycamore had long gotten bored of reading, he preferred field work and left all the data capturing to his aides. Thus, the man pulled up a resume and started reading it to keep himself from sleeping. The brunette merely nodded and the ebony haired man smiled and suspected that he hadn't heard a word. Scratching his chin, he diverted his slate eyes to the Hoenn native and felt pity for the individual. Puffing out his cheeks, he ogled Green again wondered what to do. A pokemon battle sounded entertaining.
"Don't you have any notes in Braille?"
"You can't read Braille Steven, at least not yet."
"True...
"Say Stevie...What did you have to do as an international police member? And lift your chin a bit higher, you're staring at my waist." Sycamore reclined back and folded his arms behind his head. He wanted to show the effects of mega evolution, unfortunately it got too late and they had to content themselves with notes. The youngest of the three proved to be the most diligent and he pulled down tomes and read them with frightening speed and accuracy, extracting down important bits of information and then organizing it into a coherent article. His decision to invite the blind member had been a friendly gesture. Steven Stone was a famous collector of rare rocks and the first person to find a piece of Arceus' plates and put them to good use. The two were good friends as well due to the fact that the grey haired male often came to Kalos for a vacation and to search for valuable stones. He never sold his catches, preferring to cut, polish and display them in his home. Oftentimes the two of them would engage in companionable banter and pokemon battling. The ex-officer became subdued after his blindness and rarely talked. More than once, he walked himself into a wall and why the steel haired man did not use a cane, Sycamore didn't know. Pride maybe. Or he hated to be reminded of his weakness. Nonetheless, having a beldum around decreased his chances of accidents, alas; it didn't stop him from looking into a completely wrong direction when holding a conversation.
"The assigned me to catch the Dex-criminals." Here, the elder professor noted how Green's head shot up. "No need to say that I failed miserably. Those children are an elusive bunch." Strategy's leader tried to drown the words out and focus on his work. Steven's speech unnerved him and he wondered if the individual remembered their tangle in Heart cave. Thank Rayquaza he had the sense to keep to the shadows. "As of now, their base in Johto was raided and it seems like they scattered...I'm not sure when they will rear their heads though, every time they cause an incident, it either ushers the public to fully support their decisions, or it turns the world against them. I'm ashamed to admit...that they played a crucial role in the last elemental war. Two...People...Two trainers riding Rayquaza took down Kyogre and Groudon. I'm...Humiliated." Steven clenched his hands and his knuckles went white. "I'm surprised Ransei's nobles didn't pitch in to help though, if they are so worried about preserving balance...How come they do not assist?"
Ransei...The Kanto native's mind went into a whirr, "These notes do not explain the origin of Mega evolution Professor Sycamore" he added in a desperate attempt to steer the topic of conversation away from the Dex-criminals. "Also, there are many mentions of Ransei here but the text fails to follow up on their history and how they are tied to Mega evolution." Jade irises went wide as his poke gear rung a ridiculous sounding ditty. Sycamore laughed mirthfully whilst Green spent another moment internally swearing at Pearl. Fishing the gear out, he stared at the screen, specifically at the identity of the caller.
Red
Apologizing, he raced outside and took the call. "You are late!" he growled and waited for the familiar chuckling and hand waving. Instead, a yellow, furry face popped up and Green gaped. Pika? Since when did the electric rodent know how to operate machinery? Then he remembered that he was no ordinary mouse, the cheeky creature could surf. Delicately picking up the communication's device, the tiny beast snagged its owner's attention with a volt tackle and handed the gadget to him. All of a sudden, Green wanted to end the call, clearly the scarlet eyed adolescent did not want to see him.
"Heya Green! So sorry for not calling you. I lost my poke-gear somewhere in the mess of my room."
Liar
"So how is Kalos?" Red continued, seemingly oblivious to his best friend's discomfort, "Kalosians are wonderful people aren't they? I heard the food is good and the cities are absolutely amazing. Are Yellow and the others doing okay? It's not nice to neglect your team Green Oak." The professor looked around and found the corridor deserted, he walked down a set of twisting hallways and ducked into a washroom. No chance of bumping into anyone here and risk having the conversation overheard by someone.
"If you hate me, just go ahead and say it." Green felt weary.
"I'm an open book, see for yourself." His best friend spat venom, then calmed down "...Right, whatever. Do your best Green, I regret not calling you." Red scratched his head, "and don't forget to bring back souvenirs for me. You must be busy, see you later." A souvenir for him? Green wondered what could possibly exhilarate his best friend. The once champion wouldn't be satisfied with food and he didn't want to gift anything meaningless. Exiting from the closet, he stiffly strode back into the room and his eyes fell on the open case of Mega stones. An idea began to take root in his head.
"So...Was that a special lady friend calling?" Sycamore teased. "You ran out of here pretty fast."
"It was Red...the idiot lost his poke-gear and didn't phone me when I left, so now he apologized...Enough of my personal life...I still don't understand how Mega evolution occurs or how it came to being."
This time, a serious gleam took hold of the Kalos professor's normally playful eyes. "You seem to have misunderstood something Green...Mega evolution is not a new evolutionary process; rather it is a form of vestigial evolution." The brunette opened his mouth for a rebuttal and Sycamore held up a hand to silence him, "Vestigiality as you know, is an evolutionary process whereby structures that are not used in a human or say, pokemon are retained in the previous evolutions and thus do not carry over to new species. In ancient times, pokemon either harmoniously co-existed with humans, or stayed far away from them. They were free to follow their instincts. With technological advancements and the invention of the apricorn and much later, the pokeball, pokemon broke away from their primordial forms and their natural intuition, capabilities and survival reflexes were vastly reduced. Humans lorded over them, suppressing their abilities and over time, a reverse evolution took place. These creatures shed their overly powerful nature and the evolution course died out, taking some of their innate attributes with it. Have you studied fossils? If you check carefully, they still retain the special DNA that makes Mega evolution possible."
"I've never seen Red's aerodactyl Mega evolve." Green retorted.
"Why should it mega evolve?" Sycamore shot back and a figurative light bulb exploded over the brunette's head.
"...So, it's only a temporary process." he slowly added, "that comes on when triggered. The triggers could be a threat to life...An overwhelming need to survive or protect. I think I understand. Aero was never placed in a position where he had to fear for his life."
"Bingo!" Silence descended between the three and the only noise in the room came from the rotating fan. "Let's knock off for tonight. Tomorrow, I'll give you a practical demonstration of mega evolution."
The next day, Dawn
Lumiose City
Sycamore's laboratory
They moved to a training space situated underneath the laboratory. The structure looked like any other high tech training facility, floodlights illuminated a laminated floor, a bank of electronics and computers were tucked in one corner of the gym and a strip of moss green carpet, fitness gear, treadmills and tiny boxing rings dominated the rest of the floor. Trainers and lab scientists already set to work, shouting commands, hooking up pokemon to computers and scribbling down data. Green, fighting off his sleepy haze with the cup of coffee in his hand watched everything with half lidded eyes, he was so excited last night, he couldn't sleep and now he paid the price. Steven and Sycamore ambled along purposefully in front of him and he dragged himself to keep up. The shout of a particularly loud trainer and her enthusiastic ampharos startled him and he blinked rapidly in an effort to remain awake.
"I've been thinking Sycamore...Those mega stones you have, they weren't totally human manufactured products were they?" Steven came to a halt and queried with a delicate frown on his face.
"No, fixing the DNA into a glass ball is totally useless." The professor looked around for a good spot to unload his briefcase and gadgets, spying a wooden desk, he gestured to the place and walked over, "so I had to search for a better preserving medium and guess what I discovered?"
Green stifled a yawn.
"There are two materials which make for good DNA conservers. One is moonstone...Found abundantly in Mt. Moon, Kanto and of course anywhere when chunks of moon rock fall down. The other happens to be irradiated evolutionary stones. Legendary pokemon each have a frequency different from the rest, when they come into contact with stones or minerals, they somehow change the mineral structure and thus the rare evolutionary stones are formed. Even a stranger process occurs if the mineral is exposed to the frequency for a prolonged period of time. I found pieces of these types of rock scattered everywhere...It's a painstaking process tracking them down I tell you, but in the end, they sustain the DNA in a perfect form. No corruptions and no telomere degradation takes place." The Kalosian took a deep breath, "enough talk, Green, here take this," the brunette was handed a black cuff with an inlaid stone and a mega stone with a black and blue core. He released his Charizard who announced its presence with a snort of flames. Charizard gently picked the mega stone off his trainer and as soon as it did so, a change began taking place. Green's observed, with fascination, as the coarse vermillion fur dyed a pitch black, the dragon's core body temperature lowered and the underside of its belly, formerly cream, morphed into a toothpaste blue. A cloak of frayed wings extended and a blast of icy-cold blue flames brushed past the trio's faces. Rearing on its powerfully built hind legs, the dragonoid slammed down on the floor, bone tipped claw scraping the surface, and emitted an earth shaking roar. The entire training complex shook and a chill engulfed the air.
"I'm at a loss for words..." Sycamore's hand hung limply by his side. "I've been trying to see Mega Charizard X for a long time now and all of my experiments have failed...And this...Instantaneously." The dazed sheen in his eyes faded as he got down to business. Extracting a tablet from his bag, he jotted down notes with a stylus pen and observed the dragon from all angles. "Green, do you notice any personality changes...Anything will do, even if you deem it insignificant."
Charizard X nuzzled affectionately with its trainer, it growled softly and pushed its horned head into Green's hand. Sparks of lazuli flame fell on the brunette's shirt and sent a spine chilling wave down his body. "Well...Charizard is never this friendly. I find it a bit strange. It's not like he ever disobeyed a command or refused to act out orders, my partner simply keeps a respectable distance...Till now." Exhaling, Strategy's commander threw his hands around the crooning dragon's neck and stroked its glossy, midnight fur. The beast, delighted, nearly toppled him over.
"The special bond between trainer and their pokemon...I suppose you found one of the most reliable triggers allowing Mega evolution." Steven cut in, "that explains why you failed in evolving all of them and next time, it would be in your best interest to approach trainers."
"You are right." A flash of light later, Charizard stared impassively down at the three researchers, the humans were boring and they talked about things he couldn't wrap his head around so the vermillion dragonoid preferred to glare at the training center instead. A minute later, he was sucked back into a pokeball and the capsule dangled from his owner's belt. "I've never thought...silly me. As sappy and unscientific it sounds," Augustine continued, "I suppose it makes the most sense. The overwhelming need to protect or please its trainer allows it to Mega evolve. Hmm...Thank you so much Green. You are off for today, take in the sights of the city if you want," the brown haired male nodded his head, "I'll call you in later to help me organize the data and there is still an excursion for you I must plan. And...I'd really like to give you one of these as a present; unfortunately my research must be approved and validated before any Mega stone distribution." The black haired professor packed up his things whilst talking and shouldered his bag, "I'll see you later then. Steven come with me, I need some information on the stones..." Waving affably, the older man vanished via the swinging doors.
A few hours later, Strategy's commander strolled down the crowded streets of Lumiose City; the afternoon heat coerced him into buying an ice-cream cone from one of the numerous stands dotting a plaza. Licking the frozen confectionary, he strode aimlessly through twisting boulevards and narrowing streets. The backstreets weren't as glamorous as their forefront partners. Jade eyes stared ahead, shunning passersby, street vendors and well-dressed thugs; he kept on going till he spied what he wanted.
A public payphone.
Shoving the rest of the cone inside his mouth, he went inside the metal and glass booth and dialed a number, a respectable amount of beeps later, the owner picked up.
"Hello, this is Emerald speaking." Green allowed himself a laugh, the brat would never be this polite when speaking to someone he knew.
"Emerald...this is Green, I have reasons so don't ask questions and just listen to me." A pause whilst the blonde confirmed, "I have an assignment for you, but let me make it clear that you leave no electronic signatures when you finish alright? Listen up, I want you to hack into Sycamore's personal computer and from there, take over the security of the laboratory. Do it silently, if you need my porygon z, he's in storage. Edit out any illegal activities...taking place in the lab. Understood?" He couldn't see his subordinate but no doubt the underdeveloped teen's visage would screw up with a demonic grin.
"Yes sir...Consider it done." On the other side of the phone, the tiny blonde smiled viciously and hung up.
A/N: Evolution fascinates me although I don't believe in it (I refuse to think that my ancestor was a monkey) Anyway, a rambling theoretical explanation of mega-evolution which hopefully didn't bore anyone to death (I can get carried away sometimes.) Much thanks to Eeveefan1290 (Eevee? Jk) for favoriting this story, I hope it continues to be a pleasant read. At Jack54311: Ahahaha, hopefully this chapter would be a bit less sad, the chocolate? It's all up :P Once again, please keep on supporting the story and keep on reviewing. Constructive criticism (and any feedback) is well appreciated.