Disclaimer: Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this

Chapter 20: Power

Max and Danny stepped off the boat that had taken them from Pacifidlog to Dewford, grumpy and more than a bit tired. The ferry had been delayed by ten hours due to nasty weather, leading to a 6am disembark, and though the weather had cleared up slightly – it would last for about ten minutes according to the ship's announcement system five minutes ago – heavy winds still whipped at their coats, making Max duck his head into the coat collar again.

He rubbed his eyes for what felt like the fourth time in five minutes as they, and the thirty-odd other ferry passengers, shuffled along in a daze, down the dark pier, into the arrivals hall. He groaned as the harsh fluorescent lighting replaced the pre-dawn darkness; the contrast really annoying, and he dragged Danny along to a pair of empty seats. "Ugh."

Danny hummed agreement, and unceremoniously dropped into the seat, only to realise his pack was still on his back. "Stupid storms," he said as he placed his pack on the floor, and then sat down, slumping into his seat.

Now it was Max's turn to hum agreement as he sat down, without the issues Danny had had, picking up a flyer for something. "Anything you want to do today?"

"Sleep." Danny let out an exaggerated yawn that turned into a real one. "Might take a nap."

"A nap? What are you, three?" Max mocked. "But if you want to, sure, I'll let you."

"I'm going to laugh so hard if you fall asleep just after dinner." A wave of rain clattered against the windows, and people shuffled in quickly. "Doesn't look like we'll be leaving any time soon. Wake me up when it stops raining."

Max was tempted to take a marker pen and doodle all over Danny's face, especially when his friend's breathing evened out, but he decided not to. Danny did look like he needed the sleep, what with the boat travel of the last few days and the worse-than-usual autumn weather.

They'd travelled from Mossdeep to Dewford in what should've been two days and three boats. They had decided to take Brawly up on his offer, made back in the Rustboro Gym, and this allowed them to go back to Petalburg at the start of November for Max's Dad's fortieth birthday, and to get to Littleroot for Professor Birch's forty-second one in mid November. For now, they were due to spend two weeks on Dewford Island, though the holiday of sorts hadn't exactly started well.

At half past seven in the evening, Max and Danny found themselves walking towards a set of coordinates just outside of Dewford. Brawly had dropped by earlier in the Center as he was giving Nurse Joy some of his Pokémon, telling them they should come there for a special treat. It was about half an hour's walk away from the Center, though muddy roads made that a bit longer.

Annoyingly, Max felt a tiny bit tired, Danny's words of that morning coming sort of true. The fresh night air and the smell of recently fallen rain did help to keep him awake.

"Hey there little dudes!" The Dewford Gym Leader jumped down from a low branch just as Max and Danny turned a corner on the path. Light of his electric torch momentarily flashing in Max's eyes. "Good to see ya again."

"We saw each other this afternoon, Brawly," Max said, rolling his eyes at the Gym Leader, who merely laughed.

"But you didn't see me, then," came another voice, one Max felt he should recognise. Danny aimed their torch in the direction of the voice, revealing a grey-haired man in his early thirties, wearing casual, but expensive clothing. "Though I can't exactly walk into most Pokémon Centers nilly-willy these days. There's a certain hype, I think the word is." The man cast his companion a calculating look. "At least, that's what Brawly tells me."

"It's not every day a former Champion wants to get their title back, Steven," Brawly replied, grinning widely. "And certainly not with such a show of force against the rest of the Elite Four. Even Drake could barely stand against you. It was amazing." He turned to Max and Danny once more. "Boys, allow me to introduce Steven Stone, former and future Hoenn Grand Champion. Steven, these are—"

"Max Maple and Danny Birch," Steven finished smoothly. "So we meet again. I trust you are well?" he asked, to silent nods. "Before we continue, I would prefer it if you could give your word to not reveal what you see here until my battle against Wallace. I'd prefer to keep my ace hidden until the night of November first."

"We'll shut up," Danny said, and Max mimed zipping his mouth shut. "I thought your metagross was your ace?"

"It is." With that cryptic statement, Steven and Brawly started walking, and the boys hurried to catch up, though they didn't need to. A secluded clearing held several Pokémon, all part psychic-type, a perimeter of burning torches, and a hastily drawn set of boundary lines. "Before we begin, have you ever heard of Mega Evolution?"

"Mega Evolution?" Max echoed. "No, can't say I have." Next to him, Danny shook his head in the negative as well.

"I'd be surprised if you had," Steven said with a gentle smile. "It's a new and rare discovery from far away Kalos, and only a few Trainers and Pokémon are capable of it. And what it is?" The smile turned secretive. "It's a way for some fully evolved Pokémon to temporarily evolve even further."

"Fully evolved… temporarily..." Max stammered, any traces of tiredness suddenly gone from his mind. "What?"

"I know. It just breaks all the rules on evolution, does it not?" Steven asked, though he didn't wait for an answer. "But it is that. It's a boost in power, and a change in appearance, which is exactly like evolution, except it is quite unlike evolution because it's temporary." He took something from his shirt pocket, revealing a pin with a stone set in it. "This is a Key Stone."

Max took the offered silver pin as Danny shone a little light on it. The Key Stone was perfectly round, almost like a large marble, with a weird symbol etched inside the glass-like material. The colours flowed from yellow to green to blue and back to green and yellow, smoothly. "What does it do? Trigger the Mega Evolution?"

"In part." Steven held out his hand, and Max gave the pin back. In exchange, he got a larger marble, about the size of a shrunken Pokéball. This one was darker: brown-ish black, with the same symbol within. This time, the symbol had been filled in: half black, half red. "That is a Mega Stone. This allows a specific Pokémon to Mega Evolve in conjunction with the Key Stone and a special bond."

"Special bond?" Danny echoed.

"A bond of absolute and unshakable trust, of whatever kind," Steven answered as Max gave the Mega Stone back. "But enough theory. Let's show them. Brawly?"

"Might want to stand back, dudes. This is going to get loud."

They weren't idiots, and both boys hastily retreated to the pair of metang and the medicham. The moment they were there, those same Psychic Pokémon started glowing, throwing up shields around the edge of the arena. "Ready when you are," Steven called as he threw a yellow and black ball; an Ultra Ball. It revealed the Pokémon Max and Danny had seen pulverise Glacia three weeks back: his shiny metagross. This time, Max immediately noticed something different. A dark grey band had been tied around one of its legs, and in it was a pale blue stone, the Mega Stone contrasting with the silvery-grey of the Pokémon.

Brawly, for his part, sent out another part Steel-type Pokémon: a lucario that he sent out high in the air, allowing for the Aura Pokémon to do a front flip before landing with a loud thud, one hand to the ground. "Physical moves only!"

"Sure," Steven called back calmly. "Metagross, you ready?"

The metagross rumbled agreement, before closing its eyes.

"Let it begin!"

Two points shimmered with light: Steven's pin, now held in his hand, and the Mega Stone on metagross's leg. The first glowed yellow, while the second was clear blue. Both shimmers expanded, sending tendrils outward.

The beams met, turning yellow and blue tendrils into a pale, harsh, yellow, close to white, net that almost seemed to burst out of control. Loud crackling obscured Steven's voice just enough that Max couldn't hear what he said, just that he said something.

A brilliant flash shot from the pin, blinding Max. When he reopened his eyes, he saw spots, and a Pokémon aglow with beautiful pale red light, and it morphed. Legs moved position as the metagross left the ground, hovering on its own accord without visible use of Psychic or electromagnetic aid. The cross on its face changed colour, from yellow to something darker, and its legs now stretched in front of the main body, rather than below it.

It was undeniably metagross, but it was very different at the same time.

Lucario tensed its legs before running in, using Agility to blur its movements, but every single punch it launched was blocked with metallic clangs. Front, back, from above, even one from below: all were blocked with childish ease, and it didn't look like the lucario was holding back. More like the opposite.

Steven ordered one attack, prompting metagross to apply a blue glow to two of its arms, and the shielding Pokémon to intensify the shields to the point that they gave everything on the field a blue tinge.

The Earthquake still threw Max off his feet, though he was able to catch himself before smacking face-first into the ground. Lucario hadn't been as lucky, and it was lying on the floor, knocked out.

"Bit more fire power than I was expecting, Steven!" Brawly called good-naturedly as he returned the lucario. "Let's see you take on these two!"

The heracross and hitmontop combo also fell to metagross, though it was more of a contest than before. Not that that was particularly hard. Max didn't think the metagross was ever in trouble, but the limitation of only physical moves was a bit of a nuisance, and Brawly's Pokémon were fast enough to avoid the more obvious heavy hits that metagross was dishing out.

The ground couldn't get out of the way, and the field sported six new craters by the practice battle's end. Metagross coming down from its Mega Evolution added a seventh, just before Steven returned it. "And that's Mega Evolution," the former Champion said as he walked up, returning the two metang as well. "As you saw, it is quite powerful."

Max and Brawly both laughed. "Quite powerful, he says," Brawly stated, before letting out one last laugh. "Dudes, those Pokémon weren't my weaker, like the ones I would've used against you. They're all contenders for my best team, and they were washed out like it was nothing."

"So..." Danny said as a silence fell, "these Mega Stones are from Kalos?"

"Found them in an excavation near Geosenge Town, in the north-west of the region," Steven confirmed. "Beautiful region, very different from Hoenn, with Pokémon from all over the world."

"Other side of the world, dudes. It's literally a whole new world there," Brawly added as they started the trek back to Dewford proper. "I think their League's in, like, half a month. You should try to watch some of the recordings. Who knows, maybe you'll see more Mega Evolutions."

"What Pokémon can Mega Evolve anyway?" Danny wondered. "Do you know what Pokémon that other Mega Stone is for?"

Steven shook his head. "Mega Evolutions are new, Mega Stones are rare, and Key Stones are very rare. I know of..." The man trailed off, and Max heard him count under his breath. "Six Trainers with a Mega Evolution capable Pokémon. Besides me, of course."

"Who?"

"Well," Steven said in response to Max's question, "there's Siebold and Drasna, both Elite Four members. Siebold has a Mega blastoise, and Drasna has a Mega altaria." He chuckled. "Mega altaria have the weirdest typing. Dragon and Fairy." He let out another chuckle as he saw the face Max was making. "Yes, rather contradictory. Anyway, the local Professor – Professor Sycamore – has a Mega garchomp, and the Champion has a Mega gardevoir."

"And the last two?" Max asked when Steven didn't continue.

"I don't recall their names offhand. I just know they have a Mega manectric and a Mega abomasnow."

"Hey Max, maybe you'll find that Mega Stone for manectric. Wouldn't that be something."

~~§~~§~~

A few days after the revelation that Mega Evolution existed – and Max still had trouble wrapping his head around the concept – the two boys sat in the middle of the forest west of Dewford, eating a few berries. "Did dusclops get used to her..."

"Her lack of movement?" Danny finished before taking one last bite to finish his snack. "Think we have it worked out. You mind helping with manectric later?"

"Course not!" Max made to finish his own food, but before he could do that, a sharp jab on his hand made him drop his berry, right into a bird's beak. "Hey! That's mine!"

The bird hopped onto a nearby branch, and the instant Max recognised the green Pokémon, he got up. Unfortunately, the natu had already started hopping to other nearby trees. "Follow me!" he called.

Danny asked him why, but Max didn't answer, intent on capturing the natu. He liked the Tiny Bird Pokémon, but they weren't common in Hoenn, only really living in the Safari Zone in any numbers. He wasn't going to give up a chance to catch one now, and he gave chase.

The natu knew it was being chased, and that Max was faster, so it did the only thing it could to slow Max down: attack him. Vaguely ball-shaped energy flew at Max, who dropped to the ground immediately, getting a face full of leaves for his trouble. The energy passed overhead, leaving behind a chill in the air, and giving natu another two trees distance before Max got up again.

The natu led him deeper into the forest, and more than once, Max had to tread carefully to avoid snagging his feet on slippery or oversized roots. The Tiny Bird occasionally shot off more of the cold attacks – Hidden Power Ice? - but after the first time, Max saw it coming, allowing him to sidestep rather than drop to the ground. Still, between the roots, the attacks, and the sudden turns natu made, he made slow, if any, gains, during the next few minutes.

Sliding down an incline, he saw the natu prepare another attack; one he couldn't dodge. Max braced himself for the attack.

Cold. Unearthly cold, no warmth, nothing, void.

Max staggered through the Ominous Wind, resuming his chase, but he knew he couldn't take a lot of that. His legs felt heavier than they had before, and it wasn't just the running he'd done. The weight was unnatural, settled inside his legs themselves, not his muscles. He took an empty Pokéball from his belt.

The natu saw Max do that, and countered by jumping onto higher branches that were often shielded from a good throw. The forest was thinning, though, and soon, Max knew the natu wouldn't be able to hide any longer. It did keep up the Hidden Power barrages, but they were easy to avoid.

The trees ran out, and Max slammed into what felt like a brick wall, knocking the wind out of him. Upon opening his eyes, he saw the world tinged with Psychic blue, a moment before the sound started.

Loud, dissonant, many-voiced, unintelligible sound roared in Max's head, drowning out most thought, threatening to revert him to pure emotion. The part that was still able to think recognised the cacophony as a Confusion attack, but his headache mounted rapidly, and moving was so damn hard…

Grunting, heaving, putting everything into moving his arm. A whoosh, and sudden freedom that resulted in Max landing face-first on the ground again. The natu escaped from the Pokéball after a few seconds, but those few seconds were long enough for Max to send out manectric from his weird position on the ground. "Thunder Wave!"

The natu hopped away from the electric attack, trying to reach the trees it had abandoned just before attacking Max, but manectric moved between it and the trees, forcing it to stand and fight. A Hidden Power met another Thunder Wave, the latter overpowering the former, but to little effect on natu. "Discharge!"

Max had to dodge out of the way of another jolt of electricity, but the indiscriminate attack hit natu mid-hop, dropping it to the ground unceremoniously. Without delay, Max threw his Pokéball again. He hit the target, and hoped for the best.

Seven shakes later, the natu gave up.

Max sat down, panting heavily as he watched the Pokéball vanish. "Thanks girl," he got out as manectric walked over, laying her head on his thigh. "Great as always."

He made to call Danny, but saw an unwelcome message on the screen. "Dead battery? Really?" He let out a deep sigh. "Well, wait for masquerain to find us then."

Manectric barked happy agreement, but her bark turned to a growl, and she rose to her feet with electricity running over her fur. "What is it gi… Oh, shit."

Standing close-by, looking a tiny bit harmed, and very annoyed, were two ursaring. The bears let out mighty roars that sent chills down Max's spine, and they launched themselves forward.

Max rolled out of the way as manectric let out another ferocious Discharge to hold them back. It did, but the roars were even louder now, and one of the ursaring immediately went for the canine Pokémon, claws glowing. "Grovyle, baltoy, help manectric!"

Grovyle deflected the first ursaring's claws with a quick Leaf Blade, but that was all he did: deflect. Another glowing arm came in, and grovyle blocked this hit, requiring both arms, lit with Leaf Blade, and even then, Max saw his starter skid back a tiny bit. "Not good," he muttered.

The second ursaring managed to land a heavy hit on manectric, prompting a loud yelp that was drowned out by the angry howl of that same ursaring catching a rock with its face.

Grovyle launched a Bullet Seed, but that did nothing to slow his opponent down, and he had to jump over a Hammer Arm that almost buried itself in the ground. Baltoy's Confusion met the same indifference, and only another Discharge by manectric – grovyle was not close, Max saw it coming, and baltoy didn't care – drove them back for a few seconds.

Worse, one of the ursaring had crackles running over its body; yellow crackles mixed with a harsh red aura. Max swore, loudly. He didn't need Guts on top of everything. At least it was slower. "Focus the red ursaring!"

That plan, too, went out the window as all the attacks – Bullet Seed, Ancientpower, Thunder Wave – were intercepted by a light blue ball of energy that caused everyone, Max included, to scatter. The Focus Blast missed everyone, though the explosion made it hard to see for a few seconds, and in those seconds, Max heard a loud yelp come from his manectric, followed by the sound of a body hitting a solid object.

"Bagon, Dragon Pulse, now!" Max ordered quickly as he sought to locate the where manectric had been thrown off to. There! He returned manectric just in time, as the deflected Dragon Pulse buried itself into the large rock that manectric had slammed into. "Shit. Dragon Rage and Ancientpower the left one! Grovyle, distract!"

The left, Guts-boosted, ursaring roared a challenge as it swept its claws around, trying to hit the Grass-type that was darting around it and its partner. The right ursaring tried to form another Focus Blast, but grovyle nicking it on the arm put paid to that, though the resultant kick to grovyle's midsection was less welcome. As was the Hammer Arm that he flew into.

Max returned grovyle before he could slam into the ground.

At least the other attacks hit home, with the Ancientpower hitting the ursaring in the face, and the Dragon Rage hitting it in the torso. It was, apparently, enough to knock the paralysed bear to the ground.

The following bellow of pure rage almost paralysed Max and his Pokémon. Almost, because they all had the presence of mind to dodge the Focus Blast on pure instinct. Max was closest to the blast, and he felt himself nearly leave the ground as the shock wave threatened to get under him to lift him up, but it didn't. Luckily.

Baltoy was less lucky. It had dodged a bit too close to the ursaring, and Max knew where that was heading, even before it happened.

One baltoy slammed into the same rock as manectric later, Max sent out his remaining two Pokémon, a sinking feeling in his legs and stomach. This was going horribly wrong, and running was out of the question. Unless he could paralyse the other ursaring, he wouldn't be able to get away. They were decently fast, and he was still breathing heavily after breaking the Confusion. Even throwing a Pokéball wouldn't help. The conscious ursaring would break out in half a second, and only end up more enraged for it. "Metronome, Flamethrower, Dragon Pulse!"

The Dragon Pulse missed as ursaring loped in, but the Flamethrower slowed it down long enough for clefairy to let out a loud screech, a pair of blue rings hitting the ursaring dead-on.

The ursaring didn't care, and came perilously close to hitting vulpix. Max scrambled backward, putting distance between him and the ursaring, but when he did so, he saw something unwelcome.

The other ursaring was stirring.

"Shit." He looked at the field, where clefairy had summoned yellow balls of energy with another Metronome. They hit, but the bear didn't care. "Vulpix, the other ursaring!"

Prone Pokémon couldn't dodge a Flamethrower, but vulpix, too, paid for that, as the raging ursaring barrelled into it in something like a Double Edge attack. Miraculously, vulpix got up after the attack, but Max wasn't counting on her doing much up close any longer.

For the first time in jirachi knew how long, he felt panic start to stir in his stomach. He chanced a glance at the tree line he'd come from, but he saw no masquerain or Danny. "Where are you..." he muttered as bagon and clefairy delivered a double salvo of Dragon Rage and Disarming Voice. Bagon's attack was off-target, but actually hit the ursaring vulpix had set on fire a moment ago. Clefairy's attack was powerful enough to disrupt a barely-formed Focus Blast.

Clefairy glanced back at him as vulpix shot out a curtain of fire to temporarily cut the ursaring off from the other Pokémon; her last act before collapsing. Max saw calm, grim determination etched in the Fairy-type's face. "Metronome," he ordered as he returned the completely spent vulpix.

The Mega Drain hit, taking some energy before the ursaring could sever the tendrils. It roared loudly once more before breaking out in a lope, claws glowing, heading straight for Max.

Bagon slammed into the bear's midriff, somehow getting out of there fast enough to avoid retaliation. Max's eyes met bagon's, and here, too, he saw nothing but grim determination, but with a hint of something else. Something… feral.

Energy surged within Max, but he shook his head, trying to keep the foreign emotions at bay. He needed wits, not instinct.

Meanwhile, the ursaring still wasn't out. How strong was this Pokémon?

Harsh chilly winds filled the field, to bagon's and ursaring's vocal displeasure. Max's head shot right, checking the trees, and he saw what he expected. Froslass, with Danny behind her, had arrived "Great timing! Bagon, Dragon Pulse!"

Froslass summoned a Protect to let bagon get the Dragon Pulse off, and by that time, Danny's magnemite also joined the fight with an immediate Mirror Shot.

The combination of Dragon Pulse, Mirror Shot, and clefairy's unordered Disarming Voice was finally enough to bring the ursaring down. A cheap shot Dragon Pulse ensured the other ursaring stayed down as well.

Max took an involuntary seat as the surge of energy ebbed away as rapidly as it had come, but he didn't mind. The danger was over, and he hugged clefairy, and bagon when the dragon came close enough. "Thank you so much." Then, to Danny, who was studying the pair of wild Pokémon. "Thanks Danny."

"Next time, don't do that," his friend replied with barely hidden anger. "We talked about this, Max."

"Did we?"

"Yes." Danny turned around, glaring at Max. "Last time you went off chasing a Pokémon." His eyes moved meaningfully, down to Max's right.

"Oh. Right."

"Did you at least capture the natu?"

"Yes I did."

"Something good at least." Danny extended his hand, helping Max up. His best friend looked like he'd run the entire distance: sweat pooled on his forehead, his spiked hair drooping slightly. "You look like..."

"Shit," Max finished, rolling his eyes at Danny's reluctance to swear. "Natu hit me with a few attacks. Ominous Wind, Confusion. Had to dodge a few Hidden Powers too. And then the ursaring also tried to hit me."

They started walking, Danny momentarily walking at a pace Max couldn't keep up with. "I thought you'd use manectric and vulpix or something. They're a lot better against ursaring," he said as he fell back.

"I did. They're knocked out. Grovyle and baltoy too." Danny shot him a disbelieving look. "They hit like Mega metagross." He sighed. "You came just in time."

"Finding you wasn't easy. Why didn't you answer your Pokénav?" In response, Max handed the gadget to Danny. "Worst timing ever."

"Pretty much." He looked around the area, spotting one tree he'd weaved around to dodge a Hidden Power. "Where are we anyway?"

"About three quarters of a mile from where we had lunch. I left marshtomp and dusclops there to guard our stuff."

That explained why Danny wasn't wearing his backpack. "So. Back there, and then some training?"

"No," Danny replied as they reached the incline Max had slid down. Danny led them right without pausing, onto a more normal path. "Pokémon Center."

"I still have clefairy and bagon." The latter let out a happy cry near Max's feet. "Yes, you did great."

"It's not them. It's you." Danny stopped Max with a hand on his shoulder. "Don't tell me you're not tired."

He was, but he could manage. "I'll be fine with a bit of rest."

"Rest we'll get in the Center. Still have to walk for half an hour to get there, remember?"

Max rolled his eyes. "Fine," he conceded. "Let's go back there, then."

As it turned out, Danny was more right than Max wanted. By the time the Pokémon Center came into view, Max wasn't sure he could walk for even five more minutes. When the younger boy glanced over at his friend, all he received was a knowing smirk.

~~§~~§~~§~~§~~

The Psychic-type emphasises control. Just as a writer controls the pace of his book, so does a Psychic Trainer the flow of battle. I find it remarkable that mastering these Pokémon allows for control of bodies, minds, pace, even reality itself, in battles. This, I feel, is their primary strength, and one more Trainers should play to. Power without control is wasteful, and the more disciplined pair of human and Pokémon will, given a disparity not too great to overcome, always prove the victor.

– Lucian of the Sinnoh Elite Four

Author's Note: And Mega Evolution makes its appearance. Don't expect to see it all that often for now, though.

Metronome moves: Hyper Voice, Barrage, Mega Drain.