On their way to Shalour City for our next Gym challenge, our heroes met Gym Leader Korrina and her partner, Lucario. She agreed to let us accompany her to Geosenge Town. In the hopes of finding the Lucarionite Korrina came here so her Lucario can Mega Evolve.

“What a cute little town,” Serena commented.

Ash turned around to the Gym Leader. “So the Lucarionite is somewhere in this area. Right, Korr-!” He stopped himself as he saw Korrina, her head hung low. “Korrina? You okay?”

She was. "YEAH!!!" Korrina cried and jumped so high, it almost looked like she jumped over us. She then clasped Lucario's paws and jumped like a little schoolgirl, while her partner laughed in amusement. "We finally made it to Geosenge Town, Lucario! You won a hundred battles in a row. Now it's time for you to Mega Evolve! Let's go!"

Korrina and Lucario sprinted ahead of us, and we trailed behind. We entered the town and browsed the streets. Many markets displayed stones of different shapes and colors. Most of them were Evolution Stones that allowed certain Pokémon to evolve.

"Korrina, I know you’re here for Lucarionite," Twilight said, “do you even know where to find it?”

"Not a clue," Korrina said.

"How do you plan to find it if you don't even know where to look?" Twilight gave her a dumbfounded look.

"Assumed?" Clemont groaned.

"That sounds like someone I know," Twilight had a strange knowledge about finding stuff without having any background.

Rarity's attention was grabbed by a window display full of Evolution Stones. "Look at all these beautiful stones!"

“I’ve heard Geosenge Town is founded near a mine,” Zane stated, “So it wouldn’t surprise me if they sold these at the gift shops.”

"No way!" Jaden exclaimed seeing a Razor Claw. "It's a Razor Claw!"

"What's a Razor Claw?" Fluttershy asked.

"It allows Sneasel into Weaville, during the nighttime."

...

Korrina turned to Ash. "What about Pikachu? There are plenty of Thunder Stones around here, so you can evolve Pikachu into Raichu."

"We could,” he replied, “but Pikachu doesn't want to evolve. He wants to stay as he is and keep getting more powerful at the same time."

“But wouldn’t Pikachu be even stronger if he evolved into a Raichu?” Pinkie asked.

“You’re right. Evolving your Pokémon is one way to make it stronger, but it’s not the only way. Evolution isn’t everything. That’s the main reason he wants to stay this way. Right, buddy?”

“Pika pika!” Pikachu replied.

"Okay, fair enough," Korrina said, "Now then, time to find that Lucarionite! If we ask around the shops, we're bound to find it!"

Every shopkeeper we came across didn't have a clue as to where the Lucarionite could be. In fact, most of them said they didn't even know what Lucarionite was. After about an hour, we all met at the town's signature landmark: a large, seemingly bottomless sinkhole surrounded by transparent barriers.

Rainbow Dahs tossed a few pebbles small rocks into the hole and held a hand to her ear, but she never heard the impact. “Just how deep is this thing?”

“I heard it goes down for miles,” Clemont replied.

Korrina groaned. "The Lucarionite's got to be here somewhere! Grandfather said it was here!"

"Well, I suppose if Lucarionite was that easy to find, we would’ve heard of the evolution of lots of Lucario. It must be a very rare and valuable stone, after all."

"How should we look for it, then?" Applejack said.

Korrina perked up. "Now I remember! Grandfather told me that finding the stone is part of my training. We can't get discouraged now! I have to find on our own to finally make mega evolution possible!"

"You're right. It's too early to give up!" Ash said.

"Pika!"

"Hello, over there!" shouted a voice from behind. We turned and saw a bearded man approach us, a camera propped against his shoulder. "Name’s McGinty. I own the local photo studio. How about a souvenir photo as a memento of yer journey?"

"That's a great idea,” Serena added. “It’ll be a great little token of our friendship!"

"Let’s go for it." Ash paid McGinty the cost for the photos, one for each trainer there. Then we all gathered around one another, the mountains and the ruins behind us. McGinty set up his camera and focused the lens.

“Alrighty, now, big smiles everyone,” McGinty instructed, “this is a happy moment fer yeh...”

*Click*

McGinty then handed the memory card to his assistant and sent him to print out the photo. “We’ll have this printed out fer yeh in a jiffy.”

"McGinty?” Hilda began, “do you by any chance know where we could find a Mega Stone?"

“A Mega Stone, eh?” McGinty thought for a moment and he pointed at the mountain range. "Can’t say it’s a Mega Stone, but I've heard that a very rare stone can be found up in a cave that's hidden inside that mountain."

"Now we’re getting somewhere," Jaden said.

"If you go even farther into the mountain than the cave I already told you about, you'll find a small entrance to another cave. That's where it is. But if yer goin’ up there, be warned: it's said that terrible things can happen to people who are not worthy enough to enter.’"

"T-T-Terrible things?" Serena shuddered.

"I can't tell you for sure, but there's some evidence that bad things really do happen there, and that's why the people from this town never, ever venture into that cave!"

"Well, you’re not scaring me!" I added confidently. "I know this is it. Lucarionite's in there, and I'm gonna find it! Let's go, buddy!" Korrina started to Lucario, who growled in the affirmative.

"Wait!" McGinty cried when we tried to run. "Your photos aren’t ready yet."

"Oh… Yeah… Right."

---

After McGinty handed each of them a copy of the photo, they headed up the mountain path. They jogged up the winding trail, we passed by two large boulders propped together. Lucario stop and studied the boulders.

"Something's wrong?" Sunset asked.

As she was asking, Lucario delivered a Power-Up Punch to the boulders, which flew back to reveal a hidden passageway.

"Well, I’ll be a Mankey’s nephew," Ash said. "Maybe this leads to the secret cave entrance McGinty was talking about."

"But he never said it would be blocked," Serena replied.

"Maybe someone blocked the path?" Jaden shrugged it off, and we headed down the path. At the end of the path was the cave entrance.

"It's in here! The Lucarionite is just within our grasp!" Korrina took a step towards the cave but stopped. "But... it's pitch black in there!"

"I'll take care of this. Activating Heliolisk Spotlight!" Clemont pressed a button on his harness strap. An attachment from his backpack poked out and pointed into the cave, then a bright light shone into the cave.

Suddenly, a collection of screams echoed from inside the cave. Serena yelped and clung to Ash. "Is it ghosts? Monsters?! Have they come out here for us?!" she cried.

There was a sudden gust of wind, and a series of objects shot out of the cave and into the horizon. “WE’RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN...!” they heard.

"Wobbuffet,"

"Murkow!"

"Houndour!"

“Was that Team Rocket?” Zane commented.

“They must’ve tried to beat us here and take the Lucarionite for themselves,” Bonnie stated. “They’re so sneaky!”

"Didn't we send them over the horizon last time?" Pinkie wondered. "How did they beat us here?"

"Who knows? Right now, we’ve got a Mega Stone to unearth.” Ash stated with the rest of us nodded, and we entered the path with Clemont lighting the way. "Stay close. It might be dangerous."

Serena and Bonnie whimpered, and they hurried over to us. Serena held onto Ash's shirt, while Bonnie maintained a vice grip on Applejack's Grovyle. "You'll protect me, won't you, right?" Bonnie asked.

"Grovyle."

At the end of the cave were old, wooden, double doors, and a blue light leaked from them. Most likely Team Rocket left it open before they were ejected. We peeked into the room. Inside was a seemingly glowing blue lake. A narrow pathway led to a tall staircase at the end. Six pillars, three on each side, lined the pathway, and they all had the Mega Evolution symbol on top. At the top of the staircase was a bronze pedestal, which held a glowing, orange stone.

Korrina and Lucario gasped as they saw the stone on the pedestal. "Lucarionite!"

“It looks beautiful!” Serena cooed.

“It’s all yours, Korrina,” Sunset gestured. Korrina and Lucario nodded and ran down the pathway toward the Mega Stone.

But then, out of nowhere, a Blaziken attacked. Lucario brought his arms up, blocked its talons, and launched it back. Blaziken jumped back and landed in front of the Lucarionite.

"Are you okay, Lucario?" Korrina asked.

“Who’s that Pokémon?” Serena held up her Pokédex.

Blaziken. The Blaze Pokémon and the final evolved form of Torchic. Blaziken leaves its opponents charred with its fiery punches.

"That Blaziken must be guarding the Lucarionite," Twilight said. "It must also be what drove Team Rocket out of here."

"I see." Korrina smiled at Blaziken. "If we defeat you, we'll get the Lucarionite." Blaziken nodded in reply. Korrina took off her backpack and tossed it to Ash.

"I want you guys to stay back. This is our battle."

"No worries. We'll be right here."

Korrina took off the tank top she wore over her red and white dress and tossed it aside. She strapped on her helmet and smiled. "Lucario, Power-Up Punch!"

Lucario got a running start and leaped into the air. He brought his fist back, and it glowed with an orange aura. He dove fist-first towards Blaziken, who jumped out of the way. Blaziken used Blaze Kick and smashed Lucario in the chest, sending him flying. Lucario went into a back handspring to regain his balance.

"Blaziken is so strong..." Serena said. "Maybe too strong for Lucario."

"It’s a Fire and Fighting type,” Sunset commented. “Between Blaziken’s type advantage and its incredible speed, things aren't looking so good for Lucario."

Blaziken charged with double Blaze Kicks. "Lucario, dodge it!" Blaziken attacked quickly, leaving Lucario with barely enough time to react. "Use Metal Sound!"

Lucario brought the spikes on the back of his paws together and emitted a harsh screech. Blaziken covered its ears. Korrina’s partner sprinted towards Blaziken with a double Power-Up Punch. With a roar, he thrust his fist at Blaziken. The opposing Pokémon did the same, and their fists met. Lucario threw the other punch, but Blaziken dodged it and engulfed Lucario in Flamethrower. He was launched into the ceiling and then crashed onto the ground.

"Lucario!" Korrina skated towards Lucario.

Blaziken used Flamethrower, and it crashed in front of Korrina. She lost her balance, and she fell to the ground. As she fell back, her souvenir photo slipped out of her pocket and shriveled up in the flames. It walked over and picked up Lucario by the head. It lifted him up and threw him against the wall.

"Somebody, do something!" Bonnie shouted then Grovyle stopped her.

"Grovyle's right,” Applejack replied. “Korrina said this is her fight. She can handle this. Isn't that right, Korrina?" she said, raising his voice so she could hear.

Korrina stood up and glanced back at us with a smile. "No matter who we're up against in battle, we'll never turn and run the other way! Right, Lucario?"

Lucario climbed to his feet and growled.

"Lucario, Power-Up Punch!"

With glowing fists, Lucario lunged at Blaziken, punching repeatedly at it. It dodged and deflected several, but the last one made a little bit of contact, causing Blaziken to stumble back. Lucario summoned double Bone Rushes and flourished them. He lunged at his opponent and dealt several hits to it. The Blaziken fell to the ground, and Lucario thrust the Bone Rushes into the ground, hovering in an X over Blaziken's neck. Then Lucario did the same thing to each of Blaziken’s limbs to keep it in place.

"Lucario, let's finish this up!"

"Enough," a voice boomed in the cave. Everyone stopped in their place and looked around. A man emerged from behind the Lucarionite. He was elderly with beady gray eyes and very long, eyebrows. He wore a gray sweatsuit with a red shirt underneath. "You have won,” he smiled.

"Grandfather?!" Korrina said.

"That's your grandfather?" Rainbow Dash said.

"My name is Gurkinn. People call me the Mega Evolution Guru," He walked to Blaziken's side and returned it to its Poké Ball.

"What on earth is going on here? Why did you do this?" Korrina said.

"I knew that you would complete your training and make it here successfully, so I thought I'd give you this final trial myself,” Gurkinn said, resting a hand on Korrina's shoulder. “You overcame it beautifully, as I knew you would. You passed this final test with flying colors. Well done. Now, go and claim what you came here for."

Korrina nodded and ran to the staircase. She climbed to the top and picked up the rock containing the Lucarionite.

A little while later...

"Thank you all for helping me to get the Lucarionite. I couldn't have done this without you," Korrina said. "I'm sorry, Mr. McGinty. You took such a nice photo, but mine got burnt up."

"I see. Well, we'll just have to print you out another one, then." McGinty looked over our shoulder as Gurkinn joined us.

"See? It looks like it went well. Your granddaughter really is something special, ain’t she?"

"Of course, she is,” Gurkinn said. “She's my granddaughter, after all."

"C'mon! I want to see Lucario Mega Evolve!" Bonnie said, jumping up and down. Everyone else cheered in agreement.

Korrina nodded. She and Lucario walked to the center of the ruins, and Lucario was handed the Mega Stone. "Ready, buddy?" Korrina said, taking a deep breath, and her friend nodded. "Lucario, Mega Evolve!"

To be continued...

Next Chapter: Chapter 26- The Aura Storm! Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 39 Minutes