From where we left off, Our heroes have helped Korrina in requiring the Lurcarionite in Geosenge Town and now witnessing Lucario mega evolving...

As they held their stones high, a bright light surged between them. It mostly engulfed Lucario and caused most people nearby to cover their eyes. After a short time, the light subsided, and the gang could see the result.

Lucario’s darker blue body was covered in wavy black stripes connecting back and extending past the black mask on his face. The yellow fur had grown up around his neck with a large bushy tail taking place of the normal blue one. Each paw had an additional spike on the back and was tipped in red. His new shoulder pads had a spike of their own. And the braids on the back of his hair had grown longer, giving the illusion of a headband.

The crowd reacted in awe, having witnessed Mega Evolution for the first time.

Korrina now looked like she was about to cry. "AMAZING! Lucario, you're so cool!" she stammered excitedly.

"So that's a Mega Lucario," Ash muttered.

"Pikachu Pi!"

Lucario looked at his paw. A light glow seemed to emulate his fingers. He punched the air a few times, and all of them felt a wave of aura pass over us.

"Wow! it looks so strong!" Bonnie replied.

“Congratulations on your Mega Evolution," Serena added.

“All that hard work has finally paid off for you two," Clemont adjusted his glasses.

"Thank you, everyone!" Korrina replied.

"Mega Lucario is incredible," Rainbow grinned starry-eyed.

"Those two are really something,” McGinty, grunted. “At any rate, the future of the Shalour Gym is secured, wouldn't ya say?"

Gurkinn agreed. “I couldn’t be more proud of her.”

"I wonder how strong Lucario can be once it Mega Evolved?" Fluttershy asked.

"I've been waiting for someone to say that! The future is now thanks to Science! Clemotic Gear on!" Clemont pulled out a device that was shaped vaguely like his tracking device. "This little beauty will get your answer, using past data from the Pokémon in its normal form. You just scan the Pokémon you want to measure with this..." He aimed it at Lucario. "...then switch on, and you'll be able to measure its new strength, with 99.99% accuracy!"

"I'm not sure I get it. But it sounds very useful, Clemont!" Serena smiled.

Lucario sent out one last punch that made the needle on the console turn to the red part of the meter. Everyone gasped in awe at this as Korrina rushed up to him holding his paws.

"I get it. You want to test your new power, right?" Korrina asked. Lucario barked in agreement she definitely understood.

"I’d be willing to help you test it," Ash volunteered. "It'll be a preview of our Shalulor Gym Battle!"

"Pika!"

"In that, you're on!"

---

Soon, everyone cleared the area for Pikachu and Lucario to battle. Pikachu felt surprisingly confident battling against a Mega evolved Pokémon.

"We’re ready when you are, Korrina!" Ash stated from the opposite side of the opening.

"Okay!" Korrina looked toward his ancestor. "Grandfather, will you be the referee for this battle?"

Gurkinn nodded and approached. McGinty stroked his beard. "I wonder how this will play out…"

“This will be a one-on-one battle; it will end when either Trainer’s Pokémon is unable to continue.” After confirming we were ready, Gurkinn raised a small flag. “Battle BEGIN!”

Ash vs Korrina

1 vs 1 Normal Battle

"Get ready for a taste of Mega Evolution. use Bone Rush!"

"Pikachu, counter with Iron Tail!"

Mega Lucario heads straight in with Bone Rush, only for Pikachu to knock one of the bones out of its paws and hits a cliff causing a small explosion.

That’s some power…." Korrina muttered.

Clemont looked at the dial to see that it had almost pushed itself into the red once again.

"Amazing! Look at this! It's showing a power level almost double that of the reference data!"

"Twice!?" Serena and Rairty yelped.

"Whoa… Lucario powered up that much?" Bonnie cooed.

"Power is one thing, but can they control it," Zane pointed out.

“Kinda weird for Lucario to miss an attack like that."

"None taken," Korrina replied. "Don't worry about it, Lucario. You're just used to your new power yet. Once you mastered it, we’ll be unbeatable. I totally believe in you."

"Alright, Pikachy, get up close and use Quick Attack!"

And Pikachu darted off quickly at Lucario.

"Intercept with Power-up Punch!" Korrina commanded vigorously.

Lucario snarled as he powered up the attack and rushed at Pikachu. He slammed the attack into the ground and went after Cocoa again by springing from a nearby rock.

By now, Lucario was running circles around Cocoa. His stance seemed demented as he cornered Pikachu over and over.

Wow, that speed's amazing!" Korrina noted in awe.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Sunset said as her Riolu looked worried.

Lucario had launched one last Power-up Punch into the ground. Pikachu jumped away, but he counter-kicked her into a nearby rock. The more Lucario tried to attack, the worse he looked.

As he approached Pikachu, Ash commanded him to use Thunderbolt, but he weaved around the attack with ease. He jumped over Pikachu and used a Power-up Punch once again, without Korrina’s consent.

"Stop the battle! Something's wrong!" Ash shouted, but it was too late.

Lucario let out a feral howl and Power-up Punched Pikachu into the air. Then, he grabbed Pikachu's ear and slammed him into the ground multiple times.

"Lucario! What are you doing!? Stop!" Korrina cried.

"What's going on?" Bonnie asked.

"Aura Storm is what's happening," Sunset said to her.

"Lucario…is this the effects of Mega Evolution?!" Clemont asked. At that instant, his machine suddenly exploded due to an overload.

“Pika...” Pikachu groaned as he tried to get back up. But before he could assume a crawling position, Lucario kicked him with enough force to destroy the stone pillar she struck.

“Stop, Lucario!” Korrina pleaded. “That’s no way to act in a friendly battle!”

As Ash ran to his partner, Sunset and Fluttershy blocked its path.

"Stop this please!" Fluttershy pleaded.

"You're in a lot of pain, let us help you!" Sunset added.

"Rio!"

"Luna!"

“Lucario, please stop this! Lucario!! LUCARIO!!!!” Korrina pleaded with tears in her eyes.

"Lucario, don’t do it!" Serena called.

Bonnie shielded her eyes by clinging to her brother, Rainbow, and Hilda prepared to bring out their Pokémon.

“LUCARIO!!!!! STOP!!!!!!!” Korrina shouted.

"RAAUUUUGHHHHRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!" Lucario houled, rushing at us.

Everyone closed their eyes, ready for the worst. But nothing happened to us. Instead, there was an intense wave of aura and what sounded like a large bell ringing. Everyone opened their eyes to see a much older Lucario, standing over us and having merely blocked Korrina’s Pokémon with a movement of his arm.

Mega Lucario flew off and landed a few feet away from us, looking to attack again. Gurkinn's Lucario moved his arms out ready to protect us. "Korrina, Lucario, enough!" Gurkinn himself shouted.

Lucario snarled, but he suddenly yelped and fell to the ground. In the process, he reverted back to his true form and dropped the Lucarionite.

"Is everyone okay?" Applejack asked.

"I'm fine..." Ash muttered seeing his closest friend was badly hurt.

Gurkinn had knelt by Lucario and grabbed the Mega Stone. "McGinty, please take this."

"Right-o..."

Korrina rushed over to Lucario and knelt beside him. "Lucario….what happened?"

---

At the Pokémon Center, everyone was waiting for Pikachu's recovery. None said anything since they arrived. Korrina, it seemed was the most upset. She looked as though she committed a murder.

Then we heard the Pokémon Center ringer. Nurse Redheart and Wigglytuff had come out with Pikachu on the stretcher. "Pikachu has completely recovered," she happily told us.

“Thank goodness...” Ash sighed in relief.

"Nurse Redheart,” Korrina asked, “how's Lucario?"

"Just wait a little longer,” the Nurse replied. “Lucatio’s completely exhausted, but getting better. Don't worry." That made Korrina feel a little better.

"The fault is mine alone,” groaned Gurkinn. “I was so focused on maintaining our family tradition, I forgot to warn you about Aura Storm Syndrome.”

“Aura Storm Syndrome?” her granddaughter asked.

“Yes. It is quite common that Lucario is overwhelmed by its own aura when it Mega Evolves for the first few times. What happened today is the result of that loss of control."

"It must have been pretty overwhelming to take in all that new power at once," Fluttershy agreed with Bonnie nodding.

"Pikachu!"

"There are cases of Pokémon ignoring their trainers after evolving. It's not uncommon," Clemont assured.

"Look on the bright side: Lucario was able to Mega Evolve. I know you two will work together to control it," Twilight added.

Korrina wiped her eyes. "You're right, everyone... Lucario will master that new power.” She then turned to the Mega Evolution Guru. “Grandfather, I would be honored to train under you, and I will do whatever it takes to make things right… to make you proud."

"Perhaps the best way for you to learn to control this aura is how I learned..." Gurkinn began. "I’m sending you on another training journey. In the Misty Mountains to the east, there is a trainer who has guided me since I was young. Her partner is also a Pokémon capable of Mega Evolving. She will no doubt teach you the meaning of Mega Evolution as once she taught me."

"I understand..." Korrina replied.

“One more thing… while you are on this journey, only use Mega Evolution as an absolute last resort.”

"Korrina, how about we come with you," Sunset suggested. “We can all train together. And the more friends on your side, the less you have to put yourselves at risk."

"That's right. It'll be more fun going together," Rarity added.

"I'll go, too!" Pinkie added.

"Of course, I'll come, too!" Clemont added.

“We’re all in this together,” Rainbow stated with the girls along with Jaden and Zane nodded.

"I want to earn a Gym Badge from you when you're at your strongest, Korrina!" Ash told her

"You have Mega Evolution. Now, you just need to master Aura Storm Syndrome, and we can have our gym battle."

Korrina smiled. "If we master Mega Evolution, you'll never get that badge, you know," she snarked.

"Well, we won't know till I try, right?"

After Lucario fully recovered we all made our way to the edge of Geosenge Town. McGinty was waiting.

“Here’s that photo you lost, Korrina,” he stated and handed her the photo. “And one more thing before you go...” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gauntlet. Embedded on the side was the Lucarionite, ground down to fit thereon.

Korrina gladly accepted it. “Thank you, Mr. McGinty.”

"Korrina, Lucario,” Gurkinn shared his final thoughts, “how will you handle the power of Mega Evolution and Aura Storm Syndrome, I don't have the answers. But they're for you to find on this journey. I wish you the best of luck..."

Korrina then suddenly hugged her grandfather. “I won’t let you down, grandfather. I’ll make you proud.”

Gurkinn returned the gesture. “I know you will...”

To be continued...

Next Chapter: Chapter 27-Calling from Beyond the Aura! Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes