Ash X korrina chapter no.7

On a mountainside cliff just outside of Geosenge Town, Lucario was standing at the entrance to a narrow, dark cave. He could sense something deep inside, as if something within was pulling on an invisible thread connected to his heart. Behind him, Korrina was quivering with excitement, her heart pounding.

"It's in there… right inside that cave…" Her voice was trembling. "After all our battling… all our training… you're finally going to Mega Evolve!"

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sensation of a hand resting on her upper arm. Glancing to her right, she could see Ash next to her, giving her a joyous smile. It was impossible to be as excited as Korrina was right now, or her Lucario, but he was a close third. Pikachu was resting on Ash's shoulder, looking eager himself.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" He clenched his fist determinedly. "Let's get in there and get your Lucarionite!"

Korrina nodded at him, taking a deep breath and letting it out quickly, before they all turned and walked into the cave.

Ten minutes later, the group was deep inside the mountain, venturing forward carefully through the darkness. Korrina's left hand was holding onto her phone, which she was now using as a flashlight as they navigated the cave. Her right hand was keeping a tight grip on Ash's left, in order to give each other more stability on the slightly uneven terrain - not that they needed the excuse.

It had been one week since their fateful Wailord-watching date in Ambrette Town, and while some things had definitely changed between them, many other things had not. They still had the same animated conversations they always had, filled with teasing and laughter and talk of Pokémon battles. They continued to train their Pokémon with each other on occasion, though as their gym battle in Shalour City drew closer, they began to train separately more often, not wanting to give away every strategy they had. Neither of them had gotten any better at cooking.



Physically, the two of them were slowly growing closer. They would spend long periods of time on the road holding hands, as they walked and talked; sometimes they would eschew the talking altogether, and just spend time enjoying nature and each other's touch. Camping out at the end of the day, they sat together on the same side of the fire instead of on opposite sides, enjoying what affectionate touches they could - a linked arm here, a head on a shoulder there, and other gentle, nervous contact. Neither of them ever said a word about it, as if speaking its name would shatter the magic spell that had been cast over both of them. They simply continued to do what felt right, what made their hearts beat a little faster, as they explored the nebulous but exciting space of being "more than friends".

They had arrived in Geosenge Town earlier that day, not long after Korrina and Lucario had won their hundredth consecutive battle. Korrina's grandfather had informed her that she would be able to find Lucarionite somewhere near the town, but had refused to give her any further details, telling her that she would have to find it on her own. They had all searched the town's various stores and come up empty, with nobody knowing where the Mega Stone could be found. After getting lunch, they had run into a photographer named McGinty, who told them a rumor about where Lucarionite might be located, after taking a new picture of the two trainers. While posing for the photograph, Ash had placed his arm around Korrina's waist as before, but she had thrown both of her arms around him and squeezed him tightly as she looked at the camera, dispensing with all subtlety. Naturally, this photograph had also gone into Ash's Pokédex.

All of them were now following the advice that McGinty had given them, locating the cave in the side of the mountain that supposedly led to precious Mega Stones. Thankfully, while finding the cave had been a little tricky, the path inside the cave was simple and straightforward. There were only one or two branching paths that they had come across, and Lucario had walked right by them, drawn by the pull of the Mega Stone that called out to his aura. Korrina did not doubt his sense of direction, and Ash didn't dare to question it. Lucario was driven by a force that Ash barely understood.



Soon, Lucario emitted a surprised grunt and came to a halt, and the two trainers paused as well. Korrina held her phone up higher, trying to see what had caused her Pokémon to stop in his tracks, and the flashlight shone upon a thick, metal door embedded into the cave wall.



"Huh? A door?" Ash's eyebrows raised. "What's that doing here?"

"Do you think…?" Korrina didn't bother to finish her question, running forward while keeping hold of Ash, and he yelped and followed before he was dragged behind her on the ground. They all ran up to the door and pushed on it, feeling it give way without much effort. What lay beyond was a large, cavernous room lit by a mysterious blue light. A raised stone path ran along the center of the room, with shallow pools of water on both sides. At the end of the stone path was a staircase leading up to a pedestal, with a large orange crystal sitting on top of it, roughly the size of a lantern. None of them recognized the crystal, but all of them knew instinctively what it was.

"That's it!" Ash exclaimed. "The Lucarionite!"

Korrina's eyes were shining brighter than anything else in the cave. "There it is…" She stepped forward slowly, her hand slipping out of Ash's grip, before she started running, unable to contain herself. "Come on, Lucario!" Her Pokémon began running by her side, just as excited. Ash smiled wide and watched the two of them go, letting them have their moment they'd been awaiting for so long.

Halfway along the path, Lucario suddenly stopped running, holding out his arm to stop his trainer from running past. He assumed a defensive position, raising his arms above his head, just in time to block a jump kick from a blazing red, bipedal figure of some sort. Ash tensed up and ran forward, stopping right behind Korrina as this new interloper leaped away, landing twenty feet back. As the figure came to rest, and the trainer got a better look at it, Ash recognized the combatant as a Pokémon.

"It's a Blaziken?" he wondered aloud. "What is it doing here?" They both watched as the Blaziken dropped into a combat stance, staring down Korrina instead of her Pokémon. She returned its gaze, her lips curling into a smirk, as she came to understand the reason for this Pokémon's presence.

"It wants to test us," she answered. "It wants to make sure that we're worthy of the Lucarionite." She stood up as tall as she could, walking right up behind her Lucario.

"Blaziken!" she called out. "My name is Korrina, and I challenge you for the Mega Stone!" She pointed forward dramaticaly. "That Lucarionite is our destiny, and we won't be leaving without it!"

Blaziken gave one short nod in response, staying still and waiting for its challenger to respond. Korrina took the initiative that was offered to her. "Lucario, use Power-Up Punch!"

Ash stood back and watched as Lucario dashed forward, swinging his glowing fist at his opponent. Blaziken leaped overhead to dodge, twisting around and shooting a Flamethrower from its mouth. Lucario dashed backward, forming an Aura Sphere by Korrina's command and hurling it at his foe. Blaziken landed on the ground and crossed its arms in front of itself, blocking the Aura Sphere from doing too much damage.

As Blaziken moved to attack again, both Pokémon stopped in their tracks as a ball of black and purple energy flew through the air, hitting the ground between them and exploding. Everyone turned around toward the entrance to the cave, where the Shadow Ball had come from, to see a collection of familiar figures standing near the door. Ash and Korrina both froze as a familiar female laugh echoed through the cavern, coming from an older woman with long red hair, one that they both recognized.



"Prepare for trouble, that stone is for us!" she taunted in a sing-song rhythm.



"So hand it over and don't make a fuss!" her partner, a man with short blue hair and a matching gray uniform, followed up.

Ash gritted his teeth, ignoring the pair as they continued their lengthy, poetic introduction, which he had heard hundreds of times before. These two were Jessie and James, two members of the villainous Team Rocket, and a ceaseless, infuriating plague on his life ever since his journey had begun. It seemed that Ash and his friends couldn't even go two days without this pair trying to capture his Pikachu or cause some other sort of trouble, and they had been hounding him all through Kalos as well.

Alongside them were their partner, a cat-like Pokémon named Meowth who had somehow acquired the power of speech, and a floating Ghost-type Pokémon known as a Gourgeist, which looked a bit like a cross between a pumpkin and a butternut squash. There was also a third Pokémon among them, one that Ash had never seen with this group before, though he recognized it from a previous journey. It was a highly muscular, bipedal Pokémon that held a concrete pillar in each of its two overlarge hands; additionally, it seemed to be wearing a strange mechanical device on its body, with wires and tubes running along its arms and connecting to a helmet on its head, with an orb made of orange glass on top. Ash pulled out his Pokédex and aimed it at this new Pokémon, wanting a refresher.

"Conkeldurr, the Muscular Pokémon and the evolved form of Gurdurr," the machine reported in a mechanical voice. "Rather than rely on force, they master moves that utilize the centrifugal force of spinning concrete."

"Hey!" Jessie shouted, as the three Team Rocket members wrapped up their motto. "Are you even listening to us?! There's no point saying all that if you aren't paying attention!"

"Oh, great," Korrina lamented, her voice laced with irritation. "Why do these guys always have to show up at the worst possible time?" Behind her, Blaziken stared at the interlopers curiously, while Lucario was angry at his battle being interrupted.

"That's just what they do," Ash answered. "For as long as I've known them, they just never stop getting in my way."

"Well, they picked the wrong person to mess with today." She stepped forward. "Let's take care of these guys as quick as we can."

Ash held out his arm to block her. "No."

She quickly halted, surprised. "Huh? Why not?"

"You have something more important to do." He glanced back at her. "You have to defeat Blaziken and get that Lucarionite. It's your destiny, isn't it?"

"I…" Her eyes were wide with surprise. "Yes, but… Ash…"

He gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about me. I can deal with these guys, no problem. You go and get that Mega Stone."

She eventually nodded, returning his smile. "I will. Thank you, Ash." She turned around and gave a nod to Blaziken, before issuing another command to Lucario, and their battle resumed. Ash kept his gaze forward, on the criminals that had interrupted the battle, running in their direction to create some distance between himself and Korrina.

"You're going to regret not letting your girlfriend help you, twerp," Jessie taunted. "We won't be going down so easily this time."

"That's what you always say," Ash retorted, brushing off her comment about Korrina. "And then you always lose." He grabbed a Poké Ball from his hip and threw it out in front of him. "Greninja, let's go!" Out of the Poké Ball emerged a tall, ninja-like frog Pokémon; this was Greninja, the evolved version of Frogadier, who had achieved this new form only a week ago. Pikachu hopped off of Ash's shoulder and landed next to Greninja, ready to teach Team Rocket a lesson for the umpteenth time.

"We'll see who the losers are today!" James cast his hand out in front of him. "Conkeldurr, use Rock Throw!"

"Gourgeist, use Shadow Ball!" Jessie called out. Both of their Pokémon obeyed immediately, creating their projectiles and firing them at Ash's Pokémon.

"Both of you, dodge!" Ash commanded. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on Gourgeist! Greninja, use Water Shuriken on Conkeldurr!" His two fighters dodged effortlessly and quickly fired off their counterattacks. Gourgeist was able to dodge Pikachu's attack, but the relatively slow Conkeldurr took the water attack head-on.

"Go in and hit that toad with Hammer Arm!" James ordered, as Conkeldurr shook off the attack. The Pokémon grumbled and started closing in, lifting its pillars to swing them at his foe.

Ash was unfazed. "Greninja, use Double Team!" The Water-type nodded, glowing a bright white, before a dozen different copies of himself appeared around the cave.

James clenched his fist. "Keep attacking! Find the real one!"


"You too, Gourgeist!" Jessie added. "Attack those clones with Shadow Ball!"


The two Pokémon started attacking the various Greninja around the cave, trying to find the real one. While they were preoccupied, Pikachu ran in toward Gourgeist and slammed his Iron Tail into her, knocking her directly into Conkeldurr and stunning them both.

"Perfect! Now, Greninja, Aerial Ace!" One of the various clones ran in toward the two enemy Pokémon, his crossed arms glowing a light blue color. He swung his arms into the pile of Conkeldurr and Gourgeist, sending them back toward their trainers. Ash was grinning as he looked back at Team Rocket, feeling confident about the battle so far, but his grin vanished as he saw the looks on their faces. None of them looked too upset that their Pokémon were being trounced; on the contrary, they seemed pleased with themselves.

"What are you three so happy about?" he demanded, suspicious.

"It's just cute that you think you're winning," Jessie retorted in a condescending tone.

"Now it's time for us to start fightin' for real!" Meowth continued, as Conkeldurr and Gourgeist pulled themselves up.

Ash's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"Take a look, twerp!" Jessie rested her hand on top of Conkeldurr's mysterious helmet. "This is the latest tech from Team Rocket HQ!"

"This lovely device can drastically increase a Pokémon's strength!" James explained with glee. "This will make Conkeldurr as powerful as any Mega-evolved Pokémon!"

"It what?!" Ash took a step back, astonished and slightly horrified. "It can't really do that, can it?"

"It sure can!" Meowth answered confidently. "It's almost as good as the real thing! They said it will make Conkeldurr so strong, even we can win a battle with him!" His bravado vanished as Jessie swung her fist down and bopped him on the head.

"You didn't have to tell him that part!" she growled, before turning her attention back to James. "Turn it on, now!"

"With pleasure!" James reached for a remote inside his pocket, pressing a large and obvious button on the front. The glass dome on top of the helmet began to glow with a bright light, and the tubes and wires running along his arms slowly began to glow as well, as energy coursed through them. Conkeldurr started trembling for a few moments as power flowed through his muscles, discomfort showing on his face. After a few moments, however, his discomfort gave way to a vicious smirk.

"Use Bulldoze, Conkeldurr!" James commanded. The Pokémon raised the pillars in its hands and slammed them powerfully onto the ground, creating an immense shockwave that knocked Ash and his Pokémon off their feet. As Pikachu got to his feet, a Shadow Ball from Gourgeist exploded in his face, sending him flying as he cried out in pain.

"Pikachu!" Ash watched his partner land on the floor and quickly get up to his feet, much to his relief. He turned back toward his superpowered opponent. "Well, he may have strength, but we've got speed." He pointed forward. "Pikachu, hit Gourgeist with Volt Tackle! Greninja, use Cut on Conkeldurr, and be careful to not get hit!"

Both Pokémon raced forward, though Pikachu easily outsped his counterpart. As he ran, electricity began building up around his body, until he looked like a glowing ball of energy traveling across the ground. He leaped up at Gourgeist, who was too slow to dodge, and slammed into her while discharging all of his electricity. She flew backwards into Jessie's waiting arms, giving the woman a small electric jolt of her own.

Greninja was dancing around Conkeldurr all the while, artfully dodging the Pokémon's columns and hitting him with Cut whenever an opening presented itself. Ash watched the attacks connect, one after another, but they barely seemed to do a thing. Conkeldurr was a strong and resilient Pokémon to begin with, but this power boost had taken it to a whole new level. He had wanted to test his strength against such a powerful foe, but based on what he was seeing now, that may have been a reckless decision.

"Greninja!" he called out. "Try to attack that weird device! See if you can break it!" His Pokémon gave an affirmative grunt and began aiming for the helmet and the attached tubes, while Conkeldurr blocked the attacks with its pillars. Nearby, Jessie had recovered from her mild shock.

"Get it together, Gourgeist!" Jessie berated her Pokémon, who started hovering in the air again. "Stop those two with Seed Bomb!" Gourgeist inhaled deeply before spitting a large number of seeds out of her mouth, which hit the ground near Greninja and Pikachu's feet and exploded, knocking both of them off their feet. As they stood up, they both had to leap out of the way as Conkeldurr slammed both of his pillars into the ground.

"Pikachu, jump up and use Iron Tail on that helmet!" Ash's Pokémon nodded, whirling around and tensing the muscles in his tail, making it as hard as iron. He dashed forward and leaped, turning about in the air to give himself more power.

"Quickly, use Dark Pulse!" Jessie countered. Her Gourgeist spat a stream of dark energy from her mouth, blasting Pikachu off course and directly in front of Conkeldurr. Before Pikachu could recover from the blast, he cried out in pain as Conkeldurr swung a glowing blue pillar directly into his back, as hard as possible. Pikachu rocketed across the cave, directly into his trainer's stomach, and Ash reacted quickly to catch his Pokémon in his arms.

"Pikachu! Are you okay?!" He turned Pikachu over in his arms, trying to get a look at his face. He felt his heart drop as he saw the dazed look in his eyes. Pikachu wasn't going to recover quickly from such a brutal assault. For now, Greninja was going to be out there by himself.

Ash looked up, watching his Pokémon dodge attacks from both Conkeldurr and Gourgeist at the same time, a trying task even for a ninja. "Greninja, use Water Shuriken on Gourgeist, then keep using Cut on Conkeldurr! We have to break that machine!" He held Pikachu with one arm, as his other hand reached down to his hip, trying to think of which other Pokémon should join the battle.

Greninja obediently took a step back, flinging several small shurikens of water at Gourgeist, who had to brace herself for the impact. He turned back toward Conkeldurr, aiming for the connecting tubes on his arms, but a quickly-recovered Gourgeist knocked him aside with a Dark Pulse. As he regained his balance, Conkeldurr's glowing fist slammed into his stomach, the Dynamic Punch sending him back to his trainer just like Pikachu. The ninja Pokémon landed ungracefully at Ash's feet.

"Greninja!" Ash dropped the Poké Ball that he was holding in his hand, reaching out to help Greninja stand. As the Pokémon got to his feet, he could sense the shadow of an enemy being cast over him. He turned back toward his foe to see Conkeldurr swinging its glowing pillars down on his head from above. Greninja couldn't dodge, as that would leave Ash vulnerable to an attack that he might never recover from. He reached up with both hands, catching the pillars as they came down, struggling to hold them back, his arms and legs already trembling from the effort.

As the force of the sustained swing started to push Greninja backward, Ash reached out and caught him with his arms, leaning against Greninja's back and trying to provide more traction. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes tight, able to feel the immense power of Conkeldurr's swing, digging his heels in and pushing as hard as he could. He didn't have anything close to the strength of these Pokémon, but he was going to give Greninja what little strength he had.

He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he tried to keep Greninja from being crushed, and he could nearly feel Greninja's heart through his arms, as well. His limbs were starting to ache, already growing tired from the strain, but he refused to give in. He couldn't give in now, with Korrina depending on him. She was so close to the goal she had been working toward for so long. He could remember countless conversations where they talked about her dream of Mega Evolving her Lucario. This was her destiny, as she had said, and he wasn't going to stop until she had achieved it. He would dig down deep and pull out strength he didn't have, and stretch his resolve beyond its breaking point. He wasn't going to let her down, not now, not ever.

As he felt himself starting to slip backwards, his eyes shot open as he felt a rush of water against his arms. Looking forward, he saw that Greninja was now encased in a swirling veil of water, completely surrounding him like a cocoon. Peering inside, he suppressed a gasp as he saw his Pokémon starting to subtly change, as if he were transforming. The muscles in his arms and legs grew larger and more defined, and his head widened slightly, with tufts of black hair appearing behind his ears. On his back, there was a thicker concentration of water that formed something like a pair of butterfly wings, before they solidified into an enormous shuriken of water.

"What the…" Ash stared in astonishment at his Pokémon, never having seen anything like this before. "What's going on…?" He continued to watch, his eyes widening even more as he saw Greninja slowly forcing a stunned Conkeldurr back, with strength that he definitely did not have moments ago. Finally, with a loud cry of exertion, he was able to shove the abnormally-powerful Conkeldurr away and onto its back, to the amazement of everyone watching.

"What just happened?!" Jessie demanded of anyone who might be able to answer. "How did that twerp's Pokémon overpower our Conkeldurr? Did he just Mega Evolve?"

"I don't think that's what Mega Evolution looks like…" James replied, at a loss. Upon seeing this mysterious transformation, however, his confidence had evaporated in an instant. He could already feel the imminent blast-off.

Ash had no idea what had just happened, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Now's our chance! Hit it hard with Aerial Ace!" Greninja complied and dashed forward, still encased in the cocoon of water, and slammed his glowing arms right underneath Conkeldurr's jaw. The Pokémon flew backwards, losing its grip on its concrete pillars, and it landed painfully on the Team Rocket trio, bowling them all over. Conkeldurr's head struck the ground, and the glass done on his helmet started to crack. A panicked Gourgeist flew over to the pile of criminals, worried for their health.

Ash's heart was pounding once again, this time with excitement, as he tried to grapple with this strange transformation that had given Greninja the strength to contend with the mega-powered Conkeldurr. Strangely, it almost felt as if there was a second heartbeat somewhere inside of him, like an echo of his own. As he grappled with this mystery, he could feel something stirring in his arms.

"Pika…?" He looked down to see his Pikachu had come to, his eyes open and his tail twitching. He wasn't moving much, his body still sore from Conkeldurr's assault, but he looked alert once again.

"Pikachu! Are you okay?" Ash looked down into Pikachu's eyes, seeing the Pokémon give a resolute and somewhat angry nod. He sighed in relief. "Thank goodness… you think you can help me send these jerks packing?" Pikachu gave an affirmative nod, ready for payback.

Ash looked back toward Team Rocket with a smirk, as they all tried to get to their feet. "Greninja, use Water Shuriken! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

Greninja reached behind himself and grabbed the massive shuriken off of his back, flinging it forward at the collection of criminals. At the same time, Pikachu tensed up his muscles, charging up electricity, before shooting a bolt of lightning at the group. The two attacks connected at the same time, and a powerful, painful shock ran through the two humans and the three Pokémon. As the electricity coursed through them, the helmet on Conkeldurr's head began to shatter more, crackling with energy, until it finally exploded. All five of them were blasted out of the cave by the force of the explosion, screaming.

Ash let out all the air in his lungs in one enormous sigh of relief. He hadn't been sure that he would win that battle, which was unusual for a bout with Team Rocket. He looked over at his Greninja to see him relaxing as well, the veil of water falling away, revealing his normal form once again. Ash suddenly felt his strength leaving him, his head feeling woozy, and he tumbled backwards into a sitting position, still holding tightly onto his Pikachu. He took a moment to catch his breath, his vision swimming, as his Greninja ran up and kneeled in front of him, concerned.

"I… I'm fine…" he insisted, though he wasn't entirely sure. "Just give me a second…" As he caught his breath, he could feel himself starting to return to normal, his vision clearing up and his heart rate slowing. He drew in a deep breath and let it out, already feeling better, though he was still unusually tired out.

Hearing the sounds of combat nearby, he turned his head to look toward Korrina's battle. Lucario was standing with an energy bone in each hand, breathing hard and looking worn out, but with determination etched firmly onto his face. Blaziken was down on one knee in front of the stairs that led to the Mega Stone, looking the worse for wear between the two.

"It's time to seal our victory, Lucario!" Korrina declared. "One more time! Bone Rush!"

Lucario barked and dashed forward, arms overhead, ready to strike. As he approached, Blaziken held out one hand, shaking his head, still catching his breath. Lucario's eyebrows raised and he screeched to a stop in front of his opponent, lowering his arms. He could understand a concession when he saw one.

Korrina's eyes widened. "Is that it…? Did we do it? Did we win?"

Ash watched as Blaziken got to his feet slowly, stepping off to the side and standing in the narrow water that surrounded the raised path. He bowed his head and gestured toward the stairway. The prize was Korrina's to claim.

Korrina's stunned expression soon gave way to elation. She ran forward and stood next to her Lucario, wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders and whispering words of immense pride into his ear, before stepping back and resting her hand on his shoulder. The two walked up the stairs together, slowly, both of them stopping and staring at the Mega Stone as they reached the top. Korrina eventually reached out and grasped the stone, lifting it up in her hands, keeping a tight grip on it. She was barely breathing as she beheld the Mega Stone she now grasped, the one she had dreamt of for as long as she could remember.

She stared at it in amazement for a moment before turning around, suddenly remembering the companion that had come into the cave with her. She gasped as she saw him sitting back, looking tired out, and she turned to race down the stairs and across the cave. She knelt down next to him, gazing into his eyes. "Ash, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he answered with a grin. "I told you I could deal with them." His eyes flicked down to the Mega Stone in her hands, getting a closer look, before moving back up to hers. "Congratulations on getting the Lucarionite! I bet it was an awesome battle."

She smiled back at him. "It was a tough one, but we managed to pull it out." She stood up and held the Mega Stone under her arm, offering him her hand.

"You'll have to tell me about it later." He accepted her hand, keeping Pikachu held firmly in his other arm, and she helped pull him to his feet.

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours," she countered, keeping his hand in hers.

He grinned and nodded. "Deal." The two of them turned back toward their Pokémon, returning them to their Poké Balls for some much-needed rest, before turning and making their way out of the cave together.

On the other end of the cave, peeking out from behind the Lucarionite altar, an old man with thin, gray-blonde hair watched the pair leave with a proud smile on his face. His granddaughter had passed the trial he and his Blaziken had set for her with flying colors, just as he knew she would. Almost as impressive, however, was the boy who had entered the cave with her, who had laid everything on the line to protect her and her dream. Perhaps Korrina had found someone whose internal strength could match hers. He had to admit, he was curious to see where this would lead.

He continued waiting behind the altar as Ash and Korrina left, needing to wait for them to exit the cave before sneaking out himself.