"Hit them with another Aura Sphere!" I yell to Lucario. He charges up the blue orb in his paw and shoots it at the challengers Greedent. The overgrown squirrel drops down onto the floor, fainted.

"And the Champions Lucario has cleared yet an entire team by itself!" the commemorator shouted.

The challenger returned his Pokémon.

"Aw, man! I thought for sure I had the right strategy!" he grumbled.

"Hey, you had a good strategy, all right. You managed to knock out Sylveon and Boltund. That's proof of a great trainer. No matter how far you get, there's always room to improve." I say to him. He nods and thanks me, and we shake hands and walk out of the stadium. I return Lucario.

I get dressed in the locker room and walk out to the lobby, and as usual, the press is waiting for me.

I walk past them without answering any of their questions, and summon Charizard and fly to the Wild Area. We perch up on our favorite cliff edge. It's the highest point in the Wild Area. I climb off Charizard and sit down, my feet dangling over the edge.

"Isn't it nice, buddy?" I ask Charizard. He nods and flies around, looking for dens. He reports back and doesn't see anything. Suddenly Lucario comes out from his pokeball and stretches.

I knew you would come here. Lucario sat down next to me.

"Oh yeah?" I ask him. He nods.

Galar is a beautiful place. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to travel the region with you, Isaac.

"I'm glad you stuck with me the entire time, Lucario." I say to him. Lucario nods and returns his gaze to the sky.

What do you think these constellations represent?

"When I was younger, along with Hop, Leon told us that if we looked to the stars in any time of stress or danger, we'd find the solution to our problem." I said.

Was there a time where you were stressed and found a solution?

"Yeah, actually. Fighting Bea, the fighting type gym leader. I didn't have any good strategy so before I entered the gym, I gazed up at the stars and I knew what I had to do."

That's when you utilized Corvisquire's Flying type advantage.

"That's right."

What's next?

"I haven't thought about it. We've become Champions, all of us. Who knows? Something unexpected could roll out at any moment." I say. Ironically, as I say that, Lucario swiftly swings his head to his side and sees something on a lower ledge. He gets up and leaps down, landing perfectly on his feet. He smashes part of the rock wall and pulls out a small crystal sphere. Charizard and I swing down to him.

"What's that?" I ask Lucario. He had the object in his paw.

I don't know. I felt like it was calling to me.

Lucario couldn't take his eyes off it.

"Can I see it?" I ask, cautiously. He looks up and stares me square in the eyes. He nods and drops the object into my hand. It was an orange sphere with a blue and red double helix inside of it. Lucario eyes it mysteriously.

"How strange, I've never seen anything like this before." I say. Lucario suddenly snatches it back from my hand and admires it more. Charizard let out a grunt of concern.

"Lucario, you feeling alright?" I ask him, holding up my hands.

I am fine. Why don't we take your suggestion and take this to the lab for Sonia and Hop to examine?

Lucario just read my mind to determine what my next step was.

"Yeah, maybe we should. I'll hold onto the stone." I say. Lucario looks me in the eyes again and nods. He gives me the stone and I return him to his pokeball. I look at Charizard and he grunts. I shrug and climb onto his back, and we fly to Wedgehurst. We land near the lab and I return Charizard and walk inside.

"Anyone here?" I ask. Hop isn't at his desk and Sonia isn't either.

"Race you back!" I hear Hop shout. I turn around and suddenly Hop bolts into the door and runs right into me, sending us both to the ground.

"Agh! Hey, who the heck are- Oh, Isaac! I'm so sorry!" Hop says, quickly getting up and reaching out his hand. I take it and stand up.

"You gotta slow down, mate. Could've killed me." I joke. Sonia walks in after him.

"Hop, you know I'm not one to run." Sonia says. "Ah, Isaac! I didn't expect to see you at this hour!" she says.

"I missed your exhibition match. Did you win?" Hop asks. I look at him and smile, and I nod.

"I knew it! No one can beat my rival!" Hop says, fist pumping the air. Sonia gives him a glare. "Hehe, anyway, why are you here?"

"I was out with my Pokémon when Lucario found this in a rock." I say, pulling out the strange stone. The two professors look at it with curiosity.

"I've never seen anything like that. Looks ancient." Sonia says.

"Oh, wait, I've seen one of these before! I've read it in a book!" Hop exclaims. He runs over to his desk and pulls out a book with a DNA Helix on it. He opens it to a page where a bunch of different orbs like the one I have are on.

"Those are called Mega Stones! When a certain stone is given to the corresponding Pokémon, and when used with a Mega Stone, the Pokémon can Mega Evolve, and become way more powerful than its normal self. And the best part is, the Pokémon can de-evolve back into its normal form!" Hop was getting excited.

"So who's Mega Stone is this?" I ask. Hop scans the chart and shows me a picture of the Stone I have.

"That's a Lucarionite! It allows Lucario to Mega Evolve."

"That makes sense. Lucario was admiring it and kinda keeping it to himself when he found it."

"Now you just need-!" Hop stopped. His enthusiasm went away. "You need a Key Bracelet and Stone to Mega Evolve." he says, closing the book.

"At least Lucario found the Stone." I say.

"That can be changed, boys." Sonia says. We both look to her.

"There's a person in the Kalos region called 'Successor of the Mega Stones.' Perhaps she could help us." Sonia says.

Hop's excitement returns.

"Yeah! Let's make an appointment and go first thing in the morning! I really want to see Lucario's Mega Evolution!" Hop says. Sonia giggles and takes out her phone, dials a number, and talks to the person on the other end, and walks away.

"We'll be the first people in Galar to Mega Evolve our Pokémon!"

"Can any of your Pokémon Mega Evolve?" I ask him. He counts on his fingers for a moment then stops.

"At least you'll be the first person in Galar to Mega Evolve a pokemon!" he fixed his sentence.

"I've heard Kalos is a really fancy place. People say it's home to the very Pokémon of Life and Destruction." I say. Hop and I talk about it for a few minutes and Sonia gets off the phone.

"We have a flight early tomorrow. Hop, take the rest of the day off, and take the Mega Evolution book with you!" she says. Hop and I nod and we run back to Postwick. Charizard flies overhead. I was about to walk to my house when Hop stopped me.

"Why don't we have a sleepover to celebrate?" Hop asks.

I accept and I grab my stuff from my house and tell my mother. Hop's mother welcomes me in and says I'm always welcome. Hop leads me upstairs and I set my stuff down, and I look at all the posters around his room. He has the super rare league card I gave to him on a glass display case above his bed.

"Still treasure that card?" I ask him.

"Heck, yeah! It has the toughest Champion in the entirety of Galar on it!" He says, slugging me in the shoulder. We watch some movies then get to sleep.

The next morning, really early, Hop shakes me awake. He's all dressed and looks as energetic as ever.

"Come on, Champion, wake up! We have a flight to catch! Sonia's waiting for us at the lab!" he says.

"Okay, I'm up." I say, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. I get dressed in the bathroom and Hop and I head to the lab, where Sonia is waiting for us. We head to Wyndon and get on the plane to Kalos, and tons of people ask for my autographs and pictures.

I did a few, but i got annoyed. Apparently the Champion can sit first class, so I was shown into there, and Hop and Sonia too.

About a five hours flight to Kalos.

I look out the window next to my seat and I see new Pokémon I haven't seen before flying. I grab my Pokédex and try to scan it. Doesn't seem to work through windows.

Hop is just eagerly scrolling through the news on his phone and Sonia was reading a book.

By the time we land, I'm half asleep. We all get up and exit the plane, and head into the airport. We look around at all the people.

"You might want to zip up your jacket, Isaac. There are a lot of people here." Hop says. I zip up my jacket to cover up my champion merchandise, and Hop pulls out his phone,

"Sonia said this Mega Stone Successor is in a place called Shalour City. I suggest we take flying Pokémon there." Hop says. We nod and Hop and I release Corviknight and Charizard. Sonia and Hop climb on Corviknight and I climb onto Charizard.

"It has a big tower called the Tower Of Mastery, so we shouldn't miss it! If we fly Southwest, we should get there in no time!"

I nod and Charizard take off into the air, and Corviknight zooms our after. We fly in the direction of Shalour City. The wind feels nice against my body. It's a nice, calm breeze.

"Hey, Hop!"

Hop looks at me from across the sky.

"Isn't Kalos one of them regions for sightseeing?" I yell to him.

He nods. We arrived in Shalour City, and we climb off our Pokémon. I return Charizard and Hop returns his Corviknight once he and Sonia climb off of it.

"Dang, this place is cool." I say, taking in the sights.

"We need to make it atop the Tower Of Mastery. Our person is waiting up there." Sonia says. As she's has that, someone on roller skates zooms past us, and a Lucario close behind her, running. I nearly fall over but Hop grabs my hand and pulls me back up.

"That was a close one, mate! You good?" Hop asks. I nod and he lets go of my hand. He turns to the person on skates. She's wearing a white shirt and skirt with red patterns in it. She also had red shoulder pads and knee pads. She had red sunglasses atop her white and red helmet, and had a long tail of blonde hair flowing down her back. She had a Mega Stone strapped to her wrist.

"Woah, sorry about that! I've never see you three around here." she says.

"We're from Galar. Sonia called someone about Mega Evolution. Said the Successor of Mega Stones could help us. You know where we can find her?" Hop asks.

"She's standing right in front of you!" the girl laughs.

"You're Korrina?" I ask. She nods. She looks at me and her eyes widen.

"I'd know that face anywhere. We've seen the Championship match between Leon and you! You're Isaac, Galar's Champion!" Korrina squeals. "It's an honor to meet you! I'm Korrina, gym leader of Shalour City. Welcome to Kalos!" she says. Her Lucario eyes me curiously.

"No, the honor is all mine. Meeting a gym leader from another region is truly amazing." I say. We shake hands and Korrina talks again.

"So you came about the Mega Evolution, then? What stone do you have?"

I take out the Lucarionite and show it to her.

"That's ironic! You've got a Lucarionite! Where's your Mega Stone?" she asks.

"That's what we're here about. Isaac's Lucario only managed to find the Lucarionite, and we're not sure where a mega bracelet and stone are." Sonia says.

"Well then this calls for a quick battle! But first, can I meet your teams, Isaac and Hop?" Korrina asks. Hop and I release our Pokémon and Korrina has some memory she's seen on TV about each of them battling.

Once she gets to my Lucario, she eyes him. Her Lucario walks up to mine and they glance at each other, presumably using Aura.

Korrina's Lucario looks back to his trainer and nods.

"Your Lucario seems a little on edge." Korrina says, changing her glance to me.

"He's been like that ever since he got the Lucarionite."

She looks back to my Lucario. I returned all my Pokémon.

She shrugs and she says to follow her, and we follow her up to the top of the tower of mastery, on the balcony. She overlooks the city with her Lucario.

"I come up here to think of just to overlook my city, you know?" she asks. She turns back around. "Isaac, I present you with your very own Mega Bracelet and Key Stone." she says. Quicker than I expected. She pulls out a white bracelet and a Key Stone in it, and gives it to me.

"So there's no trial of anything he has to do?" Hop asks, suspicious.

"Nope!" Korrina says.

"Thanks. I really mean it." I say, taking the bracelet. I skip it on my wrist and release Lucario. Sonia had made him a glove to hold the Lucarionite in.

"How about a Lucario versus Lucario battle? Just to test it out!" Korrina says. I accept and both Lucario's take the field. Hop and Sonia stand back.

"Beyond evolution, Mega Evolve, Lucario!" Korrina says, smacking her Mega Stone. Bright beams of light shoot out from the stone and the Lucarionite. Her Lucario transforms into Mega Lucario.

I do the same, but change up the wordplay.

"Summon the power of Mega Evolution! Lucario, Mega Evolve!" I say, smacking the stone with my middle and index finger. A white orb forms around Lucario and it dissipates after a second. Lucario had changed into Mega Lucario. He roars and gets ready for battle.

"Use Power-Up Punch!" Korrina says. Her Lucario punches mine in the chest and mine slides back.

"Careful, she's boosting her attack! Use Aura Sphere!" I say. Lucario shoots an Aura Sphere at his opponent, and it mysteriously knocks out her Lucario in one shot. It de evolved and fainted.

"Wow, you're Lucario is strong!" Korrina says, helping her Pokémon up. I tossed her a Full Restore. My Lucario reverts back to his original form and helps Korrina and her Lucario up.

"Thanks for coming down to Shalour City! It was an honor to meet you guys!" Korrina says.

"No, thank you, Korrina. You helped Isaac and his Lucario finish their path to Mega Evolution." Sonia said. We thanked her and took the plane back to Galar. Sonia and Hop said they needed some Dynamax Crystals, so I went to the Wild Area to get some.

I set up camp near about five dens. I had gotten about four of them and then nightfall came. I released my Pokémon and they all greeted one another then slowly fell asleep. I looked at my team, blissfully asleep in the campsite, and I headed into my tent to get some sleep.

A few hours later, I wake up to some constant grunting. I groggily sit up and open the tent flap, and I see Lucario shaking in his sleep, violently. I see Cinderace trying to calm him down, but Lucario kicks him aside.

"Cinderace!" I whisper. I get out of the tent and run over to my starter, and I take his paw in my hand and help him up. "What's wrong?"

Cinderace put on a charade of poses. First acting as Lucario sleeping, then when he starts to shake.

"Thanks buddy. Wake up Sylveon. She might be able to help." I say. He nods and runs to Sylveon, and I run over to Lucario. I put my hand in the back of his head and and carefully rub his arm. Suddenly his telepathy comes into my head with a violent scream

Leave me alone!

Those words alone echoed in my head until I felt a sharp pain pierce through my stomach. I gasp and look at my stomach, where Lucario had jabbed the spike on the back of his hand into my stomach. I saw his eyes open groggily, then he saw the light fading from my eyes, and his eyes widen. I take one last look at Lucario, before I fall backwards, the spike coming out, revealing the gaping wound in my stomach.

I can hear Lucario and the team arguing about what happened and what to do. My eyes shut and everything goes silent.

I wake up to a bright light being shone in my face, and I feel pain in my stomach. I manage to sit up and look around. I'm in a hospital room. I'm not hooked up to any tubes, so I imagine I'm free to get up and look around. I look around and see Hop asleep on the chairs. The bed freaks and he wakes up. Once he sees me, his eyes widen.

"Isaac! Lay back down, mate!" he says, getting up and carefully making me lay back down. "I know you're confused about this, but I never knew Lucario would double cross you." he says, rubbing his arm.

"Hop, what are you talking about?"

"What do you mean? Lucario stabbed you!" Hop says, raising his voice.

"Lucario would never intentionally hurt anyone. Where is he?" I ask him. "And get me my normal clothes. I'm fine to walk."

Hop shrugs with a confused look on his face and goes to get my clothes. He brings them in and exits the room, shutting the door. I get dressed and pull on the sleeve of my jacket when Hop opens the door and motions me to follow him. The TV's are displaying Lucario's 'betrayal'.

"Hop, stop for a second." I say. My rival stops and turns around, looking at me. "Is this official?" I ask him. He nodded.

"Were the newscasters there when it happened?" I ask him. He shrugs again.

"I dunno, mate." he says.

"Did they find any evidence that Lucario intentionally stabbed me?"

He shakes his head suspiciously and then changes the look on his face from worried to determined.

"You're right, Isaac. There's no proof that Lucario stabbed you, so he shouldn't be held captive!" he says.

"Wait, he's being held captive?" I ask him, worried. He nods and runs downstairs. I follow him and we exit the hospital. We're in Motosoke.

"Lucario should be in the police station."

I follow Hop into the station and all the cops stop what they're doing and look at us.

"Champion, you feeling better?" one asks.

"I'm fine. Where is Lucario!?" I raise my voice.

The cops look at each other and shrug, and lead me into the back room, where Lucario's appendages are stuck in orbs, and blue energy is keeping them from escaping. He's knocked out.

"Lucario!" I yell. I run up to him but the cop stops me.

"Don't get too close to him, kid. He was the one who stabbed you."

"Did you find any evidence that he intentionally wounded me?" I asked the cop in a firm tone. "Was anyone else there? What happened after I was knocked out?" I ask him.

"Lucario called for help through his telepathy, and the Corviknight taxi landed, but after they saw what had happened, they took off and called us. We landed our copters around the area and arrested Lucario and put you in the hospitals care."

"For the last time, Lucario did not stab me on purpose! Now, can you please leave so I can have some alone time with him?" I ask. The cop backs out of the room and closes the door. The mirror reflect my anger. I know it's one sided.

I look to Lucario and the restraints turn off, dropping him to the ground.

"Lucario!" I say. I run to him and kneel down, I hug him, being wary of the spike on his chest. He opens his eyes and I back up.

Isaac?

"It's me, Lucario." I tell him. He suddenly backs up and looks away. "Lucario?"

I cant face you after what happened.

I stood up.

"Lucario, you don't actually believe the crap they say on TV, can you?" I ask him, putting a hand on his shoulder. He looks back at me.

"Where's the team?" I ask. He points to the bench outside, where my belt of pokeballs is sitting. "After we get you out of here, we'll clear your name."

Lucario looks back at me and smiled. I ask to exit and tell the police the full story, and they let Lucario go. Hop grabbed my pokeballs and we exit. Lucario calms down.

"We need to let everyone know that you're okay." Hop says. "First, we need to visit Wedgehurst." Hop says. We summon our Corviknight's and fly to Wedgehurst, to the lab, and when we enter, I see Leon, my mother, Magnolia, and Sonia. When they seem me their eyes widen.

"Isaac! You're alright!" my mother says. They all come up to me. Lucario steps back in shame. My mother walks up to him and puts her hands under his paws, avoiding the spikes.

"We know you didn't mean to hurt my son, Lucario. We all know that you would never hurt a fly." she says.

Thank you, ma'am.

She stands up and walks back to us.

"We need a plan. Hop, Leon, can you organize a meeting at the stadium?" I ask the two brothers. They nod and run out of the lab.

"Sonia, I want to make sure that all the news crews are there to catch the real story. We're not going to be in the stadium, just outside on the stairs." I tell her. Magnolia and my mother nod and we set the plan in motion.

A few hours later, I'm walking towards the stadium in Wyndon, Lucario by my side. Everyone looks at me suspiciously and I make it up the stairs to the stadium. I turn around and face the crowd. Cameras and microphones are pointing my way.

"Hello, Galar. Before you ask, I am feeling just fine. I'm not impressed by all of your attitudes about this issue." I say. The crowd leans in deeper. "You all believe that Lucario stabbed me? Sure, he did, but it was not intentional. Lucario was having a bad dream, and I tried to calm him down, but he reacted in his dream and unintentionally drove the spike on his paw into me. He didn't mean it. I'm disappointed not one of the noble citizens of Galar didn't believe the news. Lucario tried to help me after I fainted, but the police arrived and put a shock collar on him, and then took me into care. My Lucario would never hurt anyone. I leave with this message. Don't judge a book by its cover."

Lucario and I walk into the stadium, where the gang is waiting for me. Leon is the first to speak.

"That was a real inspirational speech, Champ." he smiles.

"You gave the news crew a taste of the truth!" Hop says.

"It was just a taste of the truth." I chuckle. With that, we return to Wedgehurst, and Hop tells me he grabbed my camping gear.

Hop and Leon returned to their houses, and I walked back to mine with Lucario by my side, my belt with all my pokeballs on it strapped back onto me.

Thank you for the forgiveness. I did not think you would face me after that.

I stopped in my tracks.

"Lucario, come on. If a member of my team did hurt me, I wouldn't believe it was intentional. You had a bad dream." I say to him.

I don't understand how you can be so forgiving in the most severe of situations.

I put my hand under Lucario's paw, and held it up in front of both of our faces.

"We're a team, Lucario. No matter what happens, we'll be there for one another." I tell him. He looks at our joined hands then back at me. He smiled and nodded.

Then it's a gift. Your mother is right. You have a very compassionate heart.

"It's a gift. Come on, let's get back home." I say. Lucario walks with me back home, and nightfall comes upon us, and we fall asleep about an hour later. I had returned Lucario to his ball.

Lucario's POV

It was uncomfortable inside this ball. I smacked the side of it and jumped out. I was hoping the bright light of me emerging from the ball did not wake my trainer. I quickly glanced over at him. He was blissfully asleep on his bed. I had only just realized that his blanket had fallen off of him and hit the floor. I walked over and picked up the blanket, spreading it out and putting it back on my trainer.

I walked outside of the house and looked for a good place to stargaze. I leaped up onto the house and leaned on the chimney, my arms crossed. I look up at the night sky. My trainer always looks to the stars when he is troubled.

I stare for a while when I hear some rustling from the Slumbering Weald entrance, just east of my current location. I look over and see something running through the woods. I leap into the woods and jump over to trees, being wary of the branches. I arrive at the shrine, and I don't see anyone.

Is anyone there? I open my telepathy.

Suddenly I hear something sprinting up behind me. I turn around and charge Aura Sphere just in time to prevent Zacian's sword from nearly decapitating me.

Isaac let Zacian out at night.

Zacian drops her sword and looks at me. She asks me what I'm doing in her domain.

I saw someone sprinting through here.

Zacian tells me she has it under control and I leave. I make it back to the house and enter the residence, quietly. I close the door and suddenly I feel something brush against my leg. I look down and see Sylveon. She has a worried expression on her face.

I'm all right, Sylveon. I was just out for a little fresh air.

Sylveon walks back to her pokeball and taps the button, sucking her inside. I head into what Isaac and his mother call the living room and lie down on the couch, as the pokeball I am assigned too is uncomfortable. My trainer was truly something special