Sunlight spilled across the wide, even dueling grounds, where the golden glow mingled with the earthy brown of the soil, weaving together a solemn, ancient beauty.
The carefully trimmed grass encircling the battlefield stood neatly like silent spectators. At the very center, Blue and the others had gathered.
But compared to Blue's panic and Haru's calm, Gurkinn mostly felt…confused.
What the heck was happening now? Why…why was this man called Haru looking for him?
Blue had come to him to stand against Haru—but then why would Haru come to him? Was it to stand against Blue?
Wait, hold on. How did he suddenly become the prized catch in this so-called "clash of the century"?
That bizarre thought flashed through Gurkinn's mind for a second, but he quickly realized he was probably overthinking things.
After all, he had learned a little about this Haru guy lately.
From what he remembered, Haru had no clue how to use Mega Evolution, and had never even shown a single Pokémon capable of mega evolving.
When it came to special battle enhancements, Haru always used Paldea's unique Terastallization. So there was no way he'd come to Gurkinn for advice on Mega Evolution.
Then why on earth was he here?
Even if he really wanted to learn, didn't he already have Cynthia by his side? A Champion like Cynthia was in no way inferior to him.
"…So, uh, what exactly are you here for?"
Gurkinn finally voiced the question directly.
Cynthia immediately stepped in to answer for Haru:
"He wants to learn Mega Evolution. So I brought him to you."
"Mega Evolution?!"
The first to react was Blue. Cynthia's simple words seemed to rock him to the core.
His voice was filled with disbelief and panic.
And who could blame him? Haru was already a handful. If he learned Mega Evolution on top of that…what the hell was Blue supposed to fight him with?!
Especially since he couldn't even use his full main team right now…
Wouldn't he just end up becoming the butt of jokes for Blue and the others?
A former Champion getting pummeled into the dirt by some guy who wasn't even a Gym Leader—unthinkable!
No, no, calm down. Mega Evolution couldn't be mastered that fast.
Besides, Haru didn't even have a Pokémon capable of mega evolving.
Those weren't exactly easy to come by. Normally, only Pokémon raised from childhood with deep bonds could successfully achieve Mega Evolution.
So even if Haru started cramming now, there was no way he'd be able to use it in the upcoming exhibition match.
Right. No problem at all! He'd just been overthinking.
And so, in just a few seconds, Blue's face went from normal to pale, to green, and finally back to normal.
Watching this rapid shift, Haru couldn't help but call him a "master of face-changing" in his heart.
Meanwhile, Korrina—who had been quietly spectating this whole time—suddenly perked up.
"Ah…so you want to become a Mega user too?"
Since childhood, her grandfather had placed great expectations on her, and she had always set her sights on becoming a strong Mega Evolution trainer.
But the truth was, there just weren't that many Mega Evolution users out there. In all this time, she'd hardly met any like-minded companions.
And those who had mastered it were usually famous veterans—elusive figures who were nearly impossible to meet in person.
Now, someone had come to them, actively expressing a desire to learn Mega Evolution.
That instantly piqued Korrina's interest.
And besides, Haru had recently become a massive internet sensation. Every day people online gossiped about his Ogerpon and his Mew.
She couldn't deny her curiosity—after all, that was an unknown Sub-Legendary and the Mew.
Of course, Haru was also curious about Korrina—though only from an aesthetic point of view. He simply admired the girl's looks, not harboring any inappropriate desires.
"That's right. That's why I'm here," Haru nodded slightly to Korrina before turning back to Gurkinn.
"Terastallization, Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, Dynamax—I'm interested in all of these special battle techniques.
So I'd like to ask for your guidance."
He paused, rubbed his head thoughtfully, then casually suggested:
"As for compensation…how about some Alolan Z-Crystals? With a Z-Crystal and a Z-Ring, you can unleash a Z-Move—Alola's unique technique.
Unlike Mega Evolution, Z-Moves are single-use bursts of power, but they're much easier to master. Korrina could use one as a trump card for self-defense.
If I'm not mistaken, Korrina is about to begin her journey, right?
A young girl traveling alone, without any kind of safety net…Gurkinn, are you really at ease with that?"
At that, Haru glanced again at the blonde girl in roller skates.
Winning over a veteran like Gurkinn wasn't easy—he already had everything he needed, so appealing to him directly was difficult.
But his granddaughter? Now that was the soft spot to aim for.
And as for the promised payment…of course Haru didn't have any Z-Crystals or Z-Rings on hand. But come on—who was he?
The man behind Alola!
He had ties to the two biggest powers there, and was personally acquainted with one of their leaders. Scrounging up a few Z-Crystals would be child's play.
Worst case? He could just escort Korrina to Alola and get them himself.
No way Alola would stop him from obtaining them through official channels.
And hey—maybe he'd bring back not just Korrina, but Lillie as a bonus.
"Z-Moves, huh…"
Gurkinn had to admit, Haru's proposal tempted him.
As Haru said, Korrina would soon set out on her journey as a trainer.
Originally, Gurkinn had planned for her to hone herself alongside her Lucario, experiencing all kinds of trainers and learning the essence of Mega Evolution through battle.
But he also knew that journey could be dangerous.
Sure, people in this world were mostly kind—but let's not forget evil organizations and criminals did exist.
Fewer in number, yes—but not nonexistent.
And wild Pokémon could be dangerous too. Not every Pokémon was friendly toward humans.
If Korrina could use a Z-Move, it would certainly give her an extra layer of protection.
Even in the worst situation, she'd have one last shot to fight her way out.
But then another thought came to him—why limit her trump card to Z-Moves?
Teaching Haru Mega Evolution and letting Korrina train weren't mutually exclusive at all.
His expression shifted slightly as he told Haru:
"I can teach you Mega Evolution. But first, you'll battle Korrina."
"Eh? Grandpa? Me…fight him?"
Korrina froze, utterly stunned. She stammered, tripping over her words.
Was her grandfather seriously setting her up like this?!
Sure, she had set herself the goal of defeating a hundred opponents.
But there was a world of difference between beating a hundred nobodies and beating a hundred Champions!
Haru hadn't shown many Pokémon yet—just two.
But one was a Sub-Legendary, and the other was Mew. How was she supposed to fight that?!
Her Lucario was strong, sure…but against those?
Especially since she hadn't even mastered Mega Evolution yet.
Even Haru himself was taken aback.
"Huh? I'm supposed to battle Korrina? Seriously?"
He did like easy wins, but bullying a little girl seemed…
Well…kind of fun, actually. She'd probably cry for days after losing.
Without even realizing it, Haru had already drawn out a Sweet Ball.
Inside was Ogerpon—wearing its Heartflame mask at the moment.
And Lucario, though known as the Aura Pokémon, was really a Steel-Fighting type—weak to Fire.
A flaming Ogerpon's strike would be devastating.
Not to mention, Lucario was notoriously fragile…
"I didn't say you could use that Sub-Legendary or Mew against Korrina!"
Catching onto Haru's wicked intent, Gurkinn shot him a glare before continuing:
"You'll use the Pokémon you plan to mega evolve.
There are only about forty-odd species capable of Mega Evolution. You should know that.
Which one do you plan to use?"
Haru froze mid-motion, the Poké Ball still in his hand.
"…"
After a long pause, he admitted awkwardly:
"Uh…tentatively, Gardevoir. But…I haven't caught one yet."
"…?"
"So you came to me to learn Mega Evolution without even having the Pokémon for it?!
Are you kidding me?! Don't you dare treat Mega Evolution like a joke, you fool!"
That was it. Gurkinn completely lost it.
Haru's casual attitude toward Mega Evolution infuriated him.
And just then, Cynthia finally broke her silence.
"Actually, I was planning to introduce him to another friend of mine. She should have several newly hatched Ralts and Kirlia.
But she's…not available at the moment. So I brought him here first.
Originally, I just wanted you to teach him the basics. The deeper training would wait until he had the right Pokémon."
Cynthia's words were half-truths.
That friend—and those baby Gardevoir line Pokémon—did exist. But the "not available" part was a lie.
The real reason she hadn't taken Haru to them yet was simple: she wanted more time to observe him.
She wasn't about to hand over those Pokémon to someone untrustworthy.
So she chose to stick by him for a while, watching his character, before deciding whether to make the introduction.
"…So, are we still battling?"
After all that, Korrina actually seemed…a little excited.
Sure, she'd probably lose. But seeing those two Pokémon up close? That might be worth it.
The group fell into an awkward silence, everyone staring at one another.
Gurkinn wanted to toughen up his granddaughter—but not by letting her get flattened by Legendary Pokémon.
Blue and Lillie were basically outsiders here.
At last, Haru broke the silence.
"Well…if we're being technical, I do have a Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution."
Gurkinn's expression softened a little. "Oh? Which one?"
He figured if Haru had taken this long to remember, it probably wasn't one of his main aces. Perfect—it could serve as a reasonable opponent for Korrina.
"…It'll be here soon."
The moment the words left his mouth, a Poké Ball dropped cleanly from the sky—landing squarely into Haru's hand with uncanny precision.
But instead of explaining its origin or what was inside, Haru calmly tucked it away.
Then he gestured for them to look up.
And there they saw it—a Pokémon with features of both cat and man, hovering in the air.
The trainers present were battle-hardened veterans, yet none had ever seen such a Pokémon before.
But one thing was crystal clear: this Pokémon radiated an overwhelming psychic power.
Yes, Lucario had psychic ability too. But both Gurkinn and Korrina instantly sensed—this was far beyond Lucario.
Far beyond even Mega Lucario.
Three stunned seconds later, Cynthia finally spoke, her voice trembling:
"A…a god…? But…what is…this…?"
"This," Haru said with a smile, "is the Pokémon I meant—the one that can Mega Evolve."
Just moments earlier, he had suddenly received a telepathic message from Necrozma.
That Pokémon, who had been wandering who-knows-where all this time, had finally returned.
And apparently, Necrozma had dragged back a little "bonus" too.
Mewtwo.
Haru hadn't expected it. He had defeated Team Rocket, yet somehow they'd still managed to create Mewtwo.
But since it was here, he might as well see what all the fuss was about with this fan-favorite Pokémon.
What he really hadn't expected, though, was Mewtwo's very first word upon floating before him:
"…Daddy."
"…?"