The group arrived outside of Granite Cave, and Ash and Steven stood on opposite sides.
"Alright, go, Aggron!" Steven was the first to send out his Pokémon, the same Aggron from before!
[Aggron]
[Ability: Heavy Metal]
[Strength: Pseudo-Elite-Level Mid]
"You're up, Charizard!" Ash sent out the only Pseudo-Elite-Level Pokémon he had.
"Grr~" Charizard looked at Aggron with a serious expression.
Ash knew that even though this Aggron wasn't Steven's main Pokémon, as the Pokémon of a former Champion, it was still very strong—nothing like a wild Pokémon.
"Aggron, use Metal Claw!"
"Charizard, Dragon Claw!"
The two Pokémon charged at each other. Aggron's silver claws met Charizard's emerald-green claws with a resounding bang! bang! bang! Both Pokémon attacked each other constantly, kicking up dust!
"Wow, both of those Pokémon are amazing!" ?((???))? Max's eyes sparkled as he watched the two Pokémon.
Brock and May both nodded in agreement.
Just then, Ash shouted, "Charizard, the warm-up is over! Let's show them our bond!" With that, he threw the Charizardite X he had redeemed from the system toward Charizard.
"Grr~" Charizard caught the Mega Stone. Ash then activated his Key Stone on his multi-purpose band!
"Mega Evolve! Charizard, Mega Charizard X!" Several linking threads appeared, and Charizard began to Mega Evolve!
Boom! Charizard turned a shade of blue-black, with bony spikes appearing on its shoulders and two streams of blue fire coming out of its mouth!
"Grr~" Mega Charizard X roared at the sky, then looked at Aggron, filled with fighting spirit.
[Mega Charizard X]
[Ability: Tough Claws (Increases the power of moves that make direct contact with the opponent.)]
[Strength: Pseudo-Elite-Level Mid]
"What is that!" (*???)!! Brock, May, and Max were all shocked!
"Mega Evolution! Is that the Mega Evolution from the Kalos region?! I didn't expect you to have mastered Mega Evolution, Ash! Very nice! Come on, Aggron, Head Smash!" Steven obviously knew about Mega Evolution and immediately went on the offensive!
"Mega Charizard X, Dragon Tail!"
The two Pokémon clashed again, but this time, Mega Charizard X's Dragon Tail broke through the Head Smash and sent Aggron flying backward!
"Again, Iron Head!" "Dragon Claw!"
The two Pokémon collided like two giant beasts! It was an exhilarating sight for Brock and the others!
"As expected of Mega Evolution, its power has increased so much! Aggron, use a full-power Heavy Slam!"
"We'll use ours, too! Charizard, Flare Blitz!"
Bang! Boom!!
When the smoke cleared, Charizard had reverted from its Mega Evolution, gasping and covered in scratches. "Roar" Aggron, on the other hand, was knocked out and unable to battle! "Grr" Charizard roared into the sky before falling over.
"You did great, Charizard!" Ash said, recalling Charizard. He then looked at Steven as he recalled Aggron. "Mr. Steven, you're so strong! This Aggron isn't even one of your reserves, is it?"
"I've been in this business for many years, after all. But you're already very strong, you know. I raised this Aggron to be one of my main team members, and your Charizard still came out slightly ahead," Steven said, shaking his head with a smile.
"That's so awesome! Ash's Charizard actually beat Mr. Steven!" ?((???))? Max now looked at Ash with pure admiration.
"Mhm!" ?((???))? May also looked at Ash with admiration.
"Ash has really gotten a lot stronger!" Brock was happy for the change in his good friend.
"That was likely your first time using Mega Evolution. You should get more familiar with the sudden surge in power! Otherwise, Charizard could have been even stronger! I look forward to battling you again someday. I'll give it my all next time," Steven suggested to Ash.
"I will! Thank you, Mr. Steven!" Ash promised to practice hard.
Afterward, Steven said goodbye to the group and left. Ash was then surrounded by Brock, May, and Max.
"Ash, Ash! Can my Torchic and Wurmple Mega Evolve, too?"
"Ash, when did you get Mega Evolution?"
"Ah! I want to see Mega Evolution!"
Ash had no choice but to give them the prepared excuse.
"No wonder! That gem looked so familiar! The gem the Shroomish gave you and the one you found in Granite Cave were just like that! So that means Mega Stones exist in the Hoenn region! I'm going to find a Blazikenite!" .ヽ(^Д^*)/. May shouted excitedly.
"If it were that easy to find, it would've been reported by now!" Max rolled his eyes at May.
The next day
Ash and the others set up camp on a beautiful beach to train! After a tough battle, Charizard successfully broke through to the Mid Pseudo-Elite-Level. What a joyous occasion!
Ash held the Pokémon Egg and planned out his Pokémon's training. Charizard was given a mandatory training regimen, Pikachu was learning the Electroweb move, Bayleef was practicing Energy Ball, Croconaw was practicing Ice Beam, and Quilava was practicing Volt Tackle. As for Noctowl, Ash began preparing a performance for the Pokémon Contest with it.
"Big sister, Ash is training. Are you all ready?" Max (￢_￢) said to a bored May.
"Max, that's a very good question!" May said. She then ran to an open area and began her performance.
"Pokémon Contests are all about showing off a Pokémon's beauty and coolness, aren't they?! Especially the first impression when they come out of the Poké Ball, that's a key scoring point for the judges!" May said, taking out her Poké Balls. "I'm practicing my entrance right now. Watch, watch! You come out on the stage... Everyone, come on out! Torchic! Wurmple!"
May started spinning and sent out Torchic and Wurmple. It showed off her charm, but Torchic and Wurmple came out and looked around, running all over the place.
"No, that's not right! You have to spin when you come out! Like this, swoosh, take a step, and then spin! Geez!" May demonstrated for Torchic and Wurmple again, almost falling over. She then looked at the others with an awkward smile. "Haha, sorry! It's not perfect yet! I'm still practicing."
"May, you're not doing it right. Most Pokémon Contests only allow one Pokémon to enter, and the star of the show is the Pokémon itself. You should be showing off their inherent charm!" Ash said, walking over to explain the essence of a Pokémon Contest.
"Ash! Are your performances ready?" May asked, wondering about Ash's progress.
"Almost! I have the idea all planned out. I just need to practice a lot," Ash nodded.
"That's so cool!"
Just then, there was a commotion from their tent! Everyone quickly looked over and saw that the tent stakes had been pulled out, and the whole tent had collapsed. The tent and their clothes on it were being dragged toward the sea.
"Ah! The... the tent... and our clean clothes!"
Ash and the others quickly chased after it. Fortunately, there was a tree in front that stopped the tent's movement, and then a small mound of dirt appeared.
"It's over there!" Max said, pointing at the mound.
"You're a mean one! Wurmple, use String Shot! Get it!" May immediately ordered.
Wurmple's String Shot successfully wrapped around the mound, but it wasn't strong enough and was dragged along.
"Ah! Wurmple!"
"Bayleef, use Vine Whip!" "Bay~" Ash also held on to Bayleef and pulled with all his might.
Pop! A small red lobster-like Pokémon was yanked out by Ash!
To be continued...