Mega Evolution

After a restless night due to everyone's growing excitement, we finally got up shortly before the sun crested the horizon. Even the girls were uncharacteristically excited to get up this early as we decided to test all of our Mega Stones.

I had about six that I'd bought from the vendor in Pewter city, along with the one we found under Parasect in Mt. Moon. There was also the two my Meowth had found for me in Cerulean cave, but they were the ones that had gone missing.

The only conclusions I had been able to reach about what happened to them last night had been either a Pokemon had swiped them when I wasn't looking, which was impossible since both Lucario and I hadn't sensed anything, or that Mewtwo had taken them when he left.

Though the most plausible, I couldn't help but to doubt that theory as well since there was no real reason for Mewtwo to take them.

Whatever it was that happened to them, I hoped the two stones would turn up eventually. But, my focus at the second was on Lucario.

I still had six stones to check with the rest of my Pokemon, but first we decided to experiment with trying to get Lucario to mega evolve. Especially given Jessie's concerns regarding Lavender town that she'd told me last night.

"So, how do we do this?" Misty asked with obvious excitement in her voice. It was understandable though, since she too was capable of using mega evolution since the scrunchy her dad and Daisy gave her had a Keystone in it.

"Well..... If I recall right, Brock grabbed what was probably his Keystone under his shirt when he made Steelix mega evolve. So I need to hold the keystone while Lucario is holding the Mega Stone. I think."

As I said that I looked out over the other Pokemon I had out for this little demonstration, Pidgeot, Exeggutor, Parasect, Charmeleon, Grovyle, Wartortle, Ampharos, Ditto, and Sharpedo. They were the strongest Pokemon I had outside of Lucario, and were the best options to help test whatever strength he'd gain from mega evolving.

My Gyarados and Milotic were still too fresh from their own evolutions to properly be a match for him.

"Ready partner?" I asked him with the keystone in my hand.

"Ready!" Lucario exclaimed as he stripped off his Ranger jacket and put it out of harms way.

"Right... Let's go!" I declared while holding the Keystone up, and as I did so I channeled my aura into it experimentally.

The result was instantaneous as the Keystone shined with a rainbow-like light, while the Mega Stone Lucario had shimmered in response. I watched as my partner was encased within a sphere of multicolored light that radiated with powerful energy.

As the seconds stretched I recalled the scene of when Brock's Steelix had mega evolved, how the transformation had been almost immediate. Maybe because this was the first time it was taking Lucario longer?

Whatever the reason, I didn't need to ponder it for long as numerous cracks started to spiderweb across the sphere.

*CRASH!*

The energy within the sphere was released as it exploded outwards suddenly, the fragments dissipating almost instantly as the energy rapidly faded. And as the energy disappeared, we all focused on the figure within.

Lucario had grown by at least half a foot, all four of his paws now had two spikes on then and were covered in vibrant red fur, as if stained with the blood of his enemies. The cream colored fur that covered his torso was longer and thicker, matching the fur on his tail that was no longer sleek or blue.

The aura sensors that that hung down from the back of his head had grown out significantly longer as well, like a long scarf that was also tipped in red fur.

The most notable change though, to me at least, was that his aura had grown significantly stronger and now felt wild and unrestrained, like a weapon that was drawn and only awaiting the OK to spill blood.

"How do you feel?" I asked him.

"..."

"Strong..." Lucario muttered as he looked down at his body in contemplation, but I could feel his growing excitement as he flexed his muscles experimentally.

"Ditto." I stated suddenly, and my little blob immediately changed form to match Lucario's.

Thankfully, it was also able to take the form of his mega evolution.

For a moment neither moved as they came to terms with their current level of strength, until...

*BOOM!*

A shockwave exploded out from between them as Lucario and Ditto clashed, both having used Rock Smash experimentally as their paws hit the other. There was a brief deadlock between them, before Ditto was sent flying back by Lucario's strength.

Even if it could copy his physical strength, Ditto couldn't copy all of the experience and control Lucario had over his own body and aura.

However Lucario was the one Ditto mimicked the most for training, meaning it had grown used to his dexterity and movements. Even as it flew through the air, Ditto angled its body to perform a backflip before landing agilely on the ground.

And the second its feet hit the ground I stated to both of them, "try Extreme Speed."

Without a single word the two of them vanished, before there was a crash as they impacted one another at their high speeds.

*Boom!*

*Boom!*

*Boom!*

Again and again Ditto clashed with Lucario, but it was obvious my little blob was quickly tiring out the longer the fight wore on. I could see its aura becoming increasing unstable with each passing second as it struggled to maintain its form.

Lucario as well was quickly burning through his energy thanks to his mega evolution, to the point where I was sure he'd only be able to maintain it for a few more minutes at the most.

"Charmeleon, Pidgeot." I stated, and both Pokemon jumped into the fray to gang up on Lucario.

Charmeleon took in a deep breath with flames gathering within his mouth, while Pidgeot summoned a powerful gust of wind as he used Hurricane.

The powerful gust of wind tore through the trees around us that condensed around Lucario in a miniature hurricane. At the same time Charmeleon unleashed the powerful torrent of flames from his maw in a Flamethrower.

"Get ready Wartortle." I warned him as the Flamethrower got caught up in the Hurricane, and created a massive firestorm that engulfed Lucario.

As the fire began to spread to the surrounding trees Wartortle began his bully Maguire dance that he liked so much, except this time it actually served a purpose as he activated the move Rain Dance.

Soon fat drops of rain came pouring from the previously clear skies, smothering the flames that began to spread to the trees and grass. They also slightly dampened the massive vortex of flames, making it shrink slightly, but not by much.

The flames only dissipated completely when Pidgeot canceled the Hurricane, snuffing out most of the flames with it while the remainders were snuffed out by the rain. And as the flames died out, we found Lucario kneeling in the center of the burned circle with his fur singed.

He appeared exhausted, but otherwise ok.

We watched as his figured slowly changed as the effects of the mega evolution vanished, leaving Lucario as he was to begin with.

"You alright?" I asked him.

"Yes..... Just tired..." He said with his voice filled with exhaustion. But I could also feel his growing excitement and determination from the strength he had wielded.

"Get some rest. We can try again tomorrow." I told him. I didn't know how often we could use mega evolution, or what the side effects were. The last thing I wanted was to make Lucario push himself past his limits when a large battle was looming ahead of us.

And while I could tell that Lucario wanted to protest with all his being, he did not. He was more aware than anyone else how tired he was right now.

I quickly pulled some chocolate bars out of my bag to give Lucario so he could recover his strength, even as he went to go and sit by the remnants of our campfire.

While he was resting, the girls and I gathered around my remaining six Mega Stones.

"So you have one Keystone Ace, and Misty has one as well. Who gets the other?" May asked me eagerly.

"Whoever else has a Pokemon they can use it with." I answered her bluntly. There was no reason to give my only remaining Keystone to either May or Dawn if the other was the one capable of using it. But to determine that, we needed to test my remaining Mega Stones.

Of them, I had one that had blue and brown streaks, one with blue and black, one with light green, pink, and red streaks, one that was dark green with pink, one with two different shades of brown, and then one that was light brown with pale streaks.

Unfortunately, none seem to register with any of the Pokemon I had on hand that were in their final stage, Pidgeot, Parasect, Exeggutor, Sharpedo, Ampharos, Vespiquen, Persian, Gyarados, or Milotic. Neither did they match with any of my Pokemon that didn't evolve, like Tauros, Miltank, or Ditto.

The same could be said of the girl's Pokemon as well though.

None of their Pokemon were able to match up to any of the stones, so we had to call it quits on mega evolution for the day. Instead, I decided to share with them I had learned from Jessie last night.

"Three days until they attack Lavender town?" Dawn asked worriedly.

"Yep, and my source is also concerned about the resources and planning going into this. They think there's more going on than the upper brass are letting on." I explained to them.

"So are we even going to make it in time?" Joy asked.

"Of course!" I answered her, before casting a look to Pidgeot.

"Of course..." Joy uttered dejectedly when she realized we were going to fly the rest of the way.

"I'm going to make a call, if you guys want to start packing up camp. Then we'll fly to the Pokemon Center to spend the night."

The girls immediately dispersed to do as I requested, while Lucario continued resting to recover his strength. Apparently he planned to run the entire way to the Pokemon Center for training.

As they all did that, I pulled out my Pokenav and put in a call for some backup.

"Hello?"

"Hey Wendy, this is Ace." I told the Top Ranger on the other end of the line.

"Hey Ace. What's up?" She asked.

"How close are you and Kate to Lavender town?" I asked her.

"About a day's flight."

"Good. My source says that Team Rocket will attack them in less than three days, and they're worried about some discrepancies regarding the details of their mission there. It's enough that I may need some backup."

"Understood. We'll be there as soon as possible."

"Thanks. And please keep a low profile. I don't want to advertise that there's Rangers in town, or it may impact their plans in some way." I warned her.

"Ok. Kate and I can pass ourselves off as traveling trainers from Sinnoh."

"Thank you. I'll see you guys there."

"Wait Ace! Real quick, do you know anything about what's been happening in Cerulean?"

"No? What happened?" I asked curiously.

"Several buildings within the city have been discovered filled with dead bodies, all of which have been linked to Team Rocket."

"Really? I never sensed anything out of the ordinary while we were there." I told her.

"I see.... Whoever did it was highly skilled to the point that no actual blood was spilled, and they killed only the people. None of the Pokemon."

"Hmm..." I hummed lightly in contemplation, thinking on who might've done such a thing. But unfortunately no one came to mind.

"Thanks for letting me know. I'll keep my ear to the ground for any word." I told her.

"Ok. Just be careful. All of the officers that responded to the scene said they've never seen anything like it. They're calling the perpetrator the Bloodless Butcher."

Though she couldn't see me, I nodded slowly in affirmation as I thought on this new information. Deaths in this world weren't too uncommon, but this was obviously a one-sided massacre.

Wendy and I discussed a few more things regarding our plans in Lavender, and the Bloodless Butcher, before ending the call. I then helped the girls pack up the rest of camp before we had a light lunch.

When we finished eating it was time for everyone to mount up and prepare to leave. It was decided that May would be riding Tropius with Misty and Joy, while Dawn was going to ride Pidgeot with me.

We really needed to get more Pokemon that we could fly around on. Though I guess I just needed Charmeleon to evolve into a Charizard, and I might have to try flying on Vespiquen sometime. She should be more than large enough as an alpha.

As for Charmeleon, well he'd apparently caught the training bug since he planned to join Lucario in running to the Pokemon Center along with Tauros, Poochyena, Houndour and May's Combusken.

The biggest issue we had with flying though was Pidgeot's dislike for carrying anyone else aside from me. The only other human I hadn't seen him raise a stink over carrying was Joy, but she was riding with May and Misty since there was three of them riding Tropius.

Surprisingly, Pidgeot didn't make a scene about carrying Dawn like he had Misty before. He turned up his beak, but didn't do anything other than that as the two of us climbed up onto his back.

"Good job." I said while patting his side in praise, making him snort dismissively.

I wrapped one arm around Dawn in front of me while the other held onto the saddle we were sitting on as Pidgeot flapped his wings with enough force to create a powerful downdraft. We were then launched into the at high speed, but not too fast since we had to wait on Tropius.

"This is amazing!" Dawn exclaimed as we drifted lazily over the trees.

"Right?" I answered while looking around.

To our left was the endless expanse of the ocean, while to our right was the craggy pass that people usually took from Cerulean city, and before us was the mountain range that led to two notable areas. There was the Rock Tunnel that everyone usually took, and then there was Thunder Crag.

The latter was an area so dangerous that everyone typically avoided it unless they specifically went there for training, which hardly anyone did. It was also the headquarters for the followers of Zapdos, and where he could be found in the games.

Wether or not he was actually there, didn't matter to me right now. My main goal was to get to Lavender town, so I planned to swing westward from the Pokemon Center to give Thunder Crag a wide berth. But I'd also be lying if I said I wasn't interested in going to see if the avian lord of thunder was actually there or not at some point in the future.

My mind continued wandering as we flew southward, until something caught my attention suddenly.

"Everything looks so small from up here!" Dawn exclaimed as she leaned forward to get a better look. Giving me one as well. A better look at the fact that she was wearing no panties under her little skirt that is.

"Seriously..." I said with undisguised exasperation while shaking my head, even as Dawn casually wiggled her cute little ass at me invitingly.

***

"Did you see this Chansey? They're calling me the Bloodless Butcher!"

"See see!"

"How dare they act like I'm a criminal! All I'm doing is protecting my beloved!"

"Chance!"

"No I haven't told him, but that's beside the point!"

A Nurse Joy argued with her Chansey irritably, even as they both relaxed at a cafe.

"Oh my beloved Ace...." The Nurse Joy sighed longingly while staring at the picture she always carried of the man she loved.

The longer she looked at the picture the more she could feel the heat building within her body, while her panties grew increasingly wet.

She'd have buried her fingers into her increasingly wet cunt right then and there if it weren't for the fact she were in public, and Nurse Joy despised the idea of other men being able to view her body or arousal. That was the special privilege of her beloved only.

Instead, she forced herself to put the picture away as she fought her arousal down.

"Come Chansey." She said while standing, and leaving some money for the food she ate.

"There are still some fools who are dumb enough to target my beloved Ace~."

"See see!"