*Note: read the Pokémon League before anybody in my Patreon! Link at the end of the chapter.
...
"Thank you," I said as I took the Mega Bracelet and the Mega Stone.
Then I placed the Mega Bracelet on my left wrist… I also wanted to equip the Mega Stone through the system, but I couldn't. According to the system, only items granted by the system can be equipped, so Floette's Mega Stone would have to be placed on her in another way that I still don't know.
"You're welcome. Now I'll go back to my post. I still have things to do," Nurse Joy said with a smile.
"Ash… does she mean the trainer of Floette?" Roxanne asked.
"Logically. What other person could have given Ash those items?" Celeste nodded.
"Are Mega Bracelets and Key Stones very expensive?" I asked curiously.
"Expensive? They're extremely expensive! Mega Evolution is not within everyone's reach, and while it's true that trainers get a discount, it's still abnormally expensive. As for the Mega Stones… you simply can't buy them. To find a Mega Stone, the person themselves has to go to Mega Island, an island located in the middle of the sea in the Kalos region. Once there, you have to search for the Mega Stone. Whether you find it or not depends on your luck. That's why most people who have access to Mega Evolution only have one Mega Stone because it's so difficult to obtain them," Celeste explained.
"That's right. I also had to go to Mega Island to get the Mega Stone for my Steelix, although as a Gym Leader, I was given a Mega Bracelet for free," Roxanne said.
"Huh? You also have access to Mega Evolution? Why didn't you ever mention it?" Celeste asked.
"You never asked, and besides, I left all my strongest Pokémon at home, including my Mega Pendant," Roxanne replied.
"Well… whatever it is, we'll check it out later," I said.
"Right! She said the Mega Stone was for Floette! Isn't that impossible? Floette can't Mega Evolve," Celeste said.
Mega Evolution was a phenomenon by which a Pokémon could change its form, thereby increasing its power considerably. Among the Pokémon that could Mega Evolve were Pokémon like Charizard, Lopunny, Emboar, etc. Many Pokémon could Mega Evolve to gain more power, while others simply couldn't do it. But there was one rule about Mega Evolution that had never been broken until now: only Pokémon in their final evolutionary stage could access Mega Evolution. So it wasn't strange that Celeste asked that, considering they didn't know the truth about Floette.
{Note: By the time you're reading this, a lot of time will have passed since the Diancie mission in Pokémon Legends Z-A. The tenth generation might even have been released by then, but according to what was mentioned in that mission, the new Mega Evolutions we got in that game were the result of Ange's second activation in Pokémon X/Y. In this fic it won't be like that. I will add all the Mega Evolutions we already know. I have other plans for Team Flare and Ange, but there's still a long way to go before we reach that part of the story.}
"You know as much as I do. How do you expect me to answer that?" I asked with a shrug.
In reality, I did know the truth, but I couldn't tell it or it would be strange. The reason this Floette could Mega Evolve was because after she was resurrected 3000 years ago thanks to Ange, she lost the ability to evolve, but she didn't weaken. Instead, she became stronger, gaining powers almost identical to those of her evolution. And to be specific, what Mega Evolves is her flower, gaining (I suppose) part of Ange's power.
"Let's try it," Roxanne said.
The best way to check if it was possible or not was simple: to test it.
"No, we'll test it when we can find a way to equip the Mega Stone on her," I said.
"Right, Floette's body is very small and the Mega Stone is quite large. Where should we put it on her?" Celeste nodded.
"We can try asking her," I said.
"Pika pi," Pikachu nodded.
Next, I took Floette out of her Poké Ball.
"Flo," Floette said as she sat on the shoulder opposite the one Pikachu always sat on.
"Floette, your previous trainer gave us this Mega Stone. According to what we heard from Nurse Joy, in theory you could Mega Evolve. We don't know if it's true or not, but even if it is, we wouldn't know where to put your Mega Stone," I said.
Then I showed her the red Mega Stone.
"Flo," Floette said.
Floette looked at it with curiosity, then approached it, picked it up with her small hand, and placed it on top of her flower, which swallowed it instantly.
"Huh? Did that flower just swallow the Mega Stone?" Roxanne asked, confused.
We had all been left speechless. What had just happened? Why had the flower consumed the Mega Stone?
"Flo," Floette said.
Suddenly, the Mega Stone appeared again on the top of the flower, then she swallowed it again and it reappeared. Floette was indicating to them that she hadn't swallowed it, but stored it.
"I see. She doesn't swallow the Mega Stone. She just stores it inside the flower," I nodded.
"That makes sense," Roxanne nodded.
"No, but… where does she store the stone? Have you noticed that that flower has no place to store the Mega Stone? Its stem isn't big enough!" Celeste said.
"Now that you mention it…" I said, somewhat confused.
It seems as if she is equipping it, like I did with my Pokémon, but… that can't be, right?
Seeing them confused, Floette pointed to one of the leaves of her flower. The leaves of the flower, unlike the stem, were quite thick.
"Does she store the Mega Stone inside the leaf? But how is that possible? It doesn't even make sense…" Celeste said.
[Actually, the answer is easy. The Mega Stone of Eternal Flower Floette is special. After Mega Evolution appeared, the Mega Stones and Key Stones appeared as a consequence, but all Mega Stones are formed by a part of Ange's energy, forcing the Pokémon to Mega Evolve, that is, forcing the Pokémon to evolve again temporarily, acquiring abilities and the form that only the passage of time would have allowed them to obtain. But since Floette was resurrected by Ange just like the flower she holds, she can directly dissolve the Mega Stone and absorb it into her flower. After all, originally they were the same energy. Having said that, to be able to Mega Evolve she has to materialize the Mega Stone again, so what she does is not store the Mega Stone itself, but dissolve it, absorbing it inside her so she can rematerialize it when she wants and when it is necessary.]
Following that principle, since Floette and the same flower she carries are entirely imbued with Ange's power… she can dissolve the Mega Stone because to begin with it is formed from that energy. Could it be?
[Something like that, but more or less you understood the concept.]
To begin with, it is extremely complicated to understand and I still don't fully understand it.
{Note: Just don't overthink it. In this fic, and I hope in the original story too, Floette possesses part of Ange's energy inside her, as does her flower, being able to manipulate it at will. In fact, her signature move "Light of Ruin" releases part of Ange's power from inside her and from the flower to launch an attack with devastating power. Of course she is able to replenish that energy for some reason I don't understand.}
"Let's leave it. Anyway, it's better not to try to understand it," I said.
Where did the Mega Stone that the original Ash had to Mega Evolve his Lucario come from? In the battle, I mean. It simply appeared in front of him every time he Mega Evolved. Sometimes it's better not to try to understand something that is incomprehensible, especially if the explanation is almost unintelligible.
After simply accepting this fact, Celeste resigned herself to stop trying to understand it while Roxanne did the same.
Back to the topic, it was time to call our families. On my part, I called my mother to tell her that tomorrow I would go to challenge the last Gym Leader and I would probably return home in two days to prepare for the Pokémon League. My mother seemed delighted with it, although I wonder how Molly will take it. I'm looking forward to spending some time with my little sister.
As for Celeste, she called her grandmother and told her what had happened and that tomorrow they would go to Viridian City so Ash could get his last badge, to which she promised to receive us when that happened. The bad thing is that her aunt was out of the city. Apparently one of her friends was getting married and she went to help her with the wedding preparations, so only her grandmother would accompany us. She also expressed her desire to see my battle, which I immediately agreed to. How could I refuse the request of my girlfriend's grandmother?
With that said, and with our excitement through the roof, the four of us went to the room and watched movies for the rest of the day. Normally we would have gone for a walk, but we were all a bit tired. By the way, I almost forgot to mention that I also left my Pokémon with Nurse Joy so she could help them recover, and all of this before returning to the room.
…
The next day.
We got up quite early because we bought tickets for one of the earliest boats leaving. The reason was that the girls wanted to get to Viridian City as soon as possible.
The entire trip went normally, although I felt as if someone was following and watching us, but when I tried to find the source of that feeling, I couldn't. There were people on the boat, yes, but everyone seemed to be minding their own business. I guess it was my imagination.
After arriving at the port of Fuchsia City, we headed straight to the train station and took the train that would take us directly to Viridian City. At first we planned to take a taxi, but after checking it online yesterday, we found that it was cheaper to take the train and we would arrive much earlier than expected. That was the reason we got up so early to catch the boat. Otherwise, the next train would arrive later than if we had gone by taxi.
The train ride was even calmer and there were only three hours of travel, three hours that we spent completely asleep due to the tiredness of having gotten up so early. Besides, I had to rest well because today I had to get my last badge, which brought something to my mind. Who will be the last Gym Leader? Both in the anime and in the video games, the Gym Leader of Viridian City was Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, so I wonder who the Gym Leader will be. Will it be Giovanni or someone else? I could have searched it on the internet, but I preferred to give myself a surprise.
By the way, while it is true that on the internet you can look up what type each Gym is, it is strictly prohibited to reveal the Pokémon that the Gym Leaders have, all in order to prevent trainers from taking advantage of it and looking for Pokémon that could easily defeat their opponent's. Luckily, except for certain exceptions, the law is usually respected, although perhaps it is because the punishments are very severe, which makes people think twice before breaking the law.