His Name is a Fruit

Courtney and I are standing on the beach, mid-morning, as we wait for the tide to drop enough to give us entry to the Tower of Mastery. You see, the dang tower is on an island that is only accessible during the day when the water drops enough to open up the sand path to the tower.

At least there's good news. Korrina got back early this morning at about sunrise. Of course, she posted the update on her social media account, but this means that I can battle her for my badge now.

I'll be honest; I don't feel ready, but I don't think I ever will be.

Now, we wait. I don't know if Korrina has a way to get across the water, like any pokémon that can carry her, but we're really hoping to get there early enough.

"Hey," Courtney nudges my arm. "Are your robotic tentacles water-resistant?"

I nod. "Yes. In fact, they're resistant to a lot of things."

She tilts her head, frowning slightly. "Then why don't you just carry us across?"

I close my eyes and sigh. "Because"—I pause as I gather my words—"I'm thinking like a person who doesn't have robotic limbs, and I need your intelligence to point that out to me."

She smiles. "Thank you for the compliment." Then she goes back to her neutral, emotionless state and points at the water. "Now, let's go."

With an arm, I gently clasp one arm around her chest and another around the egg, then lift us up. I hadn't commented on this before, but the claws are not all exactly identical. The upper arms are clawed with four tips to allow for more articulation and fine tuning while the lower arms have three, larger tips to allow for a more stable scaffold. Of course, they are, under most circumstances, interchangeable with need, but I usually use them for those purposes.

Anyway, this means when I grab Courtney with the four-tipped claw, this has the unfortunate, or rather fortunate for me, side effect of squishing her breasts together. It isn't much, and she hasn't said anything yet, but I can see her blush every time it happens.

It's cute…and slightly erotic.

As we approach the island, we see a balding man standing in front of the main tower doors, hands behind his back, looking quite displeased. We land on solid ground, and I give Courtney a moment to gather her bearings before letting go.

The old man—also known as the Mega Evolution Guru—speaks up, "Under our normal policy, because you do not know the meaning of patience, you would be forced to wait another day before you could come inside the Tower of Mastery. However, these are special circumstances as my granddaughter has…preemptively vouched for you." As he finishes, I see his eyes glance at my missing hand and narrow for just a fraction of a second before returning to his judgement stare.

"While you're inside," he continues, "I must ask you to remain respectful and quiet. The building is quite old, filled with history from generations of my family. Also, please avoid touching battling in places except the designated area for the gym battles. Most of the building is still undergoing renovations as we are installing rebar into the unreinforced masonry."

Courtney and I nod, not wishing to piss off the man in charge of the tower any further.

"Then, my name is Gurkinn—the Mega Evolution Guru, and I welcome you to the Tower of Mastery." He turns around, pushing open the large, framed, wooden doors with a heave, letting us inside.

It doesn't take long for us to stop our passage into the tower. Right in the entrance—in the foyer—is a several-floor-high stone statue of a Mega Lucario. Although we would like to dwell on it some more, Korrina comes roller-skating in, stopping in front of us with a flourish. "Hey, Nicole!" She shouts with a wave.

Two things in my peripherals of note: Gurkinn is shaking his head while poorly hiding a chuckle, and Courtney is focusing on Korrina's admittedly short, pleated skirt, and the visible short-pants underneath. If that mischievous look in her eyes means anything, then I'm in trouble. Absolutely.

"Oh, hey! You're new!" She skates up to Courtney, hand held out. "I'm Korrina, the Shalour City Gym Leader!"

Courtney takes her hand. "I'm Courtney. Nicole's friend."

Satisfied, Korrina skates back to her original position. Then, for the first time since we came here, she looks at me. And I mean actually look at me. Her jovial attitude and constant smile faded away as she stared at my left arm, unblinking.

Gurkinn clears his throat, grabbing our attention. "Let me tell you a story of Mega Evolution. It began long ago with the arrival of one of my ancestors right to this island. This man was travelling and trading with his Lucario when they found two peculiar stones at the base of where the statue stands today. When they had each taken hold of their respective Key Stone and Mega Stone, a bright light enveloped them. When it had faded, Lucario had transformed into Mega Lucario. It is believed that this was the world's first Mega Evolution. Since then, our family has lived here and protected Mega Evolution Island."

Courtney tilts her head as he finishes his tale. "Is there any special reason why it was Lucario?"

Gurkinn shakes his head. "Perhaps it's what fate had in mind? What we know today is that any human can take up a Key Stone, but pokémon can only take their respective Mega Stones. After that, there must be a strong bond between trainer and pokémon for it to Mega Evolve."

"From Sycamore's research, he's noted that it's easier for Lucario to create that bond with a trainer, and he speculated that it's because of their ability to read aura," I interject, slightly rudely. "He's still researching why that of the 1,000 and more pokémon that we know of, only 47 have corresponding Mega Stones."

Gurkinn chuckles. "Mega Stones that we've found. Some have speculated that these are the pokémon that it's easiest to bond with and the stones are the crystallization of those bonds. Others that they're the hardest and we need the stones as a crutch. Personally, I don't believe we need the stones at all. My great-great…uncle, I believe, was never much of a…fighter. No, that's not wholly accurate. He never liked seeing his pokémon hurt. In fact, he never willingly battled another trainer. He spent almost every day sparring with his Lucario."

Then he pauses, remembering more details. "He…established such a strong bond with his Lucario that…they were capable of Mega Evolution without Key Stone nor Mega Stone. If that's true, then…perhaps every pokémon is capable of Mega Evolution."

Korrina looks…bored out of her mind, and Courtney looks…calculating. Honestly, my own mind is shooting off in different directions. Some filled with regret for not following Professor Sycamore more. If I had, with the current energy tech I have now, though it's still a work in progress, I would love to get some analysis on the energy expelled during Mega Evolution.

The ability to induce it in any pokémon is just too tempting.

Gurkinn claps his hands, shaking us from our thoughts. "Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you two have a gym battle to get to?" He points to me and Korrina.

She perks up. "Yes! Nicole, follow me!" She immediately skirts down one of the hallways, leaving our sight.

"…I'll lead you there," Gurkinn says after half a minute.