Inside the Pokémon Center.
It was late at night, yet the lobby was still bustling with people. Trainers were busy with their own affairs—dining, resting, or tending to their Pokémon—so the arrival of Ash and his friends didn't cause much of a stir.
Although Ash was quite famous, not everyone constantly kept an eye on their surroundings; consequently, only Nurse Joy at the front desk noticed them.
Nurse Joy was always composed and professional. While she was slightly surprised to see Ash appear in Azalea Town, she didn't let it show too much. She simply attended to her duties, accepting the Poké Balls from the group and turning to head into the back room to heal the Pokémon.
Taking advantage of the moment, Ash and his friends quickly asked Nurse Joy about the newly arrived Gym Leader in Azalea Town, as well as the current status of the local Gym Leader and Mr. Kurt.
"You mean the new Gym Leader? They're a Fighting-type Gym Leader from the Kalos region—and quite strong, too. But for someone like you, Ash, I'm sure it'll be no problem."
"'They'?" Ash blinked, puzzled by the plural pronoun. The information he'd received from Professor Oak clearly stated that the visiting Gym Leader from Kalos was a woman; while she wasn't weak, she certainly didn't rank among the top tier of visiting Gym Leaders.
"That's right; there are actually two visiting Gym Leaders this time. One is the leader officially accepting challenges—a young woman named Korrina. The other is her grandfather, Gurkinn, who is the actual former Gym Leader of the Tower of Mastery Gym."
Listening to Nurse Joy's explanation, Ash finally sorted out the connection between this visiting grandfather-granddaughter duo and the Tower of Mastery Gym.
Gurkinn, the former Gym Leader, was Korrina's own grandfather; he possessed immense strength, rivaling even the Elite Four-level trainers of the Kalos region.
Korrina was a new-generation Gym Leader groomed personally by her grandfather—after all, Gurkinn couldn't guard the gym forever and eventually had to pass the mantle to the next generation.
The decision to serve as a visiting Gym Leader in the Johto region was also intended to hone Korrina's skills.
Since arriving in Azalea Town, Gurkinn had entrusted the handling of almost every Gym challenge entirely to Korrina.
Korrina lived up to her grandfather's expectations, successfully making a name for herself—and for the Tower of Mastery Gym—right there in Azalea Town.
By now, word had spread through the community that an exceptionally young female Fighting-type trainer had arrived; despite her youth, her skills were rock-solid, and so far, the trainers who had come to challenge the Gym...
Not a single person has managed to win a badge from her.
Riding this wave of momentum, the Gym from Kalos—the one she represents—has also risen to fame in the Johto region.
"Is she really that good? This Korrina person?" Ash couldn't help but voice his skepticism. As soon as he spoke, the eyes of Misty and the others turned in unison toward Serena, who had been listening intently nearby.
Serena suddenly realized everyone was looking at her; she was startled at first, then her cheeks flushed bright red. She hurriedly waved her hands and explained in a flustered manner, "I—I really don't know! I only became a Trainer this year, so I know practically nothing about the Gyms in the Kalos region..."
She had embarked on her journey as a Trainer simply because she admired Ash; before that, she had absolutely no knowledge regarding Gym battles.
Let alone the new Gym Leader of that Gym, she didn't even have a clue who the previous Leader was. Asking her was certainly the wrong move.
Misty and the others quickly realized this as well. Although Serena was from Kalos, she was ultimately just a novice Trainer who had just started out. Kalos is a vast region; unless she happened to live in the city where the Gym was located, an ordinary person wouldn't go out of their way to learn about it.
They had simply assumed—subconsciously—that Serena would know about it since she was from Kalos, but upon reflection, they realized their assumption had been a bit hasty.
"By the way, is Korrina's main Pokémon a Lucario?" Ash suddenly recalled some information from the handbook Professor Oak had given him and quickly turned to Nurse Joy to confirm.
"Yes, that Pokémon has certainly caused quite a stir. Because of you, Ash, people in both the Johto and Kanto regions have been deeply impressed by Lucario. So, the fact that Korrina has one created a buzz here in Azalea Town, too; quite a few people have come to challenge her specifically because of her Lucario," Nurse Joy replied with a nod. Before Ash used Lucario, very few people in the Johto and Kanto regions even knew of the Pokémon's existence.
After all, this species primarily inhabits the Sinnoh region, and even there, it is incredibly rare; hardly anyone had ever even seen a Lucario, let alone owned one.
At one point, rumors even circulated in Sinnoh that Lucario was a Legendary Pokémon—and while those rumors were eventually debunked, they serve to illustrate just how scarce the species truly is.
Were it not for Ash, so few people around the world would know about Lucario.
"Lucario, huh... Looks like this is going to be a really interesting Gym battle," Ash murmured, a smile of eager anticipation playing on his face.
"It seems you've already decided which Pokémon to use for tomorrow's Gym challenge, Ash."
"You bet!"
"Nurse Joy, there are two more things I'd like to ask you about. Do you happen to know where Mr. Kurt lives? And do you have any information on the Azalea Gym?"
...
The next morning, Ash and his companions left the Pokémon Center and headed toward the site of the Korrina Gym.
Azalea Town is different from Violet City; it is merely a small town, and its size pales in comparison to that of Violet City.
Consequently, the Korrina Gym and the Azalea Gym were not far apart, and the group arrived at the entrance to the Korrina Gym before long.
Since the Gym had been constructed on a temporary basis, its exterior was rather plain and unremarkable—a trait shared by all the Gyms in town. After all, accommodating so many visiting Gym Leaders would require an astronomical budget if every one of their Gyms were designed with intricate detail or built to perfectly replicate their original facilities!
A simple, plain, and minimalist exterior was the most logical design choice.
Moreover, while these temporary Gyms looked largely identical and unassuming from the outside, they shared one distinct feature: they were incredibly spacious. Flashy aesthetics are all well and good, but what truly matters is having a spacious arena and a Gym Leader with formidable skills; as long as those two conditions are met, a steady stream of challengers will arrive, even if the exterior is nothing special.
There was no line at the entrance of the Shalour Gym at the moment, but that was simply because Ash and his friends had arrived quite early.
Had they come any later, they would have seen the Shalour Gym swarming with crowds of people.
The Shalour Gym Leader uses a Lucario, and the Leader herself is rumored to be a cute girl—with a combination of traits like that, it would be a miracle if she didn't attract a crowd.
As they pushed open the doors of the Shalour Gym, a gust of air, charged with a sense of raw power, rushed to meet them.
The interior was far more spacious than the exterior suggested; the floor was a solid, level fighting arena, and the surrounding walls had been specially treated to be slip-resistant and impact-absorbing. In the very center of the arena, a slender yet poised figure was already waiting.
What appeared before them was an energetic blonde girl.
She wore a red-and-white fighting helmet with a streamlined design that hugged her head closely; a striking red V-shaped mark on the forehead stood out vividly. Her dazzling long blonde hair was tied into a high ponytail that flowed freely behind her, the curve of the ends exuding a sense of dynamic energy.
Beneath the helmet, her azure eyes shone as brightly as stars, currently sparkling with an eager, spirited light, while her cheeks held a healthy flush from her recent warm-up.
Her outfit perfectly embodied the fighting style of the Kalos region while retaining a unique, sharp, and capable air.
She wore a sleeveless white athletic top accented with bold red stripes on the chest and shoulders, featuring the Shalour Gym emblem right in the center; this was paired with black athletic shorts, long white sports socks, and a pair of roller skates.
This was the Shalour Gym Leader—Korrina!
Korrina's age and appearance left Brock and the others completely dumbfounded. They had heard the Gym Leader was young, but they hadn't expected her to be this young—shockingly so. She looked to be about the same age as Ash—maybe two or three years older at most.
At the absolute outside, she couldn't be more than eighteen, yet she was already a prodigy—a Trainer with exceptional talent!
"Huh? Another challenger? Why so early today?"
The sound of the Gym doors opening startled Korrina. She cut her warm-up kick short, her initial surprise quickly giving way to excitement as she fixed her gaze on the group standing in the doorway.
She had been having a blast battling her way through Johto lately!
The intensity of the battles here was on a completely different level compared to Kalos; every single day pushed both her and Lucario to their absolute limits. Facing multiple opponents daily tested not just the Pokémon's stamina, but the Trainer's mental fortitude as well.
In situations like this, a Trainer either crumbles under the relentless succession of battles or rises to the challenge, growing stronger in the process—and Korrina was clearly the latter.
Since arriving in Johto, she had rapidly evolved into a Trainer capable of holding her own. She felt that if she kept training here for a year, she might even catch up to her grandfather!
It was still early, and she was in the middle of warming up for the day's challengers, but she hadn't expected one to arrive so soon after she'd started.
This challenger had shown up much earlier than usual!
When Korrina's eyes landed on the person leading the group, her bright blue eyes widened in shock, and she couldn't help but exclaim, "Ash! Is that you, Ash?!"
Ash had been raising his hand to wave hello, but her shout froze him in place, the greeting dying on his lips. He frowned as he studied the young woman before him, wondering to himself: Why does she act like she knows me so well?
He had absolutely no memory of Korrina, so why was she getting so excited? Korrina skated rapidly toward Ash, a mysterious glint in her azure eyes; her fair face came so close it was practically touching his.
Misty, watching from the side, clenched her delicate hands tightly—what was this girl's deal? Getting so close to Ash the very first time they met!
"I know who you are! You're the one who unlocked Lucario's Mega Evolution! Thanks to you, my grandfather and I finally figured out how to use that gem passed down through generations of my family. Your Lucario is amazing, too—aside from my grandfather's, it's the most impressive Lucario I've ever seen!"
"Oh... I wouldn't say it's that amazing..." Ash felt a bit bashful at the praise from someone he was meeting for the first time, though he couldn't help but feel a little flattered and elated inside.
To think that a Gym Leader all the way in Kalos knew about his exploits—and specifically because he'd discovered the function of her family's heirloom Mega Stone—was an incredibly satisfying feeling.
No wonder famous people often acted so full of themselves; when you're being praised like that, who wouldn't get a bit of a big head?
"Hey! Gym Leader Korrina!" Misty rushed over and yanked Ash back by the arm, her cheeks puffed out in annoyance.
"Isn't it a bit rude to get so close when you're just meeting someone?"
Korrina realized she'd been a bit too forward; she skated back half a step and scratched her head with an embarrassed laugh.
"Ah, sorry, sorry! I got a little too excited meeting you, Ash. After all, in a way, you're a huge benefactor to my family—plus, you're a fellow Lucario user."
With that, Korrina tossed a Poké Ball. A flash of light appeared, and a stately, imposing Lucario materialized before everyone.
The Lucario's expression was calm and composed, exuding the unruffled air of a true master—but the moment his gaze swept over Ash, it locked onto him instantly, and his ears gave a sharp, sudden twitch.
Those crimson, slit-like pupils—previously calm and still—suddenly contracted. They locked intently onto the faint ripples of energy emanating from Ash, and the Pokémon even instinctively held its breath—what terrifying Aura!
This Aura... let alone among humans, even among all the Pokémon he had ever encountered, none possessed such terrifying power!
He could clearly sense that this Aura was not merely a surging torrent of energy; it was like a bottomless ocean. His senses could find no limit to the Aura within Ash—a level of power he had never encountered before.
Lucario's mind was in a state of utter shock: how could a human possibly command such pure, such vast Aura?
Korrina's Lucario was already considered a master of its kind, yet compared to the human before him, that Lucario paled in comparison.
Aura of this magnitude could perhaps only be rivaled by the legendary Lucario of old—the one who fought alongside the Hero of the Wave and quelled the chaos that once threatened the world.
"What is it, Lucario? Is there something on Ash?" Korrina asked with concern, noticing Lucario's body trembling slightly and its pupils constricted.
She knew Lucario's Aura could perceive things invisible to the human eye; could Ash be haunted by some malevolent spirit?
In response to her question, Lucario shook its head. Then, to her astonishment, it bowed respectfully toward Ash—a perfect ninety-degree bow, arguably the most flawless bow Lucario had ever performed in its life.
Seeing this, Korrina was bewildered—what was happening?