In the footage—
Ash had already made up his mind. If the schedules clashed, he wouldn't hesitate for a second—he would choose to watch Chloe's Showcase. But while he was busy calculating the timeline, Chloe had already done the math for him.
"There's plenty of time, Ash. The Showcase starts at nine in the morning and will definitely wrap up before noon," she said gently. "Besides, if you need to head out for your tournament, I can handle the stage alone..."
Ash frowned, looking thoroughly unamused. "What are you talking about, Chloe? How could I ever let you face your first competition by yourself? Aren't we friends? No matter what, I'm definitely going to watch your full performance before I even think about battling!"
Korrina nodded approvingly. Yup, that is exactly the Ash I know!
With Korrina's expert fashion advice, Chloe eventually picked out three stunning outfits, all meticulously designed with an Eevee motif.
She had firmly decided that Eevee would take center stage for the first round. If they were fortunate enough to advance to the second talent round, Eevee would remain the star, beautifully supported by Amaura's icy effects.
Just as the two were preparing to wave goodbye, Korrina suddenly remembered something. "Oh, by the way, Ash! For the Super Ball Tournament tomorrow... I heard that Alain might be participating too."
"Alain?! He's back in Kalos?!" Ash's excitement instantly spiked.
If anyone could be called his ultimate, fierce rival in the Kalos region, it was undoubtedly Alain. Throughout their entire journey, Ash had never managed to secure a single victory against him.
The closest he had ever come was that heart-wrenching final match at the Lumiose Conference. It was such a narrow miss...
"Yeah, he's apparently entering to test his strength. I ran into him and chatted for a bit," Korrina said, a look of sympathy crossing her face. "That guy's power has definitely reached a whole new level by now.
Honestly, it was such a pity back at the Lumiose finals. I really thought you were going to pull off the win~"
Korrina had watched that fateful final match from the stands. Ash's Greninja had conjured a massive, golden water shuriken that looked absolutely terrifying and unstoppable.
Yet, when the dust settled from their final clash, Greninja was the one who collapsed, while Alain's Mega Charizard X stood firm, barely looking fazed.
"Hehe... well, back then, the raw energy flowing between me and Greninja was so overwhelming that the water shuriken actually began to destabilize right as it struck," Ash explained, scratching his head with a sheepish smile.
"Plus, Greninja simply didn't have any stamina left to dodge his Blast Burn. We were just slightly outmatched!"
That match would always carry a touch of regret for him. If the timeline had played out slightly differently, he might have been crowned the Kalos League Champion long before his victory in Alola. It all came down to that final trade of ultimate moves.
Perhaps if they had managed to evade the Blast Burn and counterattacked with a final Cut or a localized shuriken, the entire outcome would have flipped.
"Ash, who exactly is Alain?" Chloe asked, looking entirely lost. She hadn't followed the Lumiose League coverage, let alone the grand finals. All she could gather from their conversation was that Ash had suffered a major defeat to this mysterious trainer.
This came as a genuine surprise to her. In her eyes, Ash was practically an unstoppable force of nature, easily capable of trading blows with the world champion, Leon! Even in his past journeys, he shouldn't have been weak.
How could he have lost to this Alain person? Was Alain a member of the Elite Four, or a regional Champion himself? She had never even heard his name before.
"Alain is one of my greatest rivals!" Ash replied, his eyes burning with a healthy competitive fire. "I'm honestly a bit ashamed to admit it, but I haven't beaten him a single time yet. Even at the Lumiose Conference, I fell just a bit short. But... the next time we battle, I promise you I will win!"
Ash flashed a confident, toothy grin. He wasn't the same trainer he used to be. (The writers might have changed, but I'm still me! Alain, times have truly changed!)
Chloe nodded, finally understanding the weight of the name. So this Alain was truly a monstrously powerful trainer.
"It really is a shame I don't have a Key Stone," Ash sighed softly, glancing down at his Charizard's new gauntlet. "Otherwise, I would love to have my Charizard Mega Evolve and go toe-to-toe with Alain's Charizard!"
He had once promised his Charizard that they would reunite when he became the strongest Charizard trainer in the world. While he was undeniably the king of Charizard Valley, he hadn't tested his partner against the world's absolute best yet.
Legendary trainers like Lance and Leon boasted incredible Charizards, but Alain's partner was easily in the global top five.
Facing a seasoned Mega Evolution user without being able to Mega Evolve his own partner felt like a missed opportunity.
Of course, even without a gimmick, Ash's Charizard had endured thousands of grueling battles and could absolutely hold his own, but unlocking that hidden potential was the dream.
"A Key Stone? Wait, Ash, you have a Charizard too? And you actually possess its Mega Stone?!" Korrina's interest instantly vanished into overdrive.
She never knew Ash owned a Charizard, let alone a matching evolutionary stone! To have the specific Mega Stone but completely lack a Key Stone was an incredibly rare situation.
"Yeah, a close friend just gifted the Mega Stone to me today!" Ash explained. "But he didn't have a Key Stone on him, so my Charizard can't evolve just yet. I was thinking of calling Professor Oak once we get back to the lab..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Korrina cut him off completely. "Don't bother with all that extra trouble! I have a spare Key Stone! I'll just give you one of ours!"
"Huh?! No way, Korrina! A Key Stone is way too precious; I can't just take—" Ash's usually dense mind was completely blown by her sheer generosity.
Key Stones weren't cheap trinkets you could find lying around in a gutter; they were highly coveted items that even Elite Four members and regional Champions spent lifetimes searching for! Even Ash, who rarely cared about the material value of things, understood how incredibly rare they were. His plan to ask Professor Oak was a total long shot.
Yet here was Korrina, casually offering to hand one over like it was a piece of candy.
"Oh, stop it! What are friends for?" Korrina laughed, waving her hand dismissively. "Besides, you helped me immensely back when we were searching for my Lucarionite!
My family keeps a small repository of Key Stones anyway, so parting with one extra stone is absolutely nothing to us. More importantly, Ash, you're literally the hero who saved the entire Kalos region from total destruction! I know my grandpa will 100% back my decision!"
...
[Lance: Well, wow... that is an absolute mountain of information to process all at once!]
[Diantha: The hero of Kalos? Does that imply our region faces a catastrophic crisis in the near future, and we completely rely on Ash to save us?]
[Flint: Holy cow! Ash's charm with his close female friends is absolutely legendary! A Key Stone is a priceless, tier-one treasure, and she just gives it away without a single second thought! Talk about a massive flex!]
[Volkner: Watch your language, Flint. But turning back to the topic... Korrina's feelings toward Ash clearly go far beyond the standard boundaries. No matter how you try to rationalize it, giving away a Key Stone isn't something you do for an ordinary friend.]
[Caitlin: Ordinary friend? Try 'current girlfriend status'!!]
[Korrina: Miss Caitlin, please stop twisting things! Didn't you hear my future self explain it on screen? It's strictly because he's a dear friend and a literal savior of Kalos! I was just helping out a comrade!]
Back at the Shalour Gym, Gurkinn stared at his granddaughter with an incredibly bizarre expression. This girl hadn't even gone out on a real date yet, and her loyalty was already flying out the window! What a beautiful excuse—'we have plenty of spares, so one extra doesn't matter'...
Like heck it doesn't! Key Stones were priceless artifacts. Whether you traded them for ultra-rare battle items or used them to secure massive political favors from elite trainers, they were incredibly valuable! And this silly girl was just casually giving it away for free!
If she was going to trade away a family heirloom to secure the position of the main bride, that would be one thing... but giving it away like a total charity case? She should have at least negotiated some conditions first!
"G-Grandpa... why are you staring at me like that?! It's... it's exactly like I said! If Ash ends up saving our entire home region and he's my close friend, a single Key Stone is a perfectly reasonable gift!
Both you and I already have our own, and since there's no next generation running the Gym yet, the third stone is literally just gathering dust!" Korrina huffed, her face flushing as she tried to sound completely righteous.
Gurkinn sighed deeply. It's a lost cause. She's completely smitten, both on screen and in reality! This Ash kid... his natural charm was bordering on dangerous. He was a walking magnet for both legendary Pokémon and human hearts alike.
"Alright, alright, no need to over-explain yourself," Gurkinn muttered with a smirk. "Just make sure you bring a healthy, chubby great-grandson back to the Gym with Ash in the future. Otherwise... hmph!!"
Korrina: ???
Are you completely out of your mind?! I am literally eleven years old right now! What on earth are you talking about?! You're going to get arrested!
...
[Lance: Originally, I didn't care much about Ash's romantic life, but at this point... I am drowning in pure envy! A Key Stone, a custom Charizardite X... Ash easily obtains the exact treasures I've spent my entire career dreaming about!]
[Cynthia: 'Easily'? I think you might have a slight misunderstanding of that word, Lance. Whether it's Mewtwo's gift or Korrina's offering, these are the direct rewards of Ash willingly putting his life on the line for others!]
[Caitlin: Exactly. I have to criticize your perspective, Lance. Ash literally died once just to reach through to Mewtwo! And whatever crisis he saves Kalos from certainly won't be a walk in the park either!]
[Diantha: Well said. Ash protected our entire home region. Calling that 'easy' is a massive understatement. Why don't you try saving a region by yourself and see how easy it feels?]
[Lance: My apologies, my apologies! I completely misspoke. I formally apologize to Ash!]
With the Champion gracefully backing down, the chat war finally settled.
...