Pokémon University of Duskwell City, director's office.
"Huh? That Ethan guy chose the Four-Colored Stone?" the director asked, a curious gleam in his eyes after hearing Derek Ashford's report.
That Four-Colored Stone had been discovered by the university during an exploration of a Secret Kingdom. Back then, everyone thought it had to be some kind of valuable treasure, since its appearance was truly mysterious.
However, after years of research, they never managed to determine its function. Over time, even the original discoverers had almost forgotten about it.
What surprised the director was that Ethan didn't choose any of the items that could quickly strengthen a Pokémon, but instead picked that stone of dubious usefulness.
"Could it be that this Four-Colored Stone has something to do with a special evolution?" the director murmured.
Both he and Derek thought the same thing at that moment.
Truthfully, ever since the thesis "New Directions in Pokémon Evolution" was published by the Pokémon Researchers' Guild, it had sparked a true revolution in the academic world.
And with it, the name of Ethan, the author of that discovery, had become well known throughout the scientific community.
Therefore, upon seeing him choose such an enigmatic object as the Four-Colored Stone, they decided to pay special attention. If a new form of evolution appeared in the near future, it would likely be related to that stone.
...
Time passed quickly.
In the following days, the exchange tournament proceeded without any issues.
A week later, the competition finally came to an end, and each group returned to their respective universities.
Upon returning to the Pokémon University of Ironvale City, Ethan and his team were welcomed as true heroes.
In this edition of the Interacademic Tournament of the entire League, the Pokémon University of Ironvale City had shone like never before.
Besides the overall performance, Ethan stood out in an overwhelming way, practically defeating the entire Pokémon University of Duskwell City by himself, which demonstrated the excellent educational level of the Pokémon University of Ironvale City and earned them recognition throughout the League.
Naturally, the university rewarded them generously: in addition to a large amount of resources, the five team members earned the right to officially join the school's representative team after completing their training in the intermediate campus.
Once he received his rewards, Ethan immediately converted all the resources into useful materials for his own Pokémon.
Back in the dorm, he released all his Pokémon and distributed the resources among them.
Watching each one happily enjoy what it had received, Ethan smiled with satisfaction and pulled an object from his backpack: a Key Stone.
He held it under the light, and it emitted a soft multicolored glow.
"Chaarrr?" a curious voice chirped.
It was Charmander, who had run to his side and was tilting its head, intrigued by the stone Ethan was holding.
"Hmm...?" Ethan narrowed his eyes, thoughtful.
Could it be that, since Charmander carried within him the power of Mega Charizard Y, he felt a special connection to the Key Stone?
However, after a brief moment of resonance, the little dragon shook his head, lost interest, and walked away.
"So he just thought it looked pretty and came over to take a look?" Ethan said, a vein popping on his forehead as he watched Charmander leave to join his companions.
"What a shame... The Pokémon University of Duskwell City only had the Key Stone, but no Mega Stones."
He carefully stored the stone while thinking about it.
After all, only when a trainer carries a Key Stone and their Pokémon holds the corresponding Mega Stone can Mega Evolution occur.
Having only the Key Stone, without the Mega Stone, made it little more than an ordinary rock.
"Since the Key Stone exists, Mega Stones must exist too," Ethan reflected. "It's just that... finding them, and having them match my Pokémon, now that will be difficult."
In his team, those with the potential to mega evolve were Absol and Charmander. Finding their respective Mega Stones would be a real challenge.
"Maybe I should start gathering information about Mega Stones," he murmured.
He considered using the resources of the Pokémon Researchers' Guild to search for clues.
Perhaps it would be a good idea to return to the guild's main headquarters; even if they didn't have Key Stones or Mega Stones, among so many ancient texts there had to be some trace or hint.
And if he found nothing, he could always request direct help from the guild (though he would never reveal the truth about Mega Evolution; that would remain one of his hidden cards).
On the other hand, his Pokémon seemed to have reached a bottleneck in their training, so he planned to take advantage of the trip to shut himself away and train seriously with them.
Additionally, he had another pending matter: studying Sandslash's Sandstorm move, something he had promised earlier.
Professor Harris had made significant progress in the research on sandstorm climates, and Sandslash's natural power would be key to unraveling its secrets.
If they managed to understand the principles of that climate and learn to master the move, the overall power of his team would increase tremendously.
After all, his entire team was designed around sandstorm strategies. Although over time his formation had drifted a bit from traditional sandstorm teams (which usually focused on Ground, Steel, and Rock Pokémon), he still maintained the core concept.
In his group, Sandslash and Vibrava were Ground-type, Meltan was Steel-type, Cacturne benefited from the Sand Veil ability, Slowking had the Regenerator ability, and Charmander... well, didn't fit in at all, though its control of heat could provide synergy for the sandy climate.
Even so, under a sandstorm, his team reached its maximum power. But if that climate was countered, their performance plummeted—and that was something he needed to fix at all costs.
(End of chapter)