"That's right, Friendship energy. When Lucario evolved, I felt my mental power being violently consumed. Even during the battle, the same thing happened. Perhaps that is the reason Lucario's evolution failed!"
Ethan thus revealed the changes his own mental power had undergone when Lucario performed Mega Evolution, and at the same time provided a possible research direction for increasing human mental power.
Now he had already confirmed that Mega Evolution placed demands on mental power, so this could also be considered preliminary research.
Otherwise, even if Ethan announced the method of Mega Evolution, no Pokémon would be able to carry it out successfully!
"Pokémon evolution also requires the trainer's mental power?!"
President Beckett's gaze kept fluctuating. This kind of evolution was truly something never before seen.
Very soon, he discussed the matter with Ethan again in greater detail, showing a thoughtful expression.
...
Several days later, Ethan left the headquarters of the Pokémon Researchers Guild.
Half a day later, he arrived at the Tarkaan Desert.
Guided by Meltan, he found the entrance to the mobile Secret Kingdom with great ease.
"Tyran!"
Tyranitar was very excited to return to its own territory.
With a roar, it announced that the king of that Secret Kingdom had returned.
"Come on, let's go to the ruins."
Ethan smiled faintly and, instead of riding Vibrava, directly climbed onto Tyranitar's shoulder.
As Tyranitar advanced, all the Pokémon in the desert Secret Kingdom began to tremble.
Very soon, Ethan and the others came to see the ruins. At the entrance of the ruins, two Gigalith could be seen accompanied by dozens of Roggenrola and Boldore, who had come out to the entrance to receive them.
Naturally, that Gigalith family was the one Ethan had left behind to help Tyranitar guard the ruins. Now that Tyranitar had returned, their mission had also come to an end.
Advancing through the cave, Tyranitar led Ethan into the interior of the ruins.
"Everyone, come out."
Once inside the ruins, Ethan released all his Pokémon.
"Phew, it should be safe here."
Seeing all his Pokémon gathered around him, Ethan suddenly felt a strange sense of relief.
Immediately afterward, he took the Key Stone out of his spatial ring, and his eyes became serious.
Now that he had arrived at a place that could be considered absolutely secret, Ethan planned to try Mega Evolution again.
"Luucaarr!"
Under the expectant gazes of all the Pokémon, Lucario stepped forward.
After trying it countless times, it was already completely familiar with the process of Mega Evolution.
After using the power of aura to connect its mental energy with Ethan's, Lucario established contact with the Key Stone and the Mega Stone.
In the next instant, both were activated and began to radiate a dazzling light that gathered over Lucario's body, causing it to begin megaevolving.
At the same instant, Ethan felt the consumption of his mental energy. However, unlike the pain that had previously seemed to tear his soul apart, this time his expression remained completely calm.
Wrapped in white light, Lucario successfully completed Mega Evolution and took on the form of Mega Lucario.
"We did it... Mega Evolution!"
"Just as I thought, my mental power seems to have undergone a breakthrough!"
Ethan looked at the Key Stone in his hand and sank into thought.
In reality, for some time already, he had vaguely noticed something strange about his mental power.
The sensation was very peculiar, and it manifested mainly in the sharpness of his reflexes.
In addition, he had discovered that his memory had also improved enormously; when reading, he could practically remember everything after seeing it only once.
And all of that was evidently a consequence of the increase in his mental power, which had granted him a trace of extraordinary ability.
"Lucario, undo Mega Evolution first. Charizard, let's also test your Mega Evolution."
Holding the Key Stone, Ethan turned his gaze toward Charizard.
This time, without the help of Lucario's aura, Ethan himself established the connection with the Key Stone.
Once again, a resplendent light enveloped Charizard, and its figure began to evolve within that white radiance.
When the light burst apart, the figure of Mega Charizard appeared in the air!
This time, without the help of Lucario's aura power, Ethan and Charizard had successfully completed Mega Evolution by their own means.
However, after Charizard finished evolving, Ethan felt his head grow heavy and dizzy, a sensation that was very familiar to him: it was the sign of mental power exhaustion.
Evidently, Ethan's mental power was already enough to sustain Charizard's Mega Evolution, but without the help of Lucario's aura, his mental energy had almost hit rock bottom; not to mention maintaining Charizard in its megaevolved form during a battle.
"It seems that, in the end, I still need to find a way to increase my mental power."
After Charizard exited Mega Evolution, Ethan massaged his forehead with a severe headache.
Although on President Beckett's side the use of emotional energy to increase human mental power had already been defined as a research direction, he also could not afford to relax.
Moreover, aside from actively training mental power, perhaps the blessing of a legendary Pokémon was an even safer method.
"Mental power and life energy. Those two will be my next research topics. And both have one thing in common: they revolve around Mega Evolution."
Ethan once again sank into deep thought. As for mental power, he still did not have a clear direction, but regarding the study of life energy, he had already had a plan for some time.
...
Another half month passed.
"Sandslash, Vibrava, Tyranitar, and Rhyperior. During this time, stay here in the ruins and train well."
"The abilities of you four are related to controlling the power of the sandstorm and rock-type and ground-type energies. This is the best possible place to train."
Before leaving, Ethan left those four Pokémon there. As he himself had said, that place was truly a sacred land for training: Sandslash's technique of controlling sand through the Defense Curl move, Vibrava's development of the Levitate ability, and Rhyperior's overall strengthening would all benefit enormously from that environment.
Furthermore, regarding the secret hidden behind the stone door, he felt that perhaps he could also resolve it along the way during that trip.
After giving the four Pokémon detailed instructions on what they should focus on during that training period, Ethan left the Secret Kingdom riding on Charizard.
This time, his destination was Ironvale City Pokémon University.
When he accepted the principal's request to participate in the world exchange of Pokémon Universities, the principal had promised to give him all the university's information related to Pokémon Doctors, as well as an opportunity to go to Arcaia City Pokémon University for exchanges.
During that event, Ethan had swept through the entire Harvard Pokémon University by himself, and in the World Championship he had also defeated the students from Harvard University who participated, so it could be said that he had crushed Harvard Pokémon University from top to bottom without leaving anything behind.
Under these circumstances, Ethan considered that he had fulfilled his mission perfectly.
Now it was Ironvale City Pokémon University's turn to fulfill its promise.
(End of chapter)