"The matter of the research center is already settled. Next will be exchanging resources."
Ethan arrived at the resource exchange point of the Pokémon Researchers Guild.
Now, as his strength continued increasing, there were fewer and fewer resources he could truly make use of.
However, after becoming a Pokémon Professor, Ethan's permissions had expanded even further.
Before, when he entered the resource exchange point of the Pokémon Researchers Guild, he could only access the first three levels.
But today, thanks to the authority of a Pokémon Professor, he went up to the fourth level of the treasury.
There were not many things displayed on the entire fourth floor, but Ethan had barely taken a glance when his pupils contracted.
The first thing he saw, right on the wall in front of him, was a silver feather.
"Could this be... a feather of the sea god, Lugia?"
Ethan walked up to the silver feather and looked through the glass of the display case.
He could be certain that, from how it was displayed there and from its appearance, aside from Lugia's Silver Wing, it could not be anything else.
"The exchange condition is..."
"Phew... being a Pokémon Professor is barely the minimum requirement, and as for the research points it requires..."
"I'm afraid only a great researcher like President Beckett, a veteran Pokémon Professor who has accumulated an immense number of points, would have the conditions to exchange for it."
Seeing that, Ethan shook his head slightly and abandoned the idea of obtaining it through points.
However, besides that exchange for an astronomical number of points, there was another way to obtain that Lugia feather: research related to it.
Only if it were a study connected to Lugia's feather, and after passing a strict review by the League and the Pokémon Researchers Guild, would there be a possibility of obtaining it.
"Research related to a Legendary Pokémon... Perhaps, when my research on life transition achieves some results, I can apply in that direction."
Ethan reflected on the possibilities of obtaining resources related to Legendary Pokémon, feeling that the life transition experiment really had potential.
"Although, compared with research... There is also another way to quickly obtain a Legendary Pokémon. And that is to directly become an Elite-level trainer."
Suddenly, information related to Elite-level trainers surfaced in Ethan's mind.
Aside from going out to search for a wild Legendary Pokémon on one's own and, through certain methods, capturing it and obtaining its recognition to directly become a Divine Envoy, there existed a much simpler method.
And that method was to become an Elite-level trainer.
According to the information he had consulted in the Pokémon Researchers Guild, once someone became an Elite-level trainer, besides being able to access certain secrets known only to them, they also obtained the opportunity to come into contact with the Legendary Pokémon under the League's control.
And if he managed to obtain the recognition of one of those Legendary Pokémon, he could directly become a Divine Envoy!
Of course, the Legendary Pokémon controlled by the League were in no way comparable to wild Legendary Pokémon; capturing them or winning their acceptance was even more difficult.
"Right now my strength has already reached the Quasi-Elite level. In addition, with the prestige I gained from winning this World Championship... In reality, I already have the necessary qualification to compete in the Elite Tournament."
Ethan continued reflecting inwardly, although he also knew that he only had the qualification to enter.
He was still very far from having the strength necessary to defeat all the participants of the Elite Tournament and become one of the League's Elite-level trainers.
For that reason, he felt that during this period, the most important thing was still to accumulate experience and assimilate his current strength.
When his power truly approached the Elite level, then he could officially launch himself into the Elite Tournament.
Taking his gaze away from Lugia's feather, Ethan once again inspected the items on the fourth level of the treasury.
"I found it, the Life Orb!"
At that moment, his eyes lit up with joy.
The main reason he had come to the treasury this time was precisely for the Life Orb.
The effect of the Life Orb was that, when a Pokémon carried it equipped, it lost some vitality each time it attacked, but in exchange, the power of its moves increased.
In Ethan's eyes, the Life Orb was an item that used life energy to strengthen a Pokémon's power, and therefore also constituted a form of application of life energy.
Now, thanks to training with healing moves, Lucario could already use the power of aura to begin controlling life energy.
And perhaps, through an item like the Life Orb, Lucario could learn to use life energy to reinforce itself, which would be a much deeper use of that energy.
After painfully paying an enormous number of points, Ethan finally obtained that ultra-rare item: the Life Orb.
"I finally have the Life Orb. Now there is still one more item."
With the Life Orb in hand, Ethan returned to the third level of the treasury.
Very soon, he found that unknown Mega Stone with red and violet tones.
Now he already had enough authority and enough points to exchange for that Mega Stone, so naturally he acquired it without hesitation.
"Although, with the development of the life transition experiment, Mega Evolution will sooner or later end up coming to light... From now on, perhaps I can begin gathering a large number of Mega Stones and Key Stones."
With the Mega Stone in hand, Ethan fell into thought, feeling that this could become one of the cards that would take him to the summit.
Because the conditions necessary for Mega Evolution were too demanding, if he did not reveal it, it would be very difficult for anyone to discover it on their own.
Among all the conditions, in reality, the Mega Stone and the Key Stone were the easiest aspect to achieve.
In contrast, achieving a true spiritual connection with the Pokémon, forging a deep bond, and also possessing enough mental strength to communicate with the Key Stone and sustain the Pokémon's Mega Evolution were two requirements that almost no one could fulfill.
For that reason, even if he revealed the function of the Mega Stones and Key Stones, Mega Evolution would probably still not appear for a long time.
(End of chapter)