"Luuucaarr!"
Lucario's gaze sharpened, and as he raised his hand, a mass of ghostly flames likewise appeared before him, blocking point by point all of the attacks from the move Will-O-Wisp.
Boom, boom, boom!
Several ghostly flames collided with one another and exploded like fireworks, turning into tiny sparks that slowly fell down.
"W-W-Will-O-Wisp???"
"Since when can Lucario use the move Will-O-Wisp?"
Upon seeing the move Lucario had used, a look of doubt appeared in Ethan's eyes.
At that very moment, the aura energy around Lucario's body expanded once more.
Lucario fixed his gaze on Gengar and, raising his hand, the move Aura Sphere condensed and shot toward Gengar with a sharp whistling sound that cut through the air.
Seeing this, Gengar had no choice but to abandon control of the move Will-O-Wisp. One after another, several dark orbs began to form in its hands, which were launched head-on toward the Aura Sphere.
Boom!
A series of Shadow Ball attacks collided with the Aura Sphere, causing a powerful explosion.
But immediately after that came a continuous barrage of Aura Sphere attacks. Lucario kept both palms thrust forward, and Aura Sphere shot out one after another like bullets from a laser machine gun.
Boom, boom, boom!
Almost in an instant, Gengar's figure was completely submerged under the Aura Sphere attacks.
Under the locking effect of aura power, the invisibility ability in which Gengar excelled the most had no room to be deployed at all.
In the ensuing battle, Lucario completely suppressed Gengar, leaving it without the slightest ability to counterattack.
There was no other alternative: once its Poison-type moves, in which it excelled the most, were countered by Lucario, Gengar's room for maneuver became extremely limited.
Moreover, aura power had a locking effect on Ghost-type Pokémon, making it impossible for most of Gengar's abilities to be deployed.
In the end, relying solely on moves such as Shadow Ball and Will-O-Wisp, Gengar did nothing more than buy time. When it was once again locked onto by Aura Sphere, and under a continuous barrage of these attacks, it inevitably lost its ability to battle.
"I... I lost..."
Max Sterling stared blankly at everything that had happened, suddenly feeling that the scene was unreal.
Clearly, it had been Gengar who held the advantage for much of the battle—so why did the situation suddenly take such a sharp turn, ending with Gengar losing in this way?
"So strong, Lucario is incredibly strong!"
At the same time, after a brief silence, the stands suddenly erupted into a deafening ovation.
However, unlike the ordinary audience who simply enjoyed the spectacle, those who knew well the difficulty of Lucario's evolution wore solemn expressions.
Because of how powerful and rare Lucario is, numerous Researchers had long studied its methods of evolution. Nevertheless, to this day, none of them had managed to successfully evolve a Riolu.
As a result, within academic circles, the theory had spread that for Riolu to evolve into Lucario, some kind of special condition had to be met.
Later on, after the publication of Ethan's paper titled "A New Direction in Pokémon Evolution," the issue of Riolu's evolution once again attracted the attention of Researchers. However, no matter what kind of evolutionary items they used, none succeeded in making Riolu evolve.
But today, before their very eyes, they had seen a Riolu evolve into Lucario. That sight made their excitement boil over.
"Wait a moment! Did anyone see how Riolu evolved into Lucario?"
Suddenly, a professor looked at the others and asked with an utterly bewildered expression.
"How did it evolve?"
"Damn it! When Riolu was evolving, the effect of the move Smog blocked everything. I didn't see absolutely anything!"
The other professors then reacted, and one after another began to lament loudly, causing other students to look at them in surprise.
...
After the battle ended, Ethan immediately took Lucario away.
From experience, he knew that if he delayed even a little, he would undoubtedly be blocked by reporters drawn by the news and would be unable to leave.
And the facts proved that his decision was very wise. Shortly after the battle ended, a large number of reporters swarmed toward the Pokémon University of Ironvale City.
Unable to find Ethan, who had already withdrawn in advance, the reporters directly surrounded Max to interrogate him, which was undoubtedly like rubbing salt into his wound, completely infuriating him.
On the other hand, after returning to his dormitory to rest, Ethan was surrounded by several university professors.
"Professors, as for Lucario's method of evolution, for now I still don't have it completely figured out. If I obtain any information, I will immediately submit it to the Pokémon Researchers' Guild."
Facing the professors surrounding him, Ethan shrugged. The matter of evolution through Friendship was not yet the time to make it public.
However, the day of its disclosure was not far off. All that was needed was to find a suitable opportunity, as it was an entirely new method of evolution.
Who knew what kind of reaction those Researchers and professors would have when they discovered evolution through Friendship?
Moreover, he was now just one small step away from becoming an Elite-level researcher. If this new method of evolution were made public, perhaps it could help him reach that level, or even become a Pokémon Professor.
Hearing what Ethan said, the professors sighed softly. Although they were very curious, it was not appropriate to press further.
"Ethan, Riolu's evolution requires a special method, right?"
After the professors left, Lucas Silver approached Ethan and spoke seriously.
"Yes, it probably does. And also... treat your Riolu a little better."
Ethan smiled faintly and then walked past Lucas.
He had already given him the hint; whether he could understand it or not would depend on him.
...
"Lucario, you were incredible."
After leaving the dormitory, Ethan directly released Charizard.
Mounting it, he headed toward the uninhabited back mountain, intending to better understand Lucario's current condition.
After evolving from Riolu into Lucario, it could be said that the changes had been truly drastic.
"Luuucaarr!"
Upon hearing Ethan's praise, Lucario's eyes narrowed, showing a satisfied expression.
After so much effort, he had finally achieved results.
He closed his eyes and began to recall the previous battle.
That feeling of being able to unleash attacks at will—he knew it came from his powerful mental strength.
The facts proved that Ethan had not lied to him. Although he was a Fighting-type Pokémon, following a long-range special-attack route was completely viable.
He could feel that his current strength was not inferior in the slightest to that of a traditional route, and according to what Ethan said, after evolving into Lucario, this was only the beginning.
At that moment, he felt infinite gratitude toward Ethan. His eyes were filled with trust, and between the two of them, a strong bond formed, firmly connecting trainer and Pokémon.
(End of chapter)