"This Lucario used to belong to my family. But now it already recognizes me as its trainer."
Lucas nodded and looked at the Lucario standing beside him.
That Lucario had also been captured by the Silver family in a Secret Kingdom and had been raised by the family ever since.
Now that Lucas had secured a spot in the World Championship, the family also planned to officially hand that Lucario over to him.
In fact, this kind of situation was very common. In large families, without exception, numerous powerful Pokémon were raised.
In a world where Pokémon exist, they themselves are the greatest treasure of a family.
The family could rely on these Pokémon to attract talented people, and they could also use them as rewards for the younger generations, as long as they demonstrated the corresponding value.
As in Lucas's case: although he was one of the family's heirs, in order to obtain certain legacies he still had to prove his worth.
And now, after obtaining a place in the World Championship, the family was investing heavily in his training, with the goal that he would achieve good results and bring prestige to the family.
It was easy to imagine that after the competition for World Championship spots concluded, the trainers who had qualified would receive full support from their respective families, greatly increasing their power.
Among the fastest ways to increase strength was precisely to directly capture a powerful Pokémon raised by the family, such as the Lucario that Lucas had obtained.
When the two Lucario stepped onto the battlefield, the battle erupted instantly.
During the fight, Lucas's Lucario displayed Quasi-Elite level strength.
However, the weakness between them was obvious: their coordination was very poor.
There were even moments when Lucas's Lucario did not obey his commands.
It was evident that Lucas's current strength was barely enough to earn the recognition of that Quasi-Elite level Lucario. He was still far from being able to command it smoothly in battle, let alone achieve mental synchronization.
As for mutual connection, Ethan and his Lucario, who had grown up together, demonstrated it perfectly.
Thanks to the power of aura, Lucario could perfectly understand any instruction from Ethan and trust him without reservation, allowing trainer and Pokémon to unleash even greater power through their bond.
That was why, even though Lucas's Lucario was at Quasi-Elite level and Ethan's was only at the Professional level, the battle was still extremely intense.
Thanks to aura perception, Ethan's Lucario was always able to anticipate the attack trajectory of Lucas's Lucario.
Furthermore, by combining the moves Aura Sphere, Hidden Power, Psychic, and Shadow Ball, he caused Lucas's Lucario's attacks to miss again and again.
...
At that moment, in the Silver family's meeting room.
On the large screen, the battle between the two Lucario was being projected.
"What terrifying long-range combat capability!"
The family elders watched with surprise.
Although they had already heard from Lucas about the battle between Lucario and Zoroark, this was the first time they were directly witnessing Ethan's Lucario's combat style.
If they didn't know that Lucario was a Fighting/Steel-type Pokémon, they would truly think it was a Psychic-type Pokémon.
Both the mastery of long-range moves, their execution, and the control of energy demonstrated impressive strength.
Especially in the mental aspect: the psychic power executed by Lucario even managed to interfere with an opponent at the Quasi-Elite level.
"It seems that Lucario's training route focused on special combat is truly powerful," one of the elders commented.
He looked at Ethan with a complex expression. It was difficult to imagine exactly how he had trained that Lucario.
Not even the Silver family possessed a complete breeding method for Lucario, yet Ethan seemed to have one.
...
"Still, we lost..."
"A Quasi-Elite level Lucario... it really is impressive."
Ethan helped his Lucario up from the ground and sighed softly.
"Luucaarr..."
Lucario let out a dissatisfied growl.
During the battle, under Ethan's commands, his power had not been much inferior to the opponent's.
However, he ultimately lost due to physical exhaustion. After all, the opponent focused on physical training and had far greater endurance.
"Take it easy. Soon you'll reach that level, I guarantee it."
Ethan's eyes narrowed slightly. Now he already had Lucario's Mega Stone in his hands.
If he could successfully complete the Mega Evolution, his strength would definitely rise by one level, reaching Quasi-Elite level, or even surpassing it.
Lucario nodded with complete seriousness. He trusted Ethan two hundred percent. If Ethan said it was possible, he wouldn't doubt it for even a moment.
While Ethan was encouraging his Lucario, Lucas was also talking with his own.
From the battle it could be seen that his Lucario had not fully displayed its Quasi-Elite level strength; it had been completely suppressed by Ethan's command.
If Lucario had obeyed all his commands, Ethan's Lucario would have fallen quickly.
"Luucaarr!"
Lucario looked at Lucas, then at the opponent, and nodded indifferently, which gave Lucas another headache.
That Lucario was truly strong, but he still couldn't properly control it.
However, there were still more than three months before the World Championship. He still had time to truly win Lucario over.
At the same time, the Riolu standing beside Lucas had witnessed the entire battle.
Suddenly, Riolu began to feel excited, because Lucas had told him that the combat style of the Riolu on the other side would be the direction of his next training.
That style of predicting attacks to dodge them perfectly and then pressuring the opponent with Aura Sphere was really cool.
"That was truly a wonderful battle. A Lucario oriented toward special attacks is really strong."
At that moment, the head of the Silver family approached, clapping and smiling.
"I'm honored, Mr. Silver," Ethan replied, slightly narrowing his eyes, waiting for what would come next.
"What Lucario used earlier... was that the power of aura?"
The head of the Silver family spoke in a thoughtful tone, making Ethan's heart tremble.
He hadn't expected him to know about the power of aura as well.
"Power of aura... I'm not sure. But it seems that my Lucario's mental strength underwent some mutation."
Ethan shook his head slightly. He wasn't going to directly admit the aura.
"Mutated mental strength?"
The head of the family fell into thought.
Could the power of aura... be a form of mutated mental strength?
The more he thought about it, the more possible it seemed.
"Let's not beat around the bush," he finally said. "I'm very interested in your Lucario's special training route. Would you be interested in making a deal?"
Ethan thought: Here it comes.
He had accepted the challenge not only to see the confrontation between two different Lucario styles, but also to deliberately display his abilities in front of the head of the Silver family.
His goal was to obtain the Meltan nuts stored in the treasure vault.
Part of Lucario's training method would be his bargaining chip.
In reality, the head of the Silver family had the same intention: he wanted to personally verify the true power of the special-attack-oriented Lucario. And now it seemed clear that it was not inferior to the physical approach.
Moreover, he had unexpectedly discovered that the power of aura might be related to a mutation of mental strength.
Thus, the two quickly reached an agreement.
"They really are Meltan's nuts! And there are exactly eight!"
Upon seeing the opened box, Ethan's heart trembled.
At the same time, he could feel Meltan's Poké Ball at his waist beginning to shake.
That confirmed the authenticity of the eight nuts.
"Eight Meltan nuts!"
"With just one before, Meltan had already improved rapidly. If it now absorbs eight more... its strength will increase enormously and it will directly enter the Quasi-Elite level."
Ethan couldn't help but feel excited. For Meltan, this was an extraordinary opportunity. Then he took out his Riolu training notes and handed them to the head of the Silver family.
Although they were training notes, they did not include any records about emotional energy or the development of aura power.
However, they clearly pointed out Riolu's Inner Focus ability and summarized its development method, without hiding it.
(End of Chapter)