Riolu's training regin remained largely unchanged. He continued with the lightning forging thod, practicing to perfect the moves he had already mastered.
As his physical capabilities improved, Riolu's cells developed stronger resistance to electric energy. Now, he required increasingly powerful electric currents during his lightning-forging sessions, as mild jolts were no longer sufficient to stimulate his cells.
Eventually, the electricity he used would exceed the threshold of a standard Thunderbolt attack. When that happened, the Lightning Rod ability would beco ineffective, and Roy would need to devise alternative training thods. For now, though, Riolu could continue with the current approach.
The effectiveness of the Lightning Forging technique was evident from Elite Carter's astonishnt at Riolu's rapid progress. It was undoubtedly a top-tier training thod among Pokémon Breeders.
"Riolu, continue with your previous training plan, but you must wear this at all tis during your exercises," Roy instructed, pulling sothing from his pocket.
Squirtle peered over curiously and saw that it was a bell.
Riolu accepted the bell calmly and hung it around his neck. By now, he was accustod to his Trainer producing seemingly magical items from his pockets like Doraemon, the robot cat from the famous ani.
"Rio?" Riolu barked inquisitively. Being a mature Pokémon, he eagerly prompted Roy to explain the item's purpose.
"This is called a Soothe Bell," Roy explained. "Wearing it will help stabilize your state of mind, allowing you to perceive your emotions more clearly and strengthen the bond between us."
When Roy ntioned the word "bond," his face flushed slightly. Although he considered his Pokémon family, it was still embarrassing to express such sentints openly. After all, what father casually tells his child "I love you"?
Riolu wagged his tail happily at the ntion of their connection, but still seed puzzled about how the bell would help with his training.
"This bell is extrely important," Roy said, carefully organizing his thoughts to explain its significance to Riolu. The effectiveness of the Soothe Bell largely depended on Riolu's understanding of its purpose.
Among Pokémon moves, several were quite special:
"Return: A move whose power increases with higher friendship with the Trainer."
"Frustration: A move whose power increases with lower friendship with the Trainer."
"Retaliate: A move that gains power if an ally has fainted in the previous turn."
"Work Up: A move that inspires fighting spirit and boosts attack power."
Although these moves were classified as Normal-type, they clearly didn't use Normal-type energy. Rather, they utilized psychic energy manifested through emotions like trust, anxiety, anger, or fighting spirit. The emotional core of these moves generated a form of spiritual energy.
Psychic energy was too abstract to physically grasp, and its manifestations were too simplistic, which was why it was classified under Normal-type moves. However, for Roy, who had mastered Aura powers and had witnessed the Bond Phenonon between Ash and Greninja in his previous life, psychic energy was undeniably significant.
From watching the ani, he had theorized that Ash and Greninja could achieve their Bond Phenonon because Ash possessed the ability to manipulate Aura.
"Aura is also a type of spiritual energy," Roy continued. "I hope with the Soothe Bell's help, you can perceive and control your emotional energy to generate Aura. This might be the key to your evolution."
The evolution requirent for Riolu in the gas was reaching a friendship level of at least 220 points during dayti. Moreover, every Riolu that evolved into Lucario imdiately learned Aura Sphere and mastered Aura powers. This suggested that friendship, or the depth of the bond, might enable Riolu to generate Aura power.
One example might be coincidental, but combined with the previous examples of moves using emotional energy, Roy was convinced that emotional energy was a form of spiritual energy that could transform into Aura power under the right conditions.
"Rio!" Riolu's fur bristled with excitent at the prospect of evolution.
In the Pokémon world's thousands of years of history, people had developed the concept of "friendship" between Pokémon and Trainers. Yet, friendship remained vague, and even in the Pokémon world, people understood very little about psychic energy.
If the Pokémon world itself had limited knowledge, Earth—where Pokémon had only existed for a century—knew even less. People here lacked the concept of "friendship" in relation to Pokémon evolution, leading to debates about when Riolu evolved into Lucario.
So Riolu, despite reaching high levels, never evolved throughout their lives. Others, at lower levels, managed to evolve successfully.
Riolu had been fascinated by this mystery since he was young. He understood that his species' evolution conditions weren't clearly defined and required eting certain unknown criteria. He had maintained a resigned yet hopeful attitude toward evolution.
Now, hearing Roy's theory, Riolu's fighting spirit ignited completely.
"Rio!" He readjusted the Soothe Bell's cord, treating it with reverence.
Next ca Squirtle's training plan.
Roy reached into his pocket to retrieve another special item, intending to explain its effect to Squirtle. However, he noticed Squirtle suddenly slip his cool, slick paw into Roy's pocket, only to withdraw it disappointedly after finding nothing.
Roy gave him a puzzled look. "What are you doing?"
Squirtle retracted his little paw sheepishly and scratched his head.
Roy shot him an annoyed glance before presenting the items he had just procured.
The first was a small ice cube shaped like an iceberg, emanating a chilly aura. For anyone else, holding it would have resulted in frostbite, but fortunately, items from Roy's system had no negative effects on him.
"This is a Never-lt Ice. It contains abundant Ice-type energy. Holding it during battle significantly enhances Ice-type moves," Roy explained. "But I'm not giving you battle equipnt. What I want is for you to absorb the ice energy from the Never-lt Ice to improve your control and affinity with Ice-type energy."
He then produced a second item—a teardrop-shaped pendant.
"This Mystic Water can substantially boost Water-type moves. Your task is to absorb its energy to enhance your Water-type control and affinity."
"When you go to the training grounds tomorrow, use these two items to practice continuously releasing Ice-type and Water-type moves, improving your proficiency..."
The two mysterious items Roy presented would cause a sensation in the outside world—each valuable enough to fetch an eight-figure sum at auction.
Such expensive items were essentially priceless. With only a few spiritual domains worldwide and limited relics, Pokémon items produced from these relics were exceedingly rare.
Combined with specially formulated energy supplents, these two items would precipitate a period of rapid improvent in Squirtle's control over Ice-type and Water-type energy and affinity.
While Roy may not have understood Water-type Pokémon breeding thods—having never trained under a Water-type Gym Leader—he certainly knew how to invest in quality items!
"As for your stamina and resilience..." Roy pondered.
A long-range attacker without deep PP reserves or quick recovery would be ineffective. He had a preliminary idea about addressing this.
"Squirt!"
Squirtle, who had been listening attentively to the training plan and initially thought his tasks would be straightforward, suddenly shuddered. He sensed that sothing unpleasant was coming.
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