"Riolu, do you feel anything?"
While walking through the emotional-energy research laboratory, Ethan asked the Riolu beside him.
"Riou!"
Riolu's eyes were shining brightly.
Perhaps truly due to its innate and powerful spiritual strength, it could clearly and directly perceive the existence of emotional energy.
After focusing on its sensations, it immediately discovered that this energy was not inferior to psychic power.
If it really managed to master it...
It would definitely become stronger. It began to believe in Ethan's words.
"Just as I expected, huh?"
Ethan curved the corner of his lips slightly.
"Ethan, this is the method for learning the move Return."
Ahead of him, President Beckett turned after sensing something and looked at Riolu.
"Thank you, President."
Ethan immediately took the manual and opened it to take a look.
Perceiving emotional energy, controlling emotional energy, using emotional energy...
...
"The move Return is exactly what its name implies. The most important thing is the emotional bond between the trainer and the Pokémon."
"Only a deep bond between the two can generate the emotional energy that gives rise to the move Return. In addition, the desire to protect can also be transformed into energy for this move..."
Seeing Ethan fall into deep thought, President Beckett began explaining in detail while glancing toward the inner area of the lab, where several Pokémon were learning the move.
However, the use of emotional energy wasn't that simple. So far, only Pokémon related to emotions—Ralts, Kirlia, and Gardevoir—could understand it with relative ease.
Of course, emotional energy needed time to accumulate. Perhaps the research was still too new, and the lack of sufficient bonds between researchers and the Pokémon was also part of the problem.
In fact, when Ethan said he wanted to learn the move Return, President Beckett had been genuinely happy. If Riolu managed to master it, wouldn't it become an excellent research subject?
"Thank you, President."
After a bit more conversation, Ethan stored the book in his backpack, planning to study it thoroughly later and return it when he left the Secret Kingdom.
While Ethan and President Beckett were studying emotional energy, Professor Harris and Professor Vega also rushed in—naturally, their goal... was Cacturne.
Ethan had kept Cacturne for an entire month. During that time, their experiment on hidden-ability conversion had been stuck at a critical point. Now that Ethan had finally returned with it, they wasted no time hurrying over.
Ethan could only smile bitterly. He paused the visit to the laboratory and followed the professors to the ability research lab.
Developing Cacturne's ability Water Absorb had always been a priority. But on top of that, Cacturne now had another goal: gathering all of its poisonous spines into its body.
"Poison Point ability?"
Hearing Ethan's explanation regarding the development of Cacturne's spines, President Beckett and the two professors exchanged looks.
They examined the spikes on Cacturne's body, unable to understand how Ethan connected that with the ability Poison Point.
Ethan took a moment to think but didn't mention his idea involving the Poison Barb item. He only explained that after obtaining the Black Sludge and training Cacturne's Toxic, he had discovered it accidentally.
"Ethan, if you don't become a professional researcher, you're wasting your talent," Professor Vega couldn't help but say. Being bold enough to form hypotheses and explore them was essential to any great researcher.
And Ethan matched that description perfectly. Not only with "New Directions for Pokémon Evolution," "The Connection Between Emotional Energy and Totem Pokémon," or "Hypothesis on Hidden Abilities," but also with his special training methods and now this "Development of Cacturne's Toxic Spines."
"As long as you professors handle the research, that's enough. I'm just providing a few ideas from behind the scenes."
Ethan smiled bashfully. As a "plagiarist," his conscience was not entirely at ease.
"I'll leave the development of Cacturne's toxic capabilities to you, professors," Ethan continued.
He trusted them completely. Among the Pokémon that could have Poison Point, the most representative were Nidoking and Nidoqueen, both Ground-types.
And since the ability was quite common among them, Professor Harris, a Ground-type specialist, would surely understand it well.
Furthermore, among Water-types, there were also Seadra and Qwilfish, so Professor Vega, an expert in Water-type Pokémon, would also have relevant experience.
"Don't worry, I'm quite knowledgeable about the Poison Point ability," Professor Harris said, patting Ethan's shoulder with a smile, warming his heart.
Suddenly, Ethan remembered the Protector item in his backpack and thought he should give it to Professor Harris at some point.
The professor's Rhydon was his signature Pokémon. If it could evolve further, its strength would increase immensely.
As for the Rhyhorn... Ethan had always wanted to catch it, but its "mother," Rhydon, was far too protective, and its power was terrifying. It was probably already at the threshold of Elite level, and every attempt Ethan had made ended in defeat.
After leaving a few final instructions, Ethan left Cacturne and followed President Beckett back to the Guild headquarters.
In the resting room, Ethan looked at the five Pokémon present and felt a bit strange.
Originally, his team had ten Pokémon. Now only Meltan, Shuckle, Vibrava, Charmeleon, and Riolu remained. Not even enough for a full team of six.
"The combat strength is at rock bottom. If I return to the university like this, I'll probably lose against anyone..."
He examined his current lineup with concern. Except for Meltan, none of the other four had fully developed combat power yet.
Knock, knock, knock.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door.
With some hesitation, Ethan opened it and found President Beckett standing there with a broad smile.
"President, what brings you here?"
Hearing the question, President Beckett smiled and looked at the five Pokémon inside the room. His smile deepened.
"It seems you're worried about your team composition, isn't that right?"
He chuckled lightly and, under Ethan's surprised gaze, pulled out a Poké Ball.
(End of chapter)