Venusaur's ability to manipulate the power of life proved incredibly useful, whether in battle or in everyday situations. The greenery inside this large greenhouse consists of ordinary plants; for Venusaur, coaxing them to grow is a trivial task.
While rare fruit trees and plants that are difficult to cultivate might pose a bit of a challenge, it is nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
For Venusaur, anything involving plant growth is well within its capabilities.
The environment in Professor Oak's backyard has been completely transformed; with Venusaur there, the Professor doesn't need to worry about maintenance, saving him a tremendous amount of time.
Moreover, the backyard is now filled with countless fruit trees, including some extremely rare varieties.
These rare trees typically require harsh, specific environments to survive, yet with Venusaur's help, they thrive right there in the backyard.
By now, the backyard has become completely dependent on Venusaur; if it were to leave for even two or three days, the place would likely fall into chaos.
After all, there is such a vast number of plants that Professor Oak would practically break his back just trying to water them all individually.
Not to mention that different plants have different survival needs—some only flourish when Venusaur is present. If Venusaur were away for too long, those demanding plants would likely wither and die.
Venusaur has effectively become the chief caretaker of the backyard; both the plants and the resident Pokémon heed its commands.
Furthermore, stimulating plant growth in the backyard significantly boosts Venusaur's own strength. Even while juggling so many responsibilities, its power grows just as fast—if not faster—than that of the Pokémon in Ash's active team.
This is, after all, the method of growth best suited to Venusaur.
After resolving the environmental issues at the Azalea Gym and bidding farewell to Bugsy, the group headed toward Mr. Pokémon's—or rather, Kurt's—location.
On the way, Ash sent Venusaur back to the lab; he generally doesn't keep it in his active party unless necessary.
The last time he kept Venusaur in his party for a week, not only was its growth slower than at the lab, but the backyard fell into disarray. Back then, Professor Oak had frantically urged Ash to send Venusaur back immediately, leaving Ash completely bewildered.
That incident meant Ash rarely rotated Venusaur into his active team afterward; aside from actual battles, he likely wouldn't be sending it back to the lab much at all.
After all, the sanctuary grounds simply couldn't function without Venusaur there!
Before long, the group arrived at Mr. Kurt's home—an unassuming wooden cottage. For the creator of Apricorn Poké Balls to live in such a place really showed just how humble he was.
Ash knocked on the door, and it was opened by a little girl who looked to be only seven or eight years old; she was Mr. Kurt's granddaughter, Maizie.
Mr. Kurt was currently busy crafting Poké Balls, so Maizie invited them to sit in the main room and served them some tea.
The house was simple on the outside and equally minimalist on the inside; it was clear that Mr. Kurt truly cared little for fame or fortune.
After sitting down, Ash mentioned he wanted to rest for a bit. He closed his eyes, appearing as though he were simply meditating, but in reality, his consciousness had already immersed itself in the chat group.
[Ascender Ash: Hey everyone, do you know anything about Lucario having a different Mega Evolution form?]
Ash had spent ages thinking about the existence of another Mega Stone for Lucario but couldn't come up with any leads, so he decided to ask the group for help.
It was possible that, in other parallel worlds, other Mega Evolution forms for Lucario might exist.
[Aura Guardian Ash: Another form? Never heard of it. Lucario is supposed to have one—and only one—Mega Evolution.]
[Breeder Ash: Yeah, it's been nearly ten years since Mega Evolution was discovered in our world, and I've never heard of Lucario having two forms either.]
[Fighter Ash: Never heard of it either.jpg]
[...]
Ash's question drew out many "Ash" variants who usually stayed silent in the chat; after all, the idea of a second Mega Evolution for Lucario was absolutely unheard of.
Since Ash brought it up here, it implies that a second form of Mega Evolution for Lucario has appeared—or at least might have appeared—in his world; otherwise, why would he be asking about it in the group chat?
However, this question from Ash touched upon a gap in their collective knowledge.
None of them had ever heard of a second Mega Evolution form for Lucario, either!
[Champion Ash: I know about it.]
[Ascender Ash: Really?!]
Just when all hope seemed lost—after all, none of the other parallel-world versions of himself had ever heard of a second Mega Evolution form for Lucario, suggesting it might be unique to his world, much like Pikachu's Partner Form—Champion Ash revealed that he actually knew about it.
[Champion Ash: Actually, I only discovered this form recently myself. It all started with an anomaly in Lumiose City...]
In Champion Ash's world, Lumiose City in the Kalos region had nearly suffered a catastrophic disaster when numerous Pokémon began undergoing Mega Evolution uncontrollably.
They were Mega Evolving without the presence of Trainers, and the group included Pokémon whose Mega Evolutions had never been seen before—such as Tatsugiri and Hawlucha...
In order to investigate the cause of the Mega Evolution rampage...
Champion Ash returned to Lumiose City after a long absence, only to find the place completely transformed.
A competition known as the "ZA Summit Battle" was being held there. Reaching the highest rank—Class A—would not only earn one the title of Lumiose City's strongest Trainer but also grant a reward where the organizers would unconditionally fulfill any single wish—even the desire to rule the city itself.
Sensing something amiss, Champion Ash entered the tournament incognito, concealing both his name and appearance. Unsurprisingly, he emerged as the tournament's strongest Trainer and secured a meeting with the organizers.
Standing before the chairman of the Group—the event's organizer—Ash revealed his true identity and demanded answers regarding the Summit Battle and the rampaging Mega-Evolved Pokémon.
He eventually learned the truth from a man named AZ: Lysandre, the former leader of Team Flare, had activated the "Ultimate Weapon," causing a malfunction, the guardian device housed within Prism Tower.
While the situation was initially under control, many Pokémon in Lumiose City had recently begun to suffer the consequences. Numerous frenzied Pokémon were actively attacking humans.
Furthermore, some Pokémon—carrying Mega Stones for reasons unknown—were being exposed to Ultimate Weapon's energy, triggering Mega Evolution without the need for a Trainer.
However, this type of Mega Evolution caused the Pokémon to lose all reason, resulting in an uncontrollable surge of energy.
Lumiose City had descended into total chaos.
AZ and their Group devised a plan: determine the strongest Trainer and send them into Prism Tower to stop Ultimate Weapon.
Stopping Ultimate Weapon required the help of a specific Pokémon by AZ's side: an ancient Floette that had lived for three thousand years.
Only a Trainer of immense skill could command this ancient Floette and trigger its Mega Evolution to halt Ultimate Weapon.
This responsibility ultimately fell to Champion Ash, who lived up to expectations and resolved the crisis at Prism Tower.
Yet, he achieved this not through the Floette, but by harnessing the power of Greninja and Zygarde.
[Ascender Ash: Greninja is a Pokémon from the Kalos region, right? Zygarde is the guardian deity protecting the world's ecosystem—can those two actually work together?]
Since Champion Ash had only given a rough overview, Ash didn't know the specific details; he just found the idea of Greninja and Zygarde teaming up incredibly strange.
It was like asking a Fearow and Ho-Oh to team up to resolve a global crisis—it was just too bizarre!
[Champion Ash: My Greninja is a bit different. It's not just me; all versions of 'Ash' are like this—including you, rookie. One day, you'll meet the Froakie destined for you, and then you'll understand exactly what I mean.]
Champion Ash only mentioned it briefly before moving on.
Sometimes, saying too much can alter the course of destiny itself, so he didn't intend to reveal the unique nature of his Greninja to Ash, choosing instead to continue the story.
Even after the Prism Tower incident was resolved, the strange disturbances in Lumiose City hadn't ended.
Strange, alternate dimensions began appearing within Lumiose City—dim, grayish versions of the city populated by Pokémon from many different regions.
As time passed, the scope of this alternate Lumiose expanded, gradually swallowing up the real city.
Champion Ash pulled some strings to bring Hoopa in; with Hoopa's help, he finally deciphered the patterns behind the dimensions' appearance and pinpointed the culprit responsible: Darkrai!
That Darkrai had absorbed an overflow of Mega Energy, causing it to undergo a Mega Evolution that spiraled out of control.
It used its power as the Nightmare Pokémon to project the dream world into reality, causing Lumiose City to be consumed by the dreamscape.
It wasn't until Champion Ash defeated Darkrai that the disturbances in Lumiose City finally came to an end.
Although the disturbances ceased, the appearance of these alternate dimensions led to the discovery of more Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution—yet the Mega-capable Pokémon found within those dimensions were unable to Mega Evolve in the real world. Eventually, Champion Ash discovered the reason.
The latent genetic chains within those Pokémon hadn't been activated; consequently, they couldn't resonate with the Mega Stone, making Mega Evolution impossible.
The mechanism behind the "Otherworld Lumiose City" was that the nightmare realm was saturated with the collective fantasies of Lumiose City's citizens.
As a result, the latent genetic chains within certain Pokémon were inadvertently triggered within the dreamscape, ultimately enabling them to Mega Evolve while in that alternate version of Lumiose.
That was precisely how Lucario's other Mega Evolved form came to be.
However, if your Lucario hadn't entered that Otherworld Lumiose, it couldn't rely on the power of dreams to activate those latent genetic chains—meaning it wouldn't be able to use the other Mega Stone to evolve.
[Ascender Ash: So, if I want Lucario to evolve into that other Mega form, I need to find Darkrai first?]
[Champion Ash: That's just one way to do it. Now that you know the reason, why not try using your amazing Aura powers to see if you can trigger it yourself?]
Dream-induced activation was merely one method; for anyone else, short of replicating the events Champion Ash experienced, there was truly no way to activate a Pokémon's latent genetic chains.
After all, this was a matter of Pokémon genetics—usually, only researchers could find a solution. Trainers might as well give up on the idea, as it wasn't something that could be triggered simply through standard training.
But Ash was different; he possessed the power of Aura—a force that, while written as "Aura," could essentially be read as "omnipotent power," useful in any situation.
It was entirely possible that even genetic chains could be unlocked using the power of Aura.
As for what to do if Aura proved ineffective... well, the options would be to either ask Professor Oak for a solution or seek out the Nightmare Pokémon itself.
[Ascender Ash: I understand. Thanks, Champion!]
...
Back in reality, Ash's consciousness returned to his body. He opened his eyes, mentally processing what Champion Ash had just told him.
Aside from the matter of Lucario's other genetic chain, there was one other thing weighing heavily on his mind: Froakie.
Although Ash didn't say much, his intuition told him that the Froakie—whose existence he had sensed—was going to be important to him.
However, he didn't have time to travel to the Kalos region right now, and actually meeting that Froakie seemed like a distant prospect, so he had to put the matter aside for the moment.
"Pika-pika!" Pikachu nudged Ash and pointed ahead. Ash followed Pikachu's gaze and saw an elderly man with a full head of white hair striding confidently toward them.
This must be Mr. Kurt. He looked even older than Gurkinn, yet his vigor and spirit were easily a match for any young man.
Do elderly people these days always have this much energy?
"Hello there. You must be the young people Professor Oak told me about, right?"
"Yes. My name is Ash, and these are my friends: Misty, Brock, and Serena."
Kurt nodded at the group, then fixed his gaze on Ash. "I know who you are. That fellow Oak really found a promising talent; it looks like Kanto will soon have a new pillar of strength."
"Let me take a look at that Poké Ball."
"All right." Ash took the GS Ball from his backpack and handed it to Kurt.
Kurt turned the GS Ball over casually in his hands, examining it. A moment later, he spoke with an expression of awe: "I have no idea who crafted this Poké Ball. Setting aside its functions, the craftsmanship alone is enough to leave an old man like me absolutely amazed."
"I need some time to study this ball. Maizie, why don't you take them for a walk around the hill out back? If you manage to gather some Apricorns, I can craft some Apricorn Balls for you."