At that moment, in the desert, the dark Hakamo-o could already be seen waiting there for quite some time.
When it saw the silhouette of Charizard rapidly approaching from the distance, a fiery glint also appeared in the eyes of the dark Hakamo-o.
It had completely observed Charizard's performance that day, and after learning its true strength, an intense battle intent immediately arose within it.
"Come on, today we'll continue challenging Garchomp," Ethan said with a smile to the dark Hakamo-o.
During those days, Ethan had accompanied it every day to challenge Garchomp.
Although the dark Hakamo-o lost in every confrontation, during that process its close-combat techniques constantly improved.
The facts proved that the martial arts manual from the Multitype Martial Dojo was truly very suitable for the dark Hakamo-o.
That dojo had become famous for maximizing the physical combat ability of Pokémon. Now applied to the dark Hakamo-o, it turned its fists, claws, tail, and even the scales of its body into lethal weapons.
The changes in the dark Hakamo-o did not go unnoticed by Garchomp, who also began to feel even more curious about Ethan, that human.
The previous day, Garchomp had also watched Charizard's battle, and when it saw the Dragon form of Sunny Day, it was deeply shocked.
Later, after witnessing the battles between the various dragon messengers, it understood the enormous importance of combat techniques.
Combining this with the changes it saw in Hakamo-o, it even began to have the idea of asking that human to help train it as well.
"Maybe... I could try following what this human says?"
"The Sand Veil ability is just like Hakamo-o's capacity to endure the sand; it is an innate ability that already belongs to me!"
Garchomp pondered. However, the pride inherent to a pseudo-legendary made it hesitate for a moment.
...
After finishing the battle, Ethan returned to his lodging carrying a dark Hakamo-o covered in wounds.
Although after learning combat techniques its strength had increased enormously, there was still a huge gap between it and Garchomp.
Even so, it could not be denied that the gap was slowly shrinking, which filled the dark Hakamo-o with hope and motivated it to train even harder.
"Effort always brings rewards. Through training, one must constantly become familiar with their own body. Then, integrate the combat techniques into the body until they become instinct."
At the same time, Ethan combined his own experience to give the dark Hakamo-o many pieces of advice.
Techniques have no shortcuts. Just like in martial arts, only constant effort and perseverance can lead to mastery.
And effort and refusal to give up were precisely the greatest virtues of the dark Hakamo-o. Seeing Hakamo-o maintaining a firm stance and seriously training strike after strike, Ethan smiled with satisfaction.
Then, when the dark Hakamo-o entered a cultivation state, Ethan did not remain idle either. He walked toward Charizard, Tyranitar, and Vibrava, who were also training, to help them.
"Charizard, let's continue the Mega Evolution training," Ethan said with a smile, holding the Key Stone in his hand.
"Charrzz!"
Charizard roared excitedly at once.
Immediately afterward, a stream of energy began to flow inside its body.
At that moment, Charizard activated the energy of the Mega Stone it carried within itself.
After so much practice, Charizard was already completely capable of inducing the energy of the Mega Stone on its own.
In fact, the Dragon form of Sunny Day was achieved precisely thanks to the power of the Mega Stone, and while training that technique, Charizard was also continuously becoming familiar with that energy.
"Come on, Mega Evolution!"
Ethan took a deep breath and began communicating with the Key Stone in his hand.
At the same time, guided by the Mega Stone inside Charizard, the Key Stone began to emit a faint glow.
However, after a moment, the energy of the Key Stone and the Mega Stone began to slowly dissipate. Although they had managed to activate the resonance between the two, the Mega Evolution was not completed.
"Is something still missing?"
"All the conditions already seem to be met. In that case... it must be a problem of bond."
"The bond... how exactly is the bond required for Mega Evolution achieved?"
Ethan looked at the Key Stone, which had returned to its normal state, and could not help feeling frustrated.
He and Charizard had already gone through so many things together. Could it be that only through a life-and-death trial could the bond finally achieve sublimation?
In his mind, memories related to Mega Evolution from the anime began to surface, and the most valuable example was undoubtedly the bond evolution between Ash and Greninja.
"Tyran!"
While Ethan was reflecting on Mega Evolution, Tyranitar looked at him with an expectant expression.
After Ethan's explanations, Tyranitar already knew how it should evolve in the future.
And it also knew that what Ethan and Charizard were trying now was the so-called Mega Evolution.
Then it remembered that one of the requirements for Mega Evolution was the bond. After hesitating for a moment, Tyranitar cautiously approached and carefully handed Ethan a Pokéblock that it had secretly kept.
"You're giving it to me so I can eat it?"
Ethan smiled gently, accepted Tyranitar's gesture, and put it in his mouth.
Afterward, seeing Tyranitar's happy expression, he guessed its thoughts and could not help laughing a little.
If the bond could be established so easily, he would not have to worry so much about Charizard's evolution.
Apparently, Tyranitar also understood what Ethan was thinking and scratched its head awkwardly. After all, with its simple mind, it did not really understand what that bond meant.
"I accept your intention."
Ethan smiled and patted Tyranitar's thick armor.
Intention.
Suddenly, Ethan froze.
If he could feel Tyranitar's intention, what about Charizard?
"Wait... if I remember correctly, one of the steps for Ash and Greninja to complete the bond evolution was precisely the connection of hearts, right?"
Ethan recalled the details of Greninja's bond evolution.
In the episode Seeing the Forest for the Trees!, Greninja heard Ash's confession and, after recovering its strength, left the group just like him to enter the forest alone and reflect.
When the snowstorm arrived, following Zygarde's guidance, it found and rescued Ash in time, who had fallen off a cliff while trying to save Spewpa.
At the moment of rescuing Spewpa, Greninja and Ash connected their hearts, transforming into the complete form of Ash's Greninja and finally managing to save Spewpa.
From this, it could be concluded that one of the steps to build a bond with a Pokémon was precisely the connection of emotions.
(End of Chapter)