Time passed quickly.
Over this period, Ralts had fully adapted to its new life.
It had even started to train under Aven's guidance.
Having survived the wild, Ralts held no resistance to getting stronger.
…
"Ralts, this move is called Calm Mind."
"With continued practice, your mental power will increase steadily."
In the backyard of the Pokémon Breeding House, Aven was teaching Ralts how to train with the move Calm Mind.
Calm Mind was a Psychic-type move that allowed a Pokémon to increase its Special Attack and Special Defense by meditating and focusing its mind.
In battle, this move served as a buff to temporarily enhance a Pokémon's combat strength.
But even outside of battle, it had practical benefits—it gradually strengthened a Pokémon's mental power, helping it grow stronger over time.
This move was a classic example of a technique developed and refined by future generations of humans.
In fact, different types of meditation techniques had evolved from it—some even advanced enough to be learned by humans to help them develop psychic powers themselves.
However, in this ancient world, the move Calm Mind had never appeared before.
Which meant that Ralts might very well become the first Pokémon in this era to learn it!
"Ralts~"
Ralts sat cross-legged on the grass, following Aven's instructions and attempting to enter a meditative state.
But no matter how hard it tried, it just couldn't reach the mental clarity Aven had described.
This left the little Pokémon visibly frustrated.
"Ralts, use Telepathy to link directly with me. I'll guide you through it."
Hearing this, Ralts paused for a moment, then quickly nodded and closed its eyes, activating its Telepathy ability.
At the same time, Aven also sat cross-legged on the grass.
He instantly felt a tugging sensation in his mind as his consciousness was drawn outward.
Without resisting, he allowed Ralts to pull his mind into its spiritual space.
When he opened his eyes again, Aven found himself in a multicolored, rainbow-like world.
In front of him stood Ralts, who greeted him with a sweet smile.
"So this is your spiritual realm?"
Aven looked around with curiosity, but not surprise.
In his previous life, he had once entered a Gardevoir's mental world, so this wasn't entirely new to him.
"Aven, welcome to my mindscape"
A soft, ethereal voice echoed all around him—Ralts was now speaking to him directly through Telepathy.
"Hmm, it's a beautiful place," Aven responded, nodding.
"But keeping this connection up must be mentally exhausting for you."
"Let's begin our Calm Mind training."
Aven smiled and sat down, closing his eyes to enter meditation.
…
In his previous life, he had also trained in meditation techniques, but always needed help from his Gardevoir to do so.
Unfortunately, his psychic potential back then was average at best, and he had never succeeded in awakening psychic powers—something that had always frustrated him.
Truthfully, it was incredibly difficult for humans to develop psychic powers.
Maybe one out of ten thousand who trained in psychic techniques would succeed, if that.
"Ralts~"
Seeing Aven's pose, Ralts nodded and also sat down.
Then, using its ability, it linked their minds together.
Slowly, it began to feel Aven's meditative state, and its own consciousness gradually calmed.
Its psychic power began to flow quietly and rhythmically through its spiritual space.
…
No one knew how much time passed.
Eventually, Aven and Ralts opened their eyes simultaneously, each reflecting on the sensations they had just experienced.
"That feeling… was amazing."
Aven sensed his mental fatigue, which had been accumulating for some time, vanish in an instant.
The effect of this meditation was incredible.
Even in his previous life, with Gardevoir's help, he had never entered such a deep state of mental clarity.
'Could it be that Ralts' Telepathy enhanced the effect of my meditation?'
'Or maybe… this body of mine has better psychic potential?'
Either way, this was definitely a good thing.
From now on, Aven planned to meditate often and test whether he could actually awaken psychic abilities.
On the other side, Ralts was also feeling the changes in its body.
As a Psychic-type Pokémon, Ralts was especially attuned to the state of its mental power.
After a brief internal check, it was surprised to find that its psychic strength had noticeably increased!
This was the first time since it had awakened Telepathy that it could clearly feel such a direct improvement.
Normally, mental strength only grew bit by bit, making the changes hard to notice.
"Ralts~!"
Its eyes sparkled.
It was so excited it wanted to pull Aven back into meditation immediately!
"Looks like it really worked well," Aven smiled.
"But next, you should try meditating on your own."
"Telepathy is still a burden on your mind. Solo training should yield even better results."
Ralts nodded eagerly and closed its eyes, trying to recall the sensations from before.
Seeing this, Aven nodded in satisfaction.
The first meditation usually had the most pronounced effect.
As training continued, those effects would gradually decrease—because strengthening psychic power was inherently a slow process, not something achieved overnight.
…
"Lil lil~"
Seeing this, Petilil came over curiously and asked what the two of them had been doing.
"It's nothing special—just training." Aven said, patting her on the head.
"Don't slack off on your training either."
"Psychic power may be mysterious, but Grass Energy and Life Energy are just as potent—if not even more powerful."
Hearing this, Petilil stuck out her tongue playfully.
After glancing at the meditating Ralts, she returned to practicing Nature Power.
Because they were on grass, Nature Power manifested as a Grass-type move.
Petilil was currently gathering energy, and once she succeeded, she didn't unleash a Razor Leaf—she continued charging up the move instead.
As the energy built up, her life force slowly began to merge with the grass-type Nature Power.
"Lil lil~"
Suddenly, Petilil sensed a reaction.
The two types of energy—Normal and Life—began to fuse together.
Soon, the glowing force in her hands started to swirl and compress into a ball shape, gradually stabilizing.
Holding the now emerald green energy orb, Petilil stared at it, a bit stunned.
"Did I… really combine the two?"
She had been skeptical about Aven's claim that merging Life Energy with Nature Power could create a new move.
But now that she'd actually done it—
"Congratulations, you've learned Energy Ball."
Aven's voice rang in her ears, full of delight.
He too was amazed.
Petilil's talent was truly outstanding.
Energy Ball was a powerful Grass-type move that drew on the natural life energy of the environment to launch a devastating attack.
While Nature Power normally became Razor Leaf on grassy terrain, it could transform into Energy Ball under certain conditions.
That's why Aven had suggested trying to merge the two energies—and it had worked!
"Lil lil!"
Petilil finally snapped out of her daze, excitement beaming across her face.
She immediately hurled the Energy Ball toward the riverbank.
With a loud BOOM, it exploded on impact, sending water high into the air!
Nearby, a group of Bibarel and Bidoof had been lounging lazily by the river.
Startled by the sudden blast, they jumped up and began looking around nervously.
Petilil stuck out her tongue in embarrassment and quickly apologized to the startled Pokémon.
"Biii!"
The Bibarel and Bidoof flinched at the memory of the explosion.
Worried about their safety, they quickly swam away to a more peaceful spot.
…
"Energy Ball's power is no less than Petal Blizzard,"
Aven explained.
"It's a very strong Grass-type move."
"Also, once you master it, you won't need to rely on Nature Power to use it."
"You'll be able to draw Life Energy and Grass Energy from the world around you and cast Energy Ball anytime."
"From now on, your training goal is to do exactly that."
"This move will also help you gain better control over your Life Energy."
Aven already had a full training plan in place for Petilil—he'd just been waiting for this breakthrough.
If she could fully master Energy Ball and further enhance her control of life energy, Petilil might soon break into advanced-tier Pokemon!
"Lil lil!"
Petilil nodded excitedly.
Then her eyes sparkled with curiosity as she pointed toward the rocky terrain in the distance, asking about the difference between Energy Ball and Ancient Power.
"The core concept is similar," Aven explained.
"Both moves rely on condensing specific energies to form an attack."
"You can definitely draw some inspiration from one to improve the other."
Suddenly, Aven realized that Petilil hadn't been focusing much on Ancient Power lately.
"Lil!"
Petilil nodded.
Even though she no longer planned to use Ancient Power to evolve, all the effort she had invested wasn't wasted.
She now realized that experience with one type of energy helped her master others.
…
"Lass Lass Lass~"
Overhead, Froslass floated through the air.
In her hands was a newly-formed ice orb.
She launched it forcefully, and it shattered into a spray of glittering ice shards, sending her into peals of laughter.
…
"Meow~"
From afar, Luxio watched silently.
He looked at Ralts… then at Petilil.
Having lost to Ralts earlier, he still felt bitter about it.
But that defeat only strengthened his resolve—he had to get stronger!
Seeing Petilil and Froslass showing off their new attacks, Luxio was suddenly inspired.
Electric energy began to surge and gather around his mouth, slowly condensing into a glowing electric orb.
(End of Chapter)