章節 42: It's just a theory

Yes… That could possibly work.

"What the fuck?! It's only been an hour!" I jolt at the sudden noise, looking up at the doorway from my spot of the bed to find a confused and angry Courtney. "It looks like Aeroblast was used on a printer!"

She gestures around my room, pausing for a slight moment as she looks at my pokémon playing in the stacks of notes around the room.

Argh, still need a name for the Ralts…too.

"Courtney, I can explain," I say in an attempt to placate her. It doesn't really work as much as I had hoped, but as she crosses her arms, emphasizing her bust, in silence, I may just have to go-ahead.

"First of all, my scanners extracted a lot of data from the Mega Evolution we saw. Quite a bit, and I had the unfortunate idea to directly dump it all in my brain. I noticed a few patterns in its energy signature that match with the little records available for Aura and Psychic energies. Primarily with Psychic, however. The important thing to note is that it matches the part that allows pokémon and, really, all living things to use those energies even if not native—"

Courtney holds her hands up, looking tired at the ground. "Nicole, please, I care for you a lot, and the scientist in me is interested in whatever you found, but slow down."

I take a deep breath. "The general statement of the matter is that Mega Evolution is not exclusive to just certain pokémon that have Mega Stones. The…bond between trainer and pokémon is what strengthens Mega Evolution. Anyone can force it, no matter how unethical the situation might be, but the stronger the bond, the more powerful the evolution. Mega Stones and Key Stones just act as foci for that energy. Any pokémon can achieve it given a strong enough bond."

It does raise questions in Sylveon's case, but that just means that might hypothesis is off in some regards. There could be exceptions. Who knows? I'm excited to find out.

"It also raises the possibility of that energy being transformed from others and being stored in batteries. Conservation of energy states that it can only be transformed, and if this is similar, then we could synthesize Mega Evolution energy."

It raises questions of other energies. Could the dynamax energy be synthesized? I know Macro Cosmos uses it for power, so could it be reversed?

"That's…fascinating," Courtney says after a minute, still digesting. "There are a lot of applications for that, if true, but that doesn't explain other things. You looked so spooked after you woke up…and why is your Ralts so big?"

I gesture to the Ralts rolling in the paper. "If you look under her cap, you'll see glowing red eyes. It means she's an Alpha, thought to be extinct with the rise of Pokémon Trainers. She's naturally stronger, bigger, faster, and smarter than her already impressive normal counterpart." Given that any Gardevoir can sacrifice all of their energy in a last-ditch black hole. "She's also a natural commander for any pokémon, but she'll have a special dominion over her evolutionary line. As for why she exists is a mystery to me."

"Several biologists and archeologists would like to have a chat with you, given the chance, if they knew…"

I nod. "I'm counting on it, actually. I informed Professor Sycamore, and he's helping me spread the information through the academic network." If I'm lucky, maybe Cynthia, or a pokémon conservationist like Lusamine, will take notice.

Maybe both?

"Great, maybe I'll start researching again. It will be…difficult with the government breathing down my neck though." There's more to be said here, but it's not really my place to dig. Maybe…if we were closer, she'll divulge one day. I'm already aware of the…gist.

"I'm sensing a third thing," she focuses back on me.

I pause, collecting my words. "I…thought I had a great memory. Maybe I do and something's stopping me? Anyway, when I was forcefully knocked out, I saw memories. Memories that I do not remember, but I know are mine. This…discrepancy has me thinking about other things. I've noticed weird things in the world, things that don't match up with conventional wisdom, or names that have no strict source. I think…I knew the truth, and something locked that memory away."

I dig around for one of the papers nearby. "This book, 'The Guide to Unlocking the Mind' by Sabrina, the world's foremost expert on psychics, has a section on recovering locked memories because it happens quite often with psychics…apparently. I need the power of three psychics: one with immense power to act as a battery, one to access the emotional parts of the mind, and a third to access the future and past. After deciphering that…yeah, I believe I need three pokémon to help me recover those memories: Gardevoir, Hatterene, and Gothitelle."

Courtney stares at me, pursing her lips, and a part of my mind realizes that I've just done the equivalent of admitting I'm crazy. Well, this is it. She's going to leave, and any semblance of a relationship is forever going to be lost!

To my surprise, she walks over, carefully avoiding the paper, before sitting down on the bed with me. "Let's say I believe you for a second, do you have any plan of getting those three, let me remind you, rare pokémon?"

I shake my head. "None at all."

She sighs, looking up at the ceiling as if making a quick prayer. "Well, I promised to travel with you, so I'm going to keep that promise. Plus, I'm interested in seeing where this goes; especially your Dragon-centric team becoming Psychic-centric."

I look away. "Yeah, don't remind me of that."

"Well, in my opinion, right now, I think you should take a break from all of this and go see Korrina. She's really worried about you right now, and I think this would be a great opportunity to forge a stronger relationship with her."

I get the undertones. I really do, but I can't believe she's trying to support my relationships with other girls while challenging me to get with her as well.

"Alright," I say with finality. "Let's go."