Before Steven could even test the strength of Mega Aggron, a feeling of weakness spread throughout his Steven. Steven felt completely exhausted, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
Seeing this, Roy quickly caught Steven, preventing him from falling to the ground.
Mega Aggron also reverted from its Mega Evolution form back to Aggron.
Aggron, having reverted to its original form, patted its forehead, confused as to what had just happened.
"No, this is way too short!"
"Is five minutes not enough?"
Steven was also puzzled as to why he felt so tired. All he had done was try to control Aggron.
Moreover, when Aggron was evolving just now, he even felt a sense of unity between himself and Aggron, and he could sense what Aggron was thinking.
Roy stated that this likely means Mega Evolution requires not only the Pokémon's energy but also the Pokémon Trainer's.
The problem is that Steven is too weak right now and can't handle the energy required for Mega Evolution. Training every day like him would probably be better.
Steven was indignant when Roy called him weak; how could he say that? This was a matter of a man's dignity.
"I can cure..."
"A miracle doctor!"
Steven reluctantly admitted that he would train with Roy from now on, but he didn't have Roy's almost superhuman physique and could only complete one-tenth of the training volume.
In his excitement, Steven suddenly realized something: no one had mentioned Mega Evolution for so long, so how did Roy know about it?
"By the way, how did you know about Mega Evolution?"
"Um, there's a book on Mt. Pyre that describes Mega Evolution. I read it and memorized it, and I never expected to actually find these two kinds of stones in the Meteor Cave."
Mt. Pyre?
Steven had indeed heard his father, Mu Jin, mention the Mt. Pyre. As expected of the most mysterious family in the Hoenn, they even had records of such news.
Thinking of this Steven joked:
"Roy, telling me this so early, aren't you afraid I'll crush you with my Mega Aggron in the Edge Cup?"
"We were friends first, then rivals, weren't we?"
After hearing Roy's words, Steven paused for a moment, then affirmed:
"Yes, we were friends first."
"I'll have the company continue searching for these stones. Let me know if you need anything."
Roy told Steven about all the common Pokémon that now have Mega Evolution, and Steven became visibly excited after learning that his Metagross and Skarmory also had Mega Evolution.
"By the way, does Wallace's team have Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution?"
"Yes, his Starmie can Mega Evolution."
"Then don't tell him yet. He's the kind of person who can't help but show off whenever he gets something. Let's wait until we find it and give it to him directly."
"Good."
Sootopolis City
Achoo~ Achoo~
Wallace, who was helping Lisia and Swablu adjust their training postures, suddenly sneezed twice for no apparent reason.
But I don't have a cold.
Could it be that someone is talking badly about me?
Wallace muttered to himself.
"Uncle, you're clearly Taixu."
"Green!"
Lisia and the Swablu on her head laughed at Wallace.
"What do you know, you little kid? Keep doing what you were doing and don't stop."
"My uncle is being hypocritical and won't let anyone talk about it. I'm going to tell Roy on him later."
Tell Roy?
Wallace could already imagine Roy laughing at him the moment he found out; he didn't even need to think about it.
... Our focus returns to the mine...
"I took two Key Stones, and I also took Froslass's Evolution Stone. As for the remaining Evolution Stone, it belongs to Manectric."
You can keep it if you want to collect it; you're not planning to raise an Electric type Pokémon anyway.
"Good."
Steven surprised to see Roy being so honest with him. Roy could have easily taken all the Mega Stones from the box, since Daigo had no idea what was going on.
But the other party still told me and taught me how to help Aggron achieve Mega Evolution.
Compared to Roy's honesty, I've been keeping something to myself that I haven't told Roy or Wallace, it's really...
Roy, actually I...
Seeing Steven's guilty expression, Roy assumed that he had done something heinous.
"Confess and you'll be treated leniently; resist and you'll be punished severely. Don't let your loved ones who are waiting for you down, Steven!"
Seeing that Roy's words were becoming increasingly absurd, Steven quickly corrected him:
No, I didn't commit a crime, I just...
"What? Are you in love, or is it just unrequited love?"
Does Steven's heart belong to someone?
Whose little girl is she?
This was even more unbelievable than Steven committing a crime. Roy couldn't believe that any extraordinary woman could warm Steven's stone head and heart.
Steven slowly took out a photo from his Spatial Bracelet.
Roy eagerly took the photo, but amidst Steven's repeated warnings, "Be careful, don't break the photo," his expression changed from curiosity to that of an old man on the subway looking at his phone.
Are you kidding me?
The image shows a pink round diamond with a crown composed of four octahedral Adaman and two long strip Adaman.
Diancie, with a Golden U-shaped ring around her neck inlaid with an octahedron diamond, appeared before Roy.
Roy was speechless, but thinking about it, it was indeed something Steven would do.
"You might as well spend the rest of your life with that broken rock."
Roy returned the photo to Steven with a disappointed look. He thought he'd see some juicy revelation, but this was it? This was it?
What do you mean by "broken stone"? Don't you have any aesthetic sense?
That was a photo he managed to get with great difficulty during his trip to the Sinnoh Region; it was truly the diamond princess of the stone world.
Roy's assessment was strongly condemned by Steven, who said that this Pokémon was the most beautiful Pokémon none, practically a goddess.
Roy didn't know whether he should tell Steven that Diancie was, to be precise, a mutant from the Carbink family.
Moreover... Diancie, like those cold stones, has no gender, let alone any goddess or goddess-like qualities.
In the end, Roy, unable to bear the thought of Steven being kept in the dark, told him.
Steven felt incredulous after learning the truth.
"What? A mutant from the Carbink family?"
"I forgot to tell you earlier, this Pokémon also has Mega Evolution."
"Ah!?"