Koraidon was Miraidon's fight.
Everyone agreed on that.
So when its opponent appeared, they cleared the battlefield without hesitation.
"Go, Miraidon! You can do it!" Nemona shouted at the top of her lungs.
Baimu added, "We've raised a lizard for a thousand days, and now it's time to put you to work. Show us what you've got."
Even Penny, atop the crystal pillar, leaned out and cupped her hands around her mouth. "You can do it!"
Miraidon's confidence grew.
But what truly set its fighting spirit ablaze was Arven's encouragement.
"Don't lose! Show it what you're really capable of! Be brave and beat that thing! You can win!"
Since returning to Area Zero, buried, forgotten memories had surfaced one after another.
Miraidon suddenly realized that it, Arven, and Mabosstiff had once spent happy days together.
They had been good friends all along!
What saddened it was that, as the years passed, it had forgotten those precious memories, while Arven had come to regard it with nothing but annoyance.
Why?
Miraidon couldn't understand.
Its battle programming occupied most of its mind, and the rest was clouded by the aftereffects of its severe injuries. It couldn't grasp family bonds or what it meant to be deprived of love.
Nor did it know how many painful nights Arven had endured growing up alone.
To the Cowardly Lizard, it seemed Arven had started hating it for no reason.
But as they ventured deeper into Area Zero, Baimu formed Heart of God connections with it again and again. The fragments of memory it saw shocked and confused it, gradually stirring new thoughts within.
It was like a machine meant to learn on its own, suddenly given vast amounts of new programming.
Miraidon learned courage and perseverance. It learned empathy, and it learned to take that