Diantha considered herself reasonably talented, and her bond with Gardevoir was certainly deep enough.
It made no sense that Leon had succeeded after just a few tries, while she had failed so many times over so many days.
She had even suspected that this Mega Stone wasn't meant for Gardevoir, and that the Devon Corporation might have made a mistake.
But Leon had said that since the light of Mega Evolution had already appeared around Gardevoir, the Mega Stone should be the right one.
Something else must have gone wrong and caused her to fail.
At that moment, Diantha had nearly started doubting herself.
Was she really just not good enough?
In the end, at Leon's suggestion, Diantha decided to consult Chen Shi, the expert.
But Diantha didn't have Chen Shi's contact information, so she had to go to Steven first. As it happened, Steven had finished his work too. After hearing about her situation, he brought her to Chen Shi's house.
Chen Shi rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, then said, "Generally speaking, as long as you have a Key Stone, the right Mega Stone, and a strong bond, you should succeed after a few tries."
"For example, a certain someone managed to Mega Evolve two Pokémon in succession after just one night of practice!"
As he spoke, Chen Shi glanced at Cynthia. He hadn't forgotten that incident. It had been on his mind ever since.
Cynthia sat looking straight ahead as though she hadn't heard a thing.
Diantha, however, grew anxious. "Mr. Chen Shi, my bond with Gardevoir is definitely very strong."
"Gardevoir is my Starter Pokémon. I hatched her from an egg myself. It definitely isn't a problem with our bond."
She had mistakenly assumed Chen Shi was saying that a problem with her relationship with