"Xerneas!"
As its voice faded, Terrance called out, but Xerneas's figure had already disappeared into the thick mist that had emerged.
"What was that just now?"
Terrance extended his right hand and looked at his palm. The X-shaped mark formed by the pink ripple he had just seen was already gone. But Terrance had clearly seen it form in the air and then imprint itself on his palm.
What was that supposed to be? Xerneas's acknowledgment? Xerneas's blessing? Or…
Terrance shook his head. Forget it, there's no need to think too much about it for now. Compared to that…
"Altaria." Terrance stroked Altaria's body, just about to ask what new progress it had made over the past two months, when a strange change suddenly appeared. A pink glow quickly surfaced in the center of Terrance's right palm. The mark was faint but still visible, startling Terrance so much that he hastily pulled his hand back from Altaria.
"Altaria~~~"
With Altaria's cry, Terrance's expression turned odd.
He… could actually more or less understand what Altaria wanted to convey?
It was a state similar to Telepathy but slightly different, not directly comprehending Altaria's language, but grasping what it wanted to express. In other words, it was more like an incomplete form of mental connection.
"You're saying that just now you didn't feel anything bad at all, instead you felt drawn to it, a very friendly feeling?" Terrance asked in puzzlement.
As Altaria nodded, Terrance looked down at his palm, his head starting to ache.
Right after, he called out Carbink and gently touched it with his right hand. This time nothing unusual happened, but Terrance still sensed the same state.
After letting Carbink say something at random, Terrance then called out Castform…
Unlike with Altaria and Carbink, although Terrance could understand some of what Castform meant from living with it day and night, the state was worlds apart from the mental connection he had with Altaria and Carbink.
"Could it be that this Fairy mark Xerneas gave me lets me connect mentally with Fairy-type Pokémon?"
Not just Altaria, Carbink also confirmed Terrance's change. At this moment, Terrance seemed to possess a natural attraction and affinity for it, making Carbink unconsciously want to approach him. This change puzzled Carbink deeply. Though it had already accepted Terrance, it felt it shouldn't be feeling such an incredible fondness toward a human.
Terrance was also amazed, so he summoned his other Pokémon one after another to test, and indeed found that only Pokémon with the Fairy type could enter this mental connection with him.
And only Fairy-type Pokémon felt this inexplicable sense of closeness toward him.
"This Fairy mark is more like a blessing from the Fairy type…" Terrance pondered.
Among psychic abilities, Telepathy can be used to communicate with all Pokémon, but the ability he had obtained was like a pared-down version of Telepathy, only allowing him to understand the thoughts of Fairy-type Pokémon. But even so, it was still an unexpected boon.
"This is the ability Xerneas gave me. From now on, even if I don't know any breeding knowledge, I can achieve the best communication with Fairy-type Pokémon!"
Looking at the trees surrounding the ruins and then up at the sky, Terrance slowly came back to himself and said to Altaria, "Altaria, work with the Rotom Pokédex to update your strength data."
To better draft a training plan for Altaria going forward, Terrance first had to understand just how much it had improved under Xerneas.
At this moment, all the Pokémon Terrance carried had been released. A Trainer and his Pokémon together looked up at Altaria, who was fluttering around in the sky.
The very first new ability Altaria showed caused Terrance's expression to change, a look of disbelief spreading across his face.
As Altaria danced, its entire body began gathering light, its size rapidly changing. In just a brief moment, its size stabilized and the light around its body collapsed, revealing Mega Altaria's appearance to Terrance and all his Pokémon.
"Gall~ade?!" Gallade stepped forward, looking quite puzzled.
"It actually worked..." As Terrance muttered, Mega Altaria flew down. It looked at its Trainer's surprised face and seemed proud of its performance.
"To Mega Evolve on your own without relying on a Trainer, Key Stone, or Mega Stone… Xerneas not only taught you how to use Fairy Aura but also helped you gain stronger life energy and the means to wield it?"
Terrance had long suspected that what Pokémon needed for Mega Evolution was only life energy—the use of life energy to unlock the most basic hidden potential within themselves. As long as one possessed enough life energy and a way to control it, one could complete Mega Evolution and thus awaken one's potential.
Those Legendary Pokémon's self-Mega Evolutions should be achieved in exactly this way.
They have more abundant life energy and more ingenious control methods than ordinary Pokémon, so they don't need to rely on the power of Trainers or stones at all.
Moreover, Key Stones and Mega Stones are merely products of various magical ores rich in life energy influenced by Xerneas' power. During the process of Mega Evolution, the bond between Trainer and Pokémon acts as a means to help the Pokémon control this life energy, assisting in unlocking the genetic lock and completing the Mega Evolution. This was Terrance's theory on Mega Evolution.
Once he sorted this out, Terrance could understand why Altaria could Mega Evolve on its own.
After all, it had trained with Xerneas, who is likely the origin of Mega Stones and Key Stones, so learning the method to control life energy was perfectly reasonable.
"An incredible ability."
Terrance exclaimed. Relying on this self-Mega Evolution alone was enough to elevate Altaria's own level to an entirely new realm.
"And what about the use of Fairy Aura… and your increase in strength?"
Compared to self-Mega Evolution, Terrance was even more eager to see how far Altaria had come in its mastery of Fairy Aura.
After all, this was an ability unique to Legendary Pokémon. For Altaria to master it was a great blessing.
The so-called Dragon-type talent paled in comparison to such an opportunity. If Altaria's use of Fairy Aura could reach the level of Xerneas, it would rival the gifted Fairy-type Pokémon that Swablu had once been. Altaria could completely mass-produce such power.
And together with the Fairy mark Terrance had received, raising Fairy-type Pokémon would now be ridiculously easy for him.
Among Trainers, Fairy type was still not as well known as the Fire, Water, or even Ghost and Psychic type. In this era where Fairy Type does not have a representative figure, Terrance can be rightfully called a Fairy Type Master.
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