The Tree of Beginning stood quietly in the timeless world, where several days had passed since Paul returned from Hisui.
In that time, he had sent multiple video messages to Akari, swapped out all of his Pokémon's Poké Balls, and initiated a new round of training with his team.
One particularly special training regimen was known as "Pay-to-Win Training"—though ironically, it required no real money, and what was consumed wasn't gold…
…it was Origin Ore.
Paul had stockpiled vast quantities of Origin Ore during his time in Hisui, hoping he could someday extract the extraordinary energy hidden within it.
He'd once tried this with Palkia and Dialga assisting, but even with their help, the experiment failed. Even Garchomp swallowed a small piece, but couldn't absorb any of the power inside—it simply digested and expelled it.
Upon returning, Mew and the Tree of Beginning immediately took interest in his stash of Origin Ore, asking to keep a portion.
Business is business, even between family.
Since Mew had a need, Paul used this as leverage: he bartered some of the Ore for a set of attribute crystals from the Tree—useless or uncommon types like Poison, Ghost, and Dark. These were then distributed to the corresponding Pokémon on his team, allowing them to absorb the properties.
As for the rest of the Origin Ore, Mew agreed to assist in energy extraction experiments, or at the very least, help Paul's Pokémon safely digest the ore to gain power from it.
To their delight, some initial tests showed promise. Pokémon like Aggron, Ursaluna, Garchomp, and Metagross—who could ingest solid minerals, were able to absorb a portion of the energy from the ingested ore, leading to measurable power boosts.
Even if it was just a little… it was a higher-order energy, and thus even a small amount led to significant gains. All of the Pokémon that consumed the ore experienced substantial level increases.
Meanwhile, Torterra resonated deeply with the Tree of Beginning during this period. Through that connection, it rapidly improved its mastery over the Life Infusion Technique. In just a few days, it could link with every Pokémon on the team simultaneously, channeling its life force to nourish them all at once.
Even more impressively, the Life Infusion Technique had a profound effect on Pokémon like Ninetales, Metagross, Froslass, Rotom, and even Mewtwo.
The key was in the synergy: the growth-based method strengthened the body as a vessel, and all these Pokémon were adept in Meditation—a practice for converting ambient energy into mental/spiritual force.
Now with Torterra acting as a living power bank, they could bypass the energy absorption step entirely, instead immediately purifying and converting the power into usable strength.
For most Pokémon, the Life Infusion Technique simply enhanced their physical form.
But for those mentioned above? Their bodies and minds improved in perfect sync.
All they had to do was sit still and meditate, and their levels would rise rapidly.
Of course, for Mewtwo, this was just icing on the cake.
Its level was already absurdly high—so high, in fact, that the energy Torterra could transfer wasn't even one-tenth of what Mewtwo could absorb on its own.
In terms of level, power, intellect, and potential, Mewtwo was maxed out in every category.
It often helped Paul design training regimens for the other Pokémon, offering insight no one else could match.
In fact, Paul himself could offer little assistance when it came to directly enhancing Mewtwo's strength. His only contributions had been:
Letting Rotom provide encyclopedic knowledge;
Teaching Mewtwo his Meditation Technique;
Introducing it to Yoga Training;
Occasionally offering battle strategy advice.
One day, Paul approached Mewtwo.
"So, what's your current focus for power development?"
Mewtwo looked at him calmly.
"Aside from further refining my Psychic and close-quarters combat, I've been researching a signature move—a technique that can simultaneously boost Special Attack, Special Defense, Speed, Defense, and Attack."
It was the most outrageous statement, delivered in the most composed tone.
But Mewtwo was well aware of the gap that still existed between it and the truly divine Pokémon.
Back in Hisui, it had battled both Dialga and Palkia multiple times.
After the incident at Sinnoh Temple, Mewtwo sought out those two and fought them in full-power, no-holds-barred matches.
Unfortunately, even when they held back and even when they didn't go berserk, it had no chance of victory.
Even a clear-headed Dialga, using a single move combined with its Time Manipulation, could easily defeat it.
As for Palkia, even at only 70–80% of its recovered strength, its spatial abilities made it an impossible opponent.
Sometimes, Mewtwo could barely land a single attack before being frozen in space or time, completely immobilized and defeated.
So if it couldn't yet beat those upper-tier bugged-out "gods", it would aim slightly lower.
Leveling up would take time, but developing new techniques and skills that would be useful even in the future, could start now.
Using Metagross' Cosmic Meditation, Torterra's Growth Technique, and Electivire's Magnetic Enhancement as inspiration, Mewtwo was confident it could make a breakthrough soon.
"Mm, that's a solid direction." Paul nodded in approval. "But I've got a few other ideas for you. Use them however you see fit."
"What kind of ideas?" Mewtwo asked, curious.
Paul's gaze sharpened slightly.
"You know you're gifted in many ways, but your psychic talent is especially strong. You've already reached the point of converting barriers into true shields, and even using them to launch Counter attacks enhanced with psychic energy."
"But don't forget, you also wield the Aura Force. Your potential in that field is top-tier, on par with Mew or even Palkia."
"If you could find a way to combine or even fuse Aura and Psychic power, your strength would leap to another level entirely."
"Combine… and fuse?" Mewtwo echoed, thoughtful.
It had always found Aura quite useful, particularly for perception and detection. It was similar enough to Psychic that it saw no need to further develop it—at most, it was useful in high-intensity bursts.
But if it could actually be fused with Psychic power to create an even stronger hybrid, that would be game-changing.
Even if the result wasn't greater than the sum of its parts, just greater than either alone—that would be a win.
Paul wasn't done.
"You've practiced my Yoga system. That helped awaken dormant power within you and improve your speed of growth. But have you ever considered… using your mental energy to directly alter reality—to reinforce your muscles, your cells, your physical body?"
In many works of fiction, Paul recalled, the soul or spirit often drove the growth of the physical body. The stronger the mind or soul, the stronger the body it carried.
So why not try it here?
Mewtwo already had the power and based on Paul's memory, Mega Mewtwo X was described as:
"Its body's musculature is strengthened through psychic power."
If Mega Mewtwo X could do that temporarily, why couldn't Mewtwo achieve the same through permanent training?
One was a temporary form, the other a permanent evolution.
There was no conflict, just another road forward.
(End of Chapter)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you want to access the advanced chapters, please visit: patreon.com / PMadz_23