Pokémon Center, Intensive Care Unit.
Flare's body trembled, its pupils trembled, the little tuft on its head trembled, and even its soul trembled with them!
A whole night!
Asher hadn't been by its side for a whole entire night!
Wuwuwu... they always slept together before...
Unease, panic, fear...
All kinds of terrifying negative emotions seized the opening and crashed into its heart, making it let out strange noises it couldn't stop.
"Gwah! Gwah!! Gwahhh—"
That unbearably tragic cry echoed through the room.
Kagari, a fellow member of the fire-name group, felt the dark, bottomless aura pouring off Flare and couldn't help but burst into tears.
She was deeply moved by the Bond between Flare and Asher.
Mm... ah...
What... what sincere feelings these were...
More... give me a little more!
Just as Kagari's face flushed red and she was getting completely swept away, the door to the room opened.
A sunny young man in a red cap appeared in the doorway.
The sky cleared.
The sun had come out!
"Gah!!!"
The instant it saw Asher, Flare blasted away every bit of gloom in its heart. Like sunshine after rain, it recovered all its energy at once and sprang to its feet full of spirit.
It showed off how healthy it was, insisting it could absolutely keep fighting!
Seeing Flare, wrapped head to toe in bandages, still acting so lively, Asher stepped forward, rubbed its head, and smiled.
"It's okay, Flare. You don't need to push yourself. You can rest easy now. Look, here's your new partner!"
Asher beckoned toward the door. Diamond stepped into view with a simple, honest grin and stretched out a three-fingered hand to greet Flare.
As someone who lived on the edge of society, Diamond understood human customs and manners well, and carried itself with the mature politeness of someone used to the world.
"Gwah—"
Tears exploded out.
At Diamond's appearance, Flare's eyes instantly filled with tears, which came pouring down like a flood.
Without any warning, without the slightest reservation, you just appeared in my world, bringing me surprise, and now I can't even control my feelings...
[Rotom! Flare's emotions are running very high!]
Seeing how touched Flare was, Asher clapped his hands and laughed.
"Hahahahaha, great! Looks like you really like your new friend! From now on, everyone's going to be good partners, so make sure you all get along!"
Thunk.
Flare dropped straight back onto the bed, the tuft on its head going completely limp...
Seeing that Flare had met its new companion and was now resting in peace on the hospital bed, Asher felt relieved.
Since challengers who failed during the pilgrimage had to wait a full week before trying again, Asher planned to make the most of the time and start training with Diamond as hard as possible.
That moment of Resonance had created the beginnings of a Bond between them, but they were still a ways off from meeting the conditions needed for Aura Power.
If Flare and Asher's familial Bond was around level sixty, then the Bond of shared dreams between Asher and Diamond was maybe around level ten...
After all, feelings needed time to be polished. You needed a little strategy, and you also needed sincerity.
Only by being sincere after the strategy part was the proper way for a Bond to form.
And right now, Asher couldn't wait to strengthen his teamwork and Bond with Diamond through special training!
"Good! Flare, you rest easy. Diamond and I are going to go train first!"
Just as this big idiot Asher was about to walk off with his newly partnered Pokémon, Kagari suddenly grabbed the corner of his shirt and spoke up.
"Um... Asher, I feel like Flare really needs you right now. You found a new Pokémon and then suddenly shoved it to the side. Isn't that... kind of bad?"
Th-this was...
The unique spirit of mutual support shared by those with fire-themed names!
"Gah!!!"
In an instant, this purple-haired human who hung around with that dopey camel shot up 3000% in Flare's favorability!
Well... probably about one percent of the favorability it had for Asher.
With Kagari's reminder, Asher jolted and finally noticed the blind spot in all this.
"I-is that true? Yeah... I guess that does seem kind of bad?"
Because he'd been single until death in his previous life, Asher had absolutely zero romantic experience, so he'd always been rough and careless about feelings and completely incapable of grasping the finer workings of someone else's emotions.
Wait, hold on.
Why would raising Pokémon require romantic experience?
Something about that felt off...
Anyway, Kagari's words made Asher pull himself back at the edge of the cliff, and he suddenly remembered what Professor Oak had told him before he left.
[Asher, whether you finish your pilgrimage or claim victory, those things are important, but they're also not the most important things. Never forget your important partners!]
Y-yeah... yeah, yeah...
That's right!
How did I almost forget that?!
Smack!
Grabbing Flare's little claw in both hands, Asher confessed with complete sincerity.
"Flare, you have to know that no matter what happens, you'll always be my Most Important Partner! The only reason I brought Diamond along was because I want to protect you. I don't want to see you get hurt. You understand how I feel, right...?"
"Guh... wu... Gwah!!"
Boom!!!
Those words were so scorching they sent Flare's whole body into a feverish blaze!
Asher really... likes me best after all!!!
In that instant, the relationship that had been tangled up with misunderstandings suddenly reconciled completely, growing stronger, hotter, and even more intense than before!
[Rotom! The feelings between you and Flare are heating up fast! Your bond is tougher than damn gold!]
[Your relationship has advanced to: Most Important Partner]
[Unlocked: Aura Power V]
[Aura Power V: You are now able to understand each other's thoughts to an extraordinary degree!]
After that dramatic emotional turnaround, the Bond between Asher and Flare shot upward in a spiral!
Men had to learn how to talk!
Sometimes, doing a hundred things wasn't as powerful as one heartfelt confession!
Feelings were the kind of thing that only had real power when you said them out loud!
See?
A man who knew how to talk was just that dangerous, just that terrifying!
Watching the sincere Bond between the two of them, Kagari once again broke into a flood of tears.
Such deep, such fierce emotion...
Mm... mm, ahhhhhhhhhhh...
[Rotom... y-you... your actions have given Kagari a positive example! Her understanding of Bond has deepened!]
Key detail detected!
Asher grew even happier.
So he really could pass this kind of Bond power on to other people!
That was great. That way everyone could become free trainers!
After this incident, Kagari became one of the very few humans who could keep circling around Asher while still maintaining a positive favorability rating in Flare's eyes.
And Diamond, this dense little guy, wasn't quite so deep in the negative anymore either...
They stayed at the Pokémon Center for two days. Once Flare had recovered just enough to be discharged, Asher and Diamond finally began training under Flare's watchful "observation."
Even though the training had been delayed by two days, Asher and Diamond hadn't made no progress at all while staying in the hospital room.
At the very least, Asher had gotten in touch with Professor Oak and discussed a development plan for Tyrogue.
[Well now, Asher, you found a new partner? Tyrogue is a very interesting kind of Pokémon. Depending on how you raise it, it can develop different evolutionary tendencies!]
Reading Professor Oak's message, Asher sighed in amazement.
So Pokémon had evolutions that worked in such a fascinating way!
"Mm, my Pokémon is the kind that excels at boxing techniques, so let's go with the Hitmonchan path!"
[Very good. Then I'll send you the detailed information. Oh, right—your pilgrimage has already been going for almost half a month now. Shouldn't you be getting ready to really show what you can do?]
That casual little sentence made Asher go silent.
He couldn't exactly say he'd already shown what he could do and was now recovering at the Pokémon Center, could he?
"Uh... yeah. I've already gathered the partners I wanted, and now I'm doing the final sprint of training. I'm about to let all that buildup burst out at once!"
[Hahahaha, that really does sound like you, Asher! I'll be waiting for your good news!]