As he started to think about it even more, he could not see any way out. He didn't want to share his research with another researcher but he could also not do it alone. He wanted to rack his brain even more to find out a solution.
###
Early morning,
Axel woke up at 5 a.m. His biological clock never failed him. He went to the shower and went down to the lobby to get himself some breakfast. It was around 6 a.m. when he finished his breakfast.
He then went to the training grounds and released all of his Pokemons and told them to do their own training for some time. He also needed to train himself and for that, he needed to have a proper plan.
Axel had planned to train on the second way of aura, which was dealing with emotions. He had booked the entire training ground. So, it was safe for him to bring out the aura stone. He started to look at the aura stone for more information. He wanted to master the emotions but he had no idea how to do it.
It took him a couple of hours to read all the training plans related to emotions and he didn't even do a detailed analysis on it. This field of aura training consisted of a lot of things and Axel didn't even know 10% of it before he started to read.
The emotion-based aura techniques were divided into 2 parts. One was to influence one's emotions and the other was to influence other's emotions. However, if one wanted to influence other's emotions, one would also have to have a certain degree of knowledge 'Violet' nature of aura which was related to illusions and obtaining higher consciousness.
Axel put that part aside for now cause there was no way he could do that right now. He concentrated on the first part which was to influence one's emotions.
The tablet said that one could obtain mysterious and unusual powers by amplifying emotions. Like if you are angry, you could amplify that emotion and also perform certain anger-based techniques. The tablet went on to classify 10 types of emotions. They were :
Anger, Envy, Fear, Gluttony, Greed, Happiness, Hope, Love, Pride, Sloth
The tablet also went on to say that if a person had a high enough control inside him/her, they could change their emotions and then gain those specific powers. Like if a person is angry, but he/she wants the powers relating to greed emotions, the person could do it but these require a very high level of control and willpower.
Axel didn't know where to start. He didn't lose hope and started to read further. Axel found out that among those 10 emotions, he could only master 2 to 3 of them.
The tablet said that it was basically impossible for a human to master and manipulate all 10 of these emotions. He felt good after hearing it but now he had to choose.
There was so much to learn but after reading for some time, he found the starting point. The tablet went on to say that before training on these emotions it was better for one should master the 'Tranquil state'. If 'Tranquil state' was mastered to a proper level, the difficulty in learning other emotion based abilities would be reduced by almost 70%. It also went on to say that if a person could truly master the 'Tranquil state', that person would have the capacity to master all the 1o emotions and also manipulate them to their advantage.
This was a huge thing. 'Tranquil state' looked like a cheat code that would bypass all the conditions. Looking at all the moves that he could learn, Axel figured out that he might need a couple of years to master all of these moves and now he could just do that in half the time or even less.
So, he went on to the 'tranquil state' section and started to read on how to start its training. He was disappointed again. Mastering the 'Tranquil state' looked almost impossible.
There was a saying on the front page of the 'Tranquil state', which said "The true mind can weather all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can tough the poison of hatred without being harmed."
It was a poetic statement but he could not understand any of it. He went further down to read more and found out that if one wanted to master the 'Tranquil state', then they would have to first master 'Indomitable will' and 'Emotion negation'
"Even more conditions and requirements. When is it going to end?", mumbled Axel to himself. He was now getting tired of reading all these. It had been more than a couple of hours since he started to read it. However, he was saved by a call from Bourne.
###
Bourne was sitting on the same chair as yesterday and he didn't look to be in a good mood. He was losing either way and he had to choose the best of it.
Axel went to the conversation room and then ordered a coffee with some muffins. He then looked at Bourne and asked, "So, what have you planned?"
"I first want to ask you if there is no place for any further negotiations?"
"No, there are not. My conditions are final and it is not that you are losing all of it. You will gain recognition out of it and also some good money and resources.", said Axel.
"Alright then, I will agree to all of your conditions.", said Bourne. He had thought about this proposal for a whole night.
He didn't want to share his research with another researcher cause he was already doing it with Axel. The other researcher might also impose some strong conditions. He also didn't have any support from any of his sponsors. He had no money to fund the research and somehow Axel was confident in forking out the money.
So, he had to choose the lesser of 2 evils and that was going with Axel.
"That is a great decision. You will not regret it. Sign in the contract and also do give it a read before doing it.", said Axel as he handed the contract. Bourne read the contract paper 2 times before signing it and Axel also did the same. One copy of the contract was with Bourne while the second copy was with Axel.
"Since I have signed the contract, it is now time for you to show your cards.", said Bourne. He had paid the price. Now he wanted the result.
"Don't worry, I have all the things figured out. First of all, among these 12 expeditions, I want to add one more. But you don't need to worry about it.", said Axel.
"Which one?"
"Well, I did some research on mega evolutions and found out that the first Pokemon to ever mega evolve was not Rayquaza but Lucario."
"Really?"
"Yes. But we cannot be sure about it. It happened millions of years ago. But I know a place where I can get true information about it and if this theory is correct, then we could solve this research much sooner.", said Axel.
"Where is this place?"
"Of course, I am not going to tell you that.", said Axel with a smile.
"What? Then what about the contract?"
"Bourne, I told you that I will solve this research in 3 years. I am not going to tell you all of my sources. This place is a secret so I cannot say anything. Sorry for that. But I will tell you the result of going to that place.", said Axel.
Bourne could not say anything. He was a bit curious about this mysterious place but he knew that Axel was not going to reveal any of it and his head was already full from the research.
The place that Axel was referring to was Aeus Island and the first Lucario was still living there. Lucario had not mentioned anything about the mega evolution when they talked but Axel felt that it must have missed out on a lot of things.
There were still 2 months left before he could go to Aeus Island. So, he had time. He still had to deal with rising star tournament and then Latias.
"Ok, don't tell me. Now, let's discuss the research itself.", said Bourne.
They started to talk about the issue of research at length but they could not come up with anything concrete until they could find something from the expedition.
Evidence was required.
So, they started to talk about which expedition to do first.
"I believe that 'Meteor falls' should be the first place that we should go. We should also go to Sootopolis City too. Then we should go to my place.", suggested Axel.
"Can you tell me the reason for it?"
"Among all the rumors and stories, I believe that the story of Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza makes more sense. We also have draconid people and their history. So, we should first go there.", said Axel.
"That is a valid point. But what about Kalos region and the war 3000 years ago?", asked Bourne.
"That is also a good place to go. Let's put that on the list too.", said Axel knowing that it would not make any difference.
Axel was sure that 'Meteor falls' and 'Sootopolis city' were the places where they could find the traces of mega stones and key stones. However, he could not say that to Bourne as he didn't have enough evidence.
"Bourne, why don't you be here for 2 weeks? I will be going to the rising tournament after 2 weeks but I am free for 2 weeks. You can do your research here and also call me for help if you need it.", said Axel.
"That is a great idea. I will do that.", said Bourne.
After talking with Bourne, Axel was free again. He now decided to first complete the reading for 'Tranquil state'. They had talked for hours, so it was already late afternoon.
###
Axel went to the training ground again and then started to read. It was said that, to achieve full mastery of 'Tranquil state', one must have first master 'Indomitable Will' and 'Emotion negation'. After reading it, he then went to look at 'Indomitable will'. The first statement was that 'Indomitable will' was an advanced version of 'Enhanced willpower'.
Axel then went to 'Enhanced willpower' which stated that this came under the third way of aura.
"So, all of them are connected somehow. That is interesting.", mumbled Axel and then proceeded to read the description of 'Enhanced willpower'.
---
Enhanced Willpower: The user has willpower that is stronger than normal, allowing them to carry on easier and be stronger in mind. It is not as powerful as Indomitable will. This willpower could be gained via mundane ways like training, meditation etc…
---
This was a brief description of 'Enhanced Willpower'.
"If this could be gained via training and meditation then what about 'Indomitable will'? Should I do something otherworldly to gain that power? Is that why the tablet said that it was impossible to master all 10 emotions as it is impossible to master 'Indomitable will'?"
Many thoughts came to his mind but he knew that he had to calm himself. Even if it became impossible to fully master all the 10 emotions, Axel was not worried about it. He would grow stronger in other ways.
There were 9 things that he should master if he wanted to master 'Enhanced willpower'. He started to look at those nine things and now he was starting to have a headache.