Lucario brought Ethan and Riolu to a barren piece of wasteland. It seemed the land had been abandoned for a long time, and even the water had been lost, making it completely worthless for cultivation, but still a good place for exercise.
Lucario spoke to Riolu and then said to Ethan, "I've already told Riolu how to detect the terrain through Aura. The next step is up to you two. Whether you can quickly improve your bond with Riolu depends on you as the trainer!"
Ethan didn't overthink it. Since he had come this far, he might as well give it his all! Even if he failed to master the power of Aura, it would be great to improve his bond with Riolu. After all, Riolu's future evolution is closely related to their bond.
With this in mind, Ethan approached Riolu, squatted down, gently touched Riolu's forehead with his right hand, and said, "Riolu, let's work hard together!"
Riolu seemed to sense Ethan's thoughts and nodded with a smile. Then it walked into the wasteland, closed its eyes slowly, and silently felt the ground beneath its feet. In this way, Riolu used Aura very seriously to detect the terrain of the wasteland. Although this process took nearly an hour, Ethan stood patiently behind Riolu, accompanying him.
After Riolu confirmed the location repeatedly, it took Ethan to a specific spot and signaled that he could try hoeing the ground. This was the first time Riolu asked Ethan to try this, and Ethan trusted him completely. Without hesitation, he swung the hoe with all his might.
With a "clang," the hoe bounced back fiercely, leaving Ethan's hands completely numb. He couldn't hold the hoe steadily, and it dropped to the ground. Ethan never expected this result. Riolu had clearly been careful enough in its exploration, yet it still found the wrong place.
Not only was Ethan surprised by the hoe's rebound, but Riolu was also shocked. It had spent nearly an hour confirming the location, only to be mistaken. Riolu was very frustrated, and its grievance was evident. As soon as the numbness in his hands subsided, Ethan saw Riolu's dejected look and hurried over to reassure him.
"It's okay! It's our first try, so it's okay to make mistakes! We can just try again!"
Perhaps because he noticed no blame in Ethan's tone, only endless comfort, Riolu felt a little relieved. Then it continued to explore the terrain. This time the exploration took more time, nearly two hours. Ethan still didn't rush Riolu and stood behind him patiently. Only when Riolu determined another location did Ethan pick up the hoe and try again.
Learning from his first experience, Ethan didn't dare to swing the hoe with full force this time, but once again, the hoe bounced off with a "bang." The rebound numbed Ethan's hands again, but since he used less force, the numbness wasn't as severe.
After finding the wrong position for the second time, Riolu completely lost confidence, and Ethan couldn't bear to see its downcast look. Ethan didn't care whether his hands were still numb or not; he directly held Riolu's hands, looked straight into its eyes, and said, "It's okay! Even though my hands are numb, it doesn't hurt! Let's try again!"
Even though his hands were still slightly trembling, these words made Riolu feel extremely warm. Riolu no longer looked disappointed but stood more resolutely and began to explore the terrain again.
Ethan had completely lost track of how many times they had failed like this. Although they made mistakes every time, Ethan continued to encourage Riolu. He knew that mastering Aura was difficult, even for Riolu. So, no matter how many times the detection results were wrong, it didn't matter to Ethan!
Riolu naturally felt this, so after each failure, it explored more seriously and carefully. This kind of cultivation lasted for a week! Ethan's hands were swollen, but he wasn't discouraged. Although Riolu still hadn't found the right position, the spots it found became softer and softer. Ethan firmly believed it wouldn't take long to find the right one.
On this particular day, Ethan followed Riolu to the wasteland they had attempted to cultivate countless times. Riolu stood on the barren land very seriously. This time, it didn't rush to use Aura to detect. Instead, it closed its eyes and stood quietly for a while, feeling the gentle breeze, the soil's density, and the air's fluctuations. Then it used its Aura to slowly detect the wasteland.
After a week of detection, Riolu could distinguish the Aura energy of various soils from the feedback provided by its Aura. The harder the soil, the greater its Aura energy. So Riolu's goal this time was to find the spot with the lowest Aura energy in the wasteland.
The detection process was already familiar to Riolu, but processing the information through Aura took more time. Ethan still stood behind Riolu, and he could now vaguely feel Riolu's Aura. This was the benefit their week's practice brought them.
Soon, Riolu found the location with the lowest Aura energy on the wasteland and brought Ethan there. It confirmed the spot repeatedly through Aura, and finally handed the hoe to Ethan. Ethan felt that Riolu might have found the right location this time, so he swung the hoe with all his strength.
The hoe hit the ground, and the soil loosened. The hoe did not bounce back. They had found the right spot. Ethan hugged Riolu excitedly and shouted happily, "We succeeded!" Riolu was also very happy and smiled brightly.
"Congratulations on your success! Now Riolu has mastered some of the power of Aura, and Ethan, you can also feel some of Riolu's Aura. Next, we can proceed to the next step of training."
When Riolu and Ethan succeeded, Lucario appeared and said this to them.
The cultivation on the farmland finally came to an end. Ethan and Riolu supported each other and made progress together, overcoming countless failures during the week. Their bond improved significantly, which was the key to Lucario announcing the next stage of training. Ethan knew that learning the power of Aura wasn't simple, but at least he had taken the first step now.