At Oak's Research Institute, Ash explained all the details about MEGA Evolution to Professor Oak.
"So, you're saying that to achieve MEGA Evolution, you'll need a MEGA Evolution Stone and a Key Stone, which are the two items you've asked me to collect, plus the bond with the Pokémon, in order to finally achieve MEGA Evolution, right?" Professor Oak summarized what Ash had said.
Ash nodded, giving Professor Oak a thumbs-up, indicating that his analysis was spot on.
"Moreover, this evolution will revert to the original form once the battle ends, or when the energy is exhausted and the Pokémon loses its ability to battle. It's a system that temporarily amplifies battle capabilities but is more lasting than Dynamax," Professor Oak continued, his expression growing increasingly amazed.
This new system discovered by Ash is indeed something extraordinary!
Leaving aside its ability to enhance a Pokémon's power and overall species ability value during battle, the system also plays a remarkably exaggerated supportive role outside of battle.
For example, if a Pokémon is stuck at a bottleneck, then by using MEGA Evolution to experience a higher level, that Pokémon will find it much easier to break through.
This is simply like a walking cheat engine!
For Pokémon capable of MEGA Evolution, bottlenecks don't exactly disappear, but compared to before, talent is no longer as critical unless the level reaches an extremely high realm, such as Elite Level, at which point MEGA Evolution's effectiveness for breaking through bottlenecks starts to diminish somewhat.
Before reaching Elite, this method is just like a hack, yielding unbelievable results for enhancing a Pokémon's power.
Even just this function alone is enough for the MEGA Evolution system to trump the Dynamax system.
Ash and Professor Oak discussed MEGA Evolution for nearly an hour because Professor Oak wanted to find out how many types of Pokémon MEGA Evolutions Ash was already aware of, as well as the method for distinguishing Evolution Stones.
However, Ash wasn't very knowledgeable about this either; he might know some of the evolution types, but the method for distinguishing Evolution Stones, that's entirely reliant on the Pokémon's perception of the Evolution Stone. The reason he could instantly identify the type of Evolution Stone Professor Oak was holding earlier was entirely because he asked the experts in the group.
He couldn't have recognized it by himself.
Afterward, Ash demonstrated the MEGA Evolution of his Gardevoir, but when he attempted the MEGA Evolution of Venusaur, he wasn't successful.
This wasn't because Ash and Venusaur lacked the bond, but because Ash's Key Stone lacked sufficient energy!
Before confirming the true effect of the Key Stone, Professor Oak had mentioned that the Key Stone contained considerable life force, and that this life force could regenerate, but the problem was, there was no ordinary method to extract the life force from the Key Stone.
Therefore, the Key Stone had been hastily set aside, becoming a gemstone of mere collectible value.
Nowadays, MEGA Evolution can harness all the power of the Key Stone, but the problem lies in the fact that, after one activation, the life force inside the Key Stone is exhausted.
To reuse it, one needs to wait for the Key Stone to accumulate life force until it reaches the level where it can be triggered a second time, before MEGA Evolution can happen again.
It is estimated that this recovery time takes about two hours. In that case, a battle definitely cannot involve a second MEGA Evolution.
The principle of the Dynamax Band operates similarly. Dynamax can only be used once in a battle not due to rules, but because the energy inside the Dynamax Band is depleted after one use.
Normally, it requires about half a day to recover, or you can directly go to a charging point in the Galar Region for energy replenishment.
The same applies to the Key Stone; if it can't recover in a short time, then unless you have two Key Stones, it is impossible to have two MEGA Evolutions within one battle.
Since Ash hadn't tried consecutive MEGA Evolutions before, this discovery was a first even for him.
"It seems MEGA Evolution can only occur once in a battle. But no matter what, combining MEGA Evolution with Dynamax will definitely provide a terrifying enhancement in battle performance, which is not as simple as one plus one equals two."
Even with some flaws, Blaine still affirmed the terrifying nature of MEGA Evolution, stating that when combined with Dynamax, it allows two Pokémon to possess system-enhanced power within a single battle.
Actually, this flaw isn't anything significant at all.
"You're right, this flaw can't overshadow the terrifying enhancement MEGA Evolution brings to Trainers. Once this system is fully realized, the gap between Trainers with MEGA Evolution and those without will widen significantly!"
Professor Oak predicted that once MEGA Evolution emerges, the entire world's structure may transform.
Currently, the Galar Region dominates with its Dynamax, while the Alola Region, possessing another miraculous system that can unleash extraordinarily powerful one-off Moves, remains less known due to educational lag and remoteness. This power is only familiar to the locals of Alola.
Very few people outside are aware of the existence of Z-Moves, and even if they are, obtaining a Z-Move isn't easy. It requires completing the Island Challenge in the Alola Region, which is much more difficult than obtaining a Dynamax Band.