Magic of Friendship (Shining Bonds)

The **Magic of Friendship** (Japanese: *Tomodachi no Maho*) is a powerful force in *Shining Bonds a La Mode*. It permeates the entire Multiverse.

## Overview

The Magic of Friendship manifests in response to strong acts of friendship or platonic love between beings, such as between humans, ponies, or between humans and Pokémon. Despite being an invisible force like energy or gravity, it appears to have a will of its own and is sentient as it is the one who chooses humans to be magic warriors and chooses their Elements. Sometimes, however, it may choose a human to be a Chosen One, but without active powers (but still posessing an Element) due to them having a different but equally important role.

The Magic of Friendship also appears to be the driving force behind the move Return and the ability Battle Bond. If a magic human is having doubts about themselves, the Magic of Friendship will withhold their ability to transform until their confidence comes back up, and it will also withhold their ability to transform if the human must be with a partner to transform and gets into a serious unresolved argument with said partner. It does not appreciate villains at all, but is willing to forgive villains that have sincerely changed their ways (such as Nicole) or ones that were forced to be evil against their will (such as Katrina), sometimes even giving them the ability to become a Magic Warrior in their own right as a reward.

In order to become a Magic Warrior, a human chosen by the Magic of Friendship must show courage to an evil enemy, and the Magic of Friendship will then grant them a transformation device and superpowers tailored to their individual personality.

## Trivia

* The Magic of Friendship also covers platonic love between beings (such as a Trainer and their Pokémon, opposite-sex platonic friends, a parent and child, familial love in general such as siblings, best friends, etc) though it doesn't cover *romantic* love between beings.
* In some circumstances, for somebody's own safety, the MOF sometimes will withold a character's ability to transform even if they do not involve self-doubts or arguments - for example, it would not let Jim transform after he got seriously drunk, and would not let Dragonet use her powerup, even blocking her ability to use *any* moves or attacks *at all*, while she was pregnant.
* Similar to how the Light of Hope has a counterpart called the Darkness of Despair or better known as Chaos, the MOF has an exact polar opposite called the Magic of Apathy, which is what villains use and which cannot be destroyed just like the MOF, due to negative emotions such as hate, fear, apathy, anger, and sadness also having their place in well-being when appropriate. If a villain has a change of heart, however, they will stop using the MOA (at least as a power source - all living things, even the nicest people, are not perfect and all have a bit of the MOA and Chaos inside them) and start using the MOF.
* All humans picked by the MOF have the ability to hear Pokémon talk. Event Horizon can still hear Pokémon talk even in her villain form due to being a Chosen One who is brainwashed against her will, but Necrosis, Demencia, and Black Hat can't. Necrosis, however, gains the ability to hear Pokémon talk upon permanently turning into Niku/Nicole since she became a Chosen One.
* If someone's close friends or loved ones die before their natural lifespan is up or if such a thing happens because they are immortal and can't bear the pain of outliving them and losing them any longer, they can ask the Magic of Friendship to peacefully end their life (even if they are immortal) so they can be with their friends and loved ones in the afterlife. However, it will *only* grant such a request if ending their life is truly in their best interest - it won't just let someone commit suicide for any reason, for example.