"Try again?"
Seeing the dangerous look in Ashford's eyes, Auron immediately wiped the smile off his face and spoke with complete seriousness.
"How about this—let's wait a moment and see if you can Mega Evolve Kangaskhan again. I want to test whether Mega Evolution has a cooldown period."
"Alright, we'll wait then. In the meantime, use your Aura to identify more evolution stones that match with specific Pokémon."
"Sure."
Auron agreed readily, though he grumbled internally: It's not my Aura I'm relying on—it's my excellent knowledge base, thank you very much.
"Here, this one."
Auron pulled a yellow-and-white Mega Stone from the box and handed it to Flint.
"If I'm not mistaken, this should be Metagross's evolution stone. I remember you have a Metagross, Grandpa Flint. Want to give it a try?"
"Sure, let me try."
Flint took the Metagross evolution stone from Auron's hand, then called over a researcher and sent him to his home to bring Metagross back.
Researchers of Ashford and Flint's caliber were considered national treasures, receiving priority protection from the state. Whether at home or traveling to the institute, they always had security escorts.
The research institute itself was even safer. After all, if the capital Shangjing's research institute were ever infiltrated, certain people would be in very deep trouble.
So whether for their own sake or for the nation's, the research institute was one of the most secure locations in Shangjing.
What's more, there was a military base right next to the institute. If anything happened, the official protocol required the military to surround the entire facility within three minutes of the alarm sounding, ensuring not a single Pokémon could escape the perimeter.
Before long, Metagross came flying over, arriving at Flint's side and hovering behind him with an air of cool detachment.
Flint attached the Metagross Mega Stone to one of Metagross's legs, then prepared to begin the Mega Evolution trial.
"Auron, is this okay? Auron?"
This was Flint's first time conducting a Mega Evolution trial, and he felt slightly nervous. He quickly asked Auron if everything was in order.
"Huh? Oh! Yes, yes, it's fine."
Auron snapped back to attention upon hearing Flint's voice and hurriedly nodded his approval.
"Alright, I'm starting then."
"Mm-hm, go ahead."
Auron's response was rather perfunctory. His eyes were practically sparkling as he stared at Metagross.
He couldn't help it. A silver-white Metagross had appeared right before his eyes—who could possibly tear their gaze away?
Never mind just looking—if he hadn't known Metagross already had a trainer, Auron would have been tempted to throw a Poké Ball the instant he saw it.
"Tsk, tsk. This is way too cool."
Auron examined Metagross's information, practically drooling.
Pokémon: Metagross ★
Gender: Genderless
Type: Steel / Psychic
Ability: Clear Body (Prevents stat reductions caused by opponents', allies', or the Pokémon's own moves and Abilities)
Potential: Red
Base Moves: Omitted
Egg Moves: Omitted
"Respond to my evolution, Metagross!"
"Pfft—"
Auron had still been staring at Metagross in a daze when Flint's theatrical shout suddenly rang out. He couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Fortunately, Flint was focused on watching Metagross within the evolution light and didn't notice Auron's reaction. Otherwise, his expression would definitely have darkened.
Auron had really gone to great lengths just to see two normally stone-faced, national-treasure-level researchers act like chuunibyou characters.
The white light dissipated, and Mega Metagross appeared before everyone.
"Wow!"
Stars sparkled in Auron's eyes once more. He had to admit—among Pokémon whose shiny forms far outshone their regular colors, Metagross absolutely deserved a spot on the list.
"This is way too cool!"
Honestly speaking, Auron was tempted. He no longer wanted to help his grandfather with work. Right now, all he wanted was to scour every Day Care and Pokémon Egg shop in Shangjing. He wanted his own Shiny Metagross!
"Begin testing!"
"Yes, sir!"
The researchers sprang back into action. Meanwhile, Auron asked someone nearby for paper and a pen, then crouched down and began writing out which evolution stone corresponded to which Pokémon.
By the time Metagross's data recording was complete, Auron had also more or less finished filling in all the evolution stone correspondences.
Now the only ones left were Aerodactyl's evolution stone, Mewtwo's X and Y stones, Latias's stone, Latios's stone, and Diancie's stone. He'd noted these as "No Aura Connection."
After finishing, Auron addressed his grandfather.
"Grandpa, I've recorded everything. You can just follow this list—it should be mostly accurate. Give it a try. Also, there probably is a cooldown period, so remember to bring in more people to help. I have something to take care of, so I'll head out first."
"Fine."
Ashford didn't even turn around. He was currently focused on figuring out exactly what Mega Metagross's Ability was.
Seeing that neither of them was paying attention to him, Auron quickly headed for the exit, pulling out his phone and making two calls along the way.
A short while later, three people gathered in front of Shangjing's largest Day Care—also the main branch of the nation's biggest Pokémon Egg shop.
"Master, are we picking out Pokémon today?"
The chubby little Fugui came running over excitedly, asking Auron with enthusiasm while handing him the ice cream he'd been holding.
"Yeah. I'll help you pick your third Pokémon in a bit. After all, you don't need to train Pupitar anymore right now—you just have to wait for him to evolve. No reason to sit idle during this time. Getting a head start on your next Pokémon isn't a bad idea."
Auron didn't stand on ceremony. He accepted the ice cream, took a bite, and spoke to Fugui.
There was truly nothing more refreshing than eating ice cream in the middle of summer.
"Got it, Master! Are we going in now?"
"Wait just a moment. There's one more person coming."
"Mm-hm, okay."
Fugui didn't say anything more. Although it was quite hot, he waited quietly behind Auron.
After another while, Jace Rowan finally arrived, riding on his Bouffalant.
Hopping down from Bouffalant's back, Jace walked up to Auron and complained:
"I am never riding a Pokémon mount in summer again. Wouldn't the air conditioning in a taxi be more comfortable?"
Auron asked with a smile, "Then why didn't you take a taxi?"
"I was worried you'd get impatient waiting! So I just took whichever was faster."
Auron laughed at this, patting Jace on the shoulder.
"Relax, I'm used to it. No matter which one you take, you're always the last to arrive anyway."
Before Jace could retort, Auron pulled Fugui out from behind him and made introductions.
"Here, this is my new disciple, Fugui."
"Fugui? Hmm, a very prosperous-sounding name."
After complimenting Fugui, Jace extended his hand.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Auron's childhood friend, Jace Rowan."
Fugui's expression turned bitter, but he reached out and shook Jace's hand anyway.
"Nice to meet you, Uncle-Master. But you can call me by my real name—Wang Quan."
Jace paused. "Wang Quan? Alright then, Fugui."
Fugui sighed in resignation. Whatever. I'm used to it. No point fighting it anymore.
Auron smiled and patted Fugui on the back. "Well, you can call him Uncle-Master or Senior Brother—either works. He's basically my disciple too, I suppose. Though he's going the Sun team route?"
The moment he heard this, Fugui's eyes lit up. He immediately called out to Jace:
"Senior Brother! I'm running a Sandstorm team! I look forward to learning from you!"