Time flew by, and before long, it was almost time for school to start.
During this period, aside from monotonous training, the only excitement came from what Dax Jonas brought.
That's right—Auron's father had helped verify all the evolution methods Auron proposed, one by one, and had finished writing the papers as well.
So a few days ago, Dax came bearing official rewards. Although the experimental work was basically all done by Auron's father, and he was the one who wrote the papers, the lion's share of the rewards still went to Auron—after all, he was the one who proposed the methods.
Counting carefully: Politoed, Slowking, Scizor, Kingdra, Gliscor, Weavile—each evolution method earned two National Treasure Vault key fragments.
Plus one for dismantling the cult stronghold and one for Steelix's evolution method, so now Auron had a total of fifteen key fragments.
And these were just the rewards for what he'd revealed so far. He still hadn't mentioned Clamperl's two evolution methods, Rhyperior's evolution method, Dusknoir's evolution method, and so on.
Beyond that, Auron's doctorate title had also come through. The biggest difference it made was that he could now lead his own research team and accept official assignments to earn official rewards.
It should be noted that official rewards had always been generous. Otherwise, Ashford and Flint wouldn't both own such large standalone properties near the center of the capital.
Of course, while these benefits were quite enticing, they were all secondary. What Auron valued most was gaining access to the official research warehouse.
After all, although this world had records of Pokémon existing from the very beginning, serious research and development had only really started in recent years. So there were still many items whose uses hadn't been discovered yet.
And this was Auron's opportunity. Researching these items not only earned official rewards but also gave him priority in selecting things beneficial to himself.
For example, what if the official research warehouse currently had a Light Stone (the stone Reshiram turns into)? Auron could directly take it in the name of research, then become Reshiram's master once it revived (pure pipe dream).
There were three days left until school started. Just before the semester began, all four of them—Tim, Simon, Lena, and Serena—finally arrived in the capital.
So as the ones who'd arrived early, Auron and Jace decided everyone should have dinner together and catch up. After all, it had been a while since they'd all met.
"Yo, here this early? That's not like you."
At the entrance of the Charizard Hot Pot restaurant, Tim's eyes lit up when he saw Jace at the door. He waved and greeted him.
"Tch, if I as the host were late, that would be pretty inexcusable, wouldn't it?"
Jace curled his lip, then grabbed Tim and asked, "Where's your new Pokémon? Let me see—it's a Deino, right?"
Truly the son of the wealthiest family—another pseudo-legendary. Jace was so jealous it made his cells lyse.
Tim swatted Jace's hand away. "I'll show you once we're inside. It's not like I'm going to keep hiding it forever."
"Why aren't there any pseudo-legendaries suitable for sun teams? So disappointing."
As Jace spoke, he frantically winked at Auron, desperately hinting.
Auron glanced at him. "There is one—Garchomp. Covers the Flying-type weakness. The key is whether you can actually get your hands on one."
Jace sighed helplessly. Indeed, pseudo-legendaries were great in every way—they were just too rare.
Even someone like Tim, whose family was the wealthiest in Vantora, only had two pseudo-legendaries on his team. And those came at great cost.
Pokémon eggs confirmed to contain pseudo-legendaries were rarely sold directly. Most were traded—exchanged for something that would help or was needed.
Tim had arrived. Now they just had to wait for Serena and the married couple Simon and Lena.
The three sat on the sofas in the lobby, chatting while continuing to wait for the others to arrive.
"Hey, I brought the Silver Bottle Cap for you. Which Pokémon do you want to use it on?"
Tim looked at Auron and asked seriously.
Auron smiled wryly. "I was joking! Why did you actually bring it?"
Tim smiled. "You were joking, but I wasn't. Besides, what's one Silver Bottle Cap?"
Auron gave a bitter laugh. I know your family is loaded, but this is a Silver Bottle Cap we're talking about—something that can be traded for a pseudo-legendary egg!
"Besides, you've helped me plenty, haven't you? Whether it was Swablu or the Skrelp you gave me—without you, my Dragon team would only have two members right now. So what's a mere Silver Bottle Cap?"
Seeing Auron staying silent, Tim continued.
Since Tim had put it that way, Auron could only whisper to him, "Look, I'll be honest with you—I actually have a way to improve aptitude."
Jace froze, then looked at Auron with an odd expression. This guy—how did he suddenly know everything? He hasn't been possessed by some big shot, has he?
"Whether you have your methods or not is your business. What I'm giving you is what I'm giving you—they don't conflict."
Tim spoke to Auron with righteous conviction, then opened his spatial backpack, pulled out a box, and stuffed it into Auron's arms.
"There, I've given it to you. You're treating us to hot pot today—one thing at a time, okay?"
Auron looked at the box in his hands with a mixture of laughter and tears, understanding that inside was the Silver Bottle Cap that could be traded for a pseudo-legendary egg.
"Fine, hot pot's on me today."
"Now that's more like it!" Hearing this, Tim revealed a satisfied smile.
"Speak—who are you? Where's Auron?"
Just as the two completed their gift exchange, Jace suddenly lunged forward, grabbed both of Auron's hands, and interrogated him.
Auron didn't resist, just rolled his eyes. "What nonsense are you up to now?"
"Talk! Who are you? I've known Auron since childhood—how does he suddenly know so much?"
Auron sighed helplessly. Theoretically speaking, this could be considered a change in world rules, or it could be called an awakening of memories from another world—it all depended on how you looked at it.
But regardless, he was still Auron—the same Auron. He definitely hadn't been possessed.
"Fine, what do I need to do to prove I haven't been possessed?"
"Memories. If someone's been possessed, they usually erase the original body's memories."
Tim, watching from the side, wasn't about to let this entertainment pass and offered Jace a suggestion.
Jace nodded. "Right, memories—exactly."
Auron rolled his eyes and said casually, "When we were seven, you said we were both still kids and dragged me to sneak into the girls'... mmph..."
"Uh, that's right, it's him! He hasn't been possessed—I believe him."
Halfway through Auron's sentence, Jace released his hands and clamped them over Auron's mouth, explaining to Tim with an awkward smile.
"Hey, don't stop there! Finish it! Sneak into the girls' what? I really want to know."
Tim laughed happily and pressed for more.
"Yeah, the girls' what? Tell us too—we're quite curious."
A cool voice spoke up, though the amusement in that cool tone couldn't be hidden.