Chapter 498: The Silver Conference Opens!

Just as Luo Mu remembered, atop the Blastoise's head, a round stone shimmering with a mysterious luster under the lights remained fixed in place by its protective gear.

This item, known as the Mega Stone, was essential for Pokémon Mega Evolution, serving to activate the "Mega Factor" hidden within Blastoise's body.

Chairman Zhi Mi was also acutely aware that he had regretfully lost even when facing Cangyan Cangyan Rengui with a type advantage back then; now, he was fighting at a type disadvantage once again.

Not to mention that he and Blastoise were now facing Luo Mu's ace, his starter Pokémon, a Luxray whose aura appeared anything but ordinary.

There could be not a shred of carelessness or underestimation; they must go all out from the very start! With a smooth motion, he gripped the blue scarf hanging meticulously over his chest, clutching the "gem" attached to it as a "decoration," and Chairman Zhi Mi declared in a deep voice: "Blastoise, Mega Evolve!"

As Chairman Zhi Mi's spirit resonated deeply with Blastoise, the Key Stone erupted with waves of light; bathed in this radiance, Blastoise's Mega Stone released particle beams of a special wavelength, completely activating the "Mega Factor" within Blastoise's body! "Ka-chunk—!"

Blastoise's body rapidly transformed amidst the light: independent shells grew on its arms, each concealing a high-power water cannon, while the two large cannons on its back merged into one, becoming a massive gun comparable to a tank's main artillery.

Its head became more three-dimensional, and its thick limbs were now capable of supporting it against far more violent recoil; not only adept at defense, it now possessed terrifying firepower, representing nearly comprehensive horizontal development.

"Mega Evolution! Mr. Zhi Mi went all out right from the beginning."

Clemont pushed up his glasses, not feeling particularly surprised yet.

Beside him, You You Lijia shouted things like "So cool!" and "So amazing!" while hugging the Luxio in excitement.

"Ohhh, this is—"

Iono, serving as the referee, reacted with even greater excitement than You You Lijia; what had just happened? Blastoise had actually evolved!? "First, the appetizer: Hydro Pump!"

Chairman Zhi Mi waved his hand broadly, issuing the command calmly.

The Mega Blastoise locked its red eyes onto the Luxray, lowered its body, firmly planted its four limbs on the ground, calibrated the cannon ports on its back, and a water-blue light flickered and gathered at the muzzle—

Pshoo! A highly compressed column of water gushed out; even though Mega Blastoise had secured its chassis as much as possible, its body still involuntarily lifted and slid backward several dozen centimeters due to such terrifying recoil.

It was foreseeable that the power of this single Hydro Pump rivaled that of an artillery shell.

In response, Luo Mu issued only a concise and efficient command.

"Wild Charge."

Vroom—

The air subtly vibrated with a humming sound as the Luxray slammed its front paw onto the ground, the noise resembling thunder rolling through one's ears.

Lightning exploded, bright yellow serpentine bolts frantically licking across the field, finally coalescing into a violent current that enveloped the Luxray.

The Luxray's figure instantly vanished from its original spot.

Before several pairs of suddenly constricted pupils, the Luxray, like a streak of rushing thunder, charged straight at the erupting Hydro Pump, shredding through it with nearly absolute violence; amidst a sky-full of splashing water, it collided with the Mega Blastoise without losing any momentum.

Even Chairman Zhi Mi had not expected that Mega Blastoise's Hydro Pump would be broken through by the Luxray in such a manner.

After all, in the few months since that battle, his own progress had been quite evident! In haste, Chairman Zhi Mi could only order Mega Blastoise to erect a Protect barrier to avoid suffering this thunderous strike.

Having failed to land the hit, the Luxray slowly retreated a few steps, its unusually bright golden-yellow eyes fixed on the Mega Blastoise, as if seeing completely through its uncertain and suspicious emotions.

Nearly a year had passed since that Paldea League Championship match.

Even though it had spent most of that time living leisurely on the farm, the Luxray had not indulged in comfort, training to improve itself every single day.

In recent months, with the addition of Calyrex and the counterattack of Swampert, feeling unprecedented high pressure, its progress was naturally obvious.

It could be said that neither the current Luxray nor Luo Mu, the Trainer partnering with it, could any longer be summarized as the "weakest Champion Trainer."

Even among those League Champions who shone brightly as the pride of their respective Leagues, he ranked within the top tier.

The text appearing only in Luo Mu's Emperor Yan Di's vision had cried until its eyes were a blur of tears, though it was unknown how exactly it managed to cry.

Iono, staring blankly at the scene before her, also felt a profound realization.

Less than a year ago, shortly after embarking on her career as a streamer, leveraging her status as an official Gym Leader of the Paldea League, she had secured broadcasting rights for a Championship Challenge that would not normally be open to the public.

This could be said to be an experiment by the Paldea League to spark greater interest among more residents in the profession of Pokémon Trainer.

Unfortunately, whether because the streaming business in the Paldea region, where the League had been established for merely over a decade, was just getting started, or because Iono herself, as a minor streamer, had too little popularity,

the broadcast itself did not generate much reaction; apart from a segment of the population already following the Trainer field, very few people even knew about it.

That intense battle shook Iono's heart and mind; even if she did not say it aloud, she truly began to aspire, viewing it as her own goal.

At that time, Iono felt very unwilling, unwilling that such a splendid duel should be buried in obscurity.

Fortunately, over the past year, thanks to Director Geeta's efforts, more Paldea residents had come to recognize the profession of Pokémon Trainer, and her own streaming career was flourishing.

Now, watching the Luxray's unstoppable figure bathed in lightning, Iono felt as though she had returned to the past, memories overlapping and then shattering once again.

Watching the Luxray unleash thunder that covered the entire battlefield, while the Mega Blastoise struggled bitterly within it, powerless to fight back, the situation presented a completely one-sided affair.

Iono gradually gained a real sense of it.

She had always been distracted by "Substitute," "Toxic," "Trick," "Power," "Minimize," and "Rock Slide," failing to notice just how exaggerated the progress of Luo Mu and the Luxray had been over the past year; the changes could be described as earth-shaking.

"Wild Charge."

At this moment, Luo Mu's voice rang out, having remained calm throughout the battle since its start.

Iono came back to her senses, watching that ball of shining lightning forcefully breach the Mega Blastoise's hard shell, delivering the final blow and completely drawing a period to the battle.

Her lips pursed, and she murmured to herself.

"Even more amazing than Iono imagined, Mr. New Champion."

"So amazing, way too amazing, Big Brother Luo Mu!"

Clemont, changing his usual demeanor, grabbed Luo Mu's hand, his Bai Xi face flushed red, wanting to say something but only able to monotonously repeat the phrase "too amazing."

Beside him, his Luxio, Helioptile, and Rotom also surrounded the Luxray, admiration visibly leaping in their Emperor Yan Di.

Electric-type Pokémon could actually be this powerful!

"Really, when Big Brother gets excited, he's a completely different person from before," You You Lijia muttered from the side, complaining softly.

Once a reserved person suddenly erupts, the duration is quite long.

After finally managing to deal with the clearly over-excited Clemont, Luo Mu noticed that Chairman Zhi Mi had already treated Blastoise's injuries, recalled it into its Poké Ball, and was preparing to seek out Nurse Joy of Lumiose City for further treatment. Luo Mu asked with concern, "Will this affect your itinerary?"

After finally managing to deal with Citron, whose expression was obviously extremely excited, Luo Mu discovered that Chairman Zhi Mi had already treated the Blastoise's injuries; having recalled it into its Poké Ball, he was preparing to seek out Nurse Joy of Levincia City for further treatment. Luo Mu asked with concern, "Will this affect your itinerary?"

Chairman Zhi Mi waved his hand, displaying a helpless expression once again.

Chairman Zhi Mi waved his hand, revealing a helpless expression once again.

"I thought that despite some recent slackening, my progress meant the outcome wouldn't be like that previous battle; I didn't expect to lose so thoroughly this time, completely unable to fight back."

"The threat Luxray poses to me has already surpassed our League Champion's ace; it seems my training must continue."

Chairman Zhi Mi rambled on, as if making a summary.

To this, Luo Mu, unsure how to respond, could only say this one sentence.

"Luxray's progress recently has been quite obvious; there's no need for too much pressure."

Luo Mu had seen all of Luxray's progress with his own eyes; over these past few months, as his starter Pokémon, its pressure had actually been quite great too.

Mewtwo, whom it could once defeat, had surpassed it with extremely rapid growth speed; Mega Swampert, which completely countered it; and the sense of powerlessness when facing the Shiny Rayquaza.

Luxray was not crushed by these pressures; instead, relying on its own efforts, it made its physique stronger, advanced the power of its electric currents further, and developed more of its own potential.

Nowadays, Luxray was already fully capable of exerting crushing-level combat power against Elite Four-level aces.

Chairman Zhi Mi and Mega Blastoise being suppressed throughout the entire match was completely within Luo Mu's expectations.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have retorted to Chairman Zhi Mi, "Are you sure?"

Not buying this statement, Chairman Zhi glanced at Luo Mu, gave a bitter smile, and said, "No need to comfort me; you didn't even use that phenomenon called Terastallization. How big the gap is, I know clearly in my heart."

At this, Luo Mu found it hard to say anything more.

The two exchanged a few more pleasantries, agreeing that after some time, once Chairman Zhi had sorted out his confusion, he would visit again to purchase a batch of ingredients for use in his restaurant.

After exchanging greetings with Iono, who was unusually quiet, Chairman Zhi departed from Levincia Gym.

Luo Mu also greeted Iono along with Clemont and You You Lijia, then began taking the siblings to tour various attractions in Levincia City and browse large supermarkets.

Incidentally, following the suggestion of Clemont, this electrical expert and son of an appliance shop owner, they proceeded to purchase a batch of appliances: ordinary household appliances, kitchen appliances required by Shuang Nai Xian, and even medical electronic equipment to assist Comfey were all prepared.

With Clemont present, even though Luo Mu was dazzled by that pile of specifications, he still managed to select appliances that were affordable, durable, and offered the best cost-performance ratio.

After a bout of heavy spending, seeing the sun was about to set, Luo Mu took the siblings to dine at a highly acclaimed restaurant in Levincia City; instead of having Dragonite carry them, he hailed a Bombirdier flying taxi, just to let the siblings experience the specialties of the Paldea region.

Returning to the farm under a starry sky, considering that most of the farm's Pokémon had already rested, Luo Mu did not take Clemont and You You Lijia to visit each one individually, but headed straight back to the small villa.

"Many facilities in the new house are lacking, and the appliances were just purchased; tonight, you two will sleep here."

Having Oranguru bring over two sets of ready-made pajamas in suitable sizes, Luo Mu said to the two with a smile.

"Troubling you."

After a whole day, Clemont had returned to his usual state, nodding reservedly.

As for You You Lijia, she let out a cheer and immediately joined Victini, Pecharunt, the Eevee sisters, Shuang Nai Xian, and the others in the living room to play around.

Having Oranguru prepare warm milk for bedtime, Luo Mu invited Clemont to sit down; enjoying a rare moment of leisure, he started chatting with him.

"Today at Levincia Gym, I only saw you send out three Pokémon; as a Gym Leader, haven't you completed capturing your team yet?" Luo Mu asked curiously.

"The Pokémon currently used at the gym to welcome challengers are all provided by the League."

Clemont shook his head, his gaze falling upon his own three Pokémon nearby that were familiarizing themselves with the environment.

"You know Luxio's situation; Tynamo counts as my starter Pokémon captured after I left school, and Magnemite remains stationed at the gym."

"As for Rotom, it is an important partner, crucial to the new invention I am researching."

"A new invention?"

Luo Mu raised an eyebrow and followed up on Clemont's words.

Clemont nodded gently; whenever speaking of inventions, it was as if he had endless things to say.

"As a Plasma Pokémon, Rotom possesses the ability to move through various electronic devices; I was thinking, if possible, could we manufacture a machine suitable for Rotom to infiltrate, granting Rotom new possibilities..."

"For example, a Pokédex that Rotom could inhabit."

Clemont's eyes sparkled brightly, seeming to harbor a considerable degree of enthusiasm for this goal.

Listening to Clemont speak at length, Luo Mu did not find it boring; on the contrary, he listened with great interest.

If he remembered correctly, according to the game's settings, the Rotom Dex was invented by Clemont, wasn't it?

As for the inspiration, it was probably that pile of appliances inhabited by Rotom.

Later on, it seemed to have extended into products like the Rotom Phone, Rotom Bike, Rotom Drone, and the like.

Luo Mu listened quietly to Clemont's narration for about ten-plus minutes when suddenly, the "black sphere" he had placed on the living room table vibrated a few times.

Under Clemont's puzzled expression, Luo Mu placed it before himself, waiting calmly for its transformation and transmission.

Before long, the black sphere's vibration ceased, precise mechanical operating sounds rang out, and the black sphere gradually transformed into a flat circular structure.

Immediately following, with a flash of light, a stack of photos appeared silently upon the flat surface.

Seeing this scene, Clemont was stunned.

A spherical object that appeared perfectly round and integrated suddenly transformed into an extremely thin flat circular structure, and then a stack of photos appeared out of thin air.

What was that? A prank by a Psychic-type Pokémon, or was this thing some kind of technological creation?

If it truly was a technological creation, how were its principles, materials, and energy source resolved? Clemont, the genius inventor of the Kalos region, completely crashed.

Meanwhile, Luo Mu picked up the photos to examine them carefully, then raised his eyebrows.

"The Silver Conference... has begun?"

(End of Chapter)