Fifty million laid out before him, practically given away for free, with everyone practically begging him to take it.
Li Xiang felt he could find no reason to refuse.
After all, even without the Metagrossite, he had already made up his mind to absolutely reach the global stage.
Without that ambition, why compete at all? He might as well just hide his strength.
But the school's sincerity truly moved and reassured him.
Others used sugar-coated bullets; they were practically made of sugar inside and out, with the inside even sweeter.
This Metagrossite, while not exactly a godsend in a time of need, was certainly a pleasant surprise.
If the school hadn't given it to him, he would have had to search for it himself and spend a fortune to buy it in the future.
However, there was supply but no demand.
If Key Stones were like family heirlooms that no one would ever sell, then Mega Stones were like legendary paintings or precious antiques. Just having money wasn't enough; you had to wait for the right opportunity, like an antique auction, and bid against others.
It was a bit like diamonds—individually useless, only good for playing with, yet the price was still driven up by those with ulterior motives.
So if Li Xiang had to find one himself, who knew how much time it would waste!
Since it was handed to him, it fell right into his pocket, and no one could take it away.
"It's my duty, and I'm honored!"
Li Xiang clutched the small box and replied with righteous conviction.
Bai Wanhua exchanged glances with the other school board members and said, "It's good that you're confident."
They smiled warmly.
They didn't take up too much of Li Xiang's time.
After saying what they needed to, they let him go.
Time was tight; before the tournament truly began, any improvement counted.
"The box!"
The principal's assistant was stunned for a moment when he saw Li Xiang casually slip the box into his pocket.
Then he hurriedly called out.
"Huh? Can't I keep the box?"
Li Xiang turned around in surprise, then naturally took the Mega Stone out of the box and placed the empty box back on the table.
Bai Wanhua was caught between laughter and exasperation, but she understood the powerful allure of a Mega Stone, especially one that matched a specific Pokémon. No one could resist it.
She waved her hand. "Take it, take it. It's yours sooner or later anyway."
Beside her, the principal's assistant opened his mouth but said nothing.
The other school board members looked helpless.
"Hehehe, sorry, sorry. I got carried away. I hope you can be magnanimous."
Li Xiang smiled and bowed in apology, then said seriously, "I will definitely secure that spot. If not, I'll return it, no questions asked."
He wasn't taking this for free.
He really liked Mega Evolution, even considered himself a huge fan, but he wasn't shameless enough to take something without meeting the conditions.
"Alright, don't talk like that. We all trust you and know you won't go back on your word. Go train now."
Bai Wanhua shooed Li Xiang away.
Only after the sound of his footsteps faded did the surrounding school board members exchange helpless glances.
"I really don't know if he's easy to deal with or hard to deal with."
The principal's assistant rubbed his temples.
Li Xiang's personality was very difficult to handle.
He never acted arrogant despite his talent. Even though his strength surpassed all the students on campus, he remained humble, never changing how he addressed others or his attitude toward them.
At first glance, he seemed easy to talk to, but unless you offered something real, he wouldn't give you the time of day.
If he were impulsive, proud, or arrogant, he might have been easily swayed by the school board's grand promises.
But someone like Li Xiang would never give any guarantees unless he had something tangible in hand.
Yet saying he was hard to deal with wasn't entirely accurate either.
As long as you gave him what he wanted, you could make relatively excessive demands, and he would strive to meet them. He usually wasn't particularly hard to satisfy; he had self-awareness and wouldn't covet unreasonable things.
If you gave him more than he expected, you could even earn his goodwill.
Even though the Mega Stone wasn't coming out of their own pockets, the value Li Xiang currently represented was enough to match it, which still made them slightly pained.
As the saying goes: strangers get ripped off, but friends and family get the full deal.
This Mega Stone was something Bai Wanhua had been trying to acquire through Mist City University's connections.
Previously, Li Xiang's demonstrated value wasn't enough to convince the board to make such an exaggerated investment in him.
It was only after Li Xiang shone in the Spring Tournament that they began to hesitate. By the time he went on a five-win streak, countless people had abandoned their opposition.
And after he challenged the school team and defeated the majority of them, the dissenters had no more say. The only thing left to do was praise Li Xiang to the skies.
The Metagrossite was then purchased.
It passed through several hands.
Although it wasn't paired with a Key Stone—and couldn't possibly be—its main purpose was to boost morale, and so it was handed over so simply.
According to others, they hadn't planned to give it away so quickly.
Unfortunately, Li Xiang was too sharp, so they had no choice but to give it to him. After all, a single Mega Stone was just a slightly bigger glass bead anyway.
---
On the other side, after a lot of training, Li Xiang was at home, carefully examining the gold-and-white Metagrossite while Metagross, agitated, hovered nearby.
He used his foot to push against Metagross's face, keeping it from getting too close.
"Metagross!"
Metagross protested, reaching out its claws and growling low.
Regarding the connection between them—whether this was the original source stone that could trigger Mega Evolution—according to the manga, there was an innate spiritual link between a Pokémon and its Mega Stone, guiding the Pokémon to find it.
Li Xiang didn't know if that was true. All he knew was that since he brought the Mega Stone back, Metagross had been acting crazy, constantly begging him for it.
One moment it would shout, "Get your own Key Stone, that's my stone!" The next it would plead, "Good Li Xiang, great Li Xiang, just let me see it for a moment!"
It was so dramatic.
Honestly, Li Xiang had originally planned to give it to the Shiny Metagross, but after hearing such nonsense, he immediately stopped.
What was wrong with Metagross? Just like him in the office, it was simply anxious.
Every Pokémon in Li Xiang's team craved greater power, and Metagross was no exception.
It wanted to get the Mega Stone and try to Mega Evolve.
Huh? No Key Stone? But Li Xiang had said that if a Pokémon was strong enough on its own, it could Mega Evolve independently, even without a Key Stone.
This claim had no basis—at least, Metagross hadn't found any relevant information online.
But since the words came from Li Xiang, they carried a certain credibility.
So, although Metagross was surprised and even thought it sounded absurd, it still believed Li Xiang wouldn't lie to it.
Now that the Mega Stone was right before its eyes, it wanted to try.
With such an impatient attitude, how could Li Xiang feel at ease?
"It's too dangerous."
He glanced at the frustrated Metagross. Chao's Scizor and certain scenes from the anime served as cautionary tales.
The stone was definitely for Metagross, but not now.
"You still have room to grow. Don't rush. First, get your impatience under control."
He pushed Metagross back. It initially tried to stay, but seeing Li Xiang ignore it, it made a face at him and slid away.
Fine, if you won't give it, who cares!
Stupid Li Xiang!
Metagross indignantly headed to the study, needing to vent its frustration through gaming. It decided to smurf in District 4 today.
Quietly, it logged into a new account.
To be honest, if it really wanted to, it could easily overpower Li Xiang. But it didn't, because it wanted to properly obtain the Mega Stone and earn Li Xiang's approval.
Today's loss was only temporary.
It would try again tomorrow!
Metagross had no intention of giving up.
On the other side, Li Xiang watched Metagross leave and began to consider: if he asked Chao to borrow his Key Stone, would Chao agree...
Well, that would be a bit shameless.
Something so precious couldn't just be lent out casually. He didn't have that kind of nerve.
Besides, strictly speaking, they weren't particularly close.
If Song Jie had a Key Stone, Li Xiang would borrow it without hesitation. Unfortunately, he didn't.
The idea of letting Metagross experience Mega Evolution might have to be abandoned.
Maybe that was for the best. If Metagross went berserk after Mega Evolving, who knew who could stop it?
Li Xiang played with the Mega Stone. To a human, it was a bit large, about the size of a palm—smaller than a standard Poké Ball, but larger than a shrink-wrapped one. It felt a bit out of place.
"How much power is contained within this little glass bead?"
He observed everything in the room through the wispy filaments and crystals.
Then, on the protruding wooden deck outside the floor-to-ceiling window, he spotted a large cat wearing a steel helmet—black on top and gray on the bottom—looking like a Viking pirate and a dwarven warrior combined.
Beside it was the dear Chef Cat—the seemingly dazed but gradually conquering Li Xiang's stomach and heart—the Galarian Meowth.
Huh?
"Meow~"
The Perrserker looked at the human before it with a hint of confusion.
"Oh, you're the Third Generation? Ah-dai's grandfather?"
Li Xiang seemed to recall something and shouted toward the study, "Incineroar! Your big brother from the gang is here!"
His voice was loud.
It successfully woke Riolu, who had been sleeping on the bed, and Greninja, who had been pruning branches on the rooftop, as well as Incineroar, who had been happily playing games with Aegislash.
—Thump, thump, thump!
As if an earthquake had struck.
Under Li Xiang's bewildered gaze, the three giants quickly gathered around him, with the other Pokémon coming to join the commotion.
Rotom was ready for translation.
"Meow."
The Perrserker, unfazed by the intimidating Pokémon around it, let out a casual meow.
[It says it's here to see you, not Incineroar or the others.]
Rotom translated simultaneously.
"For me?"
Li Xiang pointed at his own nose, curious. The Perrserker nodded.
"In that case, please come in. Guests are always welcome, especially Ah-dai's grandfather. Please, come in."
Without any fear, the Perrserker walked into the room.