"Ah, morning, Crobat."
The next morning, Auron's internal clock woke him right on schedule.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Crobat sprawled right on top of him.
Only then did Auron remember what he'd done the night before.
Last night, because he was so nervous, he'd been chatting with Crobat for hours.
Though for most of it, he was the one talking and Crobat was listening.
He talked for so long that he eventually passed out mid-sentence.
Only then did Crobat drape its wings over him, lie down beside him, and drift off holding Auron like that.
Just as Auron finished recalling last night's events, Crobat's eyes fluttered open too. He greeted it with a grin and added:
"Haha, Crobat, you're oversleeping today, you know. You're usually up before me."
Crobat stared back at the grinning Auron, relieved to see that he wasn't nervous anymore, and let out a breath it had been holding.
Then Crobat shot him a sideways look — whose fault is that? — who was it last night talking our ears off until we all passed out? If I hadn't stayed up to keep you company, you'd have been alone. Oh, and by the way, I got up early today too.
In the beginning, yes, the whole team had kept Auron company, helping him relax. But eventually every Pokémon succumbed to exhaustion and fell asleep one by one, until only Crobat remained, keeping him company to the end.
"Haha, my bad, my bad. Come here, give me a hug."
Auron saw that expression on Crobat's face and promptly admitted defeat, then reached out and picked it up.
"Yiiir~"
Crobat gave a little squirm, realized it wasn't getting free, and only then flushed red and glared at Auron.
"What, are you shy? When you were still a Zubat, didn't I carry you around every day to clean you up? And you always—"
Crobat cut him off with a wing pressed firmly over his mouth.
Seeing that Crobat was already past embarrassed and heading into annoyed territory, Auron burst out laughing: "Okay, okay, I won't say another word."
"They're all still asleep. Don't worry."
Auron watched Crobat's nervous expression and whispered the reassurance right into its ear.
Then he carried Crobat out of the room.
The moment they stepped outside, Crobat could no longer hold back its shyness — it gave Auron's cheek a soft nuzzle, then fluttered out of his arms and flew off.
"Honestly, we've been together this long and you still get embarrassed."
Auron teased it once, then went to wash up by himself.
… … … … … … … …
"Are you ready?"
"Yes!"
"Still nervous?"
"Nervous, but nothing I can't handle."
"Good. Let's head out."
"Yeah!"
With that exchange between grandfather and grandson, the Vale family piled into a car and drove toward the Bird's Nest.
Overnight, the Bird's Nest had been fully prepared.
All protective measures were activated. On top of that, every piece of monitoring equipment from the research institute's testing grounds had been transported overnight to the Bird's Nest — all to record the abilities of both Legendaries.
Inside the arena, a group of officials had already arrived. And apart from them, a mysterious figure had come early as well, waiting for the Legendary match to begin.
"Have we arrived yet?"
"Almost. About ten more minutes."
The moment Cyrus Zhuge heard they'd be arriving in about ten minutes, he immediately stood up from his seat. "Haah… Haaah… I can barely contain myself. A match between Rayquaza and another Legendary!"
"Yeah, I can barely contain myself either. How come that old fart Lu Xing-guo is taking so long?"
The moment Mo An-guo spoke like that, the Zhuge brothers — Cyrus and his uncle — could only manage an awkward smile. Mo An-guo could say whatever he wanted about the old man; that was their dynamic. But for them, anything they said in response would be wrong no matter how they tried to answer.
Mo An-guo was still sporting two dark circles under his eyes. He'd originally been on assignment in Tibet Province conducting research. Then, last night, when he heard there was going to be a Legendary battle with Rayquaza — and that they would be recording the data — his heart leapt.
So he'd simply put the Tibet Province research on hold, boarded a flight back to Shangjing that very night.
Sure, he'd slept on the plane, but how could a plane bed compare to a real one?
Hence the bags under his eyes.
But that didn't dampen his excitement in the slightest.
Real Legendary data. This was an absolutely rare opportunity.
"An-guo, the Supervisor is here too. Maybe we should keep our voices down."
Mo An-guo gave Cyrus Zhuge a puzzled look. "The Supervisor? Why would he show up today?"
Cyrus Zhuge could only give a helpless, rueful smile and promptly stopped talking.
The Supervisor — Wang He-ping — was a position unique to the Dragon Kingdom. In terms of ranking, he was second in the entire nation, second only to the Chief.
"An-guo, I'm technically the second most powerful person in the Dragon Kingdom. Give me some face, will you?"
The moment Mo An-guo finished speaking, a middle-aged man in his fifties walked out from behind them with a smile.
Mo An-guo looked at the upright, dignified-looking man and snorted. "Fine. You've got it."
"Hehe."
The moment he heard that, Wang He-ping lit up with excitement — not at all how the second most powerful man in the Dragon Kingdom would be expected to behave.
"An-guo, have you had breakfast yet? I can have something arranged for you?"
"Not hungry. Can't eat right now."
Mo An-guo waved him off without even looking.
"Understood."
Wang He-ping obediently nodded and stepped behind Mo An-guo.
The respect he showed Mo An-guo was genuine — not an act.
Setting aside the fact that Mo An-guo had changed his diapers when he was a baby, and setting aside that his father and Mo An-guo had sworn to be sworn brothers — just the fact that Mo An-guo and Lu Xing-guo had, in an era when knowledge and technology were strangled by foreign blockades, when even Poké Balls had to be imported, broken that situation wide open through their own abilities and brought the new Dragon Kingdom onto the right track — that alone demanded his respect.
After steering the new Dragon Kingdom back on course, Mo An-guo and Lu Xing-guo didn't rest on their laurels either. Training disciples, conducting research, making new discoveries — all while carrying the nation on their shoulders. Everything they did fully lived up to their names.
"They're here."
Inside the arena, Rayquaza seemed to sense something and immediately lifted its head, looking toward the main entrance.
Cyrus Zhuge saw Rayquaza's reaction and understood — Lu Ze and the others must have arrived.
"Finally. These guys are so slow!"
"You're one to talk, old man."
Before the man himself appeared, his voice had already echoed down the corridor.
"Old man, with ears like yours, you must still be sharp as ever at your age."
Mo An-guo chuckled happily, muttering under his breath.
These past half month in Tibet Province, without anyone to bicker with, life had been pretty dull.
Mo An-guo thought this, then called out loudly to Lu Ze as he emerged from the corridor: "Xiao Ze, let out your Legendary first — let me see it!"
The moment Mo An-guo said that, Lu Xing-guo, walking next to Auron's father, broke into a delighted laugh.
"Hahaha, old man — don't have a heart attack when you see what's coming."
Mo An-guo rolled his eyes. A Legendary? How impressive. He'd seen plenty of those before. Did that old fart really think a Legendary would shock him?
Lu Xing-guo was feeling absolutely gleeful. Wait until that old coot sees Deoxys. Let's see if his heart can take it.
"What's wrong? Scared at the sight of Rayquaza?"
As the two old friends were trading barbs, Auron — standing next to his father — suddenly stopped in his tracks. His father shot him a teasing look.
"This… this can't be right!"
Auron stared at the data panel displayed before Rayquaza and couldn't help but let out a startled gasp.
(End of chapter)
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