"Whew… we're finally back. Today was exhausting."
That night, the moment they arrived at the villa, Steven flopped straight down onto the sofa, leaning back with a long sigh.
Chen Shi felt tired as well. After all, the morning had been packed with nonstop events, and in the afternoon they'd taken two flights back-to-back.
But he didn't have time to dwell on it—he immediately hurried into his room to check on his Pokémon Egg.
Seeing that it was still perfectly fine, untouched and unharmed, he finally relaxed.
Only then did he carry the egg back into the living room. The housekeeper was already bringing dishes to the table, and Phoebe, hearing the commotion, came downstairs as well.
Watching Chen Shi walk out while carefully holding the egg, Cynthia couldn't help but ask,
"What Pokémon is that egg, exactly? You're treating it like a priceless treasure."
Ever since the award ceremony, Chen Shi had been holding onto it constantly—even while eating, he hadn't let it leave his hands.
The only time he'd put it down was when they went to the League headquarters, and even then he'd repeatedly warned Phoebe to keep a close eye on it.
His behavior had completely piqued Cynthia's curiosity.
Hearing her question, Chen Shi smiled mysteriously.
"I can't tell you yet," he said. "But I can tell you this—this little guy is my Star of Victory."
As he spoke, his hand gently brushed over the surface of the egg.
That's right.
This egg contained the legendary Victory Pokémon—Victini.
As for why Victini was in egg form, and why the League had actually used it as a World Tournament reward… even Chen Shi himself couldn't quite figure it out.
But since he couldn't make sense of it, he simply stopped trying.
If he'd encountered it, then it meant Victini was fated to be with him. There was no reason not to choose it.
Hisuian Goomy?
A shiny Dratini?
Could any of those compare to his little V?
Seeing that Chen Shi had no intention of explaining further, Cynthia dropped the topic.
She knew very well that once he decided not to talk, asking more questions would be pointless.
On the other side of the table, Phoebe swallowed a mouthful of meat and asked,
"Now that the tournament's over, are we heading back?"
She'd long since lost interest in this place. Now that the competition was finally finished, she couldn't wait to return to the Chen family farm and bask in the sun.
Steven immediately nodded.
"Of course. The tournament's done—what would we stay here for?"
"I'm planning to leave tomorrow," he added. "I've been away for too long. Once I'm back, there'll be a mountain of work waiting for me."
At the thought of that endless pile of documents, Steven sighed again, his head already starting to ache.
Especially with Chen Shi's situation—there was no doubt a large-scale auction would need to be organized soon.
His father had already made it clear: Steven would be handling the whole thing.
Which meant… even more work.
Chen Shi thought for a moment, then said,
"Then let's head back tomorrow. There's nothing left for us to do here anyway."
"Yay!"
Phoebe's eyes lit up as she cheered.
"We're going home tomorrow!"
Steven suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right—Old Chen. When you're ready to publish the Mega Evolution paper, make sure you tell me. I'm in charge of this auction."
"No problem," Chen Shi replied readily. "I'll call you the moment I publish it."
He wouldn't forget something like that. After all, Devon Corporation was taking the heat for him—he had to keep them in the loop.
Otherwise, the auction would be pointless.
After that, Chen Shi brought up another matter with Steven—the energy blocks.
"Besides Mega Evolution, I'll also be publishing the Fairy-type paper once I'm back. The cooperation on Fairy-type energy blocks should be put on the agenda too."
Steven's expression grew serious.
"How exactly do you want to handle the cooperation?"
He already knew about Fairy-type energy blocks and understood how special Fairy-type Pokémon currently were.
This was something he took very seriously.
Chen Shi rubbed his chin and thought for a moment.
"Right now, Fairy-type energy blocks only go up to Advanced level. My grandma and I still haven't figured out the top-tier version."
"So for sales, we'll only handle Intermediate and Advanced ones."
"Later, I'll give you the formula for Fairy-type energy blocks. Devon will handle production, sales, distribution—everything."
"And I'll just… collect the money."
"You're giving us the formula?"
Steven stared at him in shock.
He hadn't expected that Chen Shi's idea of cooperation involved handing over the recipe outright.
If Devon had the formula, they could technically produce and sell the blocks on their own—without giving Chen Shi a single cut.
This was Chen Shi's biggest bargaining chip, the foundation of the entire partnership—and he was giving it up just like that.
"Why look so surprised?" Chen Shi shrugged.
"If I don't give it to you, what—am I supposed to make them myself?"
"Even if I worked 24 hours a day without rest, how many could I possibly make?"
"Could I meet that kind of demand?"
"So handing the formula to you is the best choice."
"I provide the technology, you provide manpower and resources. We all make money—what's wrong with that?"
Steven raised an eyebrow and looked at him meaningfully.
"Aren't you afraid I'll take the formula and cut you out?"
"This is your biggest leverage. Once we have it, we could easily ditch you and do everything ourselves."
Chen Shi rolled his eyes.
"Wow, you're so impressive."
Steven's mouth twitched. He rubbed his temples helplessly.
"You trust me that much? You're not worried I'll screw you over?"
Chen Shi was starting to lose patience.
"What, you don't want the formula now?"
"Enough with the childish nonsense. I trust you."
Hearing that, Steven let out a bitter smile—but his heart felt warm.
Since Chen Shi trusted him so completely, there was no way he'd ever let him down.
"Alright then," Steven said. "Let's do a 30–70 split. I take three, you take seven."
"After all, this all comes from you. You deserve the bigger share."
But the moment Chen Shi heard that, he frowned in dissatisfaction.
"The hell is wrong with Devon Corporation?" he snapped.
"Got too much money to burn?"
"You're handling production, logistics, sales, and after-sales—and you only want thirty percent?"
"What is this, charity?"
He took a big bite of food and said firmly,
"Fifty-fifty. Or I'll find someone else to work with."
That was how business should be done.
He provided the technology; Devon provided manpower and resources.
Equal profits—that was the correct way to cooperate.
Steven's suggestion of a 30–70 split was clearly his way of making up for what he felt he owed Chen Shi.
But had Chen Shi actually lost out?
Not at all.
So the proposal was rejected outright.
Steven opened his mouth as if to argue, but when he saw the look on Chen Shi's face, he said nothing in the end and silently continued eating.
On the other side, sensing the heavy atmosphere, Phoebe tried to lighten things up. Her eyes rolled a bit before she looked at Cynthia.
"Cynthia, are you heading back tomorrow too?"
Cynthia smiled softly.
"No," she replied.
"I'm going to Hoenn with you."
...
Read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon -> patreon.com/lucarioTL