Online Waiting, Urgently Need Help

Lu Ze had not expected that the person talking to Lu Ba before him was the very old man he had met yesterday at the Pokémon Main Store.

The old man stroked the beard on his chin and said with a smile,

"When we met yesterday, I felt you looked familiar. Sure enough, now that you're standing beside your dad, the two of you look exactly alike."

Lu Ba smiled and replied from the side,

"Of course. Eighty percent of this brat's handsomeness came from me. But you two met yesterday?"

Seeing the puzzled look on Lu Ba's face, the old man explained,

"Yes. Yesterday, I went to take a look at Zhixia's shop and saw the few of them looking at the Prismatic Stones. I just can't shake this habit of being Fond of Teaching, so I went over and explained them to them."

"Prismatic Stones?" Lu Ze thought. That must be what they call Mega Stones here. Hmm? Who was Zhixia? She sounded like the owner of the Pokémon Main Store.

Seeing Lu Ze's confused expression, Lu Ba slapped his forehead and said,

"Oh, right, I forgot to introduce you. This is your Grandpa Mo. He's very close with your grandpa. Our two families—well, not counting your generation—have been family friends for generations. He even held you when you were little, though you probably don't remember any of that."

Lu Ze obediently greeted him.

"Hello, Grandpa Mo."

"Haha, good, good."

Grandpa Mo stroked his beard and said happily,

"I came in a hurry this time and didn't bring you any Present. I heard from your dad that you want to get into Shangqing? Once you get into Shangqing, Grandpa Mo will prepare a Present for you too."

Lu Ze obediently answered, "Okay, thank you, Grandpa Mo."

He really did not know what to say to an elder he was not very familiar with. Fortunately, Lu Ba took over the conversation and asked,

"Eh? By the way, Uncle Mo, what brought you to Chang'an City this time?"

Mo Anguo's kindly expression immediately vanished. He gritted his teeth and said,

"Isn't it because of your father? Honestly, we were doing research properly, but every time he can't argue his way out, he starts throwing hands. The key is that I can't even beat him. Isn't that infuriating? He makes it look like he's the director and I'm the deputy."

Lu Ba gave a bitter smile. He should have known better than to bring that up. Lu Ze's grandpa, Lu Xingguo, and Mo Anguo had been competing ever since they met as children. Mo Anguo was eloquent and always argued Lu Xingguo into speechlessness, but Lu Xingguo's combat ability was higher—whether his own fighting ability or that of his Pokémon.

So every time he got verbally beaten, he would resort to fighting. The two had gone from loving and fighting each other since childhood to doing the same in their old age. Even now, they did not act like grandfathers at all. Whenever an argument began, Mo Anguo would berate Lu Xingguo, and Lu Xingguo would not bother arguing. He would simply roll up his sleeves and release his Pokémon, bluntly saying, "Come on, pick one. Me or Pokémon?"

Helpless, Lu Ba could only change the subject.

"I haven't seen Qiancheng in a long time. What's he been doing?"

Mo Anguo exploded even more. "That brat is never around all day long. He's not getting any younger, yet I don't even know where my grandson is. He never does anything proper, just runs around every day. I came here this time to block him. Just watch me give him a proper beating!"

Lu Ba felt even more miserable. He had brought up another forbidden subject. Mo Qiancheng was Mo Anguo's son, one of Dragon Nation's Elite Four. He was a few years younger than Lu Ba, but still unmarried, which meant Mo Anguo scolded him every time they met. Over time, Mo Qiancheng had begun avoiding his father.

This time, because of the newly appeared Pokémon Secret Realm in Chang'an City, an Elite Four member was needed to oversee it. Mo Qiancheng, who had wanted to avoid Elder Mo, happened to take the assignment. Unfortunately, he had failed to keep it secret. Elder Mo found out and decided to come to Chang'an City in person to intercept his son.

Although Lu Ze did not know the exact reason, hearing their conversation and seeing Elder Mo fly into a rage made him snicker. Lu Ba happened to see it. He had been worrying over how to change the topic, and Lu Ze had just given him an opening.

"Son, what did you come to see Dad about?"

Seeing Lu Ba's expression, Lu Ze gave him an out and went along with it.

"Didn't I look at Prismatic Stones with Grandpa Mo yesterday? I kind of like them too. I seem to remember seeing some in your research institute before, so I came to see if there were any left."

"Yes, yes, there are. Come on, I'll go get them for you."

Upon hearing that, Lu Ba immediately volunteered to get them, leaving Lu Ze to sit with the old man.

Mo Anguo casually picked up the teacup on the table and said to Lu Ze,

"It's been a long time. In the blink of an eye, you've grown this big. I didn't even recognize you yesterday."

Lu Ze did not know how to respond, so he could only nod in agreement.

As if venting his frustrations, Mo Anguo continued speaking to Lu Ze.

"If Qiancheng were like your dad, my grandson would probably be preparing for college entrance exams by now."

"Eh? By the way, what does Uncle Qiancheng do? His name sounds really familiar."

Lu Ze hurriedly changed the subject.

"That brat is one of Dragon Nation's Elite Four. You probably find his name familiar because you've heard of him before."

Lu Ze was surprised. "One of Dragon Nation's Elite Four!"

"Tch, so what if he's one of Dragon Nation's Elite Four? Does being one of Dragon Nation's Elite Four mean he can stay unmarried and childless past thirty?"

Lu Ze smiled bitterly. "Grandpa Mo is right. By the way, I heard you mention Zhixia's shop just now?"

Mo Anguo took a sip of tea. "Zhixia? She's Qiancheng's older sister. You should call her Auntie. The Love Pokémon Store is hers. Since I came to Chang'an City this time, I happened to check on it for him."

"Oh, Auntie Mo. No wonder."

Lu Ze suddenly understood. When he was younger, he had always wondered why the store Lu Ma ran received such strong support from the Pokémon Main Store. Not only were deliveries fast, but even things like Pokémon Eggs were carefully selected before being sent over. So that was the connection.

Lu Ze continued, "Then what happened between you and my grandpa?"

Mo Anguo set his teacup on the table, glared, and said,

"Hmph, your grandpa, that old rascal, insisted that Prismatic Stones contain Evolution Energy. He tested them for months, yet not a single Pokémon showed any tendency to evolve. I only said one thing to him, and he released his Kommo-o and asked me, 'Me or Pokémon?' Do I look like some reckless brute? I immediately decided not to stoop to his level and let him keep researching on his own while I came out for some fresh air."

Lu Ze was startled. He had not expected his grandpa to have already discovered that Mega Stones contained Evolution Energy and begun researching them.

Mo Anguo continued,

"Over the past few months, we've tried them on many Pokémon, whether they had two-stage evolutions or no evolved forms at all. We even tested Feebas, but none of them reacted. So I started wondering whether Pokémon with three-stage evolutionary lines might have another evolution beyond that. I merely mentioned it, and he wanted to duel me."

"Hmph, so what? After I left, didn't he obediently start retesting Pokémon with three-stage evolutionary lines? I'm still the director, after all. Being half a rank higher is enough to crush him."

The more Elder Mo spoke, the more excited he became. By the end, he had even smugly raised his chin.

Lu Ze felt that something was off. If they had tested every Pokémon with no evolutionary form, then Absol should have shown at least some reaction.

So Lu Ze asked curiously, "Have you tried Absol?"

After his moment of delight, Mo Anguo picked up his teacup again and casually answered, "We did. It was among the first we tested. But why are you asking specifically about Absol?"

"Uh, because I like Absol, so I wanted to see whether it has an evolution."

"Oh, alright."

The atmosphere became somewhat silent. Fortunately, Lu Ba came back just then with those Mega Stones.

"Here, all the Prismatic Stones are here."

Lu Ba placed more than a dozen Mega Stones on the table for Lu Ze to look over.

Lu Ze looked at each Mega Stone, mentally connecting it to its corresponding Pokémon.

The blue-violet and red Gengar Stone.

The yellow and red Ampharos Stone.

The Charizard X Stone with a blue base and black-blue patterns.

The Aggronite with a gray base and gray-black patterns.

The Pinsir Stone with a yellow base and gray-orange patterns.

The Gyarados Stone with a yellow base and red-blue patterns.

The Kangaskhan Stone with a yellow base and pale purple-brown patterns.

The Sceptile Stone with a green base and light red and dark green patterns.

The Beedrill Stone with a silver base and yellow-black patterns.

The Aerodactyl Stone with a purple base and black-purple patterns.

The Banette Stone with a pink base and black-red patterns.

The Mewtwo Y Stone with a gray base and plum-purple and light purple patterns.

"Mewtwo Y Stone?" Lu Ze was shocked. Mewtwo? Wasn't it an artificial Pokémon? This world has one too?

Lu Ze suppressed his surprise and decided to ask Lu Ba about it at a suitable time, to see whether he knew anything.

Lu Ze looked up at Lu Ba and asked, "Can I pick a few?"

"Uh, you can, but I don't remember you having a hobby of collecting these."

Lu Ba asked curiously. Normally, Prismatic Stones were either used for research or collected, since no practical value had been discovered for them yet.

"Oh, just give them to him if he wants them. They're no use sitting with you anyway, right?"

Elder Mo smilingly pushed all the Mega Stones on the table toward Lu Ze. Then he quietly said into Lu Ba's ear,

"Yesterday at Zhixia's shop, he was with another little girl. The girl seemed to like these. They're kids—why worry about what he wants them for?"

Lu Ba suddenly understood. "Ah, right, right. That makes sense, that makes sense."

Lu Ze helplessly looked at the two smiling people, both wearing knowing grins, and said helplessly,

"Grandpa Mo, you could lower your voice a little when whispering. My hearing is pretty good. And Dad, that girl was Tang Yunqin. Sui Yan and Su Tingxi were there too. I'm only curious about these Prismatic Stones. It has absolutely nothing to do with Tang Yunqin, okay?"

Mo Anguo still smiled as he said,

"Hey, kid Lu, don't turn out like your Uncle Qiancheng. If there's someone suitable, go after her. Your dad and I aren't that traditional. We're not saying you can't date before college. Work hard and pursue her. If these don't work, I still have some Prismatic Stones you can take."

Lu Ze nearly collapsed. "It really isn't like that! This is purely because of me!"

After hearing that, Lu Ba put away his smile and said with a serious expression,

"Your Grandpa Mo is right. I'm not that traditional either, but be careful not to get anyone pregnant. Other than that, I have no objections. Tell me if you need anything, and I can support you. I'll handle your mom."

Lu Ze said helplessly, "How am I supposed to explain this? Online waiting, urgently need help."