Just then!
A massive figure suddenly lunged over, and in the blink of an eye, it swallowed the Pokéblock in Professor Birch's hand.
It was Tyrantrum.
After eating, it still wasn't satisfied. Its amber eyes stared intently at Professor Birch's green satchel, and it waved its short front claws as if saying, "Give me more."
Seeing a Pokémon willing to pay attention to him, Professor Birch immediately became interested.
He simply poured all the remaining Pokéblocks in his satchel for Tyrantrum.
Tyrantrum immediately crouched down contentedly and began eating the Pokéblocks.
It lay on the ground, letting Professor Birch walk around it, looking it over, and petting it freely.
It looked as if it were saying, "The price is right, I might as well sell my body for it."
When Milotic and Metang saw Tyrantrum's "selling itself for food" look, they simultaneously glanced at each other, their eyes full of "disdain for being associated with it," making Lionel unable to stifle a laugh.
After a full inspection, Professor Birch was full of praise for Lionel's Pokémon team.
The testing work lasted the entire day. By evening, all the basic data had been collected: "Lionel, Larvesta's physical strength is very robust, and the purity of its flame energy is astonishingly high, far exceeding the scope of normal Fire-type Pokémon.
The most peculiar thing is that the Bug-type energy in its body doesn't conflict with its Fire-type energy; instead, it acts like a catalyst, making the flame energy's power even stronger.
We will take the detailed data research report back to the corporation for further study.
The chairman said you'll be bringing it back to Rustboro City in a few days. I'm looking forward to the in-depth testing results for Larvesta."
At this time, Professor Birch sat on a rattan chair in the hotel's lounge area, drinking hot tea, and suddenly asked Lionel: "By the way, I looked at your Pokémon team, and it seems you don't have any of our Hoenn region's Starters? Have you just not met a suitable one yet?"
He paused and added with a smile: "If you're interested, I can provide one for you.
Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip—I have quite a few of their initial forms, and they are all high-quality individuals that have been carefully bred."
Hearing this, Lionel thought seriously for a moment and then politely declined: "Thank you, Doctor.
But I don't have that plan for the time being.
For Water-type, I already have Milotic, and for Fire-type, I have Larvesta. As for Grass-type—"
Lionel smiled and shared his thoughts: "Although Grovyle is excellent, I'd rather find some unique and special Pokémon, preferably from other different regions."
"Oh? Unique Pokémon from other regions?"
Professor Birch immediately thought of the composition of Lionel's Pokémon team, an understanding look appearing in his eyes as he nodded: "Alright, so that's how it is.
I'll keep that in mind. I'll contact some other Pokémon Professors I know in different regions later and see if they've come across any different or special Pokémon during their research.
If there's any news then, I'll let you know and help facilitate the connection for you."
"Thank you so much, Doctor!"
Lionel was delighted and quickly expressed his gratitude.
Professor Birch's network of contacts spread far and wide; with him keeping an eye out, it would undoubtedly save a lot of trouble.
After seeing off Professor Birch and the Devon Corporation researchers, Lionel's life returned to the rhythm of training and relaxation.
Over the next two days, Lionel continued to train with his Pokémon.
Milotic remained focused on sensing the heat of the Flame Orb, integrating it into its Scald skill.
Metang and Tyrantrum took turns acting as "targets." Every time they were hit by Scald, they could clearly feel a breath that was even hotter than previous attacks.
Occasionally, it would even trigger a Burn effect, making the two Pokémon increasingly wary and making Milotic's skill control more and more proficient.
Larvesta was putting all its effort into refining its Will-O-Wisp skill. The little fellow seemed to have found the trick, as its control over Will-O-Wisp became increasingly precise.
At first, it was just a few scattered sparks of eerie blue fire, but as the number of practice sessions increased, the sparks gradually condensed into clusters.
The flames also became more and more stable, the heat they emitted became more pronounced, and the control over the skill's timing and range became increasingly precise.
Tyrantrum and Metang weren't idle either; besides acting as Milotic's "training targets," they were also undergoing their own special training.
Tyrantrum repeatedly practiced Dragon Dance and Stealth Rock, striving to stack its status faster in a Sandstorm environment.
Occasionally, it would use Weather skills together with Milotic and Larvesta, training its control over Weather skills.
Metang would hover in the air, continuously using Magnet Rise.
At the same time, it practiced the combination of Agility and Confusion. Its figure darted through the woods, its speed getting faster and faster, and its flexibility gradually catching up to how it was as a Beldum.
The days passed in fulfilling training, and soon, the day of the scheduled challenge with the Lavaridge Gym arrived.
At five in the morning, the sky was still pitch black. Lionel was still in a dream when he suddenly felt a weight on his chest, as if pressed down by a stone, making breathing difficult.
He snapped his eyes open and, by the faint moonlight outside the window, saw a white, chubby little fellow lying on his chest.
Its round body rose and fell gently with its breath, sleeping soundly.
It was Larvesta.
This wasn't the first time; ever since he started sleeping with Larvesta, the little fellow had developed this habit at some point.
Every time it fell asleep, it would crawl onto Lionel, often pressing down on him so hard he could barely breathe.
Lionel sighed helplessly, gently picked up Larvesta, placed it on the pillow next to him, and lightly patted its head: "Sleep peacefully, you're always moving around."
Larvesta seemed to have been woken up; it mumbled a couple of times in a daze, rubbed its head against Lionel's hand, turned over, and continued to sleep soundly.
The hovering Metang nearby blinked its red eyes, seemingly woken by the commotion, and was about to move its body.
Lionel reached out, gently pressed down on it, and whispered: "It's still early, sleep a little longer."
Metang looked at the darkness outside the window, then at Lionel, obediently stopped its movements, and closed its eyes again.
The person and the two Pokémon fell back into a deep sleep until eight in the morning when the alarm clock on the bedside table rang on time.
Lionel quickly finished washing up, changed into a light tracksuit, and then took his four Pokémon to the Pokémon dining area in the hotel's backyard for breakfast.
While watching the Pokémon enjoy their food, he took out his phone, took a deep breath, and opened the livestream function.
Almost the instant the livestream started, the number of people online began to skyrocket.
100,000... 500,000... 1,000,000...
In just a few minutes, the number of viewers broke two million, and it was still continuing to grow.
Steven and Wallace's advance promotion and warm-up had a significant effect. Combined with Larvesta's own sense of mystery and topicality, it attracted many viewers to book a viewing.