Wen Qi felt a bit unnerved by Zhou Zhiwen's intense stare, so he spoke directly:
"These energy cubes are what I need your help with. I'll give you a few more of these cubes later—three of each attribute. Then, take them to the Chunhua Research Institute for testing. Remember, you must stay there and watch closely to ensure the results reach Dr. Chu Feng."
Zhou Zhiwen was taken aback by this request, momentarily confused as to why Wen Qi insisted he take these energy cubes to Chunhua Research Institute for testing and make sure Dr. Chu Feng saw the results. Still, it didn't seem too difficult for Zhou Zhiwen—after all, he wasn't meeting Dr. Chu Feng himself, just getting a test done. It should be fairly straightforward.
Chunhua Research Institute regularly accepted external testing work, since it was Dr. Chu Feng's private lab and needed to generate income to keep running. But Zhou Zhiwen still said:
"Boss Wen, getting the test done at Chunhua isn't hard, but I can't guarantee the results will reach Dr. Chu Feng."
"That's fine. Just make sure that when the testers notice something unusual, they report it to Dr. Chu Feng immediately. You don't need to handle anything else. Also, unless Dr. Chu Feng himself comes to ask you about the source of these energy cubes, don't tell anyone they came from me. If you leave the institute and Dr. Chu Feng hasn't sought you out, but someone's still tailing you, head straight back to the search team and don't come out until you hear from me. If anyone asks where you got these cubes, say you bought them on the black market, and after feeding them to your Pokémon, you noticed something unusual, so you decided to get them tested. Don't say anything else."
After hearing Wen Qi's instructions, Zhou Zhiwen felt a chill run down his spine, as if the energy cubes in his hands were not treats but bombs ready to explode at any moment. He tensed up instantly, frozen in place, torn over whether to take on this task, his mind in turmoil.
Seeing Zhou Zhiwen's reaction, Wen Qi knew he had scared him and offered reassurance:
"Of course, the chances of that happening are very low. As long as the testing center at Chunhua Research Institute remains under Dr. Chu Feng's control, those worst-case scenarios won't occur. So don't worry too much."
Zhou Zhiwen relaxed a bit after hearing this. He knew well how capable Dr. Chu Feng was—such a critical department as the testing center would surely be firmly in his hands. Barring any accidents, the results would definitely reach him.
To make Zhou Zhiwen take this more seriously, Wen Qi added:
"If you pull this off successfully, I'll make you 100 of these energy cubes, all top-grade perfect quality."
At those words, Zhou Zhiwen's nervousness vanished, replaced by sheer excitement. He had just witnessed the miraculous effects of these cubes firsthand—his Combusken had leveled up on the spot. Now, Wen Qi was promising 100 more, and top-grade ones at that. How could he not be thrilled?
Zhou Zhiwen steeled himself, thinking, "Man dies for wealth, birds die for food." With Wen Qi's usual support and such a generous reward, he decided to go for it. There were still risks, but if he was careful—like testing just one cube and, if something went wrong, claiming he got it by chance on the black market, as Wen Qi suggested—he could manage. This time, though, he'd stop by the black market first to buy some regular energy cubes as cover before heading to the institute.
Zhou Zhiwen shared this plan with Wen Qi, who thought it was a good idea and praised him for being thorough and meticulous. They discussed more details before Zhou Zhiwen left with the energy cubes. He didn't take all of them, only two Fire-type cubes. He worried that carrying too many would make it hard to explain if something went wrong, so just two would suffice, and he could stick to their agreed story.
Wen Qi watched Zhou Zhiwen's retreating figure. According to their plan, Zhou Zhiwen would visit the black market in the next few days, then go to Chunhua Research Institute, which would take about a week in total. Wen Qi thought to himself that whether he could make contact with Dr. Chu Feng depended on the test results seven days later.
Time passed slowly, and soon it was the seventh day.
Since switching to the new energy cubes, Wen Qi's Pokémon had been improving rapidly. Now, even though Wen Qi had asked Torterra to keep suppressing its strength and solidifying its foundation, it had still gained a level, reaching 37. Venomoth had broken through the elite-level bottleneck, hitting level 41, giving Wen Qi another elite-tier Pokémon. Horsea had reached level 30, just two levels away from evolving. The lazy Bellossom had only gone up two levels in all this time, now at 40—it never trained seriously, just watched shows all day.
The Sandslash couple, limited by their own potential, had only risen one level to 31, finally breaking through to become advanced-level Pokémon. Little Sandshrew had improved more, reaching level 33, surpassing its parents—a huge leap. Gogoat had also gained a level, now at 49, nearing the elite peak. Poliwhirl and Flaaffy had both gone up three levels, now at 30, and would have become advanced-level Pokémon sooner if not for the bottleneck. Scizor, after its battle with the Scyther leader and a long period of settling, had also gained a level, now at 53. For gym-level Pokémon, improving was already tough, and under Wen Qi's care, gaining a level a month was quite an achievement.
Dragonair, with its strong absorption ability, had gained another level despite having just leveled up half a month ago, now at 38, thanks to the special energy cubes. Arcanine, having recently evolved, was still building up energy, so its level hadn't changed—it was just getting used to its new body and growing its reserves. After using so many rare resources last time, its level had risen too quickly, and it needed time to settle.
The three Butterfree had gone up five levels, now at 25, and the seven smaller Butterfree had also risen five levels, now at 17. Bug-type Pokémon sure leveled up fast. Rhyhorn and Pidgeotto had both gained four levels—Rhyhorn at 23 and Pidgeotto at 26. Heracross had gone up two levels, now at 46. Bulbasaur had only risen two levels, now at 22, and that was only because Wen Qi had it suppress its growth, using all absorbed energy to strengthen its foundation; otherwise, it would have surpassed level 25 long ago.
Wen Qi felt Bulbasaur was ready to evolve and planned to help it do so soon, since it had been building its foundation for so long, and its potential was nearly reaching blue. He intended to use a Grass Essence and a Life Essence to see if he could boost its potential to deep blue. Noibat, the little one, had passed its infancy and, thanks to the special energy cubes, had leveled up quickly, now at 10.
Overall, over the past month or so, all of Wen Qi's Pokémon had seen significant improvements. Even those with already high levels had made considerable progress with the help of the special energy cubes.