As the auction ended, Wen Qi and Li Xiang remained in their private booth, not yet leaving.
The booth came with certain privileges. Those in the main hall had to go to the back to settle payments after winning items, but booth guests didn't need to—someone would bring the items to them for payment. Before long, an auction house staff member arrived with their purchases. Wen Qi and Li Xiang glanced at the items, confirmed everything was in order, paid cheerfully, and slipped out through the back door.
At this point, there was no point in keeping a low profile anymore. If they tried to stay too discreet, they'd be seen as easy prey. During the auction, Wen Qi hadn't bid much, but Li Xiang's tens of millions in bids had drawn the attention of many with ill intentions.
As soon as they left the auction, Wen Qi summoned his Riding Goat, and Li Xiang brought out the Pokémon his family had given him for protection—a Charizard, yellow-tier, level 40. Some opportunists lurking outside, seeing their strength, realized these two weren't to be trifled with. Their Pokémon were formidable, and more importantly, both could quickly carry them away, making pursuit difficult. After some thought, they backed off. After all, those in the upstairs booths usually had some backing—better not to offend them.
Wen Qi had braced for a fight, but watching the dispersing crowd, he knew the danger had mostly passed.
Just as they were about to leave the black market, however, a group of menacing figures blocked their path. Greed flickered in their eyes, clearly hoping to gain something from them. But when they saw Wen Qi's Riding Goat and Li Xiang's Charizard, their expressions turned grim.
"Those two guys' Pokémon aren't easy to mess with. We need to be careful," one muttered under his breath.
"Yeah, they don't look like pushovers either," another chimed in.
Though these men had bad intentions, they weren't foolish. They knew a rash attack could backfire badly. So they decided to abandon the idea, letting Li Xiang and Wen Qi pass unhindered.
Unaware of their thoughts, Li Xiang and Wen Qi remained on high alert, walking step by step toward the black market's exit. When they finally stepped out, both let out a sigh of relief.
"We made it out," Wen Qi said, patting his Riding Goat's neck.
"Yeah, the people here are all sorts—really complicated," Li Xiang remarked.
They knew their smooth escape was thanks to their Pokémon. Without the imposing presence of Wen Qi's Riding Goat and Li Xiang's Charizard, they'd have been targeted long ago.
Leaving the black market, it was already late at night. Li Xiang wanted to invite Wen Qi to stay at his place, but Wen Qi declined, not wanting to impose. Seeing Wen Qi genuinely didn't want to come, Li Xiang didn't insist. They agreed to meet up later at the farm, then parted ways.
After Li Xiang left, Wen Qi saw it was late but still had things to do. He found a hotel near the flea market and checked in. Once he'd thoroughly checked the room for any surveillance devices, he locked the doors and windows and entered the small world.
The reason Wen Qi wasn't resting yet was to deal with the Growlithe. Having been put up for auction at the black market, it had lost trust in humans. Keeping it cooped up in a Poké Ball would only make taming it harder later. Better to go and communicate with it now.
Entering the small world, Wen Qi didn't release the Growlithe right away. First, he went to where he'd placed the Pokémon eggs. He checked on the two Miltank eggs and the Rhyhorn egg he'd bought earlier, along with the newly acquired Noibat egg. The Miltank eggs were likely to hatch within the next couple of days—he'd need to keep an eye on them. The Rhyhorn egg was in a similar state, probably hatching soon too. Only the Noibat egg seemed like it would take longer.
After tending to the eggs, Wen Qi went to see his Scizor. First, he wanted to let Scizor try the Mega Stone to see how it worked. Second, when he released the Growlithe, he'd need Scizor for protection.
Though Wen Qi had his psychic abilities and the power of the Viridian Forest to assist him, making Mega Evolution easier than for others, Scizor had only recently been caught. Having lived in the wild for a long time, it was still quite wild at heart. Even though Scizor was obedient now, their bond wasn't strong enough yet for a successful Mega Evolution. So for now, he just let Scizor familiarize itself with the Mega Stone's energy. After some time, once they'd built better synergy, they could try again.
Scizor had been thrilled after getting the Smooth Rock, which boosted its speed and strength. Seeing Wen Qi arrive so late surprised it—it hadn't expected him at this hour. Wen Qi was equally surprised to find Scizor still training instead of resting. What a training maniac. Though the small world's energy prevented physical harm, such long sessions would still leave it sore.
But seeing the determination in Scizor's eyes, Wen Qi knew that even if he advised rest, Scizor would sneak in more training anyway. He pulled out the Scizor Mega Stone he'd detached from the gem necklace and handed it over.
"Scizor, take this. Feel the stone's energy and see if you can sense what's inside."
Scizor looked at the stone Wen Qi offered. For some reason, it felt an instant connection, as if the stone were part of its own body. Though it could sense the energy within, it couldn't figure out how to use it. After a moment, Scizor conveyed its feelings to Wen Qi. Wen Qi understood—it wasn't Scizor's fault. Without a Key Stone on his end, the energy couldn't be unlocked, so it was unusable.
"Then spend more time getting familiar with this stone's energy. Meditate on it," Wen Qi told Scizor.
Scizor didn't know why it needed to meditate on the stone, but since Wen Qi said so, there must be a reason. It nodded in agreement.
With Scizor taken care of, it was time to deal with the Growlithe. Wen Qi had planned to release it in the small world's fire-type Pokémon zone, but it was too hot there, and most of his other Pokémon disliked fiery areas. So he released the Growlithe right where he was.