Chapter 58: News of Wei Yeqin

The next day, Xia Yu arrived at the laboratory once again. As he walked toward the facility, he could distinctly sense that the surrounding researchers were looking at him in a completely different way compared to yesterday. Clearly, yesterday's events had already spread.

A genius researcher? Lin Lao's successor? A series of bizarre titles were thrust upon Xia Yu and circulated rapidly among the staff. There were even rumors claiming that ever since Lin Xueyun took over the laboratory from her father, Lin Shuyuan, she had failed to produce any decent results for several consecutive years, and was now reduced to clinging to a young man's research topics just to scrape by with a second-author credit.

With many harborers of resentment toward Lin Shuyuan, such gossip grew increasingly fierce, causing Lin Xueyun's face to darken to the point that she locked herself in her office to write papers, avoiding her nephew altogether. Out of sight, out of mind.

Meanwhile, Long Fan and his daughter, Long Yanning, had also arrived at the laboratory early. Having witnessed Xia Yu unleash a Z-Move yesterday, Long Fan's purpose in coming today was self-evident—he naturally wanted to find a way to maximize the power of the Dragon-ium Z.

"Heavenly King Long," Xia Yu greeted Long Fan respectfully.

"Xiaoyu, you're here." A smile flashed across Long Fan's face. Without excessive pleasantries, he went straight to the point: "Watching your Z-Move yesterday gave me some ideas. I couldn't wait to test them out today, so I specifically wanted to seek guidance from Researcher Xiaoyu."

Hearing this, Xia Yu quickly waved his hands. Long Fan saying he wanted "guidance" was merely polite phrasing, and Xia Yu certainly wasn't going to put on airs. Instead, he maintained the respectful demeanor of a junior: "Heavenly King Long, you flatter me. Just call me Xiaoyu. I just got lucky and stumbled upon it. If there is anything I can do to help you, please don't hesitate to command me."

"Good, then I won't stand on ceremony." True to his word, Long Fan smiled and said, "Xiaoyu, what kind of actions and chants do you think should accompany a Dragon-type Z-Move to maximize its power?"

Actions? Chants?

Wait a minute. Why would you need chants when physical motions alone should suffice? Xia Yu felt a bad premonition; he had a nagging feeling that the Z-Moves in this world were hurtling off the rails and heading in a very strange direction.

A sudden flash of imagery crossed his mind—elite Heavenly Kings engaged in intense battles suddenly breaking into awkward dances while chanting chunibyo incantations. The mere thought of it made Xia Yu want to forcefully erase the scene from his mind, replaced by an overwhelming wave of second-hand embarrassment.

"Heavenly King Long, words and actions are merely mediums—mediums designed to allow the trainer and the Pokémon to resonate with each other," Xia Yu attempted to explain cautiously. "The most important thing is to feel as though you *are* the Pokémon at the moment you unleash the Z-Move."

Pondering this, Long Fan nodded and then looked at Xia Yu. "Why don't you demonstrate it for me once? Since you were able to execute an Ice-type Z-Move on your first try, a Dragon-type Z-Move should certainly be possible for you."

???

Looking at the smile on Long Fan's face, Xia Yu couldn't help but feel that this Heavenly King was thoroughly mischievous. Though polite in appearance, he was full of tricks. He must have done this on purpose, scheming all along just to make him demonstrate it.

Facing the Heavenly King's request, Xia Yu neither could nor would refuse. In his mind, he began to recall the dance steps and chants corresponding to the Dragon-ium Z.

As far as the anime went, Gladiion, Lillie's older brother, was the only one who had ever used the Dragon Z-Move. Setting aside the awkward dancing and chanting, the crest of the Dragon-ium Z was arguably the coolest-looking among all Z-Crystals.

"I can only barely give it a try," Xia Yu said, biting the bullet.

"Xiaoyu, I believe in you," Long Fan said with a beaming smile. "If it doesn't work out, I won't blame you either. Just do your best."

Hearing this, Long Yanning beside them couldn't help but snicker. Whenever her father wore that expression and used that tone of voice, it usually meant someone had caught his targeted interest.

"Hah," Xia Yu took a deep breath, pushing aside his racing thoughts. He silently accepted the Z-Ring from Long Fan and looked at the Kommo-o standing before him, recalling Gladiion's Dragon-Z choreography and incantation.

The Dragon-Z movements were perhaps the silliest: pressing both hands together, pushing forward like a Kamehameha, and then slowly opening the palms to mimic a dragon's gaping maw. Just thinking about the motion induced shame.

And the chant was even worse—far more embarrassing than the Ice-type Z-Move.

*O radiant light, dance forth!*

*Who is the ultimate mighty one, carving their name upon the battlefield!*

*Ultimate Dragon shakes heaven and earth!*

I honestly cannot bring myself to say these words out loud...

Especially the line about the ultimate mighty one carving their name upon the battlefield—Xia Yu simply couldn't utter it. Saying "ultimate mighty one" right in front of Long Fan made him flush with embarrassment just thinking about it.

Anyway, in the games, whether the chant was there or not didn't really matter. Why not just delete this line?! Plus, he could test whether the chant actually had any impact on the Z-Move's execution.

With that thought, Xia Yu decided to give it a try. Under Long Fan's watchful gaze, he focused his mind and began to chant.

"O radiant light, dance forth!"

Xia Yu recited the words slowly and with utmost concentration. The moment he spoke, a resonant wave of power echoed between him and the Kommo-o.

His voice was deep and husky, like someone slowly narrating a tale. By the time he finished that single line, all the dance steps corresponding to the Dragon-Z had already been completed.

"Ultimate Dragon shakes heaven and earth!"

"Roar!"

Accompanied by Xia Yu's voice, the Kommo-o could no longer hold back and let out a simultaneous roar. The two of them seemed to bellow as one. At that instant, a purple orb of light burst from Kommo-o's mouth, transforming into an energy dragon in mid-air that slammed into the wall, triggering a massive explosion and roar.

"Clap, clap." Witnessing this, Long Fan began to applaud, loudly praising Xia Yu: "Splendid, truly splendid. This is the first time I've ever witnessed such a magnificent performance from a Kommo-o. The power of the Z-Move is immense. If this were our first time seeing it, I would have absolute certainty that Kommo-o was your starter Pokémon. As expected, your hypothesis must be correct: aside from the Z-Crystal and Z-Ring, the key to a Z-Move lies in the resonance between the trainer and the Pokémon. What a truly genius idea."

"Actually, it wasn't really my idea either; I was inspired by Wei Yeqin," Xia Yu said modestly, dragging Wei Yeqin out as a shield. Since they might not look up to his own strength, surely they wouldn't look down on Wei Yeqin's. *I'm sorry, Brother Wei, you'll just have to take the blame for this.* "He and his Lucario have already reached a state of perfection, achieving true unity of mind and will. They don't even need to speak during battles, communicating directly through telepathy instead."

"Wei Yeqin..." Heavenly King Long murmured the name. "I heard he is coming to the Imperial Capital. I'm very much looking forward to trading blows with him. Even a fellow like Old Tan lost to Wei Yeqin; I'd really love to see just how strong he is."

Huh? Xia Yu felt like he had just overheard a piece of shocking gossip. Tan永森 (Tan Yongsen) had actually lost that battle, and even after using a Z-Move? Was Wei Yeqin really that formidable?

Just as Xia Yu was spacing out, he was abruptly interrupted by a voice from behind.

"Heavenly King Long, the data is out! The power of that last Z-Move was about 15% higher than the maximum threshold!" A researcher ran over, out of breath, clutching testing equipment to report the recorded data to the Heavenly King.

The smile on Long Fan's face grew even broader. He patted Xia Yu on the shoulder with a look of profound satisfaction: "Very good. I won't disturb you any further. Get back to training, and I look forward to seeing you break into the national finals."