Chapter 160
After emerging from the bathroom, Elena didn't bother explaining her relationship with Lorze to her daughter, dragging him straight to the laboratory without losing a single second.
She had far too many research tracks to decipher right now, from Emotional Energy to Ability Capsules, and from Mega Evolution to the Fairy type. Lorze had dropped too many theories all at once, leaving her head spinning from the sheer workload.
She discovered that a Mega Evolved partner could actually revert to its baseline form, which gave her the perfect opportunity to test the data changes before and after Mega Evolution.
The final data sheet showed that prior to Mega Evolution, Mawile sat comfortably at a baseline C- Rank (Intermediate). When she activated the Jet Battle Maid mode, the sheer kinetic force of her maximum impact was already close to the B- Rank (Elite) ceiling.
Once Mawile Mega Evolved, not only did her core stats receive a comprehensive overhaul, but she also acquired the god-tier Ability: Huge Power. At this point, her baseline combat rank leaped from Intermediate straight to B- Rank (Elite). When she fired up her Battle Maid engine, even a B+ opponent would be flattened by a single fist, and if she managed to max out her Power-Up Punch stacks, she could probably go toe-to-toe with an A- Rank (Veteran).
Of course, that was assuming Mawile actually had the luxury of time to stack her punches against an S-Rank veteran; those high-tier fighters were no pushovers, and the gap between ranks grew exponentially wider the higher you went.
The chasm between a B+ and an A- could easily fit an entire standalone B Rank inside it.
But even so, it was already utterly terrifying. An Intermediate-tier Mawile harboring the destructive potential to challenge an S-Rank veteran was something other Trainers wouldn't even dare to dream of.
Elena didn't even know whether to praise the raw brokenness of Mega Evolution or the sheer madness of the Battle Maid flight system Lorze had engineered.
She used to think he was entirely squandering his research talents by being a Trainer, but now it appeared this guy was running just as many cheat codes in the competitive circuit.
Elena found herself vibrating with anticipation; if the day ever came where Lorze stepped onto the world stage and unveiled Mega Evolution and the Fairy type right in front of the entire planet, the expressions on everyone's faces would be absolutely priceless~.
But that day was still a long way off, and she needed time to slowly digest these core theories first.
Elena realized that every single theory Lorze proposed was linked to genetics to some degree, so she would have to start grinding professional textbooks on genome mapping, starting with the seemingly "simplest" project: the Ability Capsule.
During the hours that followed, Lorze also ran a comprehensive diagnostic check on Kirlia, barely pinning her current combat capacity at a solid C Rank (Intermediate).
Compared to Mawile's peak potential to clash with an A- Rank veteran when fully stacked, the gap felt absurdly wide.
For a starter Pokémon to be left completely in the dust by the second partner—did that look a bit inappropriate?
In reality, Kirlia didn't show a single shred of panic. She wasn't in a sibling rivalry with Mawile, so why stress?
Besides, once Kirlia was fully buffed, she could comfortably hit the Elite tier anyway, and once she evolved into a Gardevoir, she would be perfectly capable of trading heavy blows with an S-Rank veteran. The only difference was that she hadn't crossed the evolution threshold yet.
Her evolution was a guaranteed certainty down the road, so there was no rush. On the contrary, Mega Evolution couldn't be leaked in official matches yet; if outsiders caught wind of its existence, Lorze's master plan to scour the entire planet for cheap Mega Stones would hit a major snag.
...
In any case, the heavy lifting of mapping out Mega Stones and cultivating Fairy Berries was safely offloaded to Elena. Finding himself suddenly unburdened as a hands-off manager, Lorze wanted to slide behind Elena while she was doing her science to share an intimate embrace.
The result... was a crisp slap print appearing on his cheek right on schedule, followed by Elena impatiently booting him out of the laboratory.
Fine... after all these days, he finally understood: this was a woman who completely forgot her husband existed the second her research addiction flared up.
Since Mother-in-law refused to play with him, his only option was to go play with her daughter instead~.
Lorze gathered his thoughts in a fraction of a second, heading toward the lounge to start an orgy with Anna and the girls.
But when he arrived, he found Anna and the rest huddled around the coffee table discussing something. Moving closer, he saw they were flipping through a travel magazine.
"Master! Master!"
Mawile, who had been reading the magazine, spotted his arrival and immediately scurried to his side holding the booklet, pointing eagerly at a picture on the page.
Lorze took a glance and understood; the photo captured a massive aquarium. Looking at her face, the little girl clearly wanted to visit the place for a trip.
Well, children are naturally enchanted by amusement parks and aquariums. To an adult, those places were just tourist traps, far less satisfying than a comfortable orgy at home.
别看 details aside, since the kids liked it, a parent had to make time to accompany them.
Leaving your partners neglected all day and then scolding them for gaming is the mark of a terrible guardian.
"Does little Idor want to visit the aquarium?" Lorze leaned down to stroke her small head.
"Maw! Maw!" Mawile nodded frantically, her eyes glittering with anticipation.
"Alright, let's take a trip there together~," Lorze said with a warm smile.
"Maw! (Yay! I love Master the absolute most!)" Mawile dove happily into her Master's chest, rubbing against him with pure affection.
One had to admit Mawile was incredibly dependent on him, but it wasn't a Trainer-Pokémon bond, nor was it Kirlia's intense carnal desire to be fucked; it resembled an affection-starved child relying on a parent.
After all, before she met him, she had been left in the cold at the breeding center for three full years.
Watching other Pokémon get chosen one by one while she sat ignored... for a newborn creature desperate for love, that flavor of loneliness was a heavy burden.
Whatever. He could host an orgy with his wives every single day; he could afford to carve out a little time to properly accompany his partner.
"What about you guys? Want to come along? Consider it a group date~." Lorze looked at his wives.
"Pass on the date part, but taking a trip out is fine," Xue Yi said, completely immune to the word "date."
They were already like an old married couple; they hosted orgies at home all the time and had played with every position imaginable until they were bored. Did he still take them for innocent high school girls who got weak in the knees over a simple date with their boyfriend?
With that free time, they might as well just host another session.
But on second thought, her Eevee needed high Friendship stats to evolve, and that metric grew increasingly sluggish the further up it went. It was just like a long-term marriage: once the honeymoon period faded and they became accustomed to each other's presence, the emotional spikes became rare.
Maybe taking Eevee out for a stroll to see the world would provide a fresh experience and kick-start that Friendship growth again?
Her sister's Espeon had evolved months ago, while her own partner was still a fraction away from the threshold, making her feel like her cultivation talents were vastly inferior to her older sister's.
She had to accelerate her timeline; she needed Eevee to evolve before the Metropolitan Battle launched.
Lorze wasn't the only one preparing for the Metropolitan Battle; Xue Yi and Hu Wenjun's transfer paperwork was also being finalized, and their raw talents were more than enough to claim a spot at SMU High.
Xue Yi intended to drop a massive "surprise" on Lorze during the Metropolitan tournament!