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"If you discard the shield and can't retrieve it, you might genuinely only last a minute."
Li Xiang looked at the Aegislash hovering before him, lost in thought for a long time.
Originally, the whole "one-minute warrior" idea was just a result of his chuunibyou phase.
But after actually discarding the shield and sparring briefly with Incineroar, Li Xiang realized that Aegislash truly could only sustain its Blade Forme for about a minute.
Even lasting a full minute was a bit of a struggle because it was just too fragile in terms of both physical and special defense.
Li Xiang had specialized Aegislash in dual offenses. He fed it candies to boost its offenses and durability, resulting in terrifyingly high damage output in Blade Forme but staggeringly low defenses.
Bullying weaker opponents was fine, but against opponents with slightly higher damage output and moves that could hit it effectively, its lifespan was essentially just one minute. Its movement speed wasn't exactly fast either.
Aegislash's single eye looked somewhat puzzled, not quite understanding Li Xiang's meaning.
"Never mind. Just keep getting used to your new body."
Li Xiang picked up the shield from the ground. This thing was quite heavy, weighing around ten kilograms.
Combined with Aegislash's own weight...
"Wow, at least over sixty kilograms."
Li Xiang hefted it and tossed it back.
Aegislash sheathed its blade—well, there was no sheath anymore. The place where Aegislash sheathed its blade was just a small notch on the back of the round shield.
The blade was still exposed.
If it hadn't already used Aerial Ace in its initial draw-cut style earlier, Li Xiang would have thought it had lost that instant slashing ability.
Why did he have the mistaken notion that a draw-cut necessarily required a scabbard?
Clang! clang!
Aegislash made a light sound of the blade striking the shield.
Its ribbon-like arms were connected to the sword guard, and it rested them behind its back with an air of composure, somehow exuding a solemn and majestic feel.
Legend had it, this guy truly would, like Excalibur, recognize humans with the qualities of a king and "assist" them in becoming one.
As for who was the one in charge, that depended on Aegislash's own intentions.
To celebrate its evolution, Li Xiang had to rack his brains to find a few other poems to gift to it.
Aegislash listened and, in excitement, reached out a ribbon-arm, lifted him up, and lay flat itself. Like a spiritual sword in wuxia novels, it carried him flying into the sky!
Li Xiang was completely unprepared. Caught off guard, he almost fell from the sky. Fortunately, Aegislash used its ribbons to grab him, securing his legs firmly onto the blade and shield.
It was only then that he realized Aegislash's spiritual power could act as a stabilizing device; there was no fear of falling off.
Pretty cool.
....
Up in the sky.
Flight was definitely banned inside Mist City University. Riding Pokémon for flight was strictly prohibited without teacher permission or special circumstances.
But above Misty Lake wasn't off-limits.
So, every student wanting to embrace the sky would head towards Misty Lake.
After enjoying about ten minutes on the outskirts, they returned.
"Whew, flying on a bird and flying on a sword really feel different, huh?"
Li Xiang stepped off Aegislash, his legs inexplicably feeling somewhat numb, since they were being controlled and he couldn't move them.
But it was still pretty awesome.
Compared to flying on a bird, it was a completely different experience. Standing in the sky, he had an unobstructed view in all directions.
The only downside was that it was a bit hard on the back.
"Roar!"
'Let Brother Incineroar try it too!'
Incineroar looked at the levitating Aegislash, its eyes shining brightly, its face showing longing.
Among all the Pokémon at home, it was the only one that couldn't fly, limited to ground battles.
Even Greninja could use moves to fly into the air, but it didn't have a single move that could assist with flight.
At best, it could use jumping.
But could jumping compare to flying? Was there any comparison between the two?
Incineroar never said it out loud, but it was actually quite dissatisfied inside. Why couldn't it learn Magnet Rise, or Psychic?
Failing that, something like Bounce would work. Bounce at least allowed brief hovering.
But it couldn't learn a single one.
Li Xiang often provoked it, saying things like spraying fire from its belt at the ground should let it fly. Who could spray fire continuously?
Even someone as powerful as Brother Incineroar could only spray fire continuously for about ten seconds at most before reaching its limit.
Let alone producing firepower strong enough to lift its hundred-plus-kilogram body into the air.
So, Incineroar actually harbored a bit of longing for the sky. Occasionally, it would coax Corviknight to take it for a flight.
Now, seeing Li Xiang's stance while riding the sword, it couldn't hold back any longer.
"You want to try too?"
Li Xiang was quite surprised, saying, "I don't mind. Just ask Aegislash yourself."
He gave up his spot.
Incineroar then came before the levitating Aegislash, seriously coughed twice, "Roar!"
'Little one! Your respected captain commands you—'
Before it could finish, Aegislash had already turned and drifted away, not wanting to deal with this guy talking to itself.
Seeing this, Incineroar hurriedly ran over to block its path.
It glanced at Li Xiang, who was getting a massage from Riolu, noticed no one was paying attention, and then laughed sheepishly, asking Aegislash nicely to give it a ride.
Aegislash looked at it with its single eye, thought for a moment, and then reluctantly agreed.
It wasn't an unreasonable sword, after all.
And so, under Li Xiang's watch, the sword and the tiger flew straight up into the sky, turning into a grain-sized black speck in an instant.
"Aegislash has finally set off on its journey too."
Li Xiang let out a relieved sigh, looking at the Pokémon around him. "Starting today, we have another mature combatant."
The Pokémon responded in agreement.
In the team, the only one left who hadn't evolved was Riolu.
Honestly, Li Xiang still wasn't in a hurry.
The speed boost from Prankster was too strong. Combined with Agility, it could make Riolu's initial speed upon leaving its PokéBall reach an extremely terrifying degree.
Ordinary Pokémon simply couldn't react in time.
Similar to Aegislash's Aerial Ace draw-cut, finding an opportunity to switch mid-battle could easily catch opponents off guard.
With Riolu's damage output, that one hit could very well be the one that secured victory.
Moreover, in terms of speed competition for double battle support, having Prankster and not having it were two completely different concepts.
Riolu had many support moves that only became powerful because of Prankster.
Overall, the benefits this current ability brought Riolu outweighed gaining Justified and stat increases.
This was common with other Pokémon as well; the importance of a good ability was undeniable.
But the problem was, while he wasn't in a hurry, Riolu was getting a bit anxious.
The younger Pokémon around it evolved one after another. Even though Li Xiang had told it about Mega Lucario, it couldn't erase the longing for evolution in its heart.
For Riolu, evolution wasn't just about changing form, gaining a deeper movepool, or increased base stats.
There was also... the earnest hope for growing taller.
A height of less than one meter, while allowing it to nestle on Li Xiang's shoulder, had always been a pain in its heart.
The nickname "shorty" that Incineroar taunted it with made it wish it could pin that guy to the ground and give it a good beating.
Even though the average height for a Lucario was only about 1.2 meters, Incineroar's average height was only 1.8 meters!
And now?
That stinky Incineroar had already surpassed two meters and was heading towards 2.1 meters.
If Incineroar could grow from 1.8 to 2.1 meters back then, then Riolu growing from 1.2 to 1.7 meters wasn't a problem.
It didn't need to be too tall.
Riolu felt 1.7 meters would satisfy it.
Not to mention, height would continue to increase after Mega Evolution.
Therefore, Riolu's desire for evolution was becoming somewhat urgent.
It would be best if it evolved tomorrow... no, today, together with Aegislash, and within this week, finished adapting to its new body.
"Riolu."
Dreaming sweet dreams, Riolu felt inexplicably wronged and hugged Li Xiang's arm.
"Alright, alright. It's only been just over three years since you came to me. What are you in a hurry for?"
Li Xiang scratched Riolu's chin. Even at Mist City University, Pokémon that evolved via friendship generally took four to five years to evolve.
This was a common phenomenon.
Candies couldn't increase friendship, and Li Xiang had no way to control that.
He could only say, it wouldn't be much longer.
He had a premonition that Riolu would evolve before the end of this year.
This kind of baseless sixth sense was something he had always trusted somewhat, as it had saved him many times before.
Perhaps, it might be after a certain battle, or during a dawn after training.
Or even in the middle of a stadium, under the watchful eyes of everyone.
Riolu would, with Li Xiang's earnest hope, evolve into a mature, handsome dog. It's just that Lucario had a bone spur on its chest; hugging it might injure Li Xiang.
And after Riolu evolved...
Li Xiang rubbed the black iron ring on his chest.
Xu Dongran had once said it was best to have each Pokémon's average energy level above 60 before attempting the Dragon God Trial at Sky Pillar.
That would increase the chances of reaching the top significantly.
Li Xiang personally thought that when Incineroar and the others reached around level 55, it should be possible.
Level 55 was absolutely safe.
"Mega Evolution, huh."
Li Xiang beckoned to the shiny Metagross.
The steel crab, shining like silver, with the golden X on its face reflecting sunlight, drifted over.
"Simpleton, do you know what Mega Evolution is?"
"Metagross?"
"It's a kind of evolution beyond evolution." Li Xiang flipped through his phone, pulling up a picture someone had drawn of Mega Metagross to show it.
The biggest difference between Mega Metagross and regular Metagross was the addition of four extra arms on its lower body and a huge, extremely thick spike on its chin.
It looked pretty cool.
"Metagross?"
Metagross looked at the strangely shaped creature, its pupils wavering, turning to Li Xiang with a face full of confusion.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you have another stage of evolution. It just requires certain conditions."
Li Xiang showed it pictures of the Key Stone and Mega Stone. "See this? The big one is yours, the small one is mine. If we work together with one heart and mind, you can evolve."
Unlike in the games where getting the Mega Stone allowed evolution... here, Mega Evolution also had requirements.
The trainer and Pokémon needed to have an extremely deep bond for the Mega Stone and Key Stone to react.
It was roughly similar to the situation in the anime.
As for whether holding two Key Stones could allow two simultaneous Mega Evolutions...
Li Xiang wasn't clear. There were no similar papers online; he could only verify it himself.
"I have high expectations for you two, young fellows."
He rubbed Metagross's iron head with one hand and scratched Riolu's chin with the other.