Early the next morning, after breakfast, Chen Shi took the High-Grade Dimensional Core Shard into the backyard and lined his partners around it.
Under his guidance, each of them took turns absorbing the remaining energy inside—carefully, steadily, as if drinking liquid starlight.
Just then—
"Xiao Shi! Phone for you! Hurry over!"
Grandma's voice echoed from the living room.
Chen Shi frowned.
Who would call this early?
Still, he hurried over, picked up the receiver, and said:
"Hello, this is Chen Shi. Who—"
"Old Chen! I heard you're back!"
The cheerful voice instantly gave it away.
Steven Stone.
"Congratulations on becoming a Senior Researcher," Steven said.
"I've been reading your papers online. Seriously impressive, old Chen!"
Chen Shi blinked.
Steven was quicker than the Researcher Forum moderators.
"So you found out already, huh? I just returned yesterday."
He paused.
"Well, if you're free, come over this afternoon. There's something I want to discuss."
It was time.
He had never told Steven the real reason he needed those Mega Stones.
With the World Championship approaching, he finally had to bring him into the circle of truth.
Steven paused… then answered:
"Afternoon works. I'll bring Phoebe too—she's tagging along today."
"Good. I'll wait for you."
Chen Shi hung up.
Then made his way toward the underground laboratory.
Today, Grandpa planned to teach him—again—how to brew Top-Grade Recalming Solution.
He had failed it countless times.
Not due to lack of understanding,
but because Top-Grade medicine required inhuman precision.
And precision… was not Chen Shi's strongest suit.
The lab smelled faintly of herbs, minerals, and simmering solutions.
Chen Shi gripped a measuring cup with both hands, pouring ingredients with total concentration.
Not daring to blink.
Not daring to breathe wrong.
Grandpa watched beside him, correcting every tiny error.
"Now add exactly 4.5 milliliters of Cold-Jade Flower Essence."
He tapped the glass tube.
"Use this standard vial. No more, no less. A single extra drop and the entire dose is ruined."
Chen Shi nodded, exhaling carefully.
He filled the thin tube until the meniscus hit precisely 4.5 ml—
then poured it into the mixture.
"Good. Now Stirring Rod No. 3. Mix clockwise.
Slowly.
No shaking.
If the essence doesn't perfectly dissolve, the batch fails."
This step.
This cursed step.
He'd failed it more times than he could count.
So he focused.
Focused harder than ever before.
His irises tinged faintly… pink.
The world fell silent.
Hearing dulled.
Breathing softened.
Thoughts disappeared.
Only the cup, the rod, and the swirling liquid existed.
Upstairs, sprawled lazily on the bed, the pink fluffball suddenly opened its eyes.
Mew tilted its head toward the floor.
[Myu… that's the power of the heart.]
In the lab.
After eleven minutes of flawless stirring—
Grandpa suddenly jolted.
"Success!
Xiao Shi—pull the rod out, quickly!"
Chen Shi snapped out of the trance and immediately lifted the rod.
He stared down at the cup.
The liquid… was no longer cloudy orange-blue.
It was—
Bright, perfect amber-gold.
A complete, flawless Top-Grade Recalming Solution.
His first.
His first-ever successful batch.
Grandpa looked more excited than he did.
"Oh heavens above! Sixteen years old—sixteen!
A sixteen-year-old producing a Top-Grade potion…
Our Chen family finally has a successor!"
Chen Shi's mouth twitched.
He poured the medicine into a storage vial and capped it.
"Grandpa… calm down. I only succeeded once. Might've just been luck."
"And besides—one successful formula doesn't make a Top-Grade Pharmacist."
Grandpa finally slowed down… but the proud grin didn't leave his face.
"Once is enough. The next will come easier.
The other recipes—you can learn slowly."
He paused, eyes soft but shadowed with regret.
"I was nearly fifty when I succeeded with my first Top-Grade solution.
If I hadn't seen it today with my own eyes, I'd never believe a sixteen-year-old could do it."
Chen Shi frowned slightly.
That strange state he entered…
That wasn't normal concentration.
It felt like… something ancient had awakened.
A heart-force, maybe.
Like Mew mentioned.
He still didn't understand it.
Grandpa continued with glowing enthusiasm:
"You will definitely improve our Potential Enhancement Elixir.
I know you can push it to Master-Grade!"
Chen Shi exhaled sharply.
The Potential Elixir—
the Chen family's pride for generations.
A potion that boosts a Pokémon's innate potential during evolution.
But after countless refinements, it could only raise potential up to Sub-Champion level.
Champion-level potential and above?
Completely unaffected.
That was why Grandpa and Grandma's Pokémon had hit a ceiling at Elite Four peak despite their talent and hard work.
To break that ceiling…
The family needed a Master-Grade Potential Elixir.
But generations had failed.
And now… Grandpa placed that impossible dream on him.
Chen Shi rubbed his temple.
"…Grandpa, I'll do my best."
Grandpa immediately slapped the table.
"No! Not 'do your best.'
You must succeed!"
"This pursuit began with your great-grandfather.
Three generations.
If even you can't do it, we'll know for sure this medicine's limit is Top-Grade."
He looked at Chen Shi with absolute faith.
Absolute trust.
Absolute hope.
Chen Shi felt his eyebrow twitch.
"…Alright, Grandpa. I'll definitely succeed. Leave it to me."
Even if he didn't know how yet.
Even if it might be impossible.
He couldn't crush an old man's heart.
And deep inside…
He truly wanted to give his grandparents the breakthrough they had never achieved.
If destiny ever gave him the chance—
He would seize it.
No hesitation.
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