Lilligant, Doublade, and Metagross were outside the workshop, getting acquainted with each other while discussing their respective trainers.

Doublade still had a bunch of Cleanse Tags hanging on its body and occasionally used its ribbon-like arms to touch Metagross’s claws, causing the latter to shudder.

“Metto! (What exactly are you trying to do?!)”

“Yowoo~ (I just want to take a closer look at your metal plating~ You’ve developed so well~)”

Doublade’s somewhat unsettling words immediately annoyed Metagross. Looking over at Lilligant, she was staring intently at Doublade, seemingly lost in thought after hearing its peculiar remarks. Her face even turned slightly red!

“Metto! (Stop imagining weird things!)”

Metagross spoke out righteously, clarifying that it had no such thoughts. Besides, it was genderless!

Doublade’s eyes widened.

Wait, you’re genderless?

Then why do I have a gender?

Metagross: “Metto. (That’s something you don’t need to understand about Pokémon.)”

Doublade, though puzzled, quickly dismissed the matter. After all, it didn’t have a brain to think too deeply about such things!

“Yowoo~ (I really think you’ve developed well. Can you tell me how you train?)”

Metagross suddenly relaxed.

So it wasn’t a weirdo after all—just a normal Steel-type Pokémon looking to exchange training tips!

As for how it trained…

Its trainer was rich!

“Metto~!” Metagross said cheerfully. Since its trainer had abundant financial resources, it regularly received all kinds of high-quality minerals to eat. Sometimes, there were even premium-grade Steel Gems imported from Unova.

For Steel-type Pokémon, growth primarily depended on consuming various minerals!

However, as Metagross glanced at Doublade’s form…

Hmm. This guy doesn’t have a mouth.

That means it can’t just chow down on minerals like I do! Absorbing them must be way more troublesome.

“Yowoo~” Doublade’s mood suddenly sank.

Hey, the real issue here isn’t about minerals—it’s about whether our trainers are rich or not!

Our trainer isn’t exactly wealthy!

Buying high-quality minerals from stores was far too expensive, so they had to scavenge for them in the wild instead.

Doublade then turned to look at Lilligant and let out a sigh of envy.

Grass-type Pokémon sure have it easy! If they need high-quality berries, they can just grow them themselves! At most, they only need special soil, whereas Steel-type Pokémon have an enormous demand for minerals!

Creak—

Steven pushed open the workshop door, drawing the attention of all three Pokémon.

“Metagross, try this food and see how it is.”

Steven carried a plate of Iron Might food and placed it in front of Metagross. Just as Metagross was still processing what was happening, Doublade had already widened its eyes and let out a strange Yowoo sound!

Hey! Isn’t that Iron Might food?!

And the first one to try it isn’t me?!

“Metto?” Metagross glanced at the somewhat distressed Doublade and realized that this was probably something valuable.

Steel-type Pokémon didn’t have noses, nor did they need to rely on smell. Even if it ate something not suited for Steel-types, it wouldn’t matter—Steel-type Pokémon didn’t get poisoned, so they weren’t afraid of eating the wrong thing.

Metagross opened its huge mouth and swallowed the Iron Might food whole.

Chewing…

Its massive steel jaws moved slightly, but no one knew what exactly was happening inside its body. A sound akin to a blender whirred from its mouth.

Then suddenly, after fully consuming the food, Metagross felt a surge of intense energy rapidly flooding out from its core!

The energy was rising! And not just a little—it was a massive increase!

Steel-type energy manifested in various forms, and magnetism was one of them. At that moment, Metagross could feel the magnetism of the Sinnoh region’s earth surging toward it. It was utterly shocked—not only was its energy increasing, but it could also perceive the Earth’s magnetic field much more clearly!

For Metagross and its evolutionary line, blood didn’t flow through their bodies—magnetism did! The stronger the surrounding magnetic field, the stronger a Metagross could become!

Steven, however, was focused on something else.

“Its sheen has changed!”

This was an evident transformation—one that could be seen with the naked eye. Steven found it incredible that just eating a single type of food had triggered such a dramatic internal and external change in Metagross. The fluctuations of the Earth’s magnetic field were so strong that even he, a human, could faintly sense them!

Was this the power of Metagross?

Steven: “What did you experience? How do you feel?”

“Metto?” Metagross let out a puzzled sound. It had no idea what had just happened—only that an intense wave of magnetism had surged into its body.

How did it feel?

Absolutely fantastic!

So Metagross turned to Doublade and asked what exactly it had just eaten.

“Yopuu~” Doublade finally had a chance to flaunt itself in front of Metagross!

Hah! Your trainer may be able to buy you high-quality minerals, but he doesn’t know how to properly prepare and refine Pokémon food for better growth!

So, aside from being rich, was there really nothing else to it? Of course, that wasn’t something Doublade could say outright!

As a righteous little knight, Doublade understood very well what Hikaru meant to Steven. He wasn’t just a generous sponsor; in the past, he would have been a powerful feudal lord or a special figure—someone who must be recruited to accomplish great things!

“Yowoo~!”

So, Doublade explained to Metagross that this was its trainer’s unique skill, a mysterious and unparalleled craft that could create items and tools capable of granting Pokémon immense growth. The food Metagross had eaten today was an extremely rare delicacy that couldn’t be bought anywhere on the market. It was incredibly difficult to produce, and so…

“You owe us a favor!”

“Metto.”

Metagross was stunned. The power of this food was indeed immense—it could clearly feel the surge in its growth.

To be honest, its progress had stagnated for a long time. Since its trainer was the Champion, nurturing Metagross further at this level had become incredibly difficult.

But now…

For the first time in ages, Metagross felt the possibility of breaking past its limits!

Did this mean…

“Metto!”

Metagross suddenly looked at Doublade with excitement, its voice ringing with determination.

This favor—I, Metagross, will remember it!

“Yowoo?”

Doublade and Lilligant exchanged glances, unsure why Metagross had such a drastic change in attitude. Metagross let out a sigh and began explaining its inner struggles.

It turned out that its growth potential had reached its limit. No matter how much it trained, it could no longer become stronger. For a trainer, this was a normal occurrence.

High-level trainers would often raise new, stronger Pokémon to add to their team. This was natural.

And in Steven’s team, there was indeed a Pokémon that had surpassed it.

In terms of seniority, Metagross had been with Steven the longest. Since it was a little Beldum, it had been by his side.

But later on, Steven caught a silver-colored Beldum. Over the years, that Beldum evolved into Metagross as well. And in terms of strength, it had become stronger than the first Metagross.

As the Champion, Steven had to deal with all sorts of crises, so choosing the stronger partner for everyday battles was the logical choice. Metagross had no resentment about this—it only blamed its own strength for reaching its limit.

It had silently accepted its fate as a secondary replacement, no longer Steven’s ace.

But now…

This strange food had given it a chance to reclaim its place!

At the very least, it could be his second ace!

So, it had to express its gratitude!

Doublade’s eyes suddenly lit up. It patted Metagross several times, its eyes burning with the fire of justice!

So you’re also a Pokémon with great ambitions!

At first, I thought you were just aloof, but I misjudged you!

As a righteous little knight, Doublade had sworn to help all Pokémon achieve their dreams.

Your dream—I acknowledge it!

“Why do they suddenly seem to be getting along so well?”

Steven stared blankly at the three Pokémon, now happily bonding.

Could Iron Might food really boost friendship this quickly?

Without hesitation, he turned and walked back into the workshop, where Hikaru was already bringing out more tools for nurturing Pokémon.

“Lord Hikaru, just as you predicted, Metagross has undergone an unbelievable transformation!”

“Right? And I have even more supplementary products!”

Hikaru laid out an impressive array of items—Powerful Pokéblocks, Sinnoh Secret Potions, and even Rare Candies!

The ultimate collection of Pokémon growth supplements had arrived!

(End of Chapter)

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep