After concluding the interview, Lorze returned to the competitor's lounge. Ralts remained snugly nestled in his embrace, visibly acting exceptionally affectionate and clingy towards him.
Following that interview, the popularity of the pure white Ralts unsurprisingly rocketed straight to the #1 spot on the trending charts. A certain mainstream pop singer probably never imagined he'd get violently dethroned by a rookie's Pokémon.
But exactly how long this explosive hype could be sustained was entirely out of Lorze's control.
He only hoped that he could ride this massive wave of viral traffic to successfully catch the eye of a truly elite, ultra-wealthy Sugar Mommy.
Yes, he exclusively wanted a Sugar Mommy, absolutely not a Sugar Daddy. God knows if so rich old bastard would develop sick, perverted intentions towards his Ralts. He absolutely refused to be kept by a man.
Besides, being the kept boy of a man just sounded completely fucking bizarre, right?
He only wanted to be kept by a Sugar Mommy. He didn't want to work hard anymore. Ideally, it would be a gorgeous, voluptuous MILF who harbored intensely dirty, taboo intentions toward his body~. God, please just drop a Sugar Mommy into my lap!
Sotis, Lorze genuinely suspected he possessed a literal superpower that made his deepest desires co true.
Because the mont he wished for a Sugar Mommy, didn't one imdiately drop right onto his screen?
While scrolling through the trending topics, Lorze suddenly noticed a familiar notification. Wasn't it just his class beauty acting like a pathetic 'simp' again?
Just look at what she sent. It was another pathetic 'You there?'
That Xue Yi must rarely chat with people, right? Did she not know that anyone who opens with those two words is either a desperate simp or trying to borrow money?
Lorze originally intended to casually ignore her as usual, but he was instantly completely derailed by Xue Yi's very next ssage.
Xue Yi: I am a Sugar Mommy. I am filthy fucking rich!
Lorze: ???
Lorze: What the hell? Did your brain short-circuit or sothing?
Lorze: Wait, this tone... you're Anna, aren't you?
'Xue Yi': Ara~ You saw right through . Could it be that little bro is secretly in love with ~?
Lorze: Give a break. You talk as if you're so much older than . If you don't have anything important to say, I'm going to prepare for my next opponent.
'Xue Yi': Don't be like that~ Your preliminary opponents were deliberately rigged to be the absolute weakest trash in the bracket. There's nothing to 'prepare' for. You might as well stay and have a nice chat with .
Lorze: Is your official tournant really rigged this blatantly? [Dark Face]
Lorze: Whatever. What exactly do you guys want to talk about?
Xue Yi: It's ... sorry, Anna snatched my phone just now.
Xue Yi: It's still about Umbreon. I thought about it, and if you are willing to reveal the intel to , I don't mind paying cash to buy it.
Lorze: Oh? It's incredibly rare for you to actually propose sothing constructive instead of just spamming 'You there?'.
Lorze: But I'm still incredibly curious. Why are you so absolutely convinced that I possess the intel on Umbreon?
Xue Yi: I have my own personal reasons. More accurately, I desperately hope you actually know it. So... do we have a deal?
Lorze: Making a deal isn't impossible... but it depends entirely on your price. I was originally planning to sell this intel to a massive gacorporation to gain both fa and a literal fortune.
Xue Yi: I am the Snowhide Corporation. I am a Sugar Mommy.
Lorze: Did Anna Lee possess you again?
Xue Yi: No. I just thought speaking in terms you understand would be more effective.
Lorze: Fair point. So, what exactly is your offer?
Xue Yi: Why don't you tell how much you want?
Lorze: Well... I don't actually know the market rate for this.
Lorze: One million?
Xue Yi: Ten million?
(Xue Yi has recalled a ssage)
Xue Yi: Deal. One million it is.
Lorze: ???
Anna Lee: "..."
Mother Xue: "..."
Lorze was completely fucking dumbfounded. Did he lowball himself way too fast?!
Here was his logic: generally, publishing a research paper discovering a brand-new Pokémon evolution was only worth around 100,000 bucks.
Since it was an evolution for a highly popular Pokémon like Eevee, he estimated it could fetch around 200,000.
But considering 200k wasn't nearly enough to plug the massive, bleeding financial hole required to cultivate a Psychic-type Ralts, and since she was the one begging him, he decided to just shalessly open his lion's maw and demand a massive premium. It's not like the Snowhide Corporation cared about pocket change, right?
But who could have fucking predicted that she didn't just 'not care about pocket change'—she literally didn't give a single fuck about tossing around TEN MILLION!!!
Rounding it up, he just lost a billion bucks!
Even Mother Xue and Anna, who were secretly reading over her shoulder, were completely stunned. Was Xue Yi trying to be a codian?!
When normal people negotiate, they aggressively lowball the price. What the fuck is wrong with you, instantly offering ten million right out of the gate?!
Yes, their family had infinite money, but you don't just blatantly set cash on fire like that!
Most importantly, after you already sent it, why the fuck did you hit 'Recall ssage'?!
What if he feels completely insulted by the bait-and-switch and outright refuses the deal?!
What kind of god-tier clown maneuver is recalling a ten-million-dollar offer?!
Lorze remained completely silent for a long ti before finally replying.
Lorze: Did I just miss out on a billion bucks?
Xue Yi: Not at all. I don't know the market rate either, so I was just casually throwing numbers out.
Lorze: Whatever. If you're genuinely willing to pay one million, I can accept the deal. But I have one non-negotiable condition. When the discovery of Eevee's new evolution is published, my na must be listed as the primary discoverer. That holds significant value for .
Xue Yi: Agreed. So it's a deal then?
Lorze: Not so fast. Actually, I also possess the complete evolutionary intel for Espeon. How about you buy them both as a package deal?
Xue Yi: What the hell is an Espeon???
Xue Yi froze. Another completely unheard-of na?
Wait, could it be the evolution that triggers a slight reaction to the Shiny Stone?!
Seriously, how the hell do you know about this evolution too?! Where the fuck are you getting this highly classified intelligence?!
Lorze: Just tell if you're buying or not.
Xue Yi: Hold on a second. Let ask my mom.
Xue Yi hurriedly turned a questioning gaze toward her mother.
The intel Lorze casually dropped completely shattered Xue Yi's expectations, and fundantally shocked Mother Xue as well.
Originally, just the Umbreon intel alone was enough to make her take him seriously. After all, the Snowhide Corporation's primary competitive battlefield right now was the Pokédex App. There weren't many companies developing this technology, but their absolute biggest, deadliest rival was the Emperor Penguin Corporation.
Their corporate logo was an Empoleon, the final evolution of Piplup.
(For the record, Snowhide Corp's logo was a Froslass.)
Currently, Snowhide Corp and Emperor Penguin Corp each possessed unique advantages in perfecting their respective Pokédexes. Trainers usually chose between the two apps based on their specific Pokémon rosters.
The two ga-corporations were essentially locked in a brutal 50/50 stalemate over market share.
If Snowhide Corp could suddenly exclusively publish two brand-new evolutionary forms for a massively popular Pokémon like Eevee, it would undeniably trigger an avalanche of users defecting to their app. The astronomical corporate value generated from this would vastly eclipse the ten million Xue Yi so casually blurted out.
Mother Xue made an instantaneous, ruthless executive decision: "As long as he can guarantee the absolute authenticity of the intel, the Snowhide Corporation is willing to offer ten million to officially sign him as a Special Research Consultant."
Mother Xue was a woman of imnse vision and absolute decisive power. She would fiercely seize even the smallest competitive advantage.
Besides, so top-tier esports superstars commanded signing bonuses in the tens of millions. What was wrong with dropping ten million to sign soone capable of generating massive, tangible real-world value?
Of course, the absolute prerequisite was that his intel was flawlessly accurate.
Xue Yi frantically nodded and imdiately relayed her mother's offer to Lorze.
Xue Yi: My mother said... if you can guarantee the absolute authenticity of the intel, we are willing to offer you ten million to officially sign you as a Research Consultant.
Lorze: Relax. It's 90% guaranteed. The remaining 10% might require so minor practical tuning.
Xue Yi: Deal. As long as my Eevee successfully evolves, the ten million will be wired directly into your account.
Xue Yi: So, when are you coming to Snowhide Corp headquarters to sign the contract?
Lorze: I'm still competing right now. Let's talk after I completely conquer the Torchic Challenger Tournant and take the Champion's trophy.
Xue Yi: Anna just said, 'Tsk tsk, where does he get this insane arrogance?'
Lorze: How about you rig the Top 16 brackets so I face her imdiately?
Xue Yi: That's impossible. The Top 16 is a genuine random draw; rigging it would be completely unfair to the other competitors. Besides, I'm personally much more eager to see you two violently clash in the Grand Finals~.
Lorze: I sure hope she survives long enough to make it to the Finals.
Xue Yi: You better make sure YOU survive until the Finals first! Also, give your phone number. [Eye Roll]
And so, Lorze officially exchanged phone numbers with Xue Yi. Not only did he get Anna's number, but he even acquired the direct contact for the supre boss, Mother Xue.
Before today, Lorze would never have imagined that the ultra-wealthy Sugar Mommy he so desperately lusted after would manifest this quickly.
Or rather, she had actually appeared two months ago, but he was completely clueless about Xue Yi's direct ties to the massive Snowhide gacorporation.
It wasn't like everyone with the surna 'Xue' automatically belonged to Snowhide Corp, right?
But regardless, he had successfully achieved his secondary objective for entering the Torchic Challenger Tournant. Once he officially secured this massive contract with Snowhide Corp, would he ever have to worry about lacking the funds to pamper Ralts again?
He could even seriously start planning his roster and deciding what his second Pokémon should be!
However, regarding Umbreon's exact evolution thod, there was still a lingering fog of uncertainty in reality. In his mind, if it simply required max friendship and leveling up at night, there was absolutely no way it wouldn't have been discovered by now.
But despite the fog, the overarching direction was definitely correct. The minor details could be ironed out through practical research. Since he only got paid after the research yielded successful results, he didn't have to worry about being accused of fraud for taking the money and failing to deliver.
The only thing left was his primary objective: dominating the Torchic Challenger Tournant.
If it weren't for this main objective, he would have instantly dropped out of the tournant right now with his ten million.
But in order to claim the ultimate reward of completely breaching his mother's final defense line, he absolutely had to push harder and secure the Championship.
Xue Yi was right. His opponents in the Group Stage had undeniably been handpicked. The strongest among them was basically just a slightly beefier version of the Bulbasaur he fought earlier. It was a blatant setup to ensure he didn't suffer an 'unfortunate accident' and get eliminated during the Group Stage.
However, the opponents from the Top 16 onwards possessed genuine combat prowess. He had specifically observed the matches from the other groups, and every single block had one or two competitors roughly on par with Anna Lee. No matter who he drew, securing an easy victory was no longer guaranteed.
Anna Lee's performance, in particular, genuinely surprised Lorze. Her Pikachu was a pure speed-demon; throughout multiple matches, her opponents couldn't even graze it. She practically toyed with them flawlessly. She was undeniably a top contender for the Championship.
What surprised him even more was... he actually ended up drawing Anna Lee in the Top 16?!
Fate truly works in mysterious, incredibly amusing ways.
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