Hard Enough - Chapter 112 - Steelix and Stone (Patreon)

The foundry region of Pewter city was mostly on the northern side of the city. This was due to the main entrances being through the south, with the north being the closest side to all the mountains and mines.

Salvadore, along with, Missy, Greta, Yolanda, Rachel, and Stephen, all trudged along with me as we made our way.

“—and thanks to the fake attempts by the council in their rejected claims for part of the Viridian forest, they were later awarded greater control of the mountainous region surrounding Pewter to the north,” said Salvadore as he walked along with his book on the history of Pewter held in front of him. A few times I had to nudge him to the side to make him avoid stepping into something.

Stephen rubbed his chin. “That would have been a long-sighted idea on their part as the region is still considered rich in mineral resources, no?”

I nodded. Yeah, it is.” Then I flicked a glance at Salvadore, who was pouting. The girls giggled at him, but I offered a smile. “Sorry, go on reading, you’re doing a great job! This is interesting stuff!”

Salvadore nodded. “The mountain range north of Pewter then proved to be highly rich in resources, that led to a large economic boom. In the early days, gold nuggets and silver were mined, causing a rush of people into the city. The Rangers eventually stepped in after too much ecological damage had occurred and the numbers of rampaging pokemon increased with reports of a giant Golem being sighted. The Rangers introduced an environmental legisation to the government of Kanto at the time, to create safe, sustainable practices that meant miners needed licenses and the ability to restore the land depending on the amount of land they would be processing. Large companies have to draw up long-term plans for various stages of mining with the impact on the land being kept as small as possible.”

Salvadore turned a page, and I poked him to the side to stop him from walking into a pole. “Since those restrictions were set in place no major pokemon rampages have been reported while industry in Pewter has continued, albeit at a controlled rate.”

“What do they have to do to restore the land?” Yolanda asked.

Salvadore furiously flipped through his book. “Uhm… I’m not sure?”

Stephen coughed. “They need to control the tunnels they cut, or fill in any open-cut mines they make. They also need to be mindful of any water flow that could be disrupted due to their mining, and create plans to ensure no waste is going into the water. Otherwise, there might be an increase in the number of Muks, Koffings, or even some pokemon like Gastly, if they’re too damaging to the environment. There are lots of eyes on those businesses, but they’re still very lucrative, so it’s worth going up there.”

He indicated his thumb. “A nugget of gold this size can be enough to keep you and a full pokemon team fed and housed for a month. It's why so many hikers just happen to carry pickaxes with them. As a single trainer hiking through the mountains, if they just happen to run across any exposed minerals, such as gold or metal, they can dig it out and sell it. All without the need for licenses. If they set up a sustained digsite, then they might run the risk of being fined or arrested, but it all depends on how greedy or how much risk they want to take on.”

Missy leaned forward and grinned at Stephen. “Sounds like you know a thing or two about hiking!”

Stephen grinned. “It’s my hobby, and while I’ve never been so lucky to stumble upon a vein of something precious, I have talked with others. Some of them… were very cagey about how they found their gold on routes I know I’ve trekked across many, many times in the past.”

“Ah,” said Missy.

“Alright gang, it looks like we’re here!” I said when we reached the foundry that I’d been in discussions with for a few weeks now. “Time to talk with the foreman. Make sure to follow their advice alright? No wandering off!” I said to Salvadore and Yolanda. Yolanda gave me a bemused look before turning to Salvadore, who was tucking away his book.

Stephen surprisingly shifted from foot to foot. “I’ll try my best!” he said. Yolanda shot the larger man a look before biting her lips to stop herself from giggling.

“Gym Leader Brock and party?” said a growly voice. I turned to find a tall, powerfully built man in overalls standing at the gate. His salt and pepper hair was topped by a hard hat and his eyes had wraparound safety glasses. He flicked his eyes around my group and frowned slightly. “You waiting on two more?” he asked.

I coughed. I’d originally planned to bring Forrest along, but… “Two couldn’t make it,” I said simply.

Salvadore shifted.  “Shame Dad had to look after the others. He’d like this.”

I hummed noncommittally, and Yolanda shot me a look before sighing and shaking her head. “Crystal is also sick,” she said to the man.

He nodded slowly. “Riiiiight,” he said, searching me before shrugging. “Well, their loss! I’m Foreman Hendricks! I run this here foundry! Brock here has been in contact with us for a while about evolving one of his Onix into a Steelix!”

Salvadore and Stephen perked up only for Foreman Hendricks to raise a hand. “Please keep your questions until after we get through the safety briefing! I need all of you to wear the following hard hats, glasses, and gloves…” He glanced over at us and hummed. “You ladies, I’m going to have to ask you to change into some full-body clothing that is flame retardant and tie up your hair,” he said to Rachel and Missy. They both nodded their heads and did as asked.

A few minutes later, we were assembled once more, listening as he explained where to walk, and what we were allowed to touch or not touch.

He clapped me on the shoulder. “Brock here will be separate from you for the main event as it's his pokemon but you’ll all be on a railing overlooking the evolution vats we keep around. Now, any more questions?”

Salvadore’s hand shot out. “Yes! So many!” he said, beating Stephen to the punch.

Hendrick’s smiled. “Well, ask away!”

Salvadore opened a notepad. “What sort of pokemon are used in the foundry? How do you determine what metal is useful for a metal coat for pokemon such as Scyther, or for Onix? What does this facility mostly smelt? How long has it been operational? Why do it this way at all? How long have you been working here?”

“Hmmm,” said Hendricks. “All right then, got an academic or two in the crowd, it seems. Going to be a future pokemon professor?”

“I hope to sir!” Salvadore said earnestly.

“Hmmm, good, need more smart people like you around! If pokemon professoring doesn’t work out consider metallurgy, which pays well!”

He then rubbed his jaw in thought. “Hmmm, to answer your questions, we mostly use Machoke around here thanks to their ability to hold heavy loads and their ability to learn moves that make them safer against the molten metals. We still clothe them in gear much like yourselves but also apply an oil that keeps them from dying of heat exposure while making them less flammable.”

Salvadore wrote that down before opening his mouth only to cough and write something else.

Hendricks leaned against the wall, realising he needed to get comfortable. “We also employ a lot of water pokemon such as Blastoise, Starmie, or even Kingler. Kingler are good at handling heavy loads with their bigger claw, and again, they’re fire resistant. Lots of fire types otherwise! Magcargo, Camerupt, Arcanine, Rapidash, and pokemon like Flareon are useful around here!” he said with a smile.

“As to how we determine useability for a pokemon? A lot of that depends on what the trainer wants. You shouldn’t use the same metal coat for an Onix as you do a Scyther. Scyther needs a lighter metal that can keep an edge while also still have a high abrasion resistance score.”

He grinned. “That means the score of how good a metal is at resisting abrasion, friction, or damage. Something that comes up for pokemon. To ‘heal’ that sort of damage a trainer will typically feed their pokemon a small drink of metal each weak or sprinkle metal flakes into their meals. The good ones will, at least,” Hendricks said in an offhand manner.

He reached to the side and plucked a metal bar he had sitting to the side. “This is the alloy that we will have made up for Brock’s Onix. It’s got a great abrasion resistance, so it will be able to handle longer-term abuse from pokemon battles. Now it isn’t too heavy, but it will also have some benefits by making Brock’s Onix slightly less weak to Ground-type moves. This will be thanks to the evolution creating metal networks internally for Steelix that will absorb the impact slightly better.” He then leveled a stern look at me.

“That is, if you have been feeding your Onix the metal, as we planned out for the last week?”

I nodded firmly. “I fed him the precise amounts and kept up weighing him. He’s been a bit slower in his movements and slightly more lethargic in the mornings.”

“Good. Means he’s at the threshold of naturally evolving from devouring the metals. The reason we’re going to tip him over is that we can control the layering of the metal coat instead of just letting nature take its course. As you might recognise all fo this costs a pretty pokepenny which is one of the only real downsides,” Hendricks said to group before turning back to Salvadore. “What were your other questions?”

Salvadore repeated them only to tack on another at the end. “— and what is the oil made of that you apply to the Machoke?”

Hendricks laughed. “Last question? No idea beyond Rawst and Occa Berries in the mixture.” He gestured to the foundry. “We’ve been operating for over a hundred years. The foundry itself took a lot of damage that made us need to rebuild… a few years back really… but uh… that’s not really important!” he said quickly. Salvadore frowned but nodded when the man lightly shook his head.

I held in a sigh. The world’s method of dealing with the war by sticking their head in the sand sometimes resulted in situations where you couldn’t help but trip over it.

“We mostly make steel for buildings that we ship to construction sites. There’s a lot of work going on in Vermillion at the moment, and they’re always looking to replate ships traveling on the oceans, so we have plenty of work to do! As for me? I’ve been here for roughly thirty years!” he said proudly. I mentally marked that down as meaning that he’d probably been here during the war then. I eyed some of the scars on his arms and wondered then which were from working here during those times.

As a metal foundry, this place would have had some tactical significance, especially if it held the ability to evolve pokemon such as Scyther or Onix.

Stephen coughed and raised his own notepad. “What is the alloy that we will be seeing applied today?”

“Ain’t really got a name… got a complicated series of numbers.” Hendricks rattled it off quickly before tilting his head. “Oh! Also, Brock has a few diamonds thrown into the mix that Onix will be laying in. Not sure why that was part of the request.”

All eyes turned towards me, and I smiled. “Oh, just something I want to test out,” I said simply. I rocked on my heels and didn’t say anything else. I knew what they were for When Steelix Mega evolved. During those moments he would have certain growths of jewels out the sides.

Stephen tilted his head but made a note of it while Hendricks merely scoffed. “Diamonds don’t add strength. They’re pretty, but they’re only strong in one plane of force.” I merely nodded. The diamonds wouldn’t ever be exposed, and I honestly expected them to be crushed into fine pieces. They’d only emerge during megaevolutions as crsytaline growths.

Hendricks sighed and shook his head before glancing around to see if any more questions would be asked.

Greta raised her hand. “How did people work out that metal coating needed to be applied for Onix to evolve?”

Hendricks nodded his head. “Ah that! See, they don’t really need a metal coating. The metal coating is to give them a stronger body. This is something we worked out only …fifty years ago? Until then Onix would just devour a store of metals and go from there. But some blacksmith thought that like a tool, you needed metal internally and externally. He did that and found that his Steelix and Scizor were stronger… if a bit heavier”

Hendricks rubbed his chin. “First discovery of metals being used in evolution, though, was around here. One of the warehouses that store the metals before they get shipped off got raided. The workers found a number of Steelix passed out from gorging themselves. Back then? They had no idea what those pokemon were! Wouldn’t have been hard to see that the metal had been eaten, and then add two and two to get four!”

Everyone imagined the expressions of people back then discovering new evolutions by accident. Greta giggled and nodded her head. “Thanks!”

Rachel surprisingly raised her hand. “Will photography be allowed? Onix evolving for Brock will be a pretty important moment!”

Hendricks nodded. “Knock yourself out! Just be aware that the molten metals will put off a lot of light themselves so have a camera that can handle that otherwise you’ll get lots of smudgy photos!”

Rachel reached into her bag and withdrew a professional-looking camera and a few other pieces of equipment before she turned and smiled at Missy and Stephen. “You’re being recruited!” she said shamelessly as she gave them both bits to hold.

Hendricks merely grunted and led us out into the factory floor, moving along specially marked walkways with red warning over a number of points and signs. Immediately we say what he had been talking about with a large number of oiled up, hard hat-wearing Machoke sauntering around. Blastoise and other water-type pokemon were also positioned in key areas with men and women overseeing the movement or manipulation of molten or red-hot metals.

Rachel started taking photos immediately, and even with the flash on, it didn’t disrupt or cause any problems as she documented our walk through the foundry. When we reached a side factory, we entered quickly, with Hendricks unlocking the front door.

Hendricks pointed to a raised walkway that the others went up while he pointed to a spot for me to stand. “There shouldn’t be any splash from the metals! If there is we have some barriers set up but we’ll control the pouring. You release your pokemon and have it lay in the vat we’re going to use!”

I did that, and Jormungandr appeared with a loud call of his name. He looked around before leaning down and sniffing the vat.

“Time to evolve Jorm! You ready?” He nodded and I had him lay down so he was as straight as he could be. I then offered Hendricks a small sack of diamonds which he sprinkled around Jormungandr’s body. When a few landed near his face, Onix opened his mouth and munched on a few making me sigh and shake my head.

When Hendricks returned to me, he fidgeted and rubbed at a scar on his neck. “Word of warning Gym Leader?” he said suddenly eyeing the walkway for anyone that might notice him talking with me.

I glanced at him and he rubbed his scar. “During the war, there was a captain that had a Steelix… he did something during a really hard fight that I’ve never seen before. It had these jewels coming out of it… this was under intense fire you see… Think he’d gotten hurt, and we were getting pushed hard. He did something then… some last ditch effort that I or any of the lads that survived that fight hadn’t seen before.” His eyes were distant as memories took hold.

“His Steelix, it grew, bigger, meaner and way stronger. It rampaged something fierce against the enemy but when they pulled back it also hurt our lines. The captain had to take it out after the fleeing men and pokemon.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know what happened with the captain, but after that battle, we never saw him or his Steelix again.” He locked his eyes with me. “Be careful with whatever you’re planning, Gym Leader.”

I nodded, surprised that there had been another trainer with a Steelix they could megaevolve. Then again it didn’t surprise me to learn that some trainers had been able to mega-evolve during the war. That would have made things harder. With what Hendricks had told me though… Perhaps they hadn’t been able to stablise the bond yet? I could recall a few episodes of a Lucario rampaging when it first Mega-evolved

I shifted still holding his gaze. “I have a solid idea of what I’m doing. Can’t claim I know everything though so I’ll be careful. I know what you’re talking about though, and I will take it very slowly should I ever get the chance to do what you’re talking about.”

Hendricks just nodded. “Good.” He then shook himself. “As long as you understand the risks. You’ve so far shown to have a good head on you.”

He turned away and grabbed a large control panel. “Alright! Time to get this show on the road! ALL CLEAR!!” he bellowed before hitting a red button that sent warning lights flashing as two suspended vats that had been sitting close to a roaring flame that a trio of Flareon had been breathing fire on.

A Blastoise wandered in with a set of shades around his eyes. He nodded seriously at me before watching the glowing metals move above Onix’s position.

“LAST CALL SAFETY CHECKS!” he said before pointing at a few other men and women positioned around the area. They all shot back thumbs up. Blastoise did so as well, and then Hendricks looked at me. I glanced at Jormungandr, who nodded before closing his eyes and laying still.

I gave the thumbs up, and Hendricks hit another button that caused the molten metal vat to tip on an axis and pour slowly over Onix. The mechanism holding the vat moved slowly to allow it to evenly pour over my Onix as the two vats made a slow loop.

“ONIX! TRY TO HOLD OFF AS LONG AS YOU CAN SO YOU GET AN EVEN SPREAD OF METAL! DON’T STOP THE EVOLUTION BUT JUST SLOW IT DOWN! STRONGER BODY NEEDS A STRONGER SPREAD!” Hendricks shouted.

Jormungandr groaned from where he was as the metal that was poured hardened about him like a shell. When the vats reached his nose and tail, respectively, his body began to glow.

“He’s evolving!” shouted Salvadore. I heard Rachel’s camera wildly firing away.

The glow continued until the vats had looped his body. Hendricks hit another button and shouted. “GO AHEAD NOW ONIX! DON’T RE—”

Onix’s body rose out of the molten metal. He was covered from nose to tail, and he roared as the white glow of evolution overtook his form. His body thickened, and large protrusions emerged randomly throughout his body. When the glow ended, he slithered out of the vat.

“Steeeeeelix!” he groaned loudly, causing the factory to boom at his call.

I glanced at Hendricks, and he held out a hand as Blastoise sprayed down the vat he’d emerged from as the overhead buckets moved out of the way.

After Blastoise was done, Hendricks nodded, and I released Chansey. She moved close to Steelix and started checking him over while I approached. His body still radiated heat and I could only touch him for a little before I had to withdraw my hand.

“How you feeling?” I asked.

Steelix grinned at me. “STEEEEEEL!” he cried out. I grinned, thinking in my head that he had said ‘strong’. Chansey nodded her head and moved back to my side. We then weighed Steelix and noted that he was going to be much heavier than the normal Steelix.

“Gonna need to train him to be able to move around with that extra mass on his frame,” Hendricks said while rubbing his chin.

I merely smiled. “We’re not afraid of a little hard work, are we?” Steelix grinned.

I nodded. “Now you’re a true serpent of the world Jormungandr? Hey?.”

He roared his approval, and we moved away from the foundry and headed back to the Gym. For the first task for my Gym’s break, I considered this a pretty big success.

When we got home, Jormungandr was instantly swarmed by my family. Even Flint was impressed when he inspected him.

“I know I should stop asking but… are you sure you can…” he shook his head as he rubbed on a particularly shiny spot on Steelix’s flank where a diamond had been laying during the metal pouring.

I merely grinned. “This circuit's successful Ace matches alone have helped pay for this cost. Most of the money is the upfront cost really.”

Flint shot me a look. “Steelix can live just as long as humans can Brock. It’s the constant cost that is the real factor, not the initial. Times are good now.”

“I’ve got this,” I said with a sigh, sick of hearing this issue being raised. “You stick to helping out around the house, yeah? Worry about that.”

Flint nodded his head slowly and turned back to chuckle as Timmy stood on top of Jorm’s head. “I’m the king of the castle!”

That had everyone perk up and surge to knock him to the ground. Jormungandr kept his head on the ground, thankfully, so the fall wasn’t that bad. Timmy was scrambling up a few moments later, trying to knock off Tommy. I glanced around, expecting to see Forrest in turn knocking off Tommy, only to remember that he wasn’t here.

I grimaced and shook the feeling off. “Damn, still catches me out that he’s gone,” I said to myself.

Flint glanced at me, having apparently heard what I said. “Kids going on their journeys can be like that…” he said while smiling at me.

I huffed and watched Munchlax claim the King of the Hill spot. A cape around his shoulders as he puffed his gut out heroically. Tommy ended up tossing him off due to said cape.

“Kids are done playing Dragonslayer Munchalx?” I asked Flint.

“They’re onto Hero Munchlax these days… Something about a superhero that could shoot ice beams, had super strength, and could fly?” he said with a smile towards me. I coughed, recalling that I’d cribbed together a basic Superman story for the kids to enjoy. They loved all the superpowers that the ‘Hero’ had, and of course this must have resulted in Munchlax getting a new outfit.

I hummed and considered joining in only for my transceiver to buzz in a way I hadn’t heard before. I frowned and glanced down at it only to curse.

“I need to go,” I said. “Someone’s threatening one of the—” Flint raised his hands.

“You don’t need to explain it to me.” He glanced at Jormungandr. “Going to take him?”

“He’s not used to his body. Needs to get used to it.” I tossed him Jorm’s pokeball before darting into the house. I was about to grab up my Elite Team’s complete set of pokeballs only to pause as another message came through.

‘Steven Stone has left… he wants to talk.’ I read with a frown.

I frowned and retreated to my office. He wanted to talk after being caught sniffing around my diamond cave did he? Urgh, I felt like a meowth that had been rubbed the wrong way. I sat and considered things before shaking myself. I clapped my hands and exhaled, held the pose, and then inhaled to reset myself.

Alright, so he’d gone sniffing around. It seemed he’d stopped before anything serious had happened. I fired off a message to the guard on duty asking for more details and was pleased to learn a fight hadn’t even broken out. Steven had tried to bribe the man however. That struck me as very sketchy.

I drummed my fingers on my table and considered whether I could just ignore this. It felt like something I’d regret, however, so instead I reached for my office’s transceiver and dialled.

A musical tone played out and I raised my eyebrows when a receptionist answered the phone. “Hello! This is Steven Stone’s office. How may I help you?”

I stared at the woman on the screen. He’d… given me a number to his office? That seemed a bit…

“It’s Brock from the Pewter City Gym. Steven was just sniffing around something of mine,” I said with a growl. “If he wants to talk then—”

“One moment! I’ll have to ask you to hold!” said the woman as I was put on hold. I blinked.

“What?” I said, nonplussed at how this was developing. Before I could get mad, the line reconnected, and a suave-looking man smiled back at me.

His hair was perfectly combed, despite obviously being atop a mountain range. He nodded amiably at me and raised the cup of tea he had in his hands. “Ah Brock! Thank you for getting back to me so quickly!”

I blinked before narrowing my eyes. “I think your actions rather required a response from me.”

“Oh! Don’t worry about that! I had done a geological survey of the Mt Moon region and this was one site that I had identified as having some potential for having rare minerals! It seems I was proven right, but I’m a little late with you having already secured the cave.” He nodded at me before tilting his head. “How much do you want for it?”

I blinked. “Nothing. I’m not selling it.”

Steven blinked back at me. “You’re not selling it? Brock you do realise that diamonds are crucial in a lot of manufacturing processes? They’re not just used for jewelry! I’m offering top pokedollar that no one will be able to match!”

“I’m not looking to sell.”

“Brock,” he said with a sigh. “What do you want? Name a price, and I’ll buy it! Everything has a price”

“I don’t want money,” I said firmly, feeling more than a little annoyed at how he was barreling along with this conversation.

Steven pursed his lips and assessed me. “You don’t want money? Do you want shares in my company then?” I snorted, and he continued to observe me while thinking. I must have seemed an odd person to him, but money wasn’t something that was an issue for me.

He tilted his head. “I don’t often suggest such an exchange, but… you’re a rock-type specialist, so perhaps you can see the value in this trade more than most.”

I tilted my head, curious as to what he was alluding to. He smiled more confidently now. “Certain pokemon have the ability to harness energy from themselves and their trainer once they create a certain bond with each other. This isn’t well understood and is in fact extremely rare. I know of only a few trainers that can pull this off but the effects of this—”

“You’re talking about Mega-evolution?” I asked.

Steven blinked. “Ah? You know of it then? Lance, I could understand with the Blackthorn records, but you…” He considered me much more closely now, like I was a surprising geode that had a depth he hadn’t expected.

“So, would you be interested in a Megastone?” Steven said with a thoughtful expression. “That’s rather insightful of you and very canny.”

“It has nothing to do with being canny; I’m just not selling.”

“Brock, you just haven’t heard a price you’d be willing to sell for. That’s the truth of the matter. I applaud your forethought in grabbing the land. Now I’d like to make a deal. Thanks to my company’s mining rights I have a number of stones. Here is my current collection for sale.” He tapped something on his transceiver, and a long list sprouted up in front of me before my transceiver readjusted so the list was displayed alongside Steven’s face.

Without meaning to, I glanced at it and was surprised at how long it was. He had Gardevoirite, Ampharosite, Charizadite, Blastoisinite, Blazikenite, Houndoominite, Mawhilite, Metagrossite, Sharpedonite, Steelixite, Slowbronite, Salamnecite, and Beedrillite.

I blinked before huffing. “What no, Tyranitarite?” In fact, there was only one good option on here for me specifically.

Steven finished taking a sip of his tea. He tilted his head at me. “ I wasn’t aware Tyranitar could Megaevolve… but I suppose that fits with what I’ve learnt so far of which pokemon could do so.”

He pursed his lips in thought. “I have found that these stones typically occur around areas that the pokemon live in abundance…” He steepled his fingers. “Mining or scouring a mountain with Tyranitar upon it is not something that is currently feasible. The sites that these Tyranitar are known to frequent are considered nature preserves.”

I frowned. Something about the way he said, nature preserves felt like he was more saying ‘areas I can’t profit from’ or perhaps I was misreading him? I considered him and watched him as he glanced around, watching something flit around near him.

I considered the potential future of the site. A possible mythical pokemon… versus a Mega evolution. I was about to suggest something when I remembered I had promised I’d try and get one for my little sister.

That made me feel a sudden gut punch. I shook it off and huffed, she’d understand… I frowned. Did I even need a Mega stone right now? Most of my pokemon at the Elite level could easily throw down with Lance, of all people. How much stronger did I need to get? I’d said I wouldn’t chase power once to Janine, and this felt almost, but not quite, the same. No I didn’t need or especially want to sell my diamond cave for this. I shook my head.

“I’m afraid I can’t accept this.”

Steven tilted his head. “I’d be willing to sell you two Mega stones.”

I flicked my eyes to the list, and possibilities played out. I did just get a Steelix didn’t I?

There was also potential with having another stone to Sabrina. If she had Slowbronite, or Gardevourite, she’d have a lot of potential for her pokemon.

The others. Meh.

Really, it came down to future potential with the caves being more than just mines. I frowned as something else occurred to me. “You do realise that getting access to the cave would require a lot of change to the Mt Moon area don’t you?”

“Not a problem. Devon Corp is used to creating plans that will work with whatever regulations are in place. A decade of mining, and then we re-establish the native plants and pokemon into the region.”

I again tilted my head at his choice of wording. It didn’t sound like… I hummed. “I’m afraid that won’t work for Mt Moon. It’s a nature preserve itself.” I shook my head, “But that’s beside the point. I don’t think I really want to sell out the cave for a mega stone, or two.”

He considered me before shrugging. “Well I won’t be selling it for three, that would be rather too much for one trainer,” he said. I frowned and glanced at the list he’d sent me. If this was what he was willing to sell… Did that mean he had others that he wasn’t willing to sell? Or others he was controlling?

“Seems a bit hypocritical,” I pointed out.

“Well these are mine to sell,” he said with a smile I imagine others would call charming. “If you find any of your own, you’ll find you might not want to sell them just as I do. They are, after all, not simple stones.”

“Hmmm,” I said, not all that impressed with his argument. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready for your match against Karen?”

“I have it well in hand, my team are more than ready,” he said.

He watched me for a while before sighing. “Well, I see you won’t be accepting my deal today, Brock. Keep me in mind for selling though won’t you.” He shrugged. “Ah well, think nothing of it, it was a whim on my part,” he said with a simple shrug that I didn’t really believe. “Now, if you don’t mind I have much to do and see! I look forward to seeing you again soon!” he said.

I barely grunted out a goodbye as the transceiver disconnected.

I put my hand under my chin and considered what had been shared. I worked my jaw a bit before making a decision. I called Georgina, my accountant.

“Hello? Brock? Is something the matter, I’m at home today looking after Crystal, remember?”

“Ah no worries, I just wanted to ask if I had the funds to purchase some more land around Mt Moon from my personal funds?”

She snorted in an unladylike manner. “Easily, that land is cheap as anything, as people can’t do anything with it. There isn’t thought to be much worth.”

“Hmmm, well I just thought it might be a good idea for the pokemon preserve to take any available land off the table. Can I manage that?”

“Hmmmm, it’d be tight, but with the amount of Ace trainers coming your way you shouldn’t feel too much of a pinch. You just won’t be able to make any big bets safely.”

“Hmmm alright then. I’ll put in—”

“I’ll get it sorted out and email you the forms. I can do it from home and bill you!” Georgina said merrily.

I snorted. “Alright, tell Crystal we missed her today and that Rachel took a lot of photos of Steelix evolving. Bye for now,” I said.

I hung up and stretched. Hopefully, I’d beat Steven to the punch of snapping up any other land around. I didn’t like the idea of him mining Mt Moon. Sure, there were old tunnels, but the place didn’t need to be strip-mined. Maybe that’s not what he intended, but he rubbed me the wrong way.

So fuck that guy.

I headed back out to find my family balancing and playing a sort of hopscotch game on Steelix’s back. Flint raised a brow at me.

“Everything alright?”

“Yeah, I reckon it is now,” I said as I smiled at Suzie as she successfully completed a loop of Steelix.

Right then and there, I knew I should never sell the cave of diamonds.

Suzie’s smile was huge as she turned it towards me, and that was just for a simple little game. There was something you should never try to put a price on. If things ever worked out and I got my hands on some Carbink… maybe, just maybe, my theory might pan out for Suzie. That’d put a smile money couldn’t value properly on Suzie.

Not that it stopped people like Steven Stone from trying such things. I rubbed my chin and considered the coming week. Steven versus Karen of Lavender Town was already being billed as the match of the week, to be held at the plateau's Indigo Arena.

That would see him at the League at the end of the week.

I hummed, but he still expected to see me soon? I turned that thought over before the answer came to mind. I had been advertising the sale of the Lileep…

Somehow, I don’t think Steven Stone was going to ignore that.

Looks like I was going to be seeing him very soon indeed.

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A.N. A special thanks goes to my patreons for their support!

Special thanks goes to Raikor, Ab9999, Kurlinni, and Elnoorz for betaing and editing this chapter